Scan barcode
percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This might be the longest review yet on my page. I may also include minor spoilers for the first time as there were very specific character and plot choices I wanted to bring attention to. Due to how the spoiler system works, I will save these insights for the very end.
Alright. So Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson was a book I had gotten last Christmas after I had put it on my list. I knew it was LGBTQ+ from the tags on the book online and I knew it was about witches, and that was enough for me (as well, the bright pink cover for the UK version was gorgeous).
When I started the book, I got immediately sucked into the story and characters, something that I felt was a bit unusual as even the most interesting books tend to have a slow start as I get used to the setting/characters/set-up. However, from the start, I could tell that Juno Dawson did a fantastic job of balancing each character's POV, creating unique and interesting threads for every POV to feel separate and not blend together, but not too separate that one POV may have been preferred over another. As well, the linking of plot threads between the POVs was perfect, and I was always ready to hear what was going to happen next, no matter the character that narrated. In fact, I was very anticipatory about how each character would react to the situations at hand.
That was the easy praise, now let's get into the tougher stuff. I have mixed feelings about how Dawson presented her main themes and ideas. On one hand, I am a fan of R.F. Kuang, who also tends to be heavy-handed with the themes and points she is trying to make in her books. Sometimes messages can't be subtle and need to be in your face to understand them. Sometimes the lack of subtlety really works as a tool to inform readers that they shouldn't misinterpret this important message of the author, it's literally written plainly in the text. As well, there are a lot of people for whom ignorance is a bliss they can afford and this is a way to wake those people up and force them to see what everyone else sees.
On the other hand, I felt like Dawson was even more heavy-handed than Kuang with her main message in this book. There was so much just obviously written out that I almost wanted to cringe at the lack of subtlety. As well, I found myself annoyed at a few of the celebrity author reviews inside the book that praised it for its use of metaphor. A metaphor implies a need for deeper reading and possible different interpretations. This was not a metaphor, it was not a commentary, it was a direct message to the masses. Even as someone who tends to enjoy a lack of subtlety in writing once and a while, the extreme length to which this author went even had me wishing for a more keen writing style, allowing for more work done by the reader. I do not blame anyone who does not or would not like this book because of that writing style.
That isn't to say that the book completely lacked metaphors, which I will go into soon. However, before I mark my spoilers, I lastly wanted to comment on the word choices within this book. Dawson is queer and she has her own experiences to draw from. However, there was a feeling while reading that I wasn't reading a book, but rather scrolling on the internet. I don't like to say when something was "trying too hard" to be inclusive, as it can often be taken the wrong way. I was drawn to this book because of its inclusivity and diversity. But, I did feel as though it was "too much" for just one book to cover. There was a feeling of "trying too hard" because there was so much effort to address all sorts of issues. While I am glad for the attempt, I feel as though the book suffered for it, and it would've been better to focus on a singular issue (understanding, of course, that oftentimes these issues are intersectional). The book didn't quite fail in my mind, rather, it just wasn't done as well as I had thought it should've been.
Now into the spoilers. Something I really enjoyed as a metaphor was Helena representing white feminism and cosying up to Hale, who represents facism, the patriarchy, and supremacism. She viewed herself as better for being a witch, one from a long legacy of other (white and rich) witches. She was a genuinely complex character for the most part, and I enjoyed her internal issues of feeling inadequate because of her mother but also believing that as a woman in power, she had to present a certain face. I do feel like as the plot went on, she became more caricatured, with no reasoning behind her bigotry except a need to maintain control over the status quo, which felt like a weak reason to me. Helena's type of bigotry is sewn into her life from birth due to propaganda persisting in the rest of society of othering certain types of people.
Dawson as well added the hint that Helena may have been abused at the hand of her lovers. It could've worked as an angle for her character if done better. It would've made sense within the metaphor of Helena representing white feminism, and how white women had certain power for their skin color, their gender will still be oppressed by the patriarchy. However, at the moment it just felt like a cop-out and an excuse that Helena had issues and that's why she was being awful.
I cannot say for certain that it wasn't on purpose that Helena slowly became a caricature of a villainous bigot. Perhaps as well, the sudden introduction of trauma from her past was meant to be a commentary on how bigotry is always trying to be excused for a sad sob story of how hard life can be. I am not sure what the intention was, and I'm not as concerned with it. The way it was written just didn't seem done well to me, and I felt the writing could've been stronger.
