Reviews tagging 'Death'

Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

141 reviews

atamano's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Transphobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Homophobia, Child abuse, Colonisation, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, War, Blood, and Violence

Minor: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, and Cursing

elliesienk's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and War

hazelgirl21's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Transphobia

Minor: Child abuse and Abandonment

lorriss's review against another edition

emotional mysterious

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Transphobia, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Car accident, Confinement, Deadnaming, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Violence, and War

Moderate: Medical content, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, and Infidelity

Minor: Child death, Excrement, Lesbophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Slavery, Abortion, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

17kmcollins's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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 Violence

Moderate: Death

Minor: Infidelity and Death

courtnoodles's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Car accident, Death of parent, Child abuse, Drug use, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Grief, and Outing

Moderate: Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement

deleore's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Transphobia, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Dysphoria, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

bluebreex's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Transphobia

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Body horror, and Animal cruelty

hobbithopeful's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

Juno Dawson never disappoints, this book is the perfect potion of feminism, witches, and transphobia. (Weird to say I love a book so much that has transphobia, but trust me it's worth it)
I went into this book not sure what to expect, I've only ever read Dawson's nonfiction works before, so I wasn't sure how that would translate to a fantasy story. I did kind of expect (or hope!) for there to be elements of queerness, identity, and transness explored. To say I was blown away would be an understatement! Her Majesty's Royal Coven explores transphobia, feminism, race, the corruption of power, and fear.
People always seem to forget that hate doesn't just appear out of nowhere one day. People don't just turn around and decide to be evil and hateful. It is more like a slow shift, people fall down different pipelines, or don't deal with their past trauma. Maybe they are around unhealthy environments that unintentionally (or intentionally) push an agenda of power and fear. The characters in this are all still reeling from the Witch civil war, and grieving in their own ways. Whether that leads them to insulate in their own communities, push people away, or become power hungry tyrants all depends on the individual and their support system.
I feel like I am making this sound like some dark and emotional book that is going to lead you traumatized, and that couldn't be further from the truth. While there are a lot of difficult topics and themes, at its heart is such a thread of hope and found family. Proving that no matter what happens, as long as you allow yourself to trust and be loved everything might just turn out to be okay.
This is a book that I want to bring out of my pocket when there are conversations around representation and intersectionality. (Look kids it's possible for a white author to write good representation!)
I am a self professed cliff-hanger hater, this is the only exception where I can say it was done well and I enjoyed it. (Though I am lucky to be in possession of the second book, so there was definitely a cushion there)
I would 100000000000000000000000% recommend this, perfect for anytime of the year be it spooky season, or just something to really fall into, I can't wait to read the second book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Racism

Minor: War, Infidelity, and Child abuse

kylahken's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

phenomenal. genuinely just a gorgeous book. from the magic and world building to the societal commentary, just *chefs kiss*. the societal commentary handled gender, sexuality, and race in such a careful and thought out way that doesn’t shove it down, but explores all sides and viewpoints (albeit villainizing the wrong viewpoint for good reason). 10/10 read if you want a fantasy queer read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Dysphoria, and Death

one of the main focuses of the book is in the validity of a character’s transition, though the book handles it very well and openly critiques those who do not believe in trans validity.