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Queen of Coin and Whispers #1
Queen of Coin and Whispers
She loved me as I loved her, fierce as a bloodied blade
When Lia, an idealistic queen, falls for Xania, her new spymaster--who took the job to avenge her murdered father--they realise all isn't fair in love and treason.
Lia won't mourn her uncle: he's left her a bankrupt kingdom considered easy pickings by its neighbours. She's sworn to be a better ruler, but if she wants to push through her reforms, she needs to beat the Court at its own games. For years, Xania's been determined to uncover her father's murderer. She finally gets a chance when Lia gives her a choice: become her new spymaster, or take a one way trip to the executioner's axe. It's an easy decision.
When they fall for each other, their love complicates Lia's responsibilities and Xania's plans for vengeance. As they're drawn together amid royal suitors and new diplomats, they uncover treason that could not only end Lia's reign, but ruin their weakened country. They must decide not only what to sacrifice for duty, but also for each other.
When Lia, an idealistic queen, falls for Xania, her new spymaster--who took the job to avenge her murdered father--they realise all isn't fair in love and treason.
Lia won't mourn her uncle: he's left her a bankrupt kingdom considered easy pickings by its neighbours. She's sworn to be a better ruler, but if she wants to push through her reforms, she needs to beat the Court at its own games. For years, Xania's been determined to uncover her father's murderer. She finally gets a chance when Lia gives her a choice: become her new spymaster, or take a one way trip to the executioner's axe. It's an easy decision.
When they fall for each other, their love complicates Lia's responsibilities and Xania's plans for vengeance. As they're drawn together amid royal suitors and new diplomats, they uncover treason that could not only end Lia's reign, but ruin their weakened country. They must decide not only what to sacrifice for duty, but also for each other.
464 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2020
211 people are currently reading
17461 people want to read
About the author
Helen Corcoran
5 books268 followersHelen Corcoran was born and raised in Ireland, but is more likely to go searching for a werewolf than a crock of gold at the end of a rainbow. She worked as a bookseller for twelve years, with a specific interest in fantasy and YA fiction, which she also writes. She currently lives in Dublin, cultivating a budding caffeine addiction while her book collection threatens to take over her house.
Queen of Coin and Whispers is her debut YA novel. The sequel Daughter of Winter and Twilight will be published in 2023.
Queen of Coin and Whispers is her debut YA novel. The sequel Daughter of Winter and Twilight will be published in 2023.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 582 reviews
June 12, 2020
I’m biased, of course, but this book means a lot to me!
QUEEN OF COIN AND WHISPERS is YA fantasy of manners. It’s about Lia, a newly crowned, idealistic queen, and Xania, her (female) spymaster, who takes the job to uncover her father’s murderer. When they fall for each other, their feelings collide with their expected paths in life: duty and vengeance.
It might be your cup of tea if you like:
✨ f/f (both are lesbians; Xania is also demi)
✨ a queen who’s grown up wanting to rule
✨a girl who likes numbers (and revenge)
✨ flirting through books
✨ kind step-parents, strong family and sibling relationships
✨ politics
✨ queer friendships
✨ predominately female cast
It may also be your cup of tea If you enjoyed the queer relationships in THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE and OF FIRE AND STARS, and liked the political intrigue aspect of THE WINNER’S CURSE trilogy.
General content warnings—as this book revolves around political intrigue, there is:
▪️ an offscreen suicide
▪️ murder
▪️ emotional torture
QUEEN OF COIN AND WHISPERS is YA fantasy of manners. It’s about Lia, a newly crowned, idealistic queen, and Xania, her (female) spymaster, who takes the job to uncover her father’s murderer. When they fall for each other, their feelings collide with their expected paths in life: duty and vengeance.
It might be your cup of tea if you like:
✨ f/f (both are lesbians; Xania is also demi)
✨ a queen who’s grown up wanting to rule
✨a girl who likes numbers (and revenge)
✨ flirting through books
✨ kind step-parents, strong family and sibling relationships
✨ politics
✨ queer friendships
✨ predominately female cast
It may also be your cup of tea If you enjoyed the queer relationships in THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE and OF FIRE AND STARS, and liked the political intrigue aspect of THE WINNER’S CURSE trilogy.
General content warnings—as this book revolves around political intrigue, there is:
▪️ an offscreen suicide
▪️ murder
▪️ emotional torture
December 31, 2021
rep: lesbian mc, poc lesbian mc, lesbian, gay & bi side characters, poc side characters
ARC provided by the publisher.
2.5 ☆
A fantasy novel featuring a sapphic relationship between a queen and her spymaster? What could be better, you ask? Well, actually...
First things first, this is not a bad book. But. Unfortunately, there's a but. I can see what this book tries to achieve and I deeply appreciate it, it's just that it doesn't really reach its goals.
Both Lia (the queen) and Xania (the spymaster) are made out to be somewhat ruthless. There's a lot of blood and knives and revenge imagery used, yet no real heat behind any of it. It all ends in descriptions or their inner monologues. And yes, people die in this book, often at the hands of one of the girls. Still, it never feels like the stakes are high, like those girls are actually fierce.
In my mind this comes down to the fact that neither of them is properly fleshed out. It's hard to care about a character and their actions (even if they're in the middle of stabbing someone to death), when said character seems more like an idea of a person than an actual person. The novel is absolutely packed with action, which in theory should help the whole "show not tell" concept, and yet. So much is going on that there's not a lot of space for the characters to react to stuff. And for the reader to get to know them.
The writing style isn't doing the novel any good, either - it's rather dry and devoid of emotions. It's literally just imagery (here in the form of pointed one-sentence paragraphs stacked on top of each other) over substance.
The underdeveloped main characters & the plethora of events form some kind of a vicious circle where the reader doesn't care about anyone in the story due to being overwhelmed with action and politics, but nothing that happens affects the reader due to not caring about the characters.
I imagine Queen of Coin and Whispers would benefit from being a duology, with more pages to properly execute all the cool concepts. I absolutely loved the idea of this book. I just wish I loved the book more.
ARC provided by the publisher.
2.5 ☆
A fantasy novel featuring a sapphic relationship between a queen and her spymaster? What could be better, you ask? Well, actually...
First things first, this is not a bad book. But. Unfortunately, there's a but. I can see what this book tries to achieve and I deeply appreciate it, it's just that it doesn't really reach its goals.
Both Lia (the queen) and Xania (the spymaster) are made out to be somewhat ruthless. There's a lot of blood and knives and revenge imagery used, yet no real heat behind any of it. It all ends in descriptions or their inner monologues. And yes, people die in this book, often at the hands of one of the girls. Still, it never feels like the stakes are high, like those girls are actually fierce.
In my mind this comes down to the fact that neither of them is properly fleshed out. It's hard to care about a character and their actions (even if they're in the middle of stabbing someone to death), when said character seems more like an idea of a person than an actual person. The novel is absolutely packed with action, which in theory should help the whole "show not tell" concept, and yet. So much is going on that there's not a lot of space for the characters to react to stuff. And for the reader to get to know them.
The writing style isn't doing the novel any good, either - it's rather dry and devoid of emotions. It's literally just imagery (here in the form of pointed one-sentence paragraphs stacked on top of each other) over substance.
The underdeveloped main characters & the plethora of events form some kind of a vicious circle where the reader doesn't care about anyone in the story due to being overwhelmed with action and politics, but nothing that happens affects the reader due to not caring about the characters.
I imagine Queen of Coin and Whispers would benefit from being a duology, with more pages to properly execute all the cool concepts. I absolutely loved the idea of this book. I just wish I loved the book more.
August 31, 2020
I was sent this book in exchange for an honest review. This hasn't affected my opinions in any way.
This was . . . Fine. I enjoyed myself mostly, I'm glad I read it, but had I put it down and not picked it up again I likely wouldn't have remembered nor cared.
I'm trying really hard to review this book in depth like I normally would, but honestly I just don't have anything to say. I have no real criticisms of this book, and no real praise. I didn't dislike my reading experience, but this book was utterly forgettable.
This was . . . Fine. I enjoyed myself mostly, I'm glad I read it, but had I put it down and not picked it up again I likely wouldn't have remembered nor cared.
I'm trying really hard to review this book in depth like I normally would, but honestly I just don't have anything to say. I have no real criticisms of this book, and no real praise. I didn't dislike my reading experience, but this book was utterly forgettable.
January 6, 2021
Helen Corcoran is out to put Ireland on the map when it comes to outstanding YA fantasy. A fresh voice in the genre, this book is out for blood and for your hearts.