Focusing on another aspect of the story, as I said above, Dawson is queer and I won't question her experiences and what this book means to her. However, from a writing perspective, I felt like the plot was a little lost when Theo was outed/came out as trans. It's hard to say, as I do understand that a big part of the book was meant to focus on this storyline. This is the reason Helena becomes the villain. But there is a solid section of the book where all the magic is lost, all the lore and prophecy hearing and witchy vibes are gone in favor of a contemporary story about a teen coming out as trans. I just felt like it took over a bit too much and could've used a bit more balance. I was also going to talk about Theo's transformation at the end, but with Dawson's experiences and my own perspective being different, I didn't feel comfortable critiquing it fully. All I will say is that I didn't really know how I felt about the magical transition. It wasn't positive or negative, just middling.
Finally, to wrap up this LONG review, I want to pose a simple question: Who is this book for? Now a book can be for anyone, people can read what they want. But a book, like any other form of media or advertising or construct, can have a specific audience it is catering towards or aimed at. So who was supposed to read this book? Someone like me who already agreed with the author's feelings on the themes and messages? Someone who is vehemently against those things? Someone who is on the fence? I'm not entirely sure, and I feel like knowing exactly what audience this book was meant for would help a lot in solidifying its purpose. And it does have a purpose, that is for certain. What do you think?
Alright. So Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson was a book I had gotten last Christmas after I had put it on my list. I knew it was LGBTQ+ from the tags on the book online and I knew it was about witches, and that was enough for me (as well, the bright pink cover for the UK version was gorgeous).
When I started the book, I got immediately sucked into the story and characters, something that I felt was a bit unusual as even the most interesting books tend to have a slow start as I get used to the setting/characters/set-up. However, from the start, I could tell that Juno Dawson did a fantastic job of balancing each character's POV, creating unique and interesting threads for every POV to feel separate and not blend together, but not too separate that one POV may have been preferred over another. As well, the linking of plot threads between the POVs was perfect, and I was always ready to hear what was going to happen next, no matter the character that narrated. In fact, I was very anticipatory about how each character would react to the situations at hand.
That was the easy praise, now let's get into the tougher stuff. I have mixed feelings about how Dawson presented her main themes and ideas. On one hand, I am a fan of R.F. Kuang, who also tends to be heavy-handed with the themes and points she is trying to make in her books. Sometimes messages can't be subtle and need to be in your face to understand them. Sometimes the lack of subtlety really works as a tool to inform readers that they shouldn't misinterpret this important message of the author, it's literally written plainly in the text. As well, there are a lot of people for whom ignorance is a bliss they can afford and this is a way to wake those people up and force them to see what everyone else sees.
On the other hand, I felt like Dawson was even more heavy-handed than Kuang with her main message in this book. There was so much just obviously written out that I almost wanted to cringe at the lack of subtlety. As well, I found myself annoyed at a few of the celebrity author reviews inside the book that praised it for its use of metaphor. A metaphor implies a need for deeper reading and possible different interpretations. This was not a metaphor, it was not a commentary, it was a direct message to the masses. Even as someone who tends to enjoy a lack of subtlety in writing once and a while, the extreme length to which this author went even had me wishing for a more keen writing style, allowing for more work done by the reader. I do not blame anyone who does not or would not like this book because of that writing style.
That isn't to say that the book completely lacked metaphors, which I will go into soon. However, before I mark my spoilers, I lastly wanted to comment on the word choices within this book. Dawson is queer and she has her own experiences to draw from. However, there was a feeling while reading that I wasn't reading a book, but rather scrolling on the internet. I don't like to say when something was "trying too hard" to be inclusive, as it can often be taken the wrong way. I was drawn to this book because of its inclusivity and diversity. But, I did feel as though it was "too much" for just one book to cover. There was a feeling of "trying too hard" because there was so much effort to address all sorts of issues. While I am glad for the attempt, I feel as though the book suffered for it, and it would've been better to focus on a singular issue (understanding, of course, that oftentimes these issues are intersectional). The book didn't quite fail in my mind, rather, it just wasn't done as well as I had thought it should've been.
Now into the spoilers. Something I really enjoyed as a metaphor was
Dawson as well added the hint that Helena may have been abused at the hand of her lovers. It could've worked as an angle for her character if done better. It would've made sense within the metaphor of Helena representing white feminism, and how white women had certain power for their skin color, their gender will still be oppressed by the patriarchy. However, at the moment it just felt like a cop-out and an excuse that Helena had issues and that's why she was being awful.
