I’ll be honest and say that this book wasn’t on my radar until I saw Samantha Shannon recommending it in her stories on instagram. After reading and loving The Priory of the Orange Tree, I knew I needed Queen of Coin and Whispers. While there were certain elements of this story that I really enjoyed (sapphic relationship, intricate world building, court politics), I felt that this book lacked the depth that I was really craving. I think this is my fault for expecting Priory, which this was most definitely not. I still think this is a great story and will resonate with many readers.

i liked lia and xania's relationship, overall I really enjoyed the story overall and enjoyed meeting the characters. I hope there is more in the series.

Unfortunately, this book did not vibe with me!

What I liked
- I love royalty books and court intrigue, which is why I requested this to begin with.
- I loved the mystery we began with!

What I didn’t like
- I had no idea what anyone’s character was really supposed to be. Everyone felt very flat.

I truly enjoyed watching the partnership between a new queen and a Whispers (aka spy master) bloom.

I loved Lia. I loved that she from Xania’s point of view appears confident, fierce and regal. From Lia’s own point of view we get a taste of her doubts and fears. I loved reading Lia’s slow building frustration with her realization she had feelings for Xania. Xania’s own feelings while more delayed bubble up quickly but her acknowledgment of the power dynamics and issues of consent was refreshing for her to struggle with.

Although I throughly enjoyed Lia and Xania’s I could help but wish I got more Matthias. I could have seen him being a third POV. At the very least, more developed interaction with him would have been appreciated.

I was pleased and surprised by a little plot twist half ways through that I didn’t expect. This changes the course of the political intrigue. I’ve read other books recently that loose themselves in the politics whine the world and end up falling a little flat. This was not the case for this book.

Overall I enjoyed the book. I love the spy master career and would have even loved if the book included more of the details of the job. The author presented a compelling romance and I would absolutely read other future work by her.

I had troubles with this book because 1) I could only find time to read it then and there, a few chapters at a time, so I was constantly confused by names or events they referred to and 2) I tried, but really couldn't end up liking either of both the main characters. I was more interested by other characters, such as Zola and Isra, but Lia and Xania? Nope couldn't do.

It was nice though to read a sapphic romance between a queen and her spymaster, even though I wish more spying stuff would have been in the book. And while the beginning was very slow, the ending felt incredibly rushed, which is a shame. I'd like to have seen it more developped.

This was an interesting, action-packed f/f book with lots of politcal intrigue revolving around a sapphic fantasy betwen a spymaster and her queen. I loved the characters, Lia and Xania, and how their relationship grew, despite them being different character types but so perfectly matched. I also liked how it easy it was to follow the narrative of the story. The only issue I had was with the rushed ending and how some aspects felt brushed over. But regardless, it was quite a fun YA fantasy read!

I ADORED Lia and Xania! Such a well written f/f romance, and I really admired how the author addressed and dealt with the power imbalance.

The Court/Step system was very original and I want more and more from this world.


The ONLY reason this wasn't 5* is the pacing, until 3/4 way through this was set up to be a HUGE 5 STARS- but then the story moved soo quickly and it distracted me from the plot and amazing characters.

This was . . . Fine. I enjoyed myself mostly, I'm glad I read it, but had I put it down and not picked it up again I likely wouldn't have remembered nor cared.

I'm trying really hard to review this book in depth like I normally would, but honestly I just don't have anything to say. I have no real criticisms of this book, and no real praise. I didn't dislike my reading experience, but this book was utterly forgettable.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the pacing of the novel and the dual perspectives. Both of the main characters were well written. I would definitely read more from this author.

This is the sort of book I felt I was guaranteed to love. A sapphic romance. Court politics. Pretty cover. But the reality is that I did not, in fact, love it. I didn’t even hate it. It is perhaps worse than that. It was so overwhelmingly average, that I can barely remember anything about it. The premise was interesting, but the execution was a bit lacklustre for me.