Following the paths of a young Queen come to power and her spymaster out for vengeance, QUEEN OF COIN AND WHISPERS is an action-packed story full of political intrigue, twist, turns and intense emotions. It is also a wonderful love story between these two powerful women trying to balance out everything they've already got on their plates with their feelings for one another.
If you're looking for an Audrey Coulthurst-esque story with less magic and more good ol' murder, this is the book for you.
The characters are all multifaceted and feel like real people, you get a sense not only of the protagonists, but also everyone around them - friends, foes, family and everything in between, they are each their own persons. This is definitely the case where you may once overlook one character or another only for that mistake to come back and haunt you later.
Unlike many YA fantasy stories, this has fabulous portrayals of parents and the way the remain parts of their children't story even as said children are out being busy Queens and spymasters. Additionally, this has a wonderful, healthy representation of a step-parent and I love love love that!
What this book also does very well is show all these very different ways one can be a strong female character within a fantasy setting. QUEEN celebrates countless different forms of femininity and strength. It invokes and reinforces the idea that there is not one single right way to be a strong woman; Helen not only tells you all these great things, but she constantly shows you all these ideas through her exceptional characters and the respect they uphold for one another.
It must be said that the romance is wonderful. It does very much play with the idea of these two powerful characters allowing themselves to be vulnerable with one another and placing all this trust in each and becoming one another's self havens in this wild world. The scene of their initial introduction is A+++ and the following tenderness of their first interactions is touching, you see them being typical lovesick teens attempting to connect with the girl they like. However, you also see them battle with the way their possible romance influences their professional relation as well as the social status quo (because of class difference as opposed to homophobia for once,hurray!).
What blew me away the most was the way the book balances the dry wit & humour and the serious plot. All that political intrigue still blows my mind. I am in honest awe. I LOVE the political dimensions of fantasy stories and this is one that checked all my boxes. I would love to see more of this explored in other books set into this world because I feel like Helen Corcoran has much more to show her readers.
CANNOT RECOMMEND YOU THIS BOOK ENOUGH*
*I have been made aware that the finished copy has a cat so I can, in fact, recommend you this book even more intensely than I did before
~This holds up for the third reread and the audiobook makes it feel like a whole other experience.
Following the paths of a young Queen come to power and her spymaster out for vengeance, QUEEN OF COIN AND WHISPERS is an action-packed story full of political intrigue, twist, turns and intense emotions. It is also a wonderful love story between these two powerful women trying to balance out everything they've already got on their plates with their feelings for one another.
If you're looking for an Audrey Coulthurst-esque story with less magic and more good ol' murder, this is the book for you.
The characters are all multifaceted and feel like real people, you get a sense not only of the protagonists, but also everyone around them - friends, foes, family and everything in between, they are each their own persons. This is definitely the case where you may once overlook one character or another only for that mistake to come back and haunt you later.
Unlike many YA fantasy stories, this has fabulous portrayals of parents and the way the remain parts of their children't story even as said children are out being busy Queens and spymasters. Additionally, this has a wonderful, healthy representation of a step-parent and I love love love that!
What this book also does very well is show all these very different ways one can be a strong female character within a fantasy setting. QUEEN celebrates countless different forms of femininity and strength. It invokes and reinforces the idea that there is not one single right way to be a strong woman; Helen not only tells you all these great things, but she constantly shows you all these ideas through her exceptional characters and the respect they uphold for one another.
It must be said that the romance is wonderful. It does very much play with the idea of these two powerful characters allowing themselves to be vulnerable with one another and placing all this trust in each and becoming one another's self havens in this wild world. The scene of their initial introduction is A+++ and the following tenderness of their first interactions is touching, you see them being typical lovesick teens attempting to connect with the girl they like. However, you also see them battle with the way their possible romance influences their professional relation as well as the social status quo (because of class difference as opposed to homophobia for once,hurray!).
What blew me away the most was the way the book balances the dry wit & humour and the serious plot. All that political intrigue still blows my mind. I am in honest awe. I LOVE the political dimensions of fantasy stories and this is one that checked all my boxes. I would love to see more of this explored in other books set into this world because I feel like Helen Corcoran has much more to show her readers.
CANNOT RECOMMEND YOU THIS BOOK ENOUGH*
*I have been made aware that the finished copy has a cat so I can, in fact, recommend you this book even more intensely than I did before
~This holds up for the third reread and the audiobook makes it feel like a whole other experience.
August 27, 2021
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Queen of Coin and Whispers is a very generic YA fantasy novel. While it is not necessarily badly written, its story, setting, and characters are both forgettable and lacklustre.
What initially drew me to Queen of Coin and Whispers was its F/F romance. Once I began reading this book I quickly realised that the queer romance was the only thing that makes this story somewhat more interesting than your usual YA fantasy. The world-building is poorly rendered, the plot, as such, consisted in a succession of cliché after cliché, and most disappointing of all is the romance, which severely lacked chemistry.
The World-building/Setting
The setting is a generic fantasy one. There is an attempt to make this world different by dividing social classes into steps (barons are third steps, while lord and ladies are sixth and seventh steps). This whole step system was wholly unnecessary as the characters already have titles, and readers could therefore workout who sits where on the social hierarchy. The rest (clothes, customs, architecture, the kingdom's history) is barely hinted at. The country's attitude towards same-sex relationships is briefly hinted at towards the beginning, and later on we discover that same-sex marriages are legal, but we don't really know more details than that (when this happened, whether homophobia still occurs, etc). We are told that Edar, the country Lia rules, is no longer religious, but we don't get much more information beyond that. What sort of religion? What about Edar's myths and or lore?
Most of the story takes place in inside Edar's royal palace, and you would think that we would get an extensive history of it (when it was constructed, its dimension/style) but we don't. We know that nobles live in apartments inside the palace, but we don't really know how they are set out (on more than one floor?).
The Story
Like many YA books out there this book stars a newly crowned queen who has to assert her power. She decides to make Xania into her spymaster. There is gossip, some drama between different factions, an assassination attempt or two, and some foreign princes. As the queen Lia has to marry in order to have an heir. Lia and Xania fall in love. That's sort of it.
The Characters
Lia: most characters describe her as an idealist...so I guess we could say she is that. Other than that nothing about her stood out.
Xania: much is made about her...she is Lia's Whispers, aka her spy, and should therefore be feared by the court...to me however she was way way way too green to be a convincing spymaster. She is seventeen, she must have only recently started working at the palace's treasury, and that would hardly make her well-versed into the art of spying. When she describes those instances in which she extrapolates informations from others she is so self-dramatising. She goes on about how dangerous she is...and for some reason she has learnt self-defence even if she was raised at the palace...I just wasn't convinced by her character.
Other characters: they are either good or bad, but most of all they are forgettable.
The Writing
Lia and Xania have first person narrations...and they sound exactly the same. There were a lot of unnecessary attempts at making them sound edgy (so we have many metaphors involving thorns and blades). Other than that the writing was all-right, nothing too elaborate.
Final Verdict
I just didn't feel the chemistry between the two main characters. The story was predictable, the setting was barely rendered, and the writing was unremarkable. All in all, I would not recommend this. If you are looking for a satisfying F/F YA fantasy novel I would suggest Marie Rutkoski's The Midnight Lie.
Queen of Coin and Whispers is a very generic YA fantasy novel. While it is not necessarily badly written, its story, setting, and characters are both forgettable and lacklustre.
What initially drew me to Queen of Coin and Whispers was its F/F romance. Once I began reading this book I quickly realised that the queer romance was the only thing that makes this story somewhat more interesting than your usual YA fantasy. The world-building is poorly rendered, the plot, as such, consisted in a succession of cliché after cliché, and most disappointing of all is the romance, which severely lacked chemistry.
The World-building/Setting
The setting is a generic fantasy one. There is an attempt to make this world different by dividing social classes into steps (barons are third steps, while lord and ladies are sixth and seventh steps). This whole step system was wholly unnecessary as the characters already have titles, and readers could therefore workout who sits where on the social hierarchy. The rest (clothes, customs, architecture, the kingdom's history) is barely hinted at. The country's attitude towards same-sex relationships is briefly hinted at towards the beginning, and later on we discover that same-sex marriages are legal, but we don't really know more details than that (when this happened, whether homophobia still occurs, etc). We are told that Edar, the country Lia rules, is no longer religious, but we don't get much more information beyond that. What sort of religion? What about Edar's myths and or lore?
Most of the story takes place in inside Edar's royal palace, and you would think that we would get an extensive history of it (when it was constructed, its dimension/style) but we don't. We know that nobles live in apartments inside the palace, but we don't really know how they are set out (on more than one floor?).
