Coin is a Nameless. That means she was born as poor as poor can be and doesn't have a name. She lives in a time of magic and fantasy. A time where who you are is the equivalent of life or death.
When the reigning king is dying he names a name and that person becomes the next ruler of that region. The sign you have been named is the appearance of a black tattoo of a crown on your arm. The tattoo has appeared on Coin's arm. That is hard to understand how that happened. It has to either be stolen or fake. The gifts she inherits with the tattoo proves it is real.
The journey she must take is a decision of whether she keeps the tattoo or gives it away. Her main objective has always been to help the other Nameless to get food and shelter. Now as the reigning sovereign she has that power. As always with power comes many tests and challenges. Will she be brave and strong enough to hold on to her heritage.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5/5 stars. This book confronts beliefs about belonging, class in society, what is a family, wealth and friends. I like that it took such deep questions and made me think. It was thought provoking but such an easy read at the same time. The main character is strong and stands up for what she believes in. I like that she didn’t waver. There are a few questions I still have about the magic and society but not enough for me to dislike it.

💛The content was super mild. Minimal language, no intimacy and little violence. It’s adventurous and exciting without the offensive content. I feel I can recommend this to anyone, adult or child, and they would still enjoy it. Check out my content review on my site (link in bio.)
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I debated on whether or not to review this book. I will keep it short. I anticipated reading this book. I was so happy to read this book….this book disappointed me and it hurts. There were just so many things that I did not enjoy. It was often unrealistic. There were so many clichés that I lost count. All conflict was so easily resolved.
The premise of it all was definitely captivating and was what ultimately pulled me in and made me want to read it. Sadly, it fell flat. The characters themselves were pretty one dimensional. I forced myself to finish it.

* I received an advanced digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

I loved everything about this book and can not wait to read the next one. It was creative, unique, exciting and held my attention from beginning to end. It is one of those books that you hate to end. The heroine in the book is bold, brave and smart. I highly recommend this book.

Diese Rezension erschien ursprünglich und in Gänze auf Books on Fire
https://www.booksonfire.de/2020/01/13/nameless-queen/

"Nameless Queen" ist eine ideale Geschichte für Fantasyneueinsteiger. Zugleich geht es mit der Zeit, so werden Frauen ganz natürlich in Führungspositionen gezeigt und dies nicht aufgrund ihres Geschlechts in Frage gestellt. Des Weiteren sind diese Figuren vielschichtig und alles andere als perfekt. Fantasyprofis werden vom Verlauf der Geschichte zwar kaum überrascht sein, werden aber dennoch wunderbar unterhalten. Zuletzt sei noch angemerkt, dass "Nameless Queen" einer der weniger Jugendfantasyeinzelbände ist und noch dazu auch noch eine Liebesgeschichte auskommt, was, meiner Erfahrung nach, noch seltener vorkommt.

Rebecca McLaughlins "Nameless Queen" ist eine ideale Geschichte für Fantasyeinsteiger, aber unterhält auch Fantasyprofis. Vielschichtige Frauen in Führungsrollen ließen mich förmlich am Buch kleben, obwohl die Geschichte nicht bahnbrechend neu, aber von Grund auf solide ist.

This dystopian fantasy is a decent read if you like Red Queen. I also felt like it had a very similar reading feel and pace as Four Dead Queens.

Coin is a nameless in a "country" that considers nameless less than nothing. Magic exists but only for the king or queen in each country and it is passed on at the death of the ruler.

At the surprise of Coin, when the kind dies, he chooses to pass on the magic AND the crown to her. Which is impossible since you have to speak someone's name in order to pass the power to the next person dundundun.

After Coin receives the power of the Queen, we follow her as she grows and learns who she is, what she wants, and what's most important to her. It's a tale of change, and endless possibilities.

This book has ZERO romance, which I'll be honest was a little depressing for me 🤣, but really the book didn't need any love interests despite my personal desires.

As always for me though with standalones I feel like there is so much more to the story that we will never know, and that bugs me. I guess standalones will just never trump series for me in that respect.

4.5 stars. I loved this! Coin was a fantastic character. Smart and sassy, and she doesn't put up with anyone's garbage. She will pretend to be what people expect while casing the room, plotting her escape routes, and stealing trinkets the whole time. I enjoyed the magical aspects of this. There are some great found-family moments as well as some fantastic twists!

I don't know if there will be a sequel - most of the story is wrapped up in the end. But if there is, you can sign me up for it. I love stories like this, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one.

