The Queen: A Novel

If you had asked me a week ago, I would have told you that when it comes to books, gore doesn't bother me, and I have no issues with body horror. Ask me now, after finishing THE QUEEN by Nick Cutter, and my answer would differ. THE QUEEN tested my ability to keep in my stomach's contents and made me question what types of horror stories I like best. Because, apparently, I found my limit.

Several aspects of THE QUEEN made it difficult for me to stomach, literally and figuratively. The first is the inclusion of insects within the body horror. Not just any insects, either. I might have been okay with arachnids or centipedes. Instead, it was all about ants, bees, and wasps, the unfriendly kind. The idea of splicing the human genome with show more wasp DNA makes my stomach turn. What Margaret witnesses, and what we witness through her eyes, is so much worse.

I struggle with the reasoning behind the experimentation. Meaning, I cannot decide whether Rudy's horrible childhood trauma and his complete inability or unwillingness to move beyond that trauma make his experimentations more tragic or more terrible. On the one hand, Rudy chose to withhold certain behaviors and feelings from his therapists. He knew he was doing so and what it meant for his recovery/sanity. On the other hand, I wonder if there is any amount of therapy in the world that would help a child recover mentally from all he witnessed and experienced that fateful day. He does take a certain glee once he beholds his creation, which is all sorts of sick, but again, can you really fault a mind that was most likely fatally cracked at such an early age?

The other issue I have with THE QUEEN is the identity of the victim. Most of the story leads you to believe the victim is the narrator, given what we witness through her eyes. After all, she is an unwitting and unwilling spectator to everything that unfolds. However, the narration shift towards the end forces you to reconsider the victim. Mr. Cutter even lays out reasoning for the change. It is a change that Mr. Cutter explains in his appreciation section, but it still feels wrong to assume that such things, especially when dealing with teenagers and teenage girls in particular, are as black-and-white as he makes them out to be. At one point in time, one narrator mentions that teenagers are essentially feral beasts that resume being human in their twenties; that is probably as good a reason as any to explain why some teenagers are beloved while others are reviled in a social setting. I think the best answer is that when it comes to being a teenage girl, we are all victims of some sort, whether we acknowledge the fact or not, something Mr. Cutter will never understand, identifying as a male his entire life.

All this to say that THE QUEEN is a disappointment. It isn't the fact that Mr. Cutter chose to go right for the gore at the very beginning, using the prologue to show us just what the main character faces. It isn't that we know exactly what the story is building towards because of the prologue. My disappointment stems from those two things in addition to the inclusion of Rudy's story, which could have and should have been its own horror story. It also includes the decision Mr. Cutter made to use a teenage girl as his protagonist. While he might have done enough research to get the voice right, he certainly could never and did not get the mind correct, and when telling a story through someone's eyes, the mind is the most important part. THE QUEEN tries too hard to psychoanalyze Margaret's mind, which is the last thing I expect or want in a horror story. All of it combined to create a story that did not work for me, which is a shame because I always look forward to any novel Mr. Cutter publishes. show less

There's nothing like curling up with a Nick Cutter novel to chill your bones, make you question your own existence, and add a new flavor to your nightmares.

First of all, let's talk about that cover. The gorgeous, horror-pulp design? That intense gaze of the girl on the front? The artful weathering??? I bought a hardcover copy and the parts where it looks like the cover is torn HAVE A DIFFERENT TEXTURE to the rest of the cover. Whoever is on the design team, a thousand standing ovations for you!

Between the covers, Cutter has crafted a grotesquely powerful coming of age tale - at it's core, it tackles girlhood, friendship, drifting apart, class differences, and social media culture. With, y'know, eldritch horrors and bloody nightmares and show more SO MUCH WTF added in for good measure. Reading this punted me back into being a teenager, with all of the awkwardness and growing pains that creates. I felt as though I was walking those streets and halls with Mags and Harry, back in my weird teenage body that I didn't understand yet and with far more teenage worries in my mind.

The thing that makes this novel work so well is how layered it is - each player is fully fleshed out with their own motivations and backstories informing their decisions. There are no supervillains or innocent damsels here - just people, layered and real and all sorts of fucked up.

The Queen reminded me intensely of my favourite of Cutter's works, Little Heaven. I really enjoyed the hints that these (and the Troop) occur in the same universe!