The Story
Like many YA books out there this book stars a newly crowned queen who has to assert her power. She decides to make Xania into her spymaster. There is gossip, some drama between different factions, an assassination attempt or two, and some foreign princes. As the queen Lia has to marry in order to have an heir. Lia and Xania fall in love. That's sort of it.
The Characters
Lia: most characters describe her as an idealist...so I guess we could say she is that. Other than that nothing about her stood out.
Xania: much is made about her...she is Lia's Whispers, aka her spy, and should therefore be feared by the court...to me however she was way way way too green to be a convincing spymaster. She is seventeen, she must have only recently started working at the palace's treasury, and that would hardly make her well-versed into the art of spying. When she describes those instances in which she extrapolates informations from others she is so self-dramatising. She goes on about how dangerous she is...and for some reason she has learnt self-defence even if she was raised at the palace...I just wasn't convinced by her character.
Other characters: they are either good or bad, but most of all they are forgettable.
The Writing
Lia and Xania have first person narrations...and they sound exactly the same. There were a lot of unnecessary attempts at making them sound edgy (so we have many metaphors involving thorns and blades). Other than that the writing was all-right, nothing too elaborate.
Final Verdict
I just didn't feel the chemistry between the two main characters. The story was predictable, the setting was barely rendered, and the writing was unremarkable. All in all, I would not recommend this. If you are looking for a satisfying F/F YA fantasy novel I would suggest Marie Rutkoski's The Midnight Lie.
Want to read
November 21, 2019a queen? falling in love with a spy? and they’re both girls?
ongmgnsvwrljsg this sounds SO good
ongmgnsvwrljsg this sounds SO good
September 19, 2020
Star Rating: —> 2 Stars
Yeah... just... not for me. So boring; I just did not care ATALL about any of the characters... just no.
***Buddy Read with my OTP BR soul sister, Darceeeee! 😘***
The romance between the MC’s, Lia & Xania, invoked absolutely ZERO feeling from me☹️... which is SO RARE; I am such an emotional sap, lol!
I usually always LOVE love... but nope, not here ! Blahhhhh. I wanted to read a great f/f romance... this did NOT deliver; so very disappointed. 😔
I normally finish a buddy read with Darce in about two or three days...
( We DO live 14 hours apart, as I live in the US, and Darce is in Australia, so it DOES take a little bit longer sometimes, even though we generally speed read like freakin’ BOSSES! )
...but this took me foreverrrrrrr (poor Darce, haha). I almost DNF’d it... but I decided that I wanted to finish what I started 😕.
Gahhh the pleasure of OCD, lol. Led me to be bored out of my mind for approx 400 pages, pushing myself with everything I had to finish this.
I am sad to say— I do not recommend. I don’t think any book has bored me as much as this one. I hate to say that about any author’s work... especially about
debuts. I have to express my true feelings, though!
Oh well— time to move on!
Yeah... just... not for me. So boring; I just did not care ATALL about any of the characters... just no.
***Buddy Read with my OTP BR soul sister, Darceeeee! 😘***
The romance between the MC’s, Lia & Xania, invoked absolutely ZERO feeling from me☹️... which is SO RARE; I am such an emotional sap, lol!
I usually always LOVE love... but nope, not here ! Blahhhhh. I wanted to read a great f/f romance... this did NOT deliver; so very disappointed. 😔
I normally finish a buddy read with Darce in about two or three days...
( We DO live 14 hours apart, as I live in the US, and Darce is in Australia, so it DOES take a little bit longer sometimes, even though we generally speed read like freakin’ BOSSES! )
...but this took me foreverrrrrrr (poor Darce, haha). I almost DNF’d it... but I decided that I wanted to finish what I started 😕.
Gahhh the pleasure of OCD, lol. Led me to be bored out of my mind for approx 400 pages, pushing myself with everything I had to finish this.
I am sad to say— I do not recommend. I don’t think any book has bored me as much as this one. I hate to say that about any author’s work... especially about
debuts. I have to express my true feelings, though!
Oh well— time to move on!
March 12, 2021
(3.5)
Five Reasons You Should Be Looking Forward to this Book
Rep: lesbian mcs, lesbian, gay & bi side characters, brown mc
Galley provided by publisher
Five Reasons You Should Be Looking Forward to this Book
Rep: lesbian mcs, lesbian, gay & bi side characters, brown mc
Galley provided by publisher
May 25, 2020
I was so excited to read this sapphic fantasy between a princess and her spymaster because I was fascinated by the premise. I would have read it much earlier if not for the pandemic messing up with my focus and making me too anxious to read anything. But now that I have read, I’m pretty unsure what I have to say.
It’s not that the writing is bad. It was actually very easy to read and I finished it in a single sitting with very little breaks in between. But I also felt that the story promised a lot more than what we eventually get. I expected a lot of court intrigue and betrayals and assassinations, and while all of them were present in the story, they were written in such a way that it all felt very underwhelming. I kept expecting that something would blow me away and when the said event occurred, I felt deflated - and this happened quite a few times. The worldbuilding is also very limited and we only get to know the basic names of the country and it’s neighbors, and a little about the drought and harvest. There are a couple of action sequences, which again didn’t thrill me as I wanted them to. And the last 15-20% was so rushed, and everything resolved so quickly that I lost whatever interest I still had in the story.
Lia is the new Queen who is an idealist and wants to do good for her people, and uproot all the corruption left by her Uncle. But I mostly felt like it was all words, she was clearly overwhelmed, and didn’t really do much for the supposed common people. Xania is a young noble who wants revenge for her father’s death and unexpectedly becomes the spymaster, and it really intrigued me how she learnt all the skills to be one at her age (she only turns eighteen in the middle of the book). Both of them kinda become friends which turns to attraction and love, and while I could sympathize with their feelings, the chemistry or the longing for being in almost a forbidden relationship was pretty nonexistent.
There are also some side characters but none of them were fleshed out enough for me to care about them. Matthias was a loyal friend to both the Queen and Xania and probably the only one who brought some humor to the dialogue. The villains were pretty in your face about their intentions, so I never really had to guess who was gonna be the betrayer. But I did like the portrayal of the mother-daughter relationships and how much the women were ready to do to protect their children. And it was a very interesting contrast to other women who had to choose between their children and the welfare of their family.
In the end, whenever I feel this way about a highly anticipated book, I always think I put too high of an expectation on them. But I don’t believe it was the case here. While this was an easily readable YA fantasy novel, there weren’t many novel elements in it which we haven’t read before, but I still appreciated the POC/Queer cast and the sapphic romance. I think this would work well for readers who are new to the fantasy genre, but if you have been an avid reader of YA fantasy for years, this might feel a bit unremarkable.
It’s not that the writing is bad. It was actually very easy to read and I finished it in a single sitting with very little breaks in between. But I also felt that the story promised a lot more than what we eventually get. I expected a lot of court intrigue and betrayals and assassinations, and while all of them were present in the story, they were written in such a way that it all felt very underwhelming. I kept expecting that something would blow me away and when the said event occurred, I felt deflated - and this happened quite a few times. The worldbuilding is also very limited and we only get to know the basic names of the country and it’s neighbors, and a little about the drought and harvest. There are a couple of action sequences, which again didn’t thrill me as I wanted them to. And the last 15-20% was so rushed, and everything resolved so quickly that I lost whatever interest I still had in the story.
Lia is the new Queen who is an idealist and wants to do good for her people, and uproot all the corruption left by her Uncle. But I mostly felt like it was all words, she was clearly overwhelmed, and didn’t really do much for the supposed common people. Xania is a young noble who wants revenge for her father’s death and unexpectedly becomes the spymaster, and it really intrigued me how she learnt all the skills to be one at her age (she only turns eighteen in the middle of the book). Both of them kinda become friends which turns to attraction and love, and while I could sympathize with their feelings, the chemistry or the longing for being in almost a forbidden relationship was pretty nonexistent.
There are also some side characters but none of them were fleshed out enough for me to care about them. Matthias was a loyal friend to both the Queen and Xania and probably the only one who brought some humor to the dialogue. The villains were pretty in your face about their intentions, so I never really had to guess who was gonna be the betrayer. But I did like the portrayal of the mother-daughter relationships and how much the women were ready to do to protect their children. And it was a very interesting contrast to other women who had to choose between their children and the welfare of their family.
In the end, whenever I feel this way about a highly anticipated book, I always think I put too high of an expectation on them. But I don’t believe it was the case here. While this was an easily readable YA fantasy novel, there weren’t many novel elements in it which we haven’t read before, but I still appreciated the POC/Queer cast and the sapphic romance. I think this would work well for readers who are new to the fantasy genre, but if you have been an avid reader of YA fantasy for years, this might feel a bit unremarkable.