I cannot say for certain that it wasn't on purpose that Helena slowly became a caricature of a villainous bigot. Perhaps as well, the sudden introduction of trauma from her past was meant to be a commentary on how bigotry is always trying to be excused for a sad sob story of how hard life can be. I am not sure what the intention was, and I'm not as concerned with it. The way it was written just didn't seem done well to me, and I felt the writing could've been stronger.
Focusing on another aspect of the story, as I said above, Dawson is queer and I won't question her experiences and what this book means to her. However,
Finally, to wrap up this LONG review, I want to pose a simple question: Who is this book for? Now a book can be for anyone, people can read what they want. But a book, like any other form of media or advertising or construct, can have a specific audience it is catering towards or aimed at. So who was supposed to read this book? Someone like me who already agreed with the author's feelings on the themes and messages? Someone who is vehemently against those things? Someone who is on the fence? I'm not entirely sure, and I feel like knowing exactly what audience this book was meant for would help a lot in solidifying its purpose. And it does have a purpose, that is for certain. What do you think?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia and Outing
bookishwondergoth's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved this book. It was well written, modern, fresh and topical and full of twists and turns.
I see from other reviews people have commented that the writing style seems too informal and littered with slang and references that are shoe-horned in. I personally don't agree with this criticism at all. The informality works for its contemporary setting. Also, Niamh and the relationship she has with her friends and their children felt very familiar to me and my own experiences as an adult who lived as a child through the 90s.
I also really enjoyed the examinations of intersectional feminism (or the lack of it in many white women) and its flat-out codemnation of TERFism. This was very clearly written in response to J. K. Rowling's transphobic essay published in 2020. It's not subtle, but then TERFs are not at all subtle with their transphobia in the UK, so did I care? No. Fuck TERFs. Their mindset makes ZERO sense and Juno Dawson does a really good job of showing just how completely nonsensical it is.
I do think there are some segments that could have been better fleshed out/made relevant to the main story (pretty much everything to do with Leonie and her breakaway coven, Diaspora). However, this is the first book in a trilogy, and in the author Q&A with Juno Dawson I attended a couple of weeks ago, she told us that Leonie comes more into play in subsequent books.
I also seriously disagree with those pointing out that for a book about feminism, the women are awfully divided and therefore the book is not feminist. That is the point. Division over these issues is not feminist because the division is caused by bigotry and intolerance. Therefore the people who do not fight for the rights of women—all women, including transwomen and BIPOC women—are not feminist and they absolutely must be challenged in their views. We're all getting fucked over by the patriarchy here, some moreso than others. Acknowledging that divide, difference, and the very real divisions in friendships and families who disagree over fundamental human rights is important.
This book made me really really angry in the best way and I can't wait to read the next one. Might have to borrow it from a friend as the copy I plan to buy isn't due for dispatch until November, gah.
Anyway, loved it. Highly recommended.
I see from other reviews people have commented that the writing style seems too informal and littered with slang and references that are shoe-horned in. I personally don't agree with this criticism at all. The informality works for its contemporary setting. Also, Niamh and the relationship she has with her friends and their children felt very familiar to me and my own experiences as an adult who lived as a child through the 90s.
I also really enjoyed the examinations of intersectional feminism (or the lack of it in many white women) and its flat-out codemnation of TERFism. This was very clearly written in response to J. K. Rowling's transphobic essay published in 2020. It's not subtle, but then TERFs are not at all subtle with their transphobia in the UK, so did I care? No. Fuck TERFs. Their mindset makes ZERO sense and Juno Dawson does a really good job of showing just how completely nonsensical it is.
I do think there are some segments that could have been better fleshed out/made relevant to the main story (pretty much everything to do with Leonie and her breakaway coven, Diaspora). However, this is the first book in a trilogy, and in the author Q&A with Juno Dawson I attended a couple of weeks ago, she told us that Leonie comes more into play in subsequent books.
I also seriously disagree with those pointing out that for a book about feminism, the women are awfully divided and therefore the book is not feminist. That is the point. Division over these issues is not feminist because the division is caused by bigotry and intolerance. Therefore the people who do not fight for the rights of women—all women, including transwomen and BIPOC women—are not feminist and they absolutely must be challenged in their views. We're all getting fucked over by the patriarchy here, some moreso than others. Acknowledging that divide, difference, and the very real divisions in friendships and families who disagree over fundamental human rights is important.
