Characters 10/10
Each character has a unique personality that is shown well. They all have interesting and understandable motivations. The character relationships make sense and the dialogue is fun and makes sense for each character.
Plot 10/10
The reason for each event makes sense in hindsight and provides great surprise and intrigue. Each scene has a reason and never feels like filler or meaningless action just to get the plot moving.
Concept 9/10
The concept of how names give power is great. The way they use naming to pass down the crown is a really cool way of making a monarchy in a different and inventive way. Unfortunately it’s kind of hard to understand when it’s first explained how Coin is nameless, though that might just be because of the way I read, I feel like naming as a whole could have been explained better.
Conclusion 29/30
I personally really enjoyed this book and was immensely disappointed that Rebecca McLaughlin has no other books out yet. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves political fantasy with a focus on found family.