October 18, 2022
if only those last 150 pages weren't so messy
▷ Representation: Lia (mc) is a lesbian; Xania (mc) is brown & a demisexual lesbian; Mattias (sc) is gay; Zola (sc) is bi/pan; BIPOC & queer scs.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph
▷ Representation: Lia (mc) is a lesbian; Xania (mc) is brown & a demisexual lesbian; Mattias (sc) is gay; Zola (sc) is bi/pan; BIPOC & queer scs.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph
September 9, 2020
buddy read with my soul sister.... my OTP buddy reader.... the darling.... ASHLEYYYY!!!!!
"I was Xania Bayonn.
And I would live."
well, i wish you wouldn't.
ok that's rude, and honestly incorrect, because i don't care about Xania enough to mind whether she lives or dies. but i just COULDN'T RELATE to these characters! i couldn't fall for them, or feel anything other than apathy for them, and it really brought down how much i enjoyed this novel. add in the fact that i could barely follow the storyline - though my skimming wouldn't have helped that - and the fact that there were no side characters i could really grow to love, and all up i just didn't enjoy this book. i also wasn't feeling the romance, it really let me down, and i'm honestly proud of myself for finishing the book at all.
disappointing :// but ah well. still glad i read this with my babe Ashley!
"I was Xania Bayonn.
And I would live."
well, i wish you wouldn't.
ok that's rude, and honestly incorrect, because i don't care about Xania enough to mind whether she lives or dies. but i just COULDN'T RELATE to these characters! i couldn't fall for them, or feel anything other than apathy for them, and it really brought down how much i enjoyed this novel. add in the fact that i could barely follow the storyline - though my skimming wouldn't have helped that - and the fact that there were no side characters i could really grow to love, and all up i just didn't enjoy this book. i also wasn't feeling the romance, it really let me down, and i'm honestly proud of myself for finishing the book at all.
disappointing :// but ah well. still glad i read this with my babe Ashley!
November 12, 2020
Plot:
This book follows a dual perspective of two characters. We have Lia, a young queen ascending a corrupt throne determined to be better than her predecessor and root out the corruption that has overtaken her court. We also have Xania, a baroness determined to avenge her father’s suspicious death. The two women are united by their mutual friend Matthias and by their plots to take down the same man, Vigrante. Xania becomes Lia’s spymaster, known as Whispers, and the two begin working together to better the court and country while also developing feelings for each other.
My thoughts:
The most difficult reviews to write are the ones for the books you love. It is easy to pick out flaws but much harder to find a dozen different ways of saying how much you love something so I apologise in advance for what may not be the most coherent review as I ADORED this book.
Okay, I have to be honest here, my favourite part of this book was by far the romance. I loved loved loved Lia and Xania together, their chemistry and their yearning. I adored the flirting through sapphic novels and now have unrealistic expectations for my future girlfriend. The slowburn aspect was really well executed and I loved that Xania was demi and we could see this through her POV. On a similar note, I really loved that there is absolutely no homophobia in this world, that different sexualities are completely normal and not even labelled. There were also so many queer characters in this book and I really adored how casually even minor characters' sexualities were mentioned (for example, 'his husband', 'her wife', etc.).
Although I was admittedly mainly reading the book for its romance, I also really enjoyed the main plot. The court and political intrigue was really interesting and twisty, I just loved the dynamics of the court and trying to figure out the truth and people’s loyalties. There was some great action as the characters tried to uncover the corruption and deal with the people involved. Xania’s position in the treasury was also really interesting and I loved how it played into her duties as Whispers.
However, where the book fell down for me was the world building. The reader isn’t told an awful lot about Lia’s country, Edar, and the political system that plays such an important role in the book. This made it sometimes a bit confusing to follow. The step system which is used to divide the nobility into classes of who’s the richest/most influential also isn’t explained. I did eventually work it out from context but I feel like it should have been explained, especially as this element of class plays a real role in many of the characters’ relations and Xania’s position in court.
But overall, I really did enjoy this book. I adored Lia and Xania’s relationship and the sapphic positivity really came through when I needed it. I mean, this line? “She loved me as I loved her, fierce as a bloodied blade.” Gorgeous. We love fierce sapphics who are only soft for each other.
*eARC received in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley*
I also talk about books here: youtube | instagram | twitter
Thoughts immediately after finishing:
i need time to get my thoughts together before reviewing this but please know that i am very nearly crying. i can't remember the last time i cried at a book. THIS BOOK!!!
This book follows a dual perspective of two characters. We have Lia, a young queen ascending a corrupt throne determined to be better than her predecessor and root out the corruption that has overtaken her court. We also have Xania, a baroness determined to avenge her father’s suspicious death. The two women are united by their mutual friend Matthias and by their plots to take down the same man, Vigrante. Xania becomes Lia’s spymaster, known as Whispers, and the two begin working together to better the court and country while also developing feelings for each other.
My thoughts:
The most difficult reviews to write are the ones for the books you love. It is easy to pick out flaws but much harder to find a dozen different ways of saying how much you love something so I apologise in advance for what may not be the most coherent review as I ADORED this book.
Okay, I have to be honest here, my favourite part of this book was by far the romance. I loved loved loved Lia and Xania together, their chemistry and their yearning. I adored the flirting through sapphic novels and now have unrealistic expectations for my future girlfriend. The slowburn aspect was really well executed and I loved that Xania was demi and we could see this through her POV. On a similar note, I really loved that there is absolutely no homophobia in this world, that different sexualities are completely normal and not even labelled. There were also so many queer characters in this book and I really adored how casually even minor characters' sexualities were mentioned (for example, 'his husband', 'her wife', etc.).
Although I was admittedly mainly reading the book for its romance, I also really enjoyed the main plot. The court and political intrigue was really interesting and twisty, I just loved the dynamics of the court and trying to figure out the truth and people’s loyalties. There was some great action as the characters tried to uncover the corruption and deal with the people involved. Xania’s position in the treasury was also really interesting and I loved how it played into her duties as Whispers.
However, where the book fell down for me was the world building. The reader isn’t told an awful lot about Lia’s country, Edar, and the political system that plays such an important role in the book. This made it sometimes a bit confusing to follow. The step system which is used to divide the nobility into classes of who’s the richest/most influential also isn’t explained. I did eventually work it out from context but I feel like it should have been explained, especially as this element of class plays a real role in many of the characters’ relations and Xania’s position in court.
But overall, I really did enjoy this book. I adored Lia and Xania’s relationship and the sapphic positivity really came through when I needed it. I mean, this line? “She loved me as I loved her, fierce as a bloodied blade.” Gorgeous. We love fierce sapphics who are only soft for each other.
*eARC received in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley*
I also talk about books here: youtube | instagram | twitter
Thoughts immediately after finishing:
i need time to get my thoughts together before reviewing this but please know that i am very nearly crying. i can't remember the last time i cried at a book. THIS BOOK!!!
November 14, 2024
“Such an agreement pleases us,’ I said, since I couldn’t tell her to kindly drop dead.”
Author needs to stop doing this to Lia, my girl’s tired.
Still looking for a husband
For political reasons
.
Author needs to stop doing this to Lia, my girl’s tired.
Still looking for a husband
For political reasons
.
March 14, 2021
3.5 stars
I received a copy of this book from O'Brien Press in exchange for an honest review.
Princess Aurelia is now a Queen and she employs lesser noblewoman Xania to be her new spymaster after witnessing the younger woman's bravery and stealth. As Xania fits into her new role, Lia must learn how to rule her kingdom whilst also keeping all sides happy - as well as avoiding assassination attempts and choosing a husband despite her eye constantly being drawn to her new Mistress of Whispers, Xania.
This is a really well-written YA fantasy novel, that follows two women as they try and shape their own future and the future of their beloved country for the better, while also tip-toeing around each other because of their beating feelings. Lia and Xania are both very different but also seem to fit perfectly into each other, and their romance was a joy to read about, and one that made me squeal with mutual embarrassment when they tripped up over each other as well as sigh lovingly when they eventually took the right steps.
There are a lot of great female characters in this book too with a majority of Lia's court being full of powerful women, and a few interesting men. The women are definitely the main players in this royal courtroom/chessboard though!