This book made me really really angry in the best way and I can't wait to read the next one. Might have to borrow it from a friend as the copy I plan to buy isn't due for dispatch until November, gah.
Anyway, loved it. Highly recommended.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Death, Body horror, Bullying, Violence, War, Cursing, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia
Moderate: Sexism, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Animal death, Lesbophobia, and Racism
shadereads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Outing, and Transphobia
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Domestic abuse and War
traa's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria, Murder, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Violence, War, Death, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Fatphobia and Outing
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
th18's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Heres a few points I noted down whilst reading:
- Fast pace and seemed more YA than anything, too many modern references for me personally but each to their own.
- This also felt like the second book of the series at the start there was just so much unexplained things thrown in.
- Whilst the book did deal with modern topics such as race and trans rights, I wish it also talked a bit about harmful beauty standards due to Elle literally hiding her true self from her husband.
- I feel like the amount of swear words was also unnneeded.
- I love the idea of queer witches and empowered modern women but I feel like the talk about adulthood was very bleak
- The writing and worldbuilding also felt quite underdeveloped which was disappointing
- Finally the use of the d slur was completely unneeded
Although I've only mentioned the negatives, I did have an okay time reading this and it was quite engaging but it could definitely have been better.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Death, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Classism, Cursing, Car accident, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Transphobia, Child abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Racism, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Outing, Kidnapping, Self harm, Infidelity, and Abortion
axel_p's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Slay
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Misogyny, Death, Car accident, Death of parent, Confinement, Outing, Domestic abuse, Deadnaming, Murder, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, and Eating disorder
Minor: War, Racism, Sexism, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, and Transphobia
miniingrid's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Tiene puntos interesantes y que son necesarios visibilizar. Pero ha intentado acaparar tanto que la mayoría se quedan en poco más que una mención.
La historia es un cliché detrás de otro, y quiero creer que el dumping superficial de la diversidad en los personajes de debe a que es la primera novela de la serie. Quizás sea el tono, que me parece muy básico y simple.
En general me gustan las novelas de fantasía/ciencia ficción que tratan temas importantes y duros, pero sin perder ese punto de desconexión con la realidad que te permite evadirte aunque solo sea un poco. Aquí se recrea tanto en la transfobia sin aportar una réplica al mismo nivel, que me parece una oportunidad perdida y un simple (pero perfectamente comprensible) desahogo. Y me ha dejado con la sensación de estar leyendo a las terfas de Twitter más que una novela de fantasía.
La historia es un cliché detrás de otro, y quiero creer que el dumping superficial de la diversidad en los personajes de debe a que es la primera novela de la serie. Quizás sea el tono, que me parece muy básico y simple.
En general me gustan las novelas de fantasía/ciencia ficción que tratan temas importantes y duros, pero sin perder ese punto de desconexión con la realidad que te permite evadirte aunque solo sea un poco. Aquí se recrea tanto en la transfobia sin aportar una réplica al mismo nivel, que me parece una oportunidad perdida y un simple (pero perfectamente comprensible) desahogo. Y me ha dejado con la sensación de estar leyendo a las terfas de Twitter más que una novela de fantasía.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Violence, Animal death, Infidelity, Outing, Blood, Grief, Hate crime, and Kidnapping
Minor: Domestic abuse and Racism
ramunepocky's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I have highly anticipated this book for so long and Im so happy b/c I really, really loved absolutely everything about this book !!! I adored the magic system, the classes of Witch and adepts and what they could do, I loved the concept of the procephy and the characters working to prevent/unintentionally ensure it. I rlly loved sm characters and most of our leading Coven.
I genuinely hated Helena with everything I had to give. She started to wind me up and grate on me very early into the book when she wouldnt listen to Niamh and kept gettijg defensive bc Niamh was her friend so why wasnt she taking her side, and yet Helena wouldnt just trust Niamh's judgement and realising she was doing the right and compassionate thing. And then she got increasingly worse and too stuck in her beliefs and believing she was right to even consider any other angle or listen to anyone who disagreed with her. And then she was down right transphobic and fuck that shit, its so vile and there is no possible justification for being so hateful, even her past abuse is no excuse to be transphobic, fuck. that. shit. Even in her final moments, she blamed her friends for all she'd lost instead of realising she'd done it herself, she'd brougjt it on herself and more tjan anything, SHE would be responsible for triggering the start of the rise of Leviathan and the visions of death and destruction she'd seen. ALSO, when she killed Annie in cold blood, that hurt me so much. And for what??? FOR WHAT HELENA??? WHAT GOOD CAME OF THAT????