If you're looking for a fantasy version of The Hunger Games then this is totally the book for you! The more I read, the more comparisons I made between the two and while that wasn't necessarily always a good thing, I really enjoyed the familiarity of the plot line and the sheer snarkiness of the MC.

Coin, our Nameless Queen and resident thief, made for a highly enjoyable MC. At times she felt a bit Mary Sue-ish because she always seemed to be good at everything, she picked up everything very quickly, and always had some witty comeback. Granted, she did make some brash, wrong decisions from time to time and that definitely made her flawed, but she always came across as TOO perfect.

For a YA fantasy, the number one thing that shocked me was the fact that were was NO ROMANCE! NONE! There wasn't even a hint! Usually you can't open a YA fantasy without there being a love triangle somewhere. Not only was this refreshing but it was just so nice to read a fantasy book that wasn't bogged down with unnecessary scenes dedicated to romantic entangles.

What this story did have was some badass female relationships. I won't go into details because SPOILERS but the more I read the more I enjoyed this story purely for the relationships between the female characters. They protected, uplifted, and supported one another. Sometimes that meant telling each other hard to hear things but it was always stuff that needed to be said.

The only thing I have a huge gripe with was the villain. It was very one dimensional and lazy. It could have been better and more compelling. I love a villain that makes a convincing enough argument for their side and I just didn't feel that with this book. It just seemed textbook villain-y for me and that was the most disappointing factor of this book.

All in all, a solid story! I expect it to turn into some sort of series so I will definitely be on the lookout for the sequels because I really did enjoy reading this adventure and look forward to more!

Nameless Queen was more about family and finding yourself and the group you belong to more than about a ruler who shouldn’t be a ruler.

Coin, the main character, is part of this level of citizenship that was not part of the law. They did not have names and were outside of the law. Staying alive by becoming criminals. It was a little slower than I liked but it had awesome character development.

I was, honestly, not really paying much attention to Coin but instead to her sister, Glenquartz and Hat. And the awesome, amazing, beautiful family developing between these four characters. It was adorable and sweet and it melted my heart. Hat acted like the best little sister and Glenquartz was the consummate pseudo big brother.

Nameless Queen was about family and Rebecca McLaughlin did amazing.

The new Queen is stronger and wiser than anyone expected from a nameless street orphan.
Nameless Queen by Rebecca McLaughlin is the telling of a society strictly divided by social class. All people of Seriden are kept within the class of which their born. Royals at the top, loyals as middle-class, and the nameless who are left to the streets with zero rights.

Some of the best people are nameless
This story has a strong foundation. The leading character is nameless and has chosen to call herself Coin. Throughout the story she is surprising in her strength, and how much of what she’s learned living on the streets set her up to be a great queen. She excels at reading people’s non-verbal cues, and she does not cower to those who think they’re better than her simply because of how they were born.

Nameless Queen has a lot of good elements. There’s a solid premise, and the characters we follow appear to be the kind of people we want to read about. The story just lacked enough details. The conflicts were resolved a little too quickly and without enough challenge. In particular, Coin and Esther don’t spend enough time learning about each other. There are conflicts in this story that could have been developed over the course of one to two chapters and instead resolved within one to two paragraphs.

Nameless Queen was an entertaining read
I was intrigued by Nameless Queen from start to finish. Rebecca McLaughlin imagined a unique world that is woven with magic. Having the magic so strictly bound to the upper class is not unlike the social classes we deal with in our society. I enjoyed Coin’s story and that it wasn’t tied to her falling in love with someone. The story was all her own and I appreciated that focus.
3.5 stars

Before I get into this review, I want to thank Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for access to a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dear reader, let me take through a moment in my life. The moment after I finished Nameless Queen.

*stares into the middle distance*

*tries to make the ebook magically go beyond 100%*

*immediately goes to the author’s Goodreads page to see if there will be a sequel*

*screams into the void when I find out this was a STANDALONE*

You. All. THIS. BOOK. It’s been a long time since a fantasy novel pulled me in to it’s world within the first few pages and had me rooting for the main character from page one!

In Nameless Queen, we’re following the story of Coin, a thief and a grifter living in the city of Seriden among the lowest of the low… the Nameless. Nameless have, as the title would imply, no names and, thus, no rights within the law. They are, by and large, the criminal element of the city. Legals and Royals either ignore their existence or find any reason to throw them in prison or send them to the gallows. But then Coin wakes up with a crown tattoo and magic powers. The crown tattoo is passed down by name from whomever is the current sitting ruler and with it comes the right to rule.