There's a lot of political intrigue in this book with Lia having a Parliament of nobles to placate while also trying to feed her people who face starvation because of failing grain fields. She also needs to figure out alliances with her neighbouring countries that include royal visits, and possible engagements. And her awful cousin Rassa who has a claim to her throne, and could step in neatly if she was conveniently taken out of his way. I thought this was all really well written and I loved that Lia's country felt very fully realised and detailed - there was a history, a history of a royal family and parliament, as well as trade agreements already in place.
I definitely think I enjoyed Lia more than Xania. I think her journey as Queen just intrigued me more - especially because I feel we lost a lot of Xania's own journey as it all seemed to happen off page which was disappointing. If you're looking for the evolution of a spy master, you don't really get it as for some reason Xania already seems to know what she's doing, and I don't know how.
I loved that Lia stepped into the novel on the first page already a queen - there was no moments of confusion and being led in baby steps around her own palace like you see in a lot of other YA fantasy when a character suddenly becomes royal (for example Queen of the Tearling). It felt believable that Lia could step into her palace and onto her throne with confidence because it's what she had been trained to do for her whole life.
One of my gripes about this book is that so much happened off page, and I really wanted to see everything! I couldn't understand how Xania just fit into her role as Whispers so easily when she hadn't been trained to do so. I also failed to see her as a threat - she didn't appear to have much fighting skills (though she did, of course, have stealth skills already). She knew how to wield a knife and that was about it - I would have liked to have seen her do more training. I also would have liked to have seen her initial struggle as Whispers before she became used to the role - we saw none of that. Only found out months later about the agents and spies she had employed and bribed.
The ending of this book also felt a bit rushed and I really strongly feel this book could have been split into two. The moment Lia , the first book could have ended on a really good cliff hanger. And Book 2 could have been Matthias and Xania's journey following that to help Lia. That journey took two months, and longer on the way back - yet it was all conveniently wrapped up in a couple of pages and I felt really dissatisfied with that. We also saw none of Lia's perspective in those months either which was a real shame. I loved this world enough that I wasn't ready to leave it there, and I feel like there was a huge missed opportunity not splitting Lia and Xania's adventure into two. It also meant we missed EVERYTHING going on in court .
I really enjoyed this book but I also feel sad at some of the things I feel like I missed out on. I do hope there are other books written in this world because I think it's great and I just want more!
I received a copy of this book from O'Brien Press in exchange for an honest review.
Princess Aurelia is now a Queen and she employs lesser noblewoman Xania to be her new spymaster after witnessing the younger woman's bravery and stealth. As Xania fits into her new role, Lia must learn how to rule her kingdom whilst also keeping all sides happy - as well as avoiding assassination attempts and choosing a husband despite her eye constantly being drawn to her new Mistress of Whispers, Xania.
This is a really well-written YA fantasy novel, that follows two women as they try and shape their own future and the future of their beloved country for the better, while also tip-toeing around each other because of their beating feelings. Lia and Xania are both very different but also seem to fit perfectly into each other, and their romance was a joy to read about, and one that made me squeal with mutual embarrassment when they tripped up over each other as well as sigh lovingly when they eventually took the right steps.
There are a lot of great female characters in this book too with a majority of Lia's court being full of powerful women, and a few interesting men. The women are definitely the main players in this royal courtroom/chessboard though!
There's a lot of political intrigue in this book with Lia having a Parliament of nobles to placate while also trying to feed her people who face starvation because of failing grain fields. She also needs to figure out alliances with her neighbouring countries that include royal visits, and possible engagements. And her awful cousin Rassa who has a claim to her throne, and could step in neatly if she was conveniently taken out of his way. I thought this was all really well written and I loved that Lia's country felt very fully realised and detailed - there was a history, a history of a royal family and parliament, as well as trade agreements already in place.
I definitely think I enjoyed Lia more than Xania. I think her journey as Queen just intrigued me more - especially because I feel we lost a lot of Xania's own journey as it all seemed to happen off page which was disappointing. If you're looking for the evolution of a spy master, you don't really get it as for some reason Xania already seems to know what she's doing, and I don't know how.
I loved that Lia stepped into the novel on the first page already a queen - there was no moments of confusion and being led in baby steps around her own palace like you see in a lot of other YA fantasy when a character suddenly becomes royal (for example Queen of the Tearling). It felt believable that Lia could step into her palace and onto her throne with confidence because it's what she had been trained to do for her whole life.
One of my gripes about this book is that so much happened off page, and I really wanted to see everything! I couldn't understand how Xania just fit into her role as Whispers so easily when she hadn't been trained to do so. I also failed to see her as a threat - she didn't appear to have much fighting skills (though she did, of course, have stealth skills already). She knew how to wield a knife and that was about it - I would have liked to have seen her do more training. I also would have liked to have seen her initial struggle as Whispers before she became used to the role - we saw none of that. Only found out months later about the agents and spies she had employed and bribed.
The ending of this book also felt a bit rushed and I really strongly feel this book could have been split into two. The moment Lia , the first book could have ended on a really good cliff hanger. And Book 2 could have been Matthias and Xania's journey following that to help Lia. That journey took two months, and longer on the way back - yet it was all conveniently wrapped up in a couple of pages and I felt really dissatisfied with that. We also saw none of Lia's perspective in those months either which was a real shame. I loved this world enough that I wasn't ready to leave it there, and I feel like there was a huge missed opportunity not splitting Lia and Xania's adventure into two. It also meant we missed EVERYTHING going on in court .
I really enjoyed this book but I also feel sad at some of the things I feel like I missed out on. I do hope there are other books written in this world because I think it's great and I just want more!
June 12, 2020
What a wonderful book! I was sold on the fact that this was an f/f YA fantasy, so I knew that this was going to be one I enjoyed.
I absolutely loved the fact that this was a fantasy of manners, something that I just don't read very often. Usually my fantasy books involve lots of blood and murder, and while you get some of that in Queen of Coin and Whispers, much of the politicking goes on behind the scenes. Disrupting alliances, scheming against enemies, and uncovering treasonous plots are at the core of this fantasy of manners, and I loved that.
Lia and Xania are two badass women that are so perfectly matched in terms of personality, strengths, and beliefs. They compliment each other so incredibly well -- something I don't always find with YA romances (one character always seems to not quite be worthy of the other, which is so frustrating!). I really loved watching their relationship blossom and the way their interactions with each other changed.
You should absolutely pick up this book if you're looking for a fun and pacy f/f YA romance! I'm eagerly awaiting Helen's next book -- she's a new favourite author!
I absolutely loved the fact that this was a fantasy of manners, something that I just don't read very often. Usually my fantasy books involve lots of blood and murder, and while you get some of that in Queen of Coin and Whispers, much of the politicking goes on behind the scenes. Disrupting alliances, scheming against enemies, and uncovering treasonous plots are at the core of this fantasy of manners, and I loved that.
Lia and Xania are two badass women that are so perfectly matched in terms of personality, strengths, and beliefs. They compliment each other so incredibly well -- something I don't always find with YA romances (one character always seems to not quite be worthy of the other, which is so frustrating!). I really loved watching their relationship blossom and the way their interactions with each other changed.
You should absolutely pick up this book if you're looking for a fun and pacy f/f YA romance! I'm eagerly awaiting Helen's next book -- she's a new favourite author!
May 13, 2020
Buddy read with Tee.
_
Queen of Coin and Whispers is the potato salad of YA fantasy. Full review to follow.
* I received a digital ARC of Queen of Coin and Whispers from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
_
Queen of Coin and Whispers is the potato salad of YA fantasy. Full review to follow.
* I received a digital ARC of Queen of Coin and Whispers from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
June 15, 2020
Queen of Coin and Whispers is the sapphic political intrigue book that everyone has been waiting for. A romance between a queen and her spymaster? A backstabbing, divided court that wants to see the new queen fail? Discussion around the realistic portrayal of ruling and the focus on money? Yes, please!
After the death of her uncle, the king, Lia becomes the queen of Edar at eighteen. She is resolved to be a better monarch than her partying, money-spending uncle ever was, but first, she needs a spymaster to keep an eye on the people and politicians in her court who would see her dead. Soon, she meets Xania, a young woman far below Lia in rank through her best friend and secretary Matthias. Xania becomes Lia’s Whispers, the royal spymaster, as she has great skill with code-breaking and information gathering, taught to her by her now deceased father. The two women must work together after Lia becomes the target of an assassin, but they find themselves inexplicably drawn to each other and soon fall in love …
By far my favourite part of the novel was the romance between Lia and Xania. The two women are stuck together through circumstance but slowly they enjoy spending time with one another. Their relationship develops wonderfully: from uneasy acquaintances, to genuine friends, to crushing, to lovers. Lia and Xania are adorable and so sweet together, it’s hard not to ship them.
