I admit, this was one book whose cover captivated me from the get-go. And I was pleasantly surprised to find the content within very worthwhile. Coin and the world she lives in is full so much imagination and Intrigue that I could not stop reading it. It was interesting to see how the poor and the suffering exist, the Nameless whom no one cares for and have no status, in this world dominated by nobles and those with Names and how one survives it. I like how the author portrayed magic and the power behind names, weaving them together within Coin as she fights to survive and find a place to belong. Her best friend/protege, Hat, and Devil, a woman who knows all and sees all the darkness within their location and how to survive it, are also delightful characters with their own quirks that made me wish I was part of their circle of friends. But in noticeably better living conditions for sure. It's been a long time since I found a young adult novel that I really enjoyed as much as I did Nameless Queen. I look forward to reading more by McLaughlin and I do recommend this book for others who enjoy a good fantasy novel where romance isn't the main focus. I know do!

Author Rebecca McLaughlin published the novel “Nameless Queen” in 2020. This is her first publication. 

I categorize this novel as ‘PG’ because it contains scenes of mild violence. The story is set in another universe in the city of Seridan where magic is real. The primary character is a teenage girl known only as Coin. 

Coin is one of the 'Nameless'. Only those who have a name have status in this world. She has been living on the streets as far back as she can remember. Shortly after King Fallow dies she discovers the tattoo of a crown on her arm. That is the magical symbol of the heir to the throne. The only way King Fallow could have passed on his throne to her is by uttering her name. 

How can King Fallow have named her when she doesn't have a name? She wants to keep it hidden but when a close friend is in danger she reveals herself. No-one wants a Nameless in charge. She is constantly at odds with those in power, particularly General Demure. With no real education other than what she has learned on the streets, Coin has a difficult time fitting in. 

Nameless have been disappearing in Seriden. Coin tries to investigate but does not receive much help from the authorities. She discovers a plot to take over Seriden but finds herself at risk. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the 7.5+ hours I spent reading this 344-page young adult fantasy novel. The 'commoner-thrust-onto-the-throne' theme is not uncommon. This version does have some things to set it apart. While the novel came to a conclusion, there is plenty of room for a sequel. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a 4.5 (rounded up to a 5) out of 5.

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Enjoyed the adventure and I liked Coin's spunk, sarcasm and compassion as a main character. I didn't love that everything seemed to happen a bit too smoothly and predictably.

I received a complimentary ARC edition from Random House Children's/Crown Books for Young Readers! This is my honest and voluntary review.

There was something immature about the writing of this book. Maybe it was the class names/titles, but I had trouble getting past the simplicity of this world.

Coin is Nameless, which means she is among the lowest of the low. Nameless are orphans unworthy of names, basic necessities like clothes and housing , and forced to beg and steal for a living. When rulers die, they pass on their power by literally naming their heir, who will receive the mark of royalty, meaning names are very powerful. But when the King dies suddenly and Coin is now marked as his heir, she must navigate her way through vicious politics and unknown powers while surrounded by people she can't trust.
Seridan is deeply divided into classes, Royals being the wealthiest and most powerful, Legals who are your working class, and the Nameless, orphans who aren't allowed to own property, work jobs and live off the scraps of Royals and Legals. Seridan is a monarchy, whose ruler is chosen when the current ruler is on their deathbed and names their heir, gifting them a black crown tattoo to identify them. This is supposed to give everyone equal opportunity but the rich families tend to just name their son or daughter as heir. This raised a lot of questions, and some were answered, but I felt like I wanted to know more about the history of Seridan, all we really knew was that it was one of many different cities, all ruled much under the same manner and that tensions were a little high among them.
Coin is a very interesting character, she has built a tough exterior to survive as a Nameless. She has mastered certain techniques to con, steal and fight for what she needs to survive. Living such a hard life means that finding people you can trust is nearly impossible, and connections can mean life or death. I liked that Coin was a skilled heroine but it became a little frustrating when she was faced with a challenge and her first instinct was to run,  I understand that living a life on the run means running away is a valid and often wise tactic, but it was frustrating to see the character struggle with it.
It took me a very long time to read this, not because of the book, but because of my poor time management skills. It seems that working full time and starting graduate school during a global pandemic does not give you as much leisure time as you might think. The fact that I continued to trek through this book, bit by bit, says a lot about it. I usually just give up and try again later, but I was genuinely enjoying the book.