I don’t want anyone to get the immediate idea that this is a terrible book, because it really isn’t. There were a lot of parts of Queen of Coin and Whispers that I really appreciated, but more on an intellectual level, rather than on an emotional one. I try to be as objective as possible in my reviews, but I do like my fiction to have an emotional punch. I read non-fiction if I just want that intellectual satisfaction.

Queen of Coin and Whispers was told with dual point of view, following Lia, the newly crowned Queen, and Xania, her new spymaster, who is investigating her father’s suspicious death. However, the voices of Xania and Lia were so similar I had to go back and check whose chapter I was reading every time I picked it up. By the 50% mark I had to have a note next to me telling me which one was actually the queen. There were often very few clues in the text to even give me a hint which one was narrating, and it would have been better if their names had been more contrasting. Both ended in ‘ia’ and I got them mixed up all the time.

Most of the characters had very little depth to them, and were more caricatures than people. Xania and Lia had the benefit of POV chapters, but they still fell a bit flat because I felt like I was being told what they were like, not shown.

And that was ultimately where their entire relationship disappointed me. I knew they liked each other, but only because I was told so. The slow burn was so slow the fire fizzled out. Then they’re finally kissing, but I’d already lost any investment I had in their relationship. I will point out that I did appreciate the acknowledgment of the power imbalance early on, and how that could pave the way for potential abuse or pressure.

Queen of Coin and Whispers promised court intrigue and drama, and it delivered, to an extent. I was never really surprised by the twists and turns. I don’t always mind when I predict what is going to happen in a book. Sometimes it can be downright satisfying. In this case I just felt sort of underwhelmed.

The setting itself was fairly generic, so much so that I couldn’t tell you anything much about it, beyond that it’s set in a castle/palace. In terms of worldbuilding overall, this book had some real strengths. I appreciated that there was a focus on the treasury, and how important economics were to the success of a ruler; affecting their ability to provide the country with services, and opportunities to trade with neighbouring countries. It was a smart move, and something I rarely see discussed in other books in the same genre. That is one of the things that really caught my attention about this book. That it was realistic, in terms of shifting alliances, corruption, and the everyday running of a country. Unfortunately, while this was quite satisfying on an intellectual level, it wasn’t enough to make up for my lack of emotional investment.

I also felt that the inclusion of ‘the Steps,’ which is basically a caste/class system based on inherited social standing seemed kind of unnecessary. It’s essentially just different levels of nobility.

For me, the glaring hole in the plot was Xania being promoted to a queen’s lady – the whole point of ‘Whispers,’ the spymaster, is that they’re anonymous, and a fifth step who was previously unknown to the queen suddenly becoming one of her ladies, while still working full time in the treasury, just seems super suspicious. Maybe I’m just a suspicious person. Or maybe I missed some essential explanation as to how the Steps work, and people’s roles in the court. Or maybe it wasn’t actually explained in the book.

I think this book will definitely appeal to a lot of people, and there were elements I thought were great, but ultimately it wasn’t the book for me. If you’re a bit on the fence, I recommend you read Asha’s glowing review.

Good and strong book, overall. I really loved the sapphic romance between a spymaster and her queen but I was a bit bored by the complexity of the political details, especially for a standalone. Particularly loved the ending. .

SO first, I'd like to thank the publisher for sending me this eARC as this book was VERY high on my TBR. Second, I loved it so so soooo much! I adore seeing f/f couples represented in fantasy and a queen and her spy? So swoonworthy! The political intrigue and ruthlessness in this book are just the cherry on top of a story that could have been written specifically for me. One interesting thing about the book is how the parents are still around, which never happens in fantasy! There is healthy parental representation and that warms my heart. I highly recommend Queen of Coins and Whispers to every book loving gay girl out there.

I was really excited to read this but unfortunately I didn't end up enjoying it. I got halfway through and still not much had actually happened. We were told of a lot of tension and yet I didn't feel it and both MCs felt flat. I would often get confused as to who was narrating. I had expected there to be political intrigue and angst because of the romance but unfortunately it just didn't deliver.

