Reviews with content warning for Violence - Her Majesty's Royal Coven

I will come back to write a review when I’ve thought and processed everything but I loved it right until the last few chapters and now I don’t know if I want to continue with the series.

Okay, it’s been a few days. I stand by the 4 stars I gave it. I loved this book so much until the last few chapters. It wasn’t the climax that was disappointing it was the resolution and set up for book two that really threw me off. It’s hard to explain why without crazy spoilers so I will put the spoiler tag on:

I thought that the “trial” at the end was jarring and abrupt, like why even keep her alive if you are going to put her to death like 3 pages later. But I’m also in the camp in fantasy if you don’t see the body don’t believe they are dead so I could see some shenanigans happening in future books. Also what happened with Ciara and the random info dump of what the demon was up to without us being aware felt cheap. We were following the POV, we saw one memory gap scene but having it be more and more apparent would make the reveals at the end much more purposeful and not just thrown in there for the cliffhanger and the READ THE NEXT BOOK heavy handed ness of that ending. It felt like she just put all the info dump in for shock value to hope to hook people in without proper set up. Which felt so jarring to me. Making me question if I want to continue.

Okay back to safe space:
This book followed the lives of four women (witches), who were best friends growing up, and how each of their lives changed as they grew older and after a devastating war among witches that took place about 10 years prior. Looking back on it having 4 POVs was a lot and I felt like two of the four I wanted more from or could have been cut out, though I feel that those two were the stories that I was most interested in.

The main plot though was about a doom brining child who is said to bring the ending of days and life as we know it. You know the normal doom and gloom of apocalyptic prophecies.

I loved following the women’s stories and more of the slice of life content we got as well as the heartbreaking story of Theo’s past and fining hope and friendship as the story progressed.

Major trigger warnings for Transphobia, we have a POV of a TERF, and on page violence against a trans woman.

This book took on many different social commentary issues, mainly in one of the POVs I wish we had more of from, about systemic racism, elitism, transphobia, homophobia, and feminism benefiting straight white women. We also had grief from the loss of a loved one during the war (sister, fiancé and husband) and the guilt associated with moving on which I found really touching.

Content Warnings

tiredgirlreads's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

4.5

I really enjoyed this book! The cast of characters was wonderfully fresh, although I wish a tiny bit more time was spent on Leonie and her coven, as well as Clara’s backstory. That said, the pace probably would’ve suffered as a result. I really loved the inclusivity and clear message about how important intersectional feminism is. And all of the witchy lore was delightful!
The one thing I was NOT ready for was that ending. By god… there better be a resolution and not

Niamh’s utterly unfair death!!!! I’m hoping that her spirit is still there and when Ciara gets defeated (pleaaaaaase), Niamh’s spirit can go back into her body. Please.

Content Warnings

rowan92579's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense

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

3.5

Content Warnings

kayleighoneillonwheels's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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? No

4.5

Content Warnings

readwithria's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven was the political, witchy-sisterhood book I didn’t know I needed.

I really enjoyed this book, and the characters took the cake. The POV characters, their children and wards, their partners, and all of the side characters felt so fleshed out and real. Their relationships were so fun to read about, even the bad ones.

I will say that it wasn’t until well into the book that I felt like I understood how the magic system worked. The delineation between the different types of witches and what they can do, plus the elemental aspect of witchery, made for a lot of information that I still don’t fully grasp.

I’m very excited to read The Shadow Cabinet! 4 stars.

Content Warnings

linnaea's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

Content Warnings

More...