Except Coin doesn’t have a name. So how does she have the tattoo?

From there, Coin’s life is thrown into chaos, which is saying something for a girl who has survived on the streets. No one is happy about her having this tattoo, least of all her, and now she needs to figure out what to do with this power that she didn’t ask for.

The action of this story grips you from page one and does not let go til you get to the acknowledgements! Coin’s life wasn’t easy on the streets, but it becomes infinitely more deadly once she’s inside the palace. I love me a book with good political intrigue and this one delivers. I probably would have liked a little more of the intrigue, but what we got was *chef’s kiss* And just Coin’s day-to-day life is tense enough to keep you ripping through the pages to find out what happens to her.

Of course, I was sold on Coin herself as soon as we meet her in a back alley of Seriden. She’s got so much fight in her and you can tell why she’s been able to survive as Nameless for so long. She has a backbone of absolute steel and a softer heart than she would ever admit. She’s smart, she’s accomplished, and she is a genuinely good person. Ya know… beyond the constant thievery. Watching her try to adapt to a lifestyle that her years as Nameless have most definitely not prepared her for is one of the more compelling aspects of this book. I loved watching her grow and watching her make people stop and take notice.

I also loved the relationships between Coin and the people around her. Even the completely awful people. Her struggles not only overcoming people’s prejudices, but learning to actually care about people, was so interesting to read.

And can we talk about how easily this author made me invested in all Coin’s struggles and emotions?! I thoroughly enjoyed the writing in this book. It was captivating, it didn’t drag, it made me feel A LOT of feelings… It was incredible. The humor in this book also just clicked with me. I found myself chuckling quite a few times, which is probably why my heart survived this ride. I think the one teeny *tiny* thing that threw me off was that the language the characters used sometimes felt a bit… off? Like one of them saying something was “cool”. It just felt weird to me, but that is probably just my dumb fantasy brain always assuming that fantasies with royalty are always set in ye olde times, where people didn’t call things “cool”…

Anyways!

Final thoughts: This was a wonderful debut fantasy where political intrigue and class warfare is the name of the game. Coin is the strong, capable heroine that we need right now and I would fight for her. I know it’s a standalone, but I need a sequel. I. NEED. IT! If you enjoy a little politics in your fantasy and a look at social issues along with your action, I think you’ll like this one!

I found this to be a pleasant read. It had all the danger and tension you expect from the familiar plot. Unknow becomes Queen and must try to stay alive while also protecting the ones around her. There were enough twists to keep it from being redundant. The characters were interesting and Coin, the main character was a mass of contradictions. Her thoughts and action were interesting in themselves without the added problem of being the new nameless queen. Seems that the nameless were a class of people at the bottom of the social ladder. Fun to read and even as problems were solved some got away so I think we will see this queen again.

I enjoyed reading this one. I'm so glad it wasn't a love story thrown in there where the main character is wanted by two enviable choices. Those are getting kind of overdone in the fantasy realm.

Thank you #NetGalley for an early copy of #NamelessQueen to review!

While I liked the premise of this book, it didn't hold my attention like I thought it would. I thought it could've used some more world building to fully involve the reader. Also, the revelation at the end seemed a bit far fetched.

I enjoyed the book but wouldn't be interested in any more in this series.