Niamh was absolutely my favourite character, I rlly loved her development throughout the book as she opened herself up to love and living again after losing her fiancé in the War. I adored her relationship with Theo, she was so accepting and patient with her, and became so protective of her, which is rlly what Theo needed after all the shit she'd been through since being so small. I love that Niamh acted with compassion to save Theo from being shut in the prison and so rapidly went down the pipeline of almost reluctant foster parent to her new adoptive mother who would actually die to protect her and sacrifice everything. She was just so strong and fierce in her love, and I adored her so fucking much !!!
I loved Theodora so fucking much too, she was so sweet and I loved watching her settle in to living with Niamh, being able to be herself and feel safe and loved. When she had her witch ceremony at the end eith Holly and Snow, I genuinely bawled my eyes out; its what she deserved !!! Im rlly excited to watch her grow more and become the powerful witch she !!
And THAT ENDING?!?!? excuse me, how could she do this to me?!?!?! Im so hyped to read The Shadow Cabinet and also so scared !!!
I genuinely hated Helena with everything I had to give. She started to wind me up and grate on me very early into the book when she wouldnt listen to Niamh and kept gettijg defensive bc Niamh was her friend so why wasnt she taking her side, and yet Helena wouldnt just trust Niamh's judgement and realising she was doing the right and compassionate thing. And then she got increasingly worse and too stuck in her beliefs and believing she was right to even consider any other angle or listen to anyone who disagreed with her. And then she was down right transphobic and fuck that shit, its so vile and there is no possible justification for being so hateful, even her past abuse is no excuse to be transphobic, fuck. that. shit. Even in her final moments, she blamed her friends for all she'd lost instead of realising she'd done it herself, she'd brougjt it on herself and more tjan anything, SHE would be responsible for triggering the start of the rise of Leviathan and the visions of death and destruction she'd seen. ALSO, when she killed Annie in cold blood, that hurt me so much. And for what??? FOR WHAT HELENA??? WHAT GOOD CAME OF THAT????
Niamh was absolutely my favourite character, I rlly loved her development throughout the book as she opened herself up to love and living again after losing her fiancé in the War. I adored her relationship with Theo, she was so accepting and patient with her, and became so protective of her, which is rlly what Theo needed after all the shit she'd been through since being so small. I love that Niamh acted with compassion to save Theo from being shut in the prison and so rapidly went down the pipeline of almost reluctant foster parent to her new adoptive mother who would actually die to protect her and sacrifice everything. She was just so strong and fierce in her love, and I adored her so fucking much !!!
I loved Theodora so fucking much too, she was so sweet and I loved watching her settle in to living with Niamh, being able to be herself and feel safe and loved. When she had her witch ceremony at the end eith Holly and Snow, I genuinely bawled my eyes out; its what she deserved !!! Im rlly excited to watch her grow more and become the powerful witch she !!
And THAT ENDING?!?!? excuse me, how could she do this to me?!?!?! Im so hyped to read The Shadow Cabinet and also so scared !!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Violence, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Outing, and Murder
Moderate: War, Alcohol, and Racism
Minor: Animal death
ktkeps's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Outing, Child abuse, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
meliemelo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Is this book perfectly well written? No.
Did I have a tremendous amount of fun reading it? YES.
Some parts may seem heavy-handed, and all the Spice Girls reference may not age well, sure. I maintain my five stars, if only because I thoroughly enjoy this novel - which I read entirely within the course of one day and two train journeys. The characters are interesting, the queer rep pretty good, the you-know-who tackles feel great, and most of all I really loved the story and the universe it is set in. Also hands down one of the best (or most fun) closing lines ever.
Did I have a tremendous amount of fun reading it? YES.
Some parts may seem heavy-handed, and all the Spice Girls reference may not age well, sure. I maintain my five stars, if only because I thoroughly enjoy this novel - which I read entirely within the course of one day and two train journeys. The characters are interesting, the queer rep pretty good, the you-know-who tackles feel great, and most of all I really loved the story and the universe it is set in. Also hands down one of the best (or most fun) closing lines ever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Murder, Grief, Transphobia, Violence, Sexual content, Outing, Animal death, Blood, and Alcohol
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, and Toxic relationship