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anapthine's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? No
4.75
Thank you Net Galley and HarperCollins Audio for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
First off, Nicola Coughlan was incredible at narrating this book. I was in awe of how well she portrayed the many characters just by voice. The accents were amazing, the way she made me feel when listening to this audiobook, how she made you sympathise with each character - just everything was perfect.
Her Majesty’s Royal Coven is a low fantasy novel set in a small Yorkshire town in the UK. Niamh comes across a child who is misunderstood and shields them from the dangers. This book is about friendship, trust, love and understanding. The diversity and LGBTQIA+ representation in this novel is beautiful, along with the many different stories told. The trans rep is compelling and gorgeous. I loved this novel so much. Also a complex villain? That makes it even better.
I would recommend this to everyone, I think there is a bit of everything. Do read the content warnings before starting as there are some major mentions of transphobia, racism, violence, (and white supremacists).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Bullying, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Violence, Kidnapping, Racism, and War
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Infidelity and Vomit
supernova_reader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Well done. I picked it up because I was told it is an interesting and insightful portrayal of female friendships and how they evolve with age and though life. I wasn’t let down in the slightest. Also pleasantly surprised at the serious topics covered in the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Animal death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Torture, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Colonisation, Child death, Violence, War, Sexism, Racism, Outing, and Infidelity
wyrmbergsabrina's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
I don't read a huge amount of contemporary adult novels, so one about witches in our world, I was up for. I'm going through a big witch phase at the moment and a large dose of nineties nostalgia, so this felt right.
Meet five friends (yes, I'm not miscounting) who have, as time has passed, drifted a little. They are still (mostly) friends, but they're older now and we all know being friends as teenage girls is never quite the same once you pass 25. And they are all witches. So far, straight forward.
But then there's this prophecy looming, end of the world stuff and judgements are made in fear and a lot of the shit that goes down could have been avoided if people weren't well, people. Yes even witches are still human.
There's a lot of talk about women and what that means, and how you are a woman. HMRC is written by Juno Dawson know there's going to be these conversations. And frankly it's handled as you'd expect, really well. Arguments are torn down and anyone reading this would wonder why we still need to say Trans rights, but of course, people are people. And people do shitty things when they don't want to be the ones in the wrong.
Which nicely sums up the last third of this book.
This is the start of a series, and I'm looking forward to where this goes. The current politics are very on the nose; nice dig at the PM (who is never named but we all know who it is) and I'm pretty fond of the main characters already. And this is just the beginning of the big nasty that's been foreseen. (Because oracles always get everything nice and clearly, don't they)
Yes there are some tropes, but all good books have them (that's why they are used) The pop culture references are there, but I've read a lot more in other books, and frankly, this is my generation being written about. I was that 16 year old singing along to Say You'll Be There. It was our short hand to life, and that's what it's in here as, recording a moment between friends, a moment in our lives when things were simpler.
Over all I really enjoyed HMRC. How close this world is to our own, how it could easily be real, right now. The friendships between the women feel real (remember they aren't teens) yes we do behave like this, but the world of sisterhood felt special, something that we should really be aiming for in our world. And maybe that's why I'm going through a witch phase. I want the support of my sisters in the world.
Anyway, HMRC, bottom line - enjoyable, political, building up.
Meet five friends (yes, I'm not miscounting) who have, as time has passed, drifted a little. They are still (mostly) friends, but they're older now and we all know being friends as teenage girls is never quite the same once you pass 25. And they are all witches. So far, straight forward.
But then there's this prophecy looming, end of the world stuff and judgements are made in fear and a lot of the shit that goes down could have been avoided if people weren't well, people. Yes even witches are still human.
There's a lot of talk about women and what that means, and how you are a woman. HMRC is written by Juno Dawson know there's going to be these conversations. And frankly it's handled as you'd expect, really well. Arguments are torn down and anyone reading this would wonder why we still need to say Trans rights, but of course, people are people. And people do shitty things when they don't want to be the ones in the wrong.
Which nicely sums up the last third of this book.
This is the start of a series, and I'm looking forward to where this goes. The current politics are very on the nose; nice dig at the PM (who is never named but we all know who it is) and I'm pretty fond of the main characters already. And this is just the beginning of the big nasty that's been foreseen. (Because oracles always get everything nice and clearly, don't they)
Yes there are some tropes, but all good books have them (that's why they are used) The pop culture references are there, but I've read a lot more in other books, and frankly, this is my generation being written about. I was that 16 year old singing along to Say You'll Be There. It was our short hand to life, and that's what it's in here as, recording a moment between friends, a moment in our lives when things were simpler.
Over all I really enjoyed HMRC. How close this world is to our own, how it could easily be real, right now. The friendships between the women feel real (remember they aren't teens) yes we do behave like this, but the world of sisterhood felt special, something that we should really be aiming for in our world. And maybe that's why I'm going through a witch phase. I want the support of my sisters in the world.
Anyway, HMRC, bottom line - enjoyable, political, building up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Kidnapping, Outing, Violence, and War
Minor: Emotional abuse and Infidelity
carolibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-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: Transphobia and Death
Moderate: Infidelity, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Car accident, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
rhodesmc's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Child abuse
bi_n_large's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Infidelity, and Sexism
foreverinastory's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
Thank you to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This was a wild ride. Read 80% in one sitting because I couldn't stop.
Rep: white Irish-British cishet female MC, white British cishet female MC, white British cishet female MC, Black-biracial British lesbian female MC, sapphic Nigerian-British refugee side character, Black-biracial male side character, white trans girl side character, queer Latina trans woman side character, queer BIPOC nonbinary side character.
CWs: Alcohol consumption, blood, animal death, car accident, confinement, death, injury/injury detail, kidnapping and attempted kidnapping, murder, outing of trans character without consent, toxic friendship, violence. Moderate: classism, death of parent, fire/fire injury, infidelity of one MC's husband, misogyny, racism, sexual content, sexism specifically cissexism, war.
This was a wild ride. Read 80% in one sitting because I couldn't stop.
Rep: white Irish-British cishet female MC, white British cishet female MC, white British cishet female MC, Black-biracial British lesbian female MC, sapphic Nigerian-British refugee side character, Black-biracial male side character, white trans girl side character, queer Latina trans woman side character, queer BIPOC nonbinary side character.
CWs: Alcohol consumption, blood, animal death, car accident, confinement, death, injury/injury detail, kidnapping and attempted kidnapping, murder, outing of trans character without consent, toxic friendship, violence. Moderate: classism, death of parent, fire/fire injury, infidelity of one MC's husband, misogyny, racism, sexual content, sexism specifically cissexism, war.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Animal death, Car accident, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Outing, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Sexism, and War
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