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sassyykassie's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse and Transphobia
Moderate: Sexism, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Animal death, and Misogyny
Minor: War, Outing, Child death, and Domestic abuse
lorriss's review
- 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
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
taleofabibliophile's review
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Sexism, Child death, Gaslighting, Transphobia, Alcohol, Homophobia, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Cursing, War, Misogyny, Racism, Kidnapping, Deadnaming, Grief, Death, Confinement, Suicide, Animal death, Violence, Murder, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Medical content, Fatphobia, Colonisation, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Outing
Minor: Gore, Emotional abuse, and Vomit
jaji's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I loved that we had middle aged women protagonists - something not often seen in Urban Fantasy or fantasy generally. I don't love how they seemed more like charcitures.
I also appreciated the attempt at intersectionality, although I think the racism discussions were a little ham fisted.
It was all over the shop with pacing and its because theres a lots of unnecessary scenes. So much so I had to stop reading for a bit and switch to something a little more cohesive. That makes the beginning and middle very choppy until everything takes off in the last third. It did really hook me once it got going but because that didn't happen until the last third is really why it's 3 stars.
The other thing that stopped me from really getting into it was a bit of a culture clash. I felt for the longest time that the villain was almost cartoonishly evil, that everything was seriously over the top (like the kidnapping attempt).
However, I failed to realise just how entrenched and visible the TERF politics are in Britain (I'm not from the UK). Perhaps if I were British this wouldn't seem that extreme or over the top? Once I had the context I felt the villian made more sense. So no stars off for that but it did impact how much I enjoyed the book.
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Child death, Racism, Misogyny, War, Violence, and Hate crime
bookishflower's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank you Harper Collins/HarperVoyager and NetGalley for providing me with an audiobook arc in exchange for an honest review.
I have mixed feelings about 'Her Majesty's Royal Coven' which is a shame because I was really looking forward to it.
Nicola Coughlan does an amazing job narrating the book, I don't think there is an accent she can't do! The politics of this book are really important and it is worth reading for that alone, however I found myself struggling with the pacing and writing style.
There were a lot of pop-culture references in this which don't normally bother me, but there is only so many times I can hear about the Spice Girls before I need you to 'stop right now thank you very much'. I also, unfortunately, found the writing style to be very blunt and I struggled to remain engaged even during tense moments.
Most of the action happens in the last 20% of the book, making the first half feel much longer than it is and the ending too rushed. I was tempted to DNF multiple times but instead just listened on double speed. However, I will say that once I got to the last 20% I enjoyed the book significantly more.
'Her Majesty's Royal Coven' is a low urban fantasy about witches with important queer political commentary, but the fantasy world building was lacking and as such felt more like a political essay using witches as a metaphor rather than a fantasy novel. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I was disappointed as this was sold as an 'epic fantasy' which it wasn't. There is nothing escapist about this. (Perhaps the world building will develop in the rest of the trilogy?).
Overall, I think this contains a really important discussion and is worth reading for the politics, but if you are not more interested in that than the fantasy aspect, you might struggle with 'Her Majesty's Royal Coven'.
Graphic: Death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Deadnaming, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Outing, Transphobia, Violence, and War
Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content
Minor: Animal death and Body shaming
supernova_reader's review against another edition
- 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
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