However, I did find the plot a little confusing to follow. Beyond my favourite types of novels to read are fantasy ones with complex political machinations, but for some reason, in Queen of Coin and Whispers I couldn’t wrap my head around what, exactly, was happening. There’s plenty of twists, blackmail, political intrigue, betrayal and treason, which have all the markings of a fantastic YA fantasy, but the execution of such machinations was a bit lacking.
From my personal reading experience, I think my confusion stems from the fact that there’s too many characters to keep track of, all of whom are interchangeable and don’t have any defining personalities that they all kind of get mixed up in my head. Therefore I couldn’t follow the plot properly because I wasn’t sure which character was up to what. Again, this is just my personal feeling as I know a lot of people who has read an ARC of this novel have enjoyed the book.
That being said, Xania and Lia are by far the strongest characters and I could follow their decision making and feelings quite clearly. Lia is determined to be the best queen possible that she sometimes makes bad decisions because she’s trying to keep too many people happy: the politicians, the nobles, the merchants, the common people — and rarely do all groups’ desires match up. While Xania wants to make her father proud, and sees herself as her family’s protector.
I think the ending of the novel might be somewhat divisive. I can definitely see a good portion of people loving the ending and the twists and turns to get there, but unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them. I felt the ending was a bit too rushed and came right out of left-field. I’m going to try my hardest to be vague here, but close to the ending, Xania and Matthias must undertake a quest of sorts, which I was expecting to lead into a sequel. But it’s not: this quest is completed within a handful of chapters, whereas I personally believe that there’s so much happening in those chapters that could have expanded into an entire new novel. Despite that, the epilogue was lovely and I liked how Corcoran is determined to show how two sapphic women can live happily ever after.
Despite my few issues with the novel, I still highly recommend Queen of Coin and Whispers. I can see plenty of readers falling in love with this book and I sorely wish I were one of them! That being said, I did thoroughly enjoy the romance between Lia and Xania, and I’m looking forward to reading whatever else Helen Corcoran writes in the future.
_________________________________
Buddy reading this with Laura and Shan! 💕
After the death of her uncle, the king, Lia becomes the queen of Edar at eighteen. She is resolved to be a better monarch than her partying, money-spending uncle ever was, but first, she needs a spymaster to keep an eye on the people and politicians in her court who would see her dead. Soon, she meets Xania, a young woman far below Lia in rank through her best friend and secretary Matthias. Xania becomes Lia’s Whispers, the royal spymaster, as she has great skill with code-breaking and information gathering, taught to her by her now deceased father. The two women must work together after Lia becomes the target of an assassin, but they find themselves inexplicably drawn to each other and soon fall in love …
By far my favourite part of the novel was the romance between Lia and Xania. The two women are stuck together through circumstance but slowly they enjoy spending time with one another. Their relationship develops wonderfully: from uneasy acquaintances, to genuine friends, to crushing, to lovers. Lia and Xania are adorable and so sweet together, it’s hard not to ship them.
However, I did find the plot a little confusing to follow. Beyond my favourite types of novels to read are fantasy ones with complex political machinations, but for some reason, in Queen of Coin and Whispers I couldn’t wrap my head around what, exactly, was happening. There’s plenty of twists, blackmail, political intrigue, betrayal and treason, which have all the markings of a fantastic YA fantasy, but the execution of such machinations was a bit lacking.
From my personal reading experience, I think my confusion stems from the fact that there’s too many characters to keep track of, all of whom are interchangeable and don’t have any defining personalities that they all kind of get mixed up in my head. Therefore I couldn’t follow the plot properly because I wasn’t sure which character was up to what. Again, this is just my personal feeling as I know a lot of people who has read an ARC of this novel have enjoyed the book.
That being said, Xania and Lia are by far the strongest characters and I could follow their decision making and feelings quite clearly. Lia is determined to be the best queen possible that she sometimes makes bad decisions because she’s trying to keep too many people happy: the politicians, the nobles, the merchants, the common people — and rarely do all groups’ desires match up. While Xania wants to make her father proud, and sees herself as her family’s protector.
I think the ending of the novel might be somewhat divisive. I can definitely see a good portion of people loving the ending and the twists and turns to get there, but unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them. I felt the ending was a bit too rushed and came right out of left-field. I’m going to try my hardest to be vague here, but close to the ending, Xania and Matthias must undertake a quest of sorts, which I was expecting to lead into a sequel. But it’s not: this quest is completed within a handful of chapters, whereas I personally believe that there’s so much happening in those chapters that could have expanded into an entire new novel. Despite that, the epilogue was lovely and I liked how Corcoran is determined to show how two sapphic women can live happily ever after.
Despite my few issues with the novel, I still highly recommend Queen of Coin and Whispers. I can see plenty of readers falling in love with this book and I sorely wish I were one of them! That being said, I did thoroughly enjoy the romance between Lia and Xania, and I’m looking forward to reading whatever else Helen Corcoran writes in the future.
_________________________________
Buddy reading this with Laura and Shan! 💕
May 25, 2020
This hit my most anticipated 2020 list as soon as I found it was about a spymaster who falls in love with her queen...and a queen who falls in love with her spymaster. I knew this could turn into one of my favorite reads of the year....and it could be a new top favorite.
If I am being honest I was not expecting my reaction to this book...It was everything I was hoping for and a lot more. I found myself forcing myself having to put it down just to sleep, but still waking up early to go back to reading. Mumbling "one more chapter" constantly until 3am hasn't happened to me in a long time. Everything about this book was absolutely amazing to me. It hit all the marks.
Well, why was I so enthralled with this monster of a book? Believe it or not, it was the politics. Politics played a huge part of this book. We find ourselves in the shoes of a newly crowned queen in charge of a failing kingdom on the brink of bankruptcy. Lia is smart and cunning, and she knows there are enemies all around her who want nothing more than for her to make one more mistake so they can run her away from the throne. Her predecessor left her a kingdom filled with two types of enemies: spoiled rich people who expect for nothing to change, and those who have suffered from the last kings' greed and inaptitude to run a kingdom. None of them seem to realize that the kingdom has no money and it's up to the Lia, and her newly charged master spy Xania, to figure out how bring the kingdom from going under for good.
I don't mess with politics in my life but I absolutely love political fantasy. I love learning a new political system - how different it can be from other books, and how they all have their own faults, just like most countries do. I crave for it even, especially when I'm reading fantasy series where the main character is a queen.
While the world building is amazing and filled with beauty, what I think truly brings it together is the string of characters we get to meet. Our two MC's, Lia and Xania, were amazing - their chemistry was off the charts and the yearning they feel....truly on point. Sappho would be envious of their love for each other. They have people who love them, strong family bonds, and friends who would do anything for them.
I have a feeling this book is going to be everywhere when it comes out. If you're a fan of The Priory of the Orange Tree you'll definitely want to pick this one up. If I could say one bad thing about this book....well, I wish it was 100 pages more. The ending was a little rushed, I wanted to know more. So I'm truly hoping the author will make more books in this universe.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.
If I am being honest I was not expecting my reaction to this book...It was everything I was hoping for and a lot more. I found myself forcing myself having to put it down just to sleep, but still waking up early to go back to reading. Mumbling "one more chapter" constantly until 3am hasn't happened to me in a long time. Everything about this book was absolutely amazing to me. It hit all the marks.
Well, why was I so enthralled with this monster of a book? Believe it or not, it was the politics. Politics played a huge part of this book. We find ourselves in the shoes of a newly crowned queen in charge of a failing kingdom on the brink of bankruptcy. Lia is smart and cunning, and she knows there are enemies all around her who want nothing more than for her to make one more mistake so they can run her away from the throne. Her predecessor left her a kingdom filled with two types of enemies: spoiled rich people who expect for nothing to change, and those who have suffered from the last kings' greed and inaptitude to run a kingdom. None of them seem to realize that the kingdom has no money and it's up to the Lia, and her newly charged master spy Xania, to figure out how bring the kingdom from going under for good.
I don't mess with politics in my life but I absolutely love political fantasy. I love learning a new political system - how different it can be from other books, and how they all have their own faults, just like most countries do. I crave for it even, especially when I'm reading fantasy series where the main character is a queen.
While the world building is amazing and filled with beauty, what I think truly brings it together is the string of characters we get to meet. Our two MC's, Lia and Xania, were amazing - their chemistry was off the charts and the yearning they feel....truly on point. Sappho would be envious of their love for each other. They have people who love them, strong family bonds, and friends who would do anything for them.
