An excellent sapphic political fantasy, slow at times and perhaps too ambitious for the age target, but a carefully curated intriguing world with beautiful morally gray characters.

For a debut this is a really lush fantasy world with queer rep and a compelling relationship dynamic. It hit some cliches but overall a good book.

Even though I kept putting off reading this book for one reason or another, I was still quite excited for it now that I’d finally gotten to it! I mean, it has a sapphic romance, court politics, and assassination attempts, all things I generally love in fantasy! Unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to that excitement, though I did still enjoy my time with the book. It just never ended up fully gripping me, and I found it harder and harder to get myself to continue reading the book.

One thing that this book definitely did well was the POVs. Even though the book was written in first person, it was typically quite clear which character we were reading through at any particular moment, and that’s usually quite hard to accomplish with first-person writing in fantasy. I felt like Xania and Lia were both quite clear and distinct characters, and the beginning of the book set them up quite clearly (even if I felt like things got a bit more muddled later on).

I was quite into the romance at first, but it quickly fizzled out for me, unfortunately. I was just never fully able to get on board once we got past the pining, and it felt like there wasn’t that much chemistry and love during the middle/second half of the book, even if it did come back a bit for me right at the end. Since this was one of the big driving forces of the book, it made some scenes in the second half of the book fall flat for me, and I found it harder and harder to be invested in the book.

I think my main disappointment was the ending itself, and I felt like it could’ve been done differently to make it more impactful. We miss the POV of one of the characters for most of it, and I felt like that choice made us lose the impact of the final few chapters a bit. If we had seen both sides of it, those final moments and the repercussions for Xania and Lia’s futures might’ve felt more built-up/fleshed out. As it was, I felt like it almost came out of nowhere, and we never got the time to truly sit with the consequences of it, either as the events were happening or afterward. It just made the whole thing fall flat for me, in the end.

Overall, I am glad I finally read this book, and I still quite enjoyed reading it, even if it isn’t a new favorite.


Review will go live on blog on November 21st.

This was an interesting fantasy book to read... I like the dual perspective of the story and the relationships. A lot of the rest of the book felt quite generic, despite the really intriguing premise.

I was eager to love this novel, but there was something missing for me. I was not able to connect with the characters in the way I wanted too and really fall in love with Lia and Xania. There was just a lack of emotion for me that made it difficult for me to power through it.

It was nice, but it could have been more? i felt like it was missing something .. But an pluss was that the cover was so beautiful.

I'm really sorry to say that I'm just not as in to this as I wish I was. It sounds so freakin good on paper, and even the worldbuilding is really interesting, but nothing is punching like it should.

The two mains are the new queen in a court rife with backstabbing and intrigue and her newly appointed master of spies on a mission of her own. The power imbalance issue alone should be sparking romantic angst in me but it's just not. I don't feel like I have a good hold on either of the characters, and I don't really feel the chemistry between them. The structure and pacing also seemed...prosaic? The character introductions specifically just felt like very formulaic Serious High Fantasy Building Blocks(tm).

That being said, as mentioned earlier I did really enjoy the worldbuilding and if you're a fan of political/court intrigue in your fantasy definitely give it a shot!

Queen of Coin and Whispers follows Lia who is a teenager when she inherits her corrupt uncle's kingdom and becomes queen. She hires Xania to avenge whoever killed her father.

This sorry has a lot going on for it. Enemies who plot against Lia, this leads to Lia and Xania leaning that they can only rely on each other. There are spies, assassins, secret passways! I enjoyed the morally grey-ness of these characters; they learn that they can't always be nice, that they have to get their hands dirty.

I do have to note that there is also a strong family and friends relationship. It is always great to see multiple relationships in YA fantasy because I feel that this is something that gets overlooked at times but this book does a great job of keeping things in balance.

The political intrigue was one of my favorite parts of this book. I enjoyed the social system, it's well fleshed out.

This book has strong female characters, queerness, politics, book love and so much more. This book is 464 pages long, it's well-paced. The authors writing style is great, I will be keeping an eye out for more books by Helen Corcoran.


This cover is just and amazing as the story within. If you are looking for political fantasy with queer, relationships, strong females, revenge, then this may be the book for you.

I was anticipating loving this novel and although I enjoyed it, it wasn't quite the page turner I was expecting it to be. I think Queen of Coin and Whispers would be the perfect novel for young to mid teens who are interested in trying out fantasy novels that aren't too overly complicated. The sapphic romance was what kept the book interesting to me, it was very sweet to read about a young Queen overcoming barriers to ensure she could spend her life with her true love. I think I've now come to expect much more complex plots and high stakes from my fantasy novels but I'm sure my younger self would have thoroughly enjoyed this book which is exactly the age range it's aimed at.

This wasn't entirely for me, but it was a really accessible fantasy. I think this would be an amazing read for someone who isn't as familiar with fantasy, and I loved the sapphic romance.

From the moment this book was announced, I knew I had to read it. It was a highly anticipated read for me, especially the fact that there was political intrigue a la The Winner's Curse trilogy. You definitely need to give this book a read if you like: dark fantasies, girls unafraid of a little revenge, found family and of course, sapphic romance!