If you're into things like Stephen King's Carrie, Jennifer's Body (2009) or Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why, (and you're not super eeked out by bugs because, hoo boy, there sure are bugs) then this is for you. show less

Reading this after Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang was probably a mistake. That book was so good, so attuned to my taste, that it had me sprinting where The Queen then had me run smack into a wall made of honeycomb and white dude horror. I'm certainly not saying it's a bad book, nor bad horror, but there are some incredibly slow parts that had me wanting to DNF. I'm glad I didn't though, as the climax is absolutely the best of the entire story!

Nick Cutter's prose here felt very Stephen King, with an 80s/90s horror novel feel. Interestingly enough, he states in the acknowledgements that he actually modeled the writing and storyline after King's work, and even unknowingly paid homage to Carrie specifically. However, there are many parts show more that remind me of IT by Stephen King, and that was one of the hardest-to-get-through books I have ever read. Parts with Rudyard Crate's (what a name, and not in a good way lol) POV especially felt like a slog to get through and was a bit too technical for me. He was a mad scientist type after all, but I still didn't enjoy it. I felt his storyline ended up being very anti-climactic as well. Beyond that, I feel that Nick thinks a bit highly of himself, trying so hard to have the best references and use the biggest words he can.

For being an older man, I do think Nick did a fine job with the main POV being a teenage girl, Margaret Carpenter. Or Mags, Plum, Meadow, etc. Nick has a thing for nicknames, even when they don't make sense. She was relatable and a great vehicle for this story, believable too (except for some references being very hard to believe they came from an 18 year old girl). The scenes of horror, especially throughout the climax, were very striking and easy to see in my mind's eye. I could relate to Margaret so much in those moments. Nick had my skin crawling, for sure.

I enjoyed the style choices- texts and audio files, letters and news articles. Those touches are always enjoyable to me, and create an atmosphere that puts you right into the storyline. There were a few times where the texts were on the wrong side of the pages- texts sent to Margaret were supposed to be on the left side, while her responses were on the right, just like normal texting, but every so often a solo text would be on the wrong side of the page and made it confusing who sent it, Margaret or Charity? I'm surprised nobody caught this in editing, or perhaps they didn't care.

I'm glad I read this, and would recommend it to anyone who's a fan of Stephen King's longer work, as that's what it reminds me the most of. I am weary of getting into anymore of Nick Cutter's work myself though. show less

The Queen by The Queen is a blend of creature horror and science fiction with an interesting premise, but the story sadly lost its intensity beneath layers of YA-style friendship drama. This was my first experience reading Nick Cutter, and I expected something far more terrifying and brutal. While a few scenes managed to create genuine horror, most moments that should have felt fierce and disturbing came across as dull and underwhelming instead. The atmosphere had potential, but the emotional conflicts between the teenage characters overshadowed the creature horror element too much for my taste.

Horror tales have a better impact when they exclude contemporary technology. In The Queen, the inclusion of a mobile phone is integral to the plot, and the use of text messaging effectively establishes the story's framework. The narrative begins with significant immediacy—perhaps too rapid for my taste—before the pacing slows considerably. This alteration in pacing is one of my primary critiques, along with occasional inconsistencies in tone.

I did not find The Queen unworthy of my time. Despite my criticisms, I enjoyed reading it and intend to keep a hardcover edition in my collection. The novel has grotesque scenes that may appeal to body horror enthusiasts but could sicken other readers. Nick Cutter does not shy away from vivid show more descriptions, and the overarching story is both compelling and eerie, making it a page-turner. However, I perceive a certain dissonance within the narrative. While it may not be flawless, it is definitely worth reading. ★★★½✰

Find my full review at https://www.coffeeaddictedwriter.com/2025/05/a-honest-review-of-queen-body-horro.... show less

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Nick Cutter has done it again, forcing me to only read this book while not eating, and in short bursts. Hair raising, disgusting and spine chilling, I never knew how much I was scared of bugs til I read this. One of his better books, this will STICK with me.

"The Queen", by Nick Cutter, is the first novel that I have read by this author. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. Honestly, there was promise at the beginning of the plot, based on Rudyard and Elizabeth's characters and their time in Africa. However, it quickly declined from there. The plot was all over the place. The scenes were disturbing and confusing. Some of the dialogue just wasn't very well written. I found myself skimming pages, just to try and figure out where this novel was going. This was one novel that I was happy to see end.
As always, I read the reviews of others. The majority of the reviews posted thus far, have enjoyed this novel. The average rating is four starts. So, I'm definitely in the show more minority here. I would recommend reading some of the positive reviews before making up your mind. show less