I have a feeling this book is going to be everywhere when it comes out. If you're a fan of The Priory of the Orange Tree you'll definitely want to pick this one up. If I could say one bad thing about this book....well, I wish it was 100 pages more. The ending was a little rushed, I wanted to know more. So I'm truly hoping the author will make more books in this universe.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.
October 15, 2019
A brilliant, pacey and intriguing story. I adored the central characters, Lia and Xania, and shipped them with every fibre of my being. Highly recommended for fans of vivid world-building, strong female characters, f/f romance, witty dialogue, spying, intrigue and courtly settings. I've been so excited to read this and it did not disappoint. As a queer reader, I loved seeing how queer relationships were treated in the world of this book, it was so refreshing and heartening. I will be squeeing about Lia and Xania for a long time.
May 8, 2020
Oof. That was rather disappointing. While the beginning was promising, I found that the longer I read, the more I just didn't care and was frustrated by the various elements that let me down.
First, I found the romance quite lacking. Apparently it was supposed to be slowburn, but I did not see that at all, and was frustrated by how quick they got together, which led to me not caring.
Second, the world building was quite confusing. It took me way longer than it should have to understand which direction the Steps went in terms of power.
And third, the way passage of time was written in this book, did not work. It takes place over a year, but that was only apparent when it'd suddenly mention that it'd been two months since one event or a year since another, which was very jarring and frustrating.
Overall, I'm just pretty frustrated I didn't love this.
First, I found the romance quite lacking. Apparently it was supposed to be slowburn, but I did not see that at all, and was frustrated by how quick they got together, which led to me not caring.
Second, the world building was quite confusing. It took me way longer than it should have to understand which direction the Steps went in terms of power.
And third, the way passage of time was written in this book, did not work. It takes place over a year, but that was only apparent when it'd suddenly mention that it'd been two months since one event or a year since another, which was very jarring and frustrating.
Overall, I'm just pretty frustrated I didn't love this.
dnf
May 17, 2020
I was sent this book as an advance copy by the publisher via NetGalley for reviewing purposes, but all opinions are my own.
DNF @ 32%, no rating
I think after trying for two months to get into this it's time to be honest with myself that I'm just not going to finish it, even if I initially only put it on hold. But I've also been reading reviews that confirm that the problems I was having don't get better in the last two thirds of the novel, so this is the right decision although it always hurts a little to put down a sapphic novel.
While some of my problems with it might have also come from a personal place (just a reading slump amidst the general pandemic anxiety), I also think that I would have absolutely stuck with it if I was made to care about...literally anything. But I wasn't. The chapters told you whose POV they were going to be from, but as soon as I turned the page I already forgot who was talking because the two MCs just sound the exact same.
There were way too many names and facts and I didn't care about any of it. Throughout it all I felt like this was a novel that should have been given more pages, and maybe even turned into a series (duology?), with more page time to give each character a distinct voice and personality. The palace intrigues and how they all built upon themselves would have fit much better if made into an adult novel, but like this it was just a big pile of facts and names and plots stacked upon each other.
I really wanted to try and read more to at least get to the romance part, but I realized it just wasn't worth it for me. I just want to point out that I don't think this is a bad book at all, I'm sure the intrigue was very well done if that's something you care about, and I definitely encourage you to look at other reviews and see for yourself about giving it a chance.
DNF @ 32%, no rating
I think after trying for two months to get into this it's time to be honest with myself that I'm just not going to finish it, even if I initially only put it on hold. But I've also been reading reviews that confirm that the problems I was having don't get better in the last two thirds of the novel, so this is the right decision although it always hurts a little to put down a sapphic novel.
While some of my problems with it might have also come from a personal place (just a reading slump amidst the general pandemic anxiety), I also think that I would have absolutely stuck with it if I was made to care about...literally anything. But I wasn't. The chapters told you whose POV they were going to be from, but as soon as I turned the page I already forgot who was talking because the two MCs just sound the exact same.
There were way too many names and facts and I didn't care about any of it. Throughout it all I felt like this was a novel that should have been given more pages, and maybe even turned into a series (duology?), with more page time to give each character a distinct voice and personality. The palace intrigues and how they all built upon themselves would have fit much better if made into an adult novel, but like this it was just a big pile of facts and names and plots stacked upon each other.
I really wanted to try and read more to at least get to the romance part, but I realized it just wasn't worth it for me. I just want to point out that I don't think this is a bad book at all, I'm sure the intrigue was very well done if that's something you care about, and I definitely encourage you to look at other reviews and see for yourself about giving it a chance.
September 15, 2019
There's so many things that passed through my brain whilst I was reading this, most of which would make this review not pg-13, as lots of holy effs and other things among those lines were gasped out loud as I turned pages. There was no way I could have ever predicted any part of what went down, and I really mean any. I loved seeing Lia grow as a queen and Xania developing as a person. As much as I loved those two (and pretty much all characters) Matthias found himself becoming my soft child who I would kill for. This wasn't like any other book I've read, which kept me hooked and wanting to find out exactly what would happen next.So for the next very long while, I WILL be throwing this in everyone's faces beacuse there's nothing not to like.
July 15, 2020
“She loved me as I loved her, fierce as a bloodied blade.”
★★★★★
Queen of Coin and Whispers is a sapphic YA fantasy novel by Helen Corcoran that focuses on political intrigue instead of magic. Corcoran has described Queen as “a low-fantasy novel with a historical basis,” because elements of the novel are inspired by Elizabethan spycraft, which is basically the coolest thing I’ve ever heard (check out this Twitter thread where she goes into more detail on her research).
Queen was one of my most anticipated Summer releases, and I was lucky enough to win a physical copy in a giveaway hosted by my friend Manon (aka @themaliciousreader). It took a few weeks to arrive via Book Depository, but once I started reading I devoured it in less than 48 hours and loved every minute of it!
Queen follows two leads alternating between their perspectives:
- Lia is the newly ascended queen of a struggling kingdom. The throne she inherited has become mired in corruption, and she vows to right the wrongs of her predecessors and be the ruler her people deserve.
- Xania is a member of the lower court who spends her days working in the royal treasury, biding her time until the opportunity arises to avenge her father’s death (which was, Xania suspects, actually a murder).
The paths of these two girls would normally not cross, but they find themselves working together (and eventually, developing feelings for one another) when their mutual friend, Matthias, recommends that Xania become Lia’s spymaster - a highly important, secretive, and dangerous position known as Master of Whispers.
I found myself totally immersed and invested in this world and the characters that inhabit it. Corcoran has developed an incredibly well thought out system of government, which I honestly found to be more interesting than many magic systems in high fantasy novels.
And we haven’t even truly discussed the romance yet! I absolutely loved Lia & Xania together, and I found myself squealing like a schoolgirl when Lia made the first move, flirting by loaning Xania a lesbian romance novel. Queen was a relatively slow burn, but not so slow that the characters don’t get together til the very end, which I appreciated.
My only real gripe is that Queen felt like it should have been a New Adult book. It didn’t click with me how young the two leads were until the scene on Xania’s eighteenth birthday, and it was honestly sort of jarring. I know the point is that Lia and Xania are young women whom people underestimate, but that sentiment would still have remained had they been in the early twenties instead. Especially because it seems like Xania had had her job in the treasury for several years at the start of the book, which would imply she’d started at 15-16?
Anyway, all in all Queen of Coin and Whispers was an absolute joy to read, and while the ending and epilogue were more than sufficient, I found myself not ready to part with Lia & Xania. Luckily, Helen Corcoran wasn’t ready to part with them either and has released a set of four, free prequel stories which you can find here! I’ve been saving them to use as a special treat, but I have no doubt they’ll be just as enjoyable as the novel!
Queen of Coin and Whispers At A Glance
Genre: YA, Fantasy of Manners (with prominent f/f romance subplot)
Themes/Tropes: Queer Royals, Political Intrigue, Rich Girl/Poor Girl (sort of)
LGBT Rep? Yes! Lesbian MC, with lesbian, bi, & gay side characters
OwnVoices? Yep
Content Warnings (CWs): Murder/Violence, instance of psychological abuse (might be forgetting some, I forgot to jot them down because I was so engrossed in the story, sorry!)
Let’s be friends!
Bookstagram | Book Blog | Twitter | Facebook
★★★★★
Queen of Coin and Whispers is a sapphic YA fantasy novel by Helen Corcoran that focuses on political intrigue instead of magic. Corcoran has described Queen as “a low-fantasy novel with a historical basis,” because elements of the novel are inspired by Elizabethan spycraft, which is basically the coolest thing I’ve ever heard (check out this Twitter thread where she goes into more detail on her research).
