From The Colorado Review:

"A wholly original character, the woman at the center of Zaher’s novel believes that she swallowed a coin during a road trip that killed her parents, and that the coin lives in her body, a symbol of her inheritance, both a gift and a curse, much like America (“How could the devil be the dream?” she wonders). She receives a monthly allowance from her father’s will, which makes her both rich and poor. “It was a tragedy,” she concedes, “but somehow I got lucky, I was redeemed by a good inheritance.”

Zaher’s novel is unflinching, her narrator transcending unlikability into the absurd, a strange obsession with cleanliness consuming her thoughts and actions as she believes she can purify her soul and appease the coin lodged inside of her."

can't believe I never left feedback on this one! better late than never. I read this a few months ago and still think about it! I loved the writing style, loved the protagonist, the messages relating to class and womanhood and wealth and status. just a really cool, unique story that went into some crazy and unexpected directions. highly recommend!

4.5 rounded up~

This was a fantastic read! I loved the narrator and her voice along with the writing, it kept me hooked the entire time.

Zaher's exciting debut novel explores class, culture, and identity in New York City. Inventive and enthralling!

- I have no idea what to make of THE COIN, but I am pretty sure I loved it, if that makes sense.
- Our unnamed narrator belongs to the grand tradition of Rich Women Falling Apart, but here we have the added layer of her being a Palenstinian woman living off family money in New York. The emotional, social, and historical complexity of this identity are clear in her muddled and often terrible actions.
- I really liked the concept of the coin in this story. I am certain many readers won’t, as its intended meaning is almost totally opaque. But I kind of love that: everyone can read something different into it.

I loved this wild, zany book, but almost don't know how to review it! The narrator is so singular and even though I read it months ago, I can't get it out of my head!

Unfortunately I DNFed this novel. While I could appreciate the tone and skillful writing, the overall atmosphere of the book was not for me. But I absolutely believe many others would enjoy!

Fascinating stuff.....I can't wait to read more from this author. Thank you so much for sharing. People are gonna love this book!

I think either the book was too complicated and metaphorical for me to understand or it just wasn’t the best…

I found the description of this book to not be quite accurate. Personally, the Birkin bag storyline seemed very minor. I'm surprised it was sold as a main plot point. However, I'm glad the book wasn't primarily about that! It is a very interior book and I needed something faster paced at the time I read it. A me problem, not a book problem. Side note: I would love to read a short story (or collection) by this author.

what an absolutely filthy little novel! this was lest of a hijinks novel then it was marketed to be but i ended up enjoying it more so because of that. incredible depressing narrator. really liked it and really was mismarketed i feel!

i think so often in modern literary fiction, books either underestimate the intelligence of the reader or overestimate the intelligence of themselves.

i've read lots of books that overexplain themselves, making every theme and symbol and intention very obvious and taking all the fun out of analyzing on your own. and i've read lots of books that fall apart under pressure, revealing that their various choices, in spite of (usually) heavy style or pretension, don't coalesce into anything.

this, finally, hit the sweet spot. a striking, disturbing, intense, complex read with something to say. i'd say it was a treat to read, but it wasn't — and that was the point.

This book is filled with elements that sound promising: a young Palestinian woman living in nyc, teaching middle school in spite of having a large inheritance, being obsessed with cleanliness and luxury all while unraveling into a pretty disfunctionally manic state. Her narrative voice, though, is almost too authentic and stream of consciousness and makes for occasionally stressful reading. There is undoubtedly a lot to unpack here and it would make for a very interesting book group read, but I don’t think it’s for everyone.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

This one is a hard one to review and rate because the experience was largely uncomfortable but I know that's the point. The writing in this was stunning and is very stream-of-conscious-like. It literally feels like you're in a fever dream the whole time.

We slowly see our main character unravel over the course of the book. She's obsessed with cleanliness and routine, but realises that she may never truly be 'clean.'

She's also displaced in the relationships in her life and doesn't really have a place where she fits in.

At just over 200 pages, this one packs a punch and while on the surface it may seem like it's a book about a woman unravelling, I think it's so much more. I think there's a lot of trauma the character is dealing with and the rituals she finds herself in are her way of coping with them, even if it's unhealthy.

The things she does doesn't always make sense to the reader, and nothing is truly resolved, but I also think that's the point.

This is one I think I'll revisit soon in the future because there's so much to unpack. Thanks to the publisher for the gifted physical copy and digital copy.

. I saw a review say, “Do we really need another novel about a woman coming undone in New York City? Yes, we do.” We do because this is different and fresh. The main character is a rich Palestinian woman who teaches at a NYC private school for underprivileged kids. Her teaching is unorthodox and she gets into a relationship with a homeless (?) man and gets involved in a Birkin bag scheme. Then, she has a nervous breakdown/the magical realism kicks in.

When I’m looking for a complicated character this is what I’m talking about. It’s weird and I loved every minute of it. You feel for Yasmin even if she makes bad choices

If you're looking for something fresh and original than you aren't going to find anything better this year. The Coin is a very funny yet provocative novel about a woman who is on the edge but still knows who she is. She arrives in America and gets a teaching job teaching underprivileged kids. She likes and hates her job. She starts to see the injustce of America. She then gets invloved in a birkin bag scheme with a guy named Trenchcoat. It's is very stream of conscious and you have to have patience with the novel. There were times when reading it where I was like what's going on but then stuck with it and started to see what the author was trying to do. It kind of was like the grass is always greener on the otherside but the narrator understood it and tried to find ways to look for the good even though she kept hitting walls. We all kind of do this in one way or another so it shouldn't discourage readers. I also like that Palestine was brought into the novel. I love hearing voices from all around the world even though I may or may not agree with it. It's always nice to keep an open mind and understand each other. Thanks to Catapult for the read as well as Netgalley. Give this unusual book a try.

Honestly didn't care for the story in this one. I was surprised because I know it's been a highly anticipated one, but the plot and characters just weren't compelling enough for me to really enjoy this story :/

Wow. This is a stunner. Women unraveling has been a trend in literature, but what Zaher does it next level. There are so many layers to this novel and I relished every one, even though some of this was quite difficult. I learned so much about history here as well through this unraveling.

A wealthy Palestinian woman commits various kinds of irresponsible acts. A very compelling voice. Recently a friend of mine said he loves reading novels where the narrator "has a take," and this narrator has a take. She's sort of unhinged and that makes the book very readable. I lost a little steam towards the end when the drama veers slightly out of the realist sphere and into something that makes for harder suspension of disbelief, but I enjoyed it to the end; the Birkin bag scheme thing was a real education, and there are specific lines in this narrator's confident, matter-of-fact voice that won't get out of my head ("I am always ready to fuck").