First up, the good: One thing I really loved about Nameless Queen by Rebecca McLaughlin is that it's a YA fantasy without a love triangle — in fact, it doesn't have a romantic arc at all, focusing instead on the other kinds of relationships people have with each other. The love triangle plot twist is such an exhausting and annoying plot device — it was fabulous to see a book that didn't rely on that device at all. I also really dug the premise: In Coin's world, class divisions are sharp, and the lowest tier of humanity, the Nameless, don't even rate names. They name themselves, scavenging a living of leftovers, discards, and petty (and not-so-petty) theft on the streets.
It's the only life Coin has ever known, and since her world is not exactly full of social mobility, it's the only life she ever expects to know. But then the king dies, murmuring — as is custom — the name of his successor, causing a tattoo to form on the new ruler's body. When Coin sees the tattoo, she's freaked: She doesn't even have a name. And nothing good happens when the ruling class gets you in their clutches. When she's forced to surrender herself in order to save her friend, Coin is plunged into a complicated political situation where she is very much a pawn of more powerful people. She just wants to get out alive — but she also can't help seeing a real opportunity to change things for the better for the city's other Nameless.
I liked, too, Coin's relationship with the king's daughter — the one everyone expected to be his heir to the throne. The princess Esther and the nameless queen Coin have their own agendas and come from different worlds, but they form a wary alliance that turns into a meaningful friendship in a way that feels pretty authentic.
The problem is that Coin is just too good at everything. Suddenly, even though she's never done it before, she's super-good at magic. And diplomacy. Oh, and military tactics. And individual combat. And she can read minds. She feels less and less like what the book calls her — the Nameless Queen — and more and more like a — well, like a good old-fashioned Mary Sue. And some ideas, like the different forms the growing Nameless resistance takes, just kind of get dropped, when they're one of the most interesting parts of the story. (One of the Big Bads ends up with a Nameless army because the Nameless are so sick of being treated terribly by everyone else, which was an idea I really wanted to explore more.) And in the end, everything gets resolved a little too easily — though I'll be totally honest that I'd read the next book because in spite of its shortcomings, I still want to know what happens next in the world of the Nameless Queen.

This book creates a new universe with distinct classes of people: Royals, Legals, and Nameless. The city is ruled by magic in the hands of the monarch. The story covers the result of the power of the crown passing to one of the nameless. The descriptions provide great images of the city and its residents. The people are quite real and their interactions fall into human activity as we know it. All of human desires and nature reflect in the various characters, and the action builds to an astounding ending, which includes a number of surprises along the way. Growth in all the major characters is demonstrated as the tension builds to the end. The style of writing is clear and direct, providing just enough description to keep the images flowing. I wasn't sure I was going to like this book as I began reading, but as I kept reading it totally captured my attention and kept me up to finish it.

On the surface there are some similarities to Red Queen, but that's like saying kiwis are like bananas. They're both fruit and have vitamin C but, well... That doesn't mean Nameless Queen wasn't a good book, it just had a completely different vibe. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope there's a sequel.

*ARC via netgalley*

I rate this 4.5 rounded up to 5 stars. I was hesitant about reading it (I'm not sure why) but once I began, I didn't stop. There was a lot of action, and some things were surprising (some were predictable), but I enjoyed the book nonetheless. It fits right in with all the other YA fantasy/dystopian books I have read, and I can see it being a big hit!

This is a story seeped in adventure, mystery and angst. The author creates a wonderful world with three different classes. Each of the classes all aspire to become part of the next which is how it should be.

Throughout the story the reader has to figure out why a Nameless person was able to be named Queen. After all if the king has to name his successor on his deathbed how does he whisper the name of someone who doesn’t have a name or does she. Our protagonist and the other characters in the book also have to figure this out. It is only the King’s daughter who finally figures it out and shows the protagonist how it comes to be that she is the successor to the crown.

This is a very intense book that will have the reader wanting to turn the page to find out more. I fell asleep two nights in a row reading because I didn’t want to put the book down.

If you enjoy books that have mystery and intrigue all surrounded in fantasy then you will love this book. I hope the author makes a sequel.

I was not intending this to be my first finished book of the year, but a funny thing happened while I was reading it.  I ended up becoming so immersed in the story that I could not stop reading it, and before I knew it, I was done. Nameless Queen by Rebecca McLaughlin is a fascinating story that one could argue pertains to the current leadership and today's political climate as much as it does about the imaginary world of haves and have-nots in which it is set. It definitely sheds light on the unnamed and unacknowledged class system that currently exists in the United States as well as all over the Western world. In particular, it explores the twin question of "What is power?" and "What does it mean to rule versus lead?" -- two very prescient questions for today's climate.

Fast-paced with a good blend of action and exposition, Ms. McLaughlin does a decent job of answering all questions without forcing readers to suspend disbelief. The magical elements exist but never overshadow the story. The characters are a bit one-dimensional, however. Their growth consists of becoming more aware of one's strengths, weaknesses, and values. The story thrives in spite of this, or maybe even because of it since so much of the story revolves around who should make decisions on behalf of others.

As a debut novel, Nameless Queen is a strong showing but not without room for improvement. Again, it kept me reading until the wee hours of the morning and made me forsake the one book I wanted to finish above everything else. I enjoyed the polite but pointed messages within the story and appreciate the reminder that with privilege comes the duty to protect and care for the less fortunate. Given what is occurring all over Australia and the continuing immigration sagas around the world, it is a message worth repeating.