I love a great f/f fantasy book without magic! Honestly so refreshing and so fun. I decided to read this one on a whim and I wasn’t disappointed. It was compelling and intriguing and I loved every second

ARC received by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly this book was a DNF for me. The premise was exactly what I was looking for and I was so excited. Despite the many times I tried to get through this book I just couldn't make it past 40%. It was just so, so slow that I felt like a giant slog. If the plot moved along just a little faster I would have been able to bear it, but I just couldn't make myself push through.

I really enjoyed this, It was a highly anticipated book of mine and it didn't disappoint one bit!

There's a lot of political intrigue, drama, tension, spies, murder plots and a blossoming romance set against the backdrop of a Queen's court.
The world was fascinating and I loved learning more about it, the politics and behind the scenes tension between the countries and courtiers that fuelled the book were complicated but interesting.
I loved both of the main characters, they were so different but both were living in the shadow of their fathers and trying to be better than those around and before them. I was so invested in their romance, and their interactions. They had so much going against them, and so many obstacles to overcome.

This book honestly made me sob several times, there are some truly heartbreaking moments in here, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.
I highly recommend this excellent book!

As a result of my various committee appointments and commitments I am unable to disclose my personal thoughts on this title at this time. Please see my star rating for a general overview of how I felt about this title. Additionally, you may check my GoodReads for additional information on what thoughts I’m able to share publicly. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this and any other titles you are in charge of.

Lia is heir to the throne and when her uncle dies she inherits a kingdom that is close to bankruptcy. Lia wants to be a better ruler than her uncle and wants to bring prosperity to her land, but things might be harder than she hopes as she will have to keep the Court happy if Lia wants her laws to pass in parliament.
Lia appoints Xania, a young woman, to be her Master of Whispers. Lia wants revenge for her father's murder and plans to use her new position to get the proof she needs.
Neither Lia nor Xania planned on falling for each other and they will have to hide their feelings from the Court and visiting royalty.
Will Lia be a better ruler than her uncle?
Can Lia and Xania have a future together when Lia needs an heir?

Having heard lots of good things about this book, I was excited to read it. While it didn't quite live up to my expectations, I did enjoy it.
Lia and Xania were likeable and relatable protagonists. Lia had a lot of pressure on her shoulders and I was rooting for her to be able to do the things she wanted as queen. Xania was different to Lia, but they were both determined and loved their families. It was interesting to read as they grew closer and how they dealt with difficult situations.
The romance wasn't one of my favourites, but I didn't dislike it and I liked that it was a F/F romance.
The book was mostly set in the palace so we don't get to see much of the world the book is set in.
The plot was enjoyable overall, but I did find myself losing interest at one point, however, not long after that something happened that I wasn't expecting which drew me back in.
The writing style was easy to follow most of the time, but there were times when I felt that there could have been more description as I did find it difficult to differentiate between some characters when several were introduced at once.
I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

Unfortunately, I DNFed this one. I've been trying to get back into it since the start of the year so I could give some feedback on it, but I just haven't been able to. It was so disappointing, probably made more so because I had been so, so excited by "sapphic" and "spies". Unfortunately, I just couldn't get through it. I adore heavy political worldbuilding as you often see in adult fantasy, but this just fell so short. None of it made sense, the characters were very inconsistent, and even the sapphic relationship couldn't help save it. However, I seem to be very much the minority in my thoughts on this book so it's very obviously a case of me being the problem, not the book, and I encourage everyone to pick up this book if they're interested in sapphic spymasters and queens!

I was so excited for this book but it just fell flag for me.

I didn't feel any of the intrigue, the POV characters were too similar for me and I kept forgetting who's perspective I was reading and the characters just fell flat. I also feel like a lot of this book was telling how people feel rather than showing it.

I started this out with really high hopes! A romance between a new Queen and her spymaster? Yes please!! I love political intrigue novels and this is a sapphic love story so this really sounded like my cup of tea.

The book starts off showing that this isn’t just your average formulaic YA ‘_____ of ____ and ____’ title. There is someone named “Coin” and someone named “Whispers”. I still don’t know how I feel about this.

I was intrigued by the very beginning, although even early on I felt like the problems had some very evident solutions but I figured they were part of a larger picture I couldn’t see yet. Stories that emphasize political intrigue are usually focused on the complicated web that is slowly revealed throughout the book. But in Queen of Coin and Whispers this web is loosely woven, full of gaps, and never really pulled tight.

The just felt like bad decisions after bad decision that compiled until the characters were forced into extreme actions. Starting with appointing a completely untrained and untested person as your spymaster. And if they didn’t at least partially resolve the issue they were facing then unlikely allies just.. showed up.

And all the solutions that I’d thought of at the beginning… were resolved in the epilogue. Literally… adoption. That was a resolution to a central romantic conflict… and it just…. didn’t exist til the epilogue apparently even though the love interest is a stepkid who gained status through her mothers marriage. It’s just frustrating things like that.

One of the most interesting things was the remnants of an occupying empire in a freed country, but that was hardly explored. I would have loved to see more.

I don’t have any real complaints about the book, it just fell flat in a lot of ways.

If you want to read something like this with better follow through I’ve seen people recommend The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski and Trickster’s Choice by Tamora Pierce.

Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the opportunity to read this ARC.

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.