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rhensie's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Edit: put down to a 3 because if Unseelie deserved 4, then this doesn't deserve to be anywhere near it
Ehhhhhhhh… The first half of this book was bad. Nothing relevant happened. Yeah, the battle at the end was cool, so that probably gives it its 3.5 instead of 2.5. But the craft, the plot, the pacing, and at times the writing, were all off. There were a bunch of punctuation mistakes in the ebook that took me right out of the story. Leonie felt like diversity points. I love Theo (and she’s named after one of my favourite characters!), but we don’t see enough of what she is actually like. At times, I hated the way the book did it’s representation. Talking about goth girl cutters, whining about how hard it is for cos people to use correct pronouns, calling Theo a him over and over again even by the characters who weren’t meant to be the TERFs. The idea is great but the execution was not it for me. Idk if I’ll read the sequel, this ends on a cliffhanger that feels shoe-horned in for the sake of having a cliffhanger and I’m not a big fan of that.
Ehhhhhhhh… The first half of this book was bad. Nothing relevant happened. Yeah, the battle at the end was cool, so that probably gives it its 3.5 instead of 2.5. But the craft, the plot, the pacing, and at times the writing, were all off. There were a bunch of punctuation mistakes in the ebook that took me right out of the story. Leonie felt like diversity points. I love Theo (and she’s named after one of my favourite characters!), but we don’t see enough of what she is actually like. At times, I hated the way the book did it’s representation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, War, and Racism
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Self harm
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
rorikae's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
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
4.5
'Her Majesty's Royal Coven' by Juno Dawson is an emotional fantasy about a group of childhood friends who have felt their friendship tried in their adult lives.
Niamh, Helena, Elle, Leonie, and Ciara all grew up together as budding witches. As kids they were fast friends but as women in their mid-30s and after the fallout of a war, life has changed for all of them. Helena is head of Her Majesty's Royal Coven, Niamh is a veterinarian living in a small town, Elle is taking care of her two children, and Leonie has started her own coven dedicated to marginalized witches. Ciara is in a coma after the events of the war. When Theo, a teenager with incredible magical power is discovered, Helena fears that they are the prophesized Sullied Child that will destroy the witches. Niamh on the other hand just sees a young child with too much power who has never been shown care in their life. With differing views, tensions begin to rise as they each determine what is the appropriate step forward.
Dawson has written an adult fantasy that is hard to put down while dealing with a number of different subjects. It is clear that this book is in large part inspired by She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and her transphobia. Dawson delves into a number of different subjects while creating a cast of characters that it is easy to love. She also does a good job of showcasing how a belief in how things should be can escalate into full bigotry. There is a twist at the end of this first book that makes me excited and terrified for where this story is going next. Dawson's writing is straightforward but the plot and characters made this a story I had a hard time putting down. If you are looking for a fast paced fantasy set in our world and dealing with many of our current issues, 'Her Majesty's Royal Coven' is a great book to pick up.
Niamh, Helena, Elle, Leonie, and Ciara all grew up together as budding witches. As kids they were fast friends but as women in their mid-30s and after the fallout of a war, life has changed for all of them. Helena is head of Her Majesty's Royal Coven, Niamh is a veterinarian living in a small town, Elle is taking care of her two children, and Leonie has started her own coven dedicated to marginalized witches. Ciara is in a coma after the events of the war. When Theo, a teenager with incredible magical power is discovered, Helena fears that they are the prophesized Sullied Child that will destroy the witches. Niamh on the other hand just sees a young child with too much power who has never been shown care in their life. With differing views, tensions begin to rise as they each determine what is the appropriate step forward.
Dawson has written an adult fantasy that is hard to put down while dealing with a number of different subjects. It is clear that this book is in large part inspired by She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and her transphobia. Dawson delves into a number of different subjects while creating a cast of characters that it is easy to love. She also does a good job of showcasing how a belief in how things should be can escalate into full bigotry. There is a twist at the end of this first book that makes me excited and terrified for where this story is going next. Dawson's writing is straightforward but the plot and characters made this a story I had a hard time putting down. If you are looking for a fast paced fantasy set in our world and dealing with many of our current issues, 'Her Majesty's Royal Coven' is a great book to pick up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Kidnapping, Body horror, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, Transphobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: War
Minor: Abandonment
cozyscones's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Violence, Animal death, and Deadnaming
Moderate: Racism, Kidnapping, and War
shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Grief, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, War, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping
Minor: Abortion, Animal death, Child abuse, Outing, Ableism, and Emotional abuse
amandadevoursbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
3.75
The witches of Her Majesty's Royal Coven have a problem. A teenage boy destroyed a school. Warlocks aren't as powerful as witches, and the kid won't talk to anyone. Also, there's a prophecy and Helena, the head of HMRC, thinks the boy is it.
We follow 4 friends who fought in the witch civil war, some of their kids, and Theo as Theo learns who she is. The grown ups tackle changes both within a new rival coven and HMRC.
This book takes JKR's terfiness and slices it open with surgical precision. The terf talking points written out make the antagonist sound like a mustachioed bad guy from a cartoon. It'd be over the top, if most of them were not direct quotes.
The action and magic were fun. I enjoyed the relationships. The end chopped my heart into little pieces and ate them one by one until I got the acknowledgement page.
What didn't I like? As the story progressed, the characters didn't always do things that made sense. As an example, Leonie just leaving before things kicked off felt like a plot driven choice and not a character driven one.
I'm excited for the next book, and I can't wait to see what happens.
We follow 4 friends who fought in the witch civil war, some of their kids, and Theo as Theo learns who she is. The grown ups tackle changes both within a new rival coven and HMRC.
This book takes JKR's terfiness and slices it open with surgical precision. The terf talking points written out make the antagonist sound like a mustachioed bad guy from a cartoon. It'd be over the top, if most of them were not direct quotes.
The action and magic were fun. I enjoyed the relationships. The end chopped my heart into little pieces and ate them one by one until I got the acknowledgement page.
What didn't I like? As the story progressed, the characters didn't always do things that made sense. As an example, Leonie just leaving before things kicked off felt like a plot driven choice and not a character driven one.
I'm excited for the next book, and I can't wait to see what happens.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Transphobia, and War
kitaface's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia and Deadnaming
Moderate: Murder, Racism, Sexism, and Homophobia
Minor: Infidelity and War
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Death, Kidnapping, and Transphobia
Moderate: Grief, Sexual content, Sexism, Dysphoria, Cursing, Confinement, Racism, War, Alcohol, Abandonment, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Domestic abuse
kathaarinaa's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Racism, Kidnapping, Murder, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Torture
questingnotcoasting'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
4.5
I think this is my favourite book of 2023 so far. I loved the premise and luckily the execution really lived up to my hopes for it. I found the structure and bureaucracy of the magic system so interesting and I became very attached to some of the characters. Juno Dawson also does a great job mixing urban fantasy and contemporary social justice issues. I listened to the audiobook which was brilliantly narrated by Nicola Coughlan. I sometimes don't feel like I'm as invested in stories I listen to rather than read with my eyes but I was so absorbed in this. The different character POV chapters felt so distinct because Coughlan's accents were great. Although I usually hate a cliff-hanger ending I can respect it and I'll definitely be picking up the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death, Grief, Animal death, Mental illness, Outing, Transphobia, Violence, and War