- 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").

Delighted to include this title in the July edition of Novel Encounters, my column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national lifestyle and culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

Weird, unhinged and irreverently comical, The Coin takes it's reader on a wild ride centered around a woman searching for structure, inclusion and purity. Yasmin provides an intimate look at mental stability amidst societal expectations and uses the chaotic landscape of New York as a backdrop. You feel the decent into madness in both subject matter and writing style. As the book unfolds, so does the narrators delivery, only to tighten up in the conclusion, aiding in the reader's journey through madness.

There is a moment in the beginning of the book when she is providing one of the students some encouragement that sets the narrative up so well and ultimately proves how unreliable the narrator truly is:

"Sometimes we have to become independent of our families, not because we don't love them but because they weigh us down. My comment made him emotional, I felt that he wanted to cry, I changed the subject. You want to hear my secret to success Jay? I have very few belongings, I'm focused on myself, I am my own greatest asset. And you, too, you are smart, kind, handsome. You are your own greatest asset, Jay. You don't need anyone or anything else."

Ultimately, this advice is taken in her own life and we witness the desire for material comfort, status and the, at times, uncomfortable desire for acceptance and love from others to satiate her sexual longing. Ultimately none of these desires are unfit but it lays the stage for a questionable journey with our narrator.

I appreciated the comical delivery of a Palestinian's vantage point on American culture with quotes like: "I was scared of American culture. When I say that, I don't mean the right to bare arms, I mean the wedding dresses and obesity". This is so poignant and lyrical in execution that I had to stop and commend her. It encapsulates so many strange societal norms in American culture acutely and left me thinking more about how the rest of the world views us here in the United States.

I want to include one other quote from the book that just hit home in both delivery and weight. Our narrator is beginning her decent as she waits for the toilet amidst American women dressed in foreign materials. Her friend mentions that they stand with Israel, and her, a Palestinian woman, simply agrees, saying, "The more contradictions in your life, the more complex your identity, the harder your soul, the more difficult it is to love and be loved. I don't want to be with similar people, I continued, if you rub my knotted strings together, they don't solve into a beautiful braid, they just become a big ugly mess."

I think overall there is more to unpack here and I am going to be rereading this novel upon release but I was pleasantly surprised and feel this will become a staple in the "unhinged women" genre, one of my absolute favorites and belongs on many best of lists. Excited for this release and to read more from this new voice in the future!

"The Coin" by Palestinian author Yasmin Zaher, is an existential, madness-slipping, and surreal tale of a wealthy New York woman struggling to conform to the American culture. She finds a job teaching at an all boy middle school where she clashes to teach within the curriculum and quickly going rogue in her teaching methods. This quick paced story is anything dull! Be ready for a surreal ride through themes of: sexuality, madness, freedom, culture, and more.

Readers who love existential, dark, and surreal stories will love "The Coin".

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I gave this book four out of five stars because while I enjoyed the thinking it inspired about such themes of identity, culture, sexuality, and more; I didn't connect to the main character (the female narrator) and at times I found her/ the writing to be dispassionate (flat and angsty). But at the same time Zaher leaves the reader with a story that makes you think days after reading.

Thank you Catapult press for bringing this title to NetGalley, and thank you to author Yasmin Zaher for "The Coin".

The Coin is an intense, grotesque, well-written character study. I both hated it and was very interested to see how it would end. This felt like something Kafka would have written if he had been a Palestinian woman. The unnamed narrator is incredibly unlikeable. She is extremely wealthy but also teaches underprivileged students (but also not really because most of her classes involve wasting time though she claims she also does more somewhere...?)
I kept wondering what was bothering me so much about this narrator aside from the most glaring reasons, and I think it's about lack of accountability. This woman seems very mentally disturbed, but there isn't help or consequences for any of it.
I agree that whoever designed the cover is brilliant.
Thanks to NetGalley and Catapult for this ARC!