Queen was one of my most anticipated Summer releases, and I was lucky enough to win a physical copy in a giveaway hosted by my friend Manon (aka @themaliciousreader). It took a few weeks to arrive via Book Depository, but once I started reading I devoured it in less than 48 hours and loved every minute of it!
Queen follows two leads alternating between their perspectives:
- Lia is the newly ascended queen of a struggling kingdom. The throne she inherited has become mired in corruption, and she vows to right the wrongs of her predecessors and be the ruler her people deserve.
- Xania is a member of the lower court who spends her days working in the royal treasury, biding her time until the opportunity arises to avenge her father’s death (which was, Xania suspects, actually a murder).
The paths of these two girls would normally not cross, but they find themselves working together (and eventually, developing feelings for one another) when their mutual friend, Matthias, recommends that Xania become Lia’s spymaster - a highly important, secretive, and dangerous position known as Master of Whispers.
I found myself totally immersed and invested in this world and the characters that inhabit it. Corcoran has developed an incredibly well thought out system of government, which I honestly found to be more interesting than many magic systems in high fantasy novels.
And we haven’t even truly discussed the romance yet! I absolutely loved Lia & Xania together, and I found myself squealing like a schoolgirl when Lia made the first move, flirting by loaning Xania a lesbian romance novel. Queen was a relatively slow burn, but not so slow that the characters don’t get together til the very end, which I appreciated.
My only real gripe is that Queen felt like it should have been a New Adult book. It didn’t click with me how young the two leads were until the scene on Xania’s eighteenth birthday, and it was honestly sort of jarring. I know the point is that Lia and Xania are young women whom people underestimate, but that sentiment would still have remained had they been in the early twenties instead. Especially because it seems like Xania had had her job in the treasury for several years at the start of the book, which would imply she’d started at 15-16?
Anyway, all in all Queen of Coin and Whispers was an absolute joy to read, and while the ending and epilogue were more than sufficient, I found myself not ready to part with Lia & Xania. Luckily, Helen Corcoran wasn’t ready to part with them either and has released a set of four, free prequel stories which you can find here! I’ve been saving them to use as a special treat, but I have no doubt they’ll be just as enjoyable as the novel!
Queen of Coin and Whispers At A Glance
Genre: YA, Fantasy of Manners (with prominent f/f romance subplot)
Themes/Tropes: Queer Royals, Political Intrigue, Rich Girl/Poor Girl (sort of)
LGBT Rep? Yes! Lesbian MC, with lesbian, bi, & gay side characters
OwnVoices? Yep
Content Warnings (CWs): Murder/Violence, instance of psychological abuse (might be forgetting some, I forgot to jot them down because I was so engrossed in the story, sorry!)
Let’s be friends!
Bookstagram | Book Blog | Twitter | Facebook
September 21, 2021
Oh my Lawdy, this was a head fuck! 🤬🤯😭😱
The mains are lady loving ladies though, so there's that… 🤔🤨
The mains are lady loving ladies though, so there's that… 🤔🤨
Read
August 28, 2020I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this book. So much. It was just utterly perfectly made for me.
Firstly, queer royalty? YES PLEASE. Secondly, political intrigue? So up my street.
Lia is so wonderful as a queen - she is struggling to not upset everyone, but equally wants to change how things are, so make them fairer. You really see her struggle, and how she looks at her decisions. I also really like the relationships she maintains (and gains) through the book a lot.
Xania is out for revenge, and while I normally don't love that trope, it works well here. her natural distrust in people is wonderful, and it's surprising (and yet believable) how well she suits the role of Whispers. Her slowly growing trust in the queen is utterly lovely, and I *adore* her familial relationships. Especially getting to see parents in YA that care, *and* a fab step-parent. So much joy at that. Plus Xania is a maths nerd <3
This book also glories in the strengths and doubts of it's characters - none of them are perfect, but they are all trying their best. The respect between characters is truly well written.
Plus the romance is so lovely and quiet and wonderful. Especially towards the end. I don't want to spoil, but there is so much glory in how the relationship is handled.
I definitely feel that this book is one I will want to come back to and re-read.
I loved this book. So much. It was just utterly perfectly made for me.
Firstly, queer royalty? YES PLEASE. Secondly, political intrigue? So up my street.
Lia is so wonderful as a queen - she is struggling to not upset everyone, but equally wants to change how things are, so make them fairer. You really see her struggle, and how she looks at her decisions. I also really like the relationships she maintains (and gains) through the book a lot.
Xania is out for revenge, and while I normally don't love that trope, it works well here. her natural distrust in people is wonderful, and it's surprising (and yet believable) how well she suits the role of Whispers. Her slowly growing trust in the queen is utterly lovely, and I *adore* her familial relationships. Especially getting to see parents in YA that care, *and* a fab step-parent. So much joy at that. Plus Xania is a maths nerd <3
This book also glories in the strengths and doubts of it's characters - none of them are perfect, but they are all trying their best. The respect between characters is truly well written.
Plus the romance is so lovely and quiet and wonderful. Especially towards the end. I don't want to spoil, but there is so much glory in how the relationship is handled.
I definitely feel that this book is one I will want to come back to and re-read.
July 11, 2024
Actual rating 3.5/5 stars. This is the first instalment in the Queen of Coin and Whispers series.
This story focused on Lia, an idealistic and new young queen, and Xania, her rule-breaking and new young spymaster. As they grow into their new roles they also grow in the heart of the other. They came from opposing worlds and yet find themselves thrust together, forced to work through their feelings and against the enemies at their door.
I did really like both protagonists and also the Sapphic elements of this storyline but, unfortunately, this wasn't enough to have me whole-heartedly loving all of what unfolded. I found the stakes never felt that high, even when the events were described as deadly, and also the viciousness in the characters was hinted at yet never really explored.
This book was, in a word, tame. Not in an unenjoyable sense but it did feel like a gentler and softer story to the one I anticipated reading. Once I figured this out and adjusted by expectations, I found my enjoyment remained intact to the conclusion, which tied this adventure together perfectly.
This story focused on Lia, an idealistic and new young queen, and Xania, her rule-breaking and new young spymaster. As they grow into their new roles they also grow in the heart of the other. They came from opposing worlds and yet find themselves thrust together, forced to work through their feelings and against the enemies at their door.
I did really like both protagonists and also the Sapphic elements of this storyline but, unfortunately, this wasn't enough to have me whole-heartedly loving all of what unfolded. I found the stakes never felt that high, even when the events were described as deadly, and also the viciousness in the characters was hinted at yet never really explored.
This book was, in a word, tame. Not in an unenjoyable sense but it did feel like a gentler and softer story to the one I anticipated reading. Once I figured this out and adjusted by expectations, I found my enjoyment remained intact to the conclusion, which tied this adventure together perfectly.
March 7, 2021
A LOT happens in Queen of Coin and Whispers. There are assassination attempts, suitors from other kingdoms who want to marry Lia, political machinations from Lia’s detractors and supporters, and through all that, Lia and Xania fall quickly and deeply in love. All of these elements deliver a clear sense of how dangerous life in Edar can be, no matter who you are. For example, we see a couple of assassination attempts on Lia and we learn that Vigrante, the Head of Government, has people killed (and makes it look like an accident) if they don’t do what he tells them to. I’m not even going to get into how expendable the people who have no money are….
Full review: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/r...
Full review: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/r...
May 16, 2020
I loved this YA fantasy. Twisty and layered political intrigue in a credible world of monarchies and parliaments. A young spymaster fuelled by a need for vengeance, and a new Queen determined to prove herself against powerful forces.
Characters who develop and mature believably on the page, at times grabbing your heart in a most distressing way!
Characters who develop and mature believably on the page, at times grabbing your heart in a most distressing way!
June 23, 2020
Gorgeously written YA fantasy, with lushly tactile world building, it features a spy master driven by revenge and her queen, newly ascended to the throne, whose grasp on power is somewhat shaky.
As feelings tentatively unfurl, the tension mounts as the battle for the throne - and for survival - intensifies.
A stunning debut from a fabulous young Irish writer.
As feelings tentatively unfurl, the tension mounts as the battle for the throne - and for survival - intensifies.
A stunning debut from a fabulous young Irish writer.
July 10, 2021
DNF at 69% (nice)
This book is so boring and I just had an epiphany moment of clarity where I realized I simply do not care how it ends. Points for lesbians. Points taken off because did this even have an editor holy shit
This book is so boring and I just had an epiphany moment of clarity where I realized I simply do not care how it ends. Points for lesbians. Points taken off because did this even have an editor holy shit
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