Name: Nameless Queen
Rating: 3.5625 (16 reviews)
ISBN: 9781524700263

Rebecca McLaughlin

In the city of Seriden, the thief called Coin is Nameless -- she has no family, no legal rights, and no standing in society -- but she inherits the throne and the power and danger that come with it.

Nameless Queen

Lauren Sullivan

This book is a bit like its titular heroine, the Nameless Queen. I can’t say it’s exactly the book I expected from the blurb, but it’s definitely a good YA fantasy about powerlessness, feeling like you don’t belong, and creating your own found family.

“I am a misplaced puzzle piece. Worse, I’m a puzzle piece glued to the center of an otherwise beautiful painting. And the painting is on fire.
I am the thing that doesn’t make sense.”

The population of Seriden is divided into three castes: the Royals (the nobility), the Legals (working class), and the Nameless (basically homeless). The King or Queen is designated by a black crown tattoo on their shoulder, and they pass the kingdom (and their magic) to the next Royal by saying their name as they die. Sounds simple (if a ridiculous way of determining who the ruler is), but of course, everything changes the day after the king dies and Coin, a 17-year-old Nameless girl, wakes up with the crown tattoo. When a younger Nameless girl is arrested for a crime, Coin is forced to reveal herself as the queen. But no one, it seems, knows what to do with a Nameless queen, and Coin’s forced to choose between her past life and, well, no life at all.

“I swear by everything Nameless,” I say, stopping in front of him and pointing in his face, “that if you call me Highness or my lady one more spetzing time, I’m going to punch you right in your excellently bearded face.” I pause, collecting myself. “And I mean that … in a … not violent way? Yeah, I’ll work on it.”

Coin definitely had a lot of markers of my favorite sort of YA heroine. She’s prickly, but ultimately has a heart of gold. She does, unfortunately, suffer from Mary Sue syndrome, as she’s somehow able to immediately master magic and Royal etiquette near flawlessly. Even with that, though, I still liked her and enjoyed watching her try to adjust to royal life while still fighting for the Nameless. The other characters were decently done, from the scheming Royal Belrosa to Coin’s guard, Glenquartz, and I especially loved Esther, the princess and the one who was expected to be the next Queen. Her relationship with Coin was particularly well done.

My main criticism of the book is that the magic/caste system never really made sense to me. As the Queen, Coin has magic, like the ability to create illusions, but the magic only works on named people (so the Royals and Legals). Since she’s Nameless, that means she can create illusions that others see but she can’t. I never really understood why the Nameless weren’t affected by magic, despite the Charter history lesson. I do usually enjoy being thrown into a fantasy world and being left to figure out the why’s and how’s myself, but the magic system felt simultaneously too regimented and too loose to make sense to me.

“Things happen to us,” I say, “things we can’t control and things we don’t want. But we are more than what happens to us.”

So, what did I like about this book? At its heart, it’s all Coin making her own found family, with Glenquartz, the Legal guard assigned to her, with Hat, the Nameless girl she saved from execution, and Esther. It’s a bit preachy at times, yes, but the message itself was well done, and I liked watching Coin realize she could rely on other people and not worry about them hurting her back.

I also appreciated that there’s no romance in this book. While I’m a humongous romance fan (see, uh, my entire Goodreads history), I think it would’ve taken away from Coin’s journey in this book. Plus, it’s nice to see that not every YA heroine needs a romantic partner to make their story complete.

Overall, yes, this leans heavily toward wish-fulfillment and Mary Sue, it’s still an enjoyable found family fantasy, and I think it’ll hit the spot for many teen readers. Overall, I’d give this 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Luna

my new favorite found family!!

- glenquartz is literally perfection. guardian dad energy. dmitri belikov but actually good at his job

- fighting scenes that ... actually make sense??

- character development. i seriously was not into the first third of this because i’m not a fan of typical thief characters but this got SO good when glen-beard and esther came in

this would probably be a four star if there wasn’t a line about depression being a choice but ... other than that i love her

laura

*I got this book for review from the publisher*

I overall really enjoyed these characters and this world building. I also really enjoyed how this book addressed very current event elements and had such a interesting and compelling story as a read. I adored both the main character in the read and loved the message about making your own family so much. It was fun engaging pace read. I thought the end had some pacing issues but I really did grow to love the characters and this world. I think the highlight of this book was the world building and the group of the characters that came together for this adventure. Some plot elements had predictable elements but overall I enjoyed this read and will def read a book 2!

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received an e-arc copy of this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Author: Rebecca McLaughlin

Book Series: Standalone for now

Rating: 5/5

Publication Date: January 7, 2020

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 15+ (violence, death, gore, and tattoos)

Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 352

Amazon Link

Synopsis: Everyone expected the king's daughter would inherit the throne. No one expected me.

It shouldn't even be possible. I'm Nameless, a class of citizens so disrespected, we don't even get names. Heck, dozens of us have been going missing for months and no one seems to care.

But there's no denying the tattoo emblazoned on my arm. I am queen. In a palace where the corridors are more dangerous the streets, though, how could I possibly rule? And what will become of the Nameless if I don't?

Review: This book draws you in and refuses to let you go! I loved the setting and how the world was built throughout the novel. The book did excellent to convey the underlying message about poverty and how we create these social classes out of a need to be above someone else. The book also did well with character development and creation. There was also absolutely no romance in this book and, honestly, that's a huge breath of fresh air in the YA genre.

My only issues are that the book had a bit of a clunky ending. It's a bit rushed and I think it could be fleshed out a bit more but dang it was a great book! What a fantastic first January 2020 read for me! Rebecca McLaughlin, we need another one!

Verdict: Definitely worth your while to get this one!

Megan Leprich

*Thanks to Crown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for the complimentary copy for my honest review*

I picked up and put this book down more times than I count. Sadly one of the main reasons I kept picking it back up was the gorgeous cover, it drew me into the book in the first place. It's definitely very fast-paced but I wasn't a huge fan of the characters or the book as a whole. The concept was super intriguing but this book just fell really flat for me.

Kerri McDonald

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!

Nameless Queen

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