Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

52 reviews

hematthews's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Medical trauma, Outing, Violence, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Transphobia, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Deadnaming, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Car accident

corvinscorner's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Grief, Homophobia, Classism, Deadnaming, Death, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

zias's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I love the plot of this book and the system of magic. I adored the cast of characters and their diversity, and their common trait of magic. I did not expect the very end at all and look forward to the next book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Animal death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Grief

risaleel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Outing, Death, Transphobia, Racism, and War

Moderate: Sexism, Toxic friendship, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Drug use, Confinement, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

l4urenf13's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Deadnaming

Moderate: Abortion, Homophobia, War, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Sexism, Sexual content, Child abuse, Misogyny, and Grief

abi224_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, and War

Minor: Abortion

frmeden's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual content, War, and Racism

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

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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

alexiab's review against another edition

challenging funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I'm breaking my self imposed review hiatus for this book because I am ABSOLUTELY LOSING MY MIND OVER HOW GOOD IT WAS. Every single aspect is just OUTSTANDING.

While there are a ton of excellent commentaries happening throughout this story about racism, homophobia, transphobia, and sexism there is also an INCREDIBLE fantasy plot with exciting action and heartstopping twists. I can't BELIEVE the exciting and emotional way it ended, and I am champing at the absolute bit for the next book. I'm obsessed with this writing, the balance of character study/women's fiction aspects, world building, and fast paced plot is fabulous. I would read another one of these books for the characters alone, but THAT PLOT! OOOOH THAT PLOT SHE IS SPICY SHE IS EXCITING SHE IS DESTROYING MY VERY SOUL FROM THE INSIDE OUT.

And god, the social commentary on trans women and their place in women's spaces? The white feminism and how it doesn't benefit women of colour? The raging white women fighting for "women's rights" but only women who look like her?! GOD. JUST AMAZING.

A huge part of me thinks this book was written as a direct response to JK Rowling and her bullshit TERF rhetoric, and my god is it incredible.  The setting, the fantasy elements, and the themes work so beautifully together and paint the biggest "fuck you" to every TERF out there, I couldn't be more thrilled.

A huge part of me expected Helena's story to go a very different direction, and I am SO thrilled that this didn't remotely pander to the "we're better than them, show them kindness" bullshit that some people spew. every TERF deserves to burn in hell, I'm not sorry. RIP Helena, you crusty bitch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Cursing, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual content, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol and Self harm

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. 

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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