Great story and loved the romance. Loved the cast of characters and how the story came to be. Great story and I would read this author again.

2.5

Nameless Queen is a ya fantasy following a 17-year-old Nameless thief as she mysteriously becomes the new queen. The concept was really intriguing, but the execution did not hit the mark for me. The plot was really straight forward which is inherently bad, but it does make the story extremely predictable. The main villain is clear from the moment you meet them, the mysterious guy is hiding secrets, and the reason why she becomes queen was easy to predict. I don't think this is a universally bad book. I think it is aimed at a younger reader who has not read hundreds of other ya fantasy books. My reading experience was not enjoyable because everything was so predictable and the writing style was nothing special.

I really enjoyed this book! There were a few surprises thrown in that I didn't expect, but they didn't come out of left field. The characters were well-rounded and likeable, not prone to doing stupid things in order to forward the plot. I will definitely read more by this author! 

I received an ARC of this book, which has not affected my opinions.

One girl must make a name for herself--or die trying --in this royal fantasy where an unknown peasant becomes the ultimate ruler. But how long can she keep the crown if everyone wants her dead?

The Nameless Queen was truly a let down. Despite the growing negative reviews I still gave the book the benefit of the doubt and bought it. The book revolves arounds the life of an unknown thief that Is thrusted into the world of royalty and danger. Nameless Queen has roughly the same aspects of other ya fantasy books like Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard but unlike Aveyard’s beautifully created Queen, Mare Barrow, the nameless Queen was not a character that I was able to relate to or sympathize. I truly expected better but do encourage you to take a chance and figure out if this is something you enjoy.

<b>Rating:</b> 3/5 Stars 

I received an e-ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Nameless Queen is a politically charged YA fantasy novel. The world is made up of three groups: Royals who rule the land, Legals who are the regular citizens, and the Nameless who are homeless and are generally criminals struggling to survive. The Royals are the only ones who have magic and it is passed from ruler to ruler through a magical tattoo which is passed by saying the next heirs name as they die. The Nameless should never be eligible to become the next ruler since they have no names. Until it passes to “Coin” a Nameless girl who has been surviving as a grifter/con woman on the streets all her life. Suddenly, Coin finds herself with magical abilities and in the middle of a fight for the throne. 

What I liked: 
I thought McLaughin did a really good job with the world building and explaining the magic system without it feeling like an info-dump at any point. There was a lot to explain but she did it in a way that I felt like I was learning with Coin gradually over the course of the book and it made for a much more enjoyable read. 

I always love a snarky MC and Coin definitely delivers on that front. It was funny watching her bring they skills she used on the streets as a grifter into the court to fool the Royals around her. The scene with the pillows was hands down my favorite scene! Yes, you have the typical YA trope where she is pretty much immediately good at using her new abilities and seamlessly joining her new surroundings, but I will say that her being a con-woman helped smooth that out a bit. 

I enjoyed the side characters as well. Hat was the cutest and she lightened any of the scenes she was in. I thought Esther was a really well written character as well and her interactions with Coin were gold. 

What I didn’t like: 
There was a lot that was easy to predict. The villains were pretty obvious early on and I wish McLaughlin would have thrown in a bit more of a curve-ball or a surprise plot twist to spice it up a bit. 

Overall, I thought this was a easy, enjoyable read. I would definitely recommend if you’re looking for a stand-alone.

Unfortunately, this disappointed me.  It had a pretty predictable plotline with characters that were bland and uninteresting.  This didn't really have anything I haven't read before.

Title:  Nameless Queen
Author: Rebecca McLaughlin
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic, Dystopian
Publisher: Crown Books For Young Readers
Pages: 352
Where Did I Get: Courtesy of NetGalley and the Publisher

Book Summary:
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? 

BOOK REVIEW:

	One of the best books I’ve read in a really long time. What I really like about this book is the unlikely heroine of this book. Coin isn’t like any character that I’ve read in a really long time. Coin is not what you call someone who starts off as likeable, but rather someone that you come to understand her circumstances and tries her best to make due with them.