While I enjoyed reading Queen of Coin and Whispers, at times it felt like a chore. I could put it down for days on end without thinking about it, pick it up for a day or two and forget to pick it up again, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. I loved the LGBT representation and really liked reading about Lia and Xania’s romance, but the political intrigue was just never heightened enough to truly suck me in.

OKaAy WOW!

This was such an incredible novel, but also one that I'm fairly conflicted on. It's definitely a 3.5 star rating, but a higher 3.5.

The romance is really fun and well developed. I'm a sucker for the forbidden romance trope, and though the concept of it was there, it wasn't executed at the same extent to which I would've loved to have seen. Despite this, I was able to care for Lia and Xania quite a bit! Their romance made my heart flutter and I was so surprised by this!

Also, if you like political intrigue, then this book will definitely surprise you with how Lia's queendom is portrayed! She really takes SUCH great control of everything in her kingdom and takes the risks that she deems necessary. She is someone extremely inspiring and that was really nice for a change - I've been reading too many extreme and ruthless leaders, and she's a lot more strategic, so I appreciated that.

Overall, the atmosphere of this novel is great, but I found myself kind of lost sometimes in the visiting royals and why I should care about them. But when we were in the inner circle is when I was having the best time.

I fell in love with the cover and then head over heels for the premise of the story. It was beautiful and interesting and easy to read. I enjoyed falling into this world. I would recommend.

This arc was provided by The O'Brien Press, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3.5

I am feeling a bit sad at the fact that this is going to be a standalone (despite what GR says).

Queen of Coin and Whispers is a fantasy novel about a newly crowned Queen, Lia, who wants to change her kingdom for the better. Xania, her a low-born noblewoman is appointed as her spymaster, the perfect position for her to avenge her father's death.

And this is where their story begins.

Despite how heavy this novel is with the political intrigue, I found it to be mostly character-driven. Their motivations are often hindered by their emotions and the choices they need to make. This also has one of the best romances, the yearning for each other, their love, their respect... I was swooning and rooting for them.

As I've mentioned, the story mainly focuses on navigating the political system of Lia's kingdom, the nobles, the merchants, the ones that want to usurp her reign. There's a lot of complexity with this story and small details to keep up with, but it really enriched the overall story.

However, I think the world wasn't as fleshed out as it out to be, the actions. Xania becomes the spymaster but sometimes, I didn't really believe she had the competence to do it. It was sort of told that she found spies, cracked codes, but it wasn't explained how it all happened. Additionally, the side characters could have had more depth to them, especially Mathias.

I also wished there had been more romance (Yes, MORE), more moments between Lia and Xania where we could see more to their personalities apart from the work they need to do.

One thing I can appreciate is how nothing came easily to our main characters. It's very common for YA fantasy books (e.g. Six of Crows) where everything goes according to plan. In Queen of Coin and Whispers, all the events feel real as nothing goes as planned, or your attempts at diplomacy are seen as such. It's a small thing to comment on, but I really appreciate this about the story.

Honestly, I'm sad it's over. I think this is a great fantasy novel if you want to read a good romance, with webs of intrigue to it. I'm excited to read future books by this author.

This story was good and i loved the representation it had. I just didn't feel connected to the characters and i felt like the characters were too superficial/one-dimensional. It was a good story but it could have been a great story

This was everything I look for in fantasy. I loved the political intrigue, how the relationship between two main characters developed and how ruthless they were. It's refreshing to see protagonists not only being descrbed as fierce/ dangerous, buy actually being that,.

A stunning fantasy about female love and friendship. I loved how mores and social customs we are constantly bombarded with as normal, were completely removed here - there's no reason why women can't occupy roles of authority, why it can's be as likely that a relationship is same sex as opposite sex etc. This book neatly sidesteps the question of 'strong female characters' in favour of giving us actual characters where gender doesn't matter. The story is gripping and the romance is slow burn and sweet. Really enjoyed this.