Thursday, October 22, 2020

Book Review: The Nameless Queen by Rebecca McLaughlin

 

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


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