	Coin is someone who is Nameless. She has no rights in the society in which she has grown up in. The Nameless are people young and old who can’t hold jobs because they have no name or status. They are the ones who survive on the streets which can be dangerous. They are also starting to disappear and no one knows why or where they have gone. Coin is scared because some of these people are her friends. The Nameless are her friends. She also realizes that life isn’t getting any easier. We also learn that there is a Nameless who calls himself Marcher and he is kind of a smuggler, dealer of sorts that gets things done and makes deals if you need something for a certain price. We learn that Marcher has all kinds of secrets. Yet Coin’s life is going to get much more dangerous and complicated when someone leaves her a little bit of a gift or a curse.

	Someone gives her a mark and this mark means a whole lot of trouble and danger. The mark/tattoo is that of a crown. A Crown mean she is now the Queen and this puts Coin in a very vulnerable and powerful situation. We also learn that Coin’s friend Hat has been taken. So she is trying to find her friend and almost does, but then has to reveal she has the crown. The Mark of the Crown just can’t be transferred to another person without a battle or fight for it. It has to be earned in combat. So hence they explain things to her about the Assassins festival. This is one crazy situation.

	Then we learned that the Kings daughter, Esther is someone who is trying to help Coin, plus Coin Needs to take etiquette. We learn that there are things that Coin can’t really expect. Yet she makes some important discoveries about Magic, the Crown, Ester and herself. During the course of the book, she learns what has been really happening to the city and the kingdom. Also we learn that the Villain of the book is the person you really least to expect.

	The Villain of the book is the Old Kings Bodyguard. She wants to rule because society has fallen apart and she has made an Army of her own and they are the Nameless who have gone missing. She justifies this by saying the Nameless she has under her are grateful because they have gotten shelter and food and the promise of something that they haven’t had, a chance to be something more. I found the Villains justification interesting. She made some really good points.

	Also Coin starts to form some real relationships with both Esther or Glenquartz.  I found the development really interesting. Coin makes some mistakes but both of these relationships show some growth and a trust that she has lacked for some time. Esther tells her something from her memory and we learn that both Esther and Coin are sisters. When they look at each other, they find that they look a lot alike. So this means she was given to Marcher to raise and look after. This also means that Coin has a name that was not told to her for a reason. 

	So things get kind of crazy and weird in this book and there was a lot of turns and twists in it that I wasn’t expecting. I love that Coin was able to outsmart the villain and use her powers and brains to find a new future for herself and those she cares about. Plus the Nameless decided to go somewhere else on a boat. They are going to form a new city, but some decided to stay.

	I’m hoping that the Author will write a sequel because this book was so good and had so many different things that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Rating:

4.5 Hearts

Not for me. I tried several times to read this and couldn't get into it. Thank you for giving me the opportunity.

Peasant to ruler is always fun, but I've seen other stories do it much better. Didn't really find this to be that original, but it was still entertaining.

I really loved the unique idea of this story.  Coin made a great MC.  She was complicated and pragmatic.  The mystery of her tattoo and how she came to possess it, kept me hooked.  There were a few lulls in the story but not enough for me to put it down.  I do have some questions about the background of the book setting.  I hope some of that and the little nugget of information left hanging at the end of the book will be answered in the next installment.

Great read for anyone 14 and up.
Mild to moderate adult situations and violence.

Not too far off the general idea of Red Queen, i had the nagging thought that I’d already read this book as I read it. It was entertaining but not overall very different from other books in a similar genre.

I absolutely adored this book. It grabbed me from the very beginning, and held onto me the whole time. The characters were so strong and well written, relatable and engaging. The story kept me guessing as to what was gonna happen next, how was it all going to end. Definitely a must read for those looking for a well paced YA fantasy with excellent character development.

Fans of The Red Queen will love this book. A standalone novel that explores what happens when the lowest class of a city, people not even considered citizens, inexplicably gets named Queen. This book is fast paced and surprising in direction. Loved it. and while i am glad it wasnt part of a series (tired of cliffhangers) i find myself wishing for more.

I have been trying to read The Nameless Queen for a long time and I can't finish it. I'm a third of the way in and I'm still not hooked. I'm going to put this book on the back burner and do a more thorough review if I ever get the desire to pick this book back up. 
Here are the reasons I am DNFing:
-Too much like other YA Fantasy, it doesn't feel unique enough to finish.
-I am almost halfway into the novel and nothing has hooked me
-The protagonist isn't very likable or relatable


What I do like:
-The world is built really well
-Has a clear hierarchy
-The plot is easy to follow