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

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

51 reviews

emilywrayburn's review

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challenging dark emotional 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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vgk's review

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2.0

Well, I finished it, but I won't be reading anything more by this author. I could probably write a thousand words or more about what is wrong with this book, but to be honest it's not worth my time. I suppose the biggest problem I had was the characterisation, which was at best two dimensional (more often one). Reminiscent of NK Jemisin's dreadful The City We Became in this regard, the characters are poorly drawn and stereotypical. The author's viewpoint was like that of a 14yo boy who has read a bunch of teen girl magazines and listened to Spice Girls lyrics and thinks they now know about women. The result is unrealistic, juvenile and cringeworthy characters. And I can't even begin to describe how bad the POC and lesbian characters are. The whole thing reads like YA but with decidedly adult content. Dreadful.

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fae_sarelfi's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense 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

5.0

The description is misleading. The story is less about in-fighting and more about intersectional feminism/inclusivity/bigotry. It surprised me, and I was THRILLED. In the end, I think we don't get to know the Chosen One character as much as I would like, and I also think it doesn't stick the landing in the climactic moment as far as the integrity of its themes. Arguably, theme development depends a little too much on preaching and not enough on fruition. But the plot is developed well and the writing is mostly good. Characters are unique individuals, but many feel flat. The magic is fun, a little lacking in pizzazz. I look forward to the sequel.

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blewballoon's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Gonna get a bit more "political" than I typically do, since this is a quite "political" book. If you are the type of person who asks yourself "I don't know, I feel like the stuff JK Rowling says in her tweets isn't that big a deal?" and you are genuinely curious to know why it is a big deal, then this might be a good book to help explain it to you. If you are a TERF, you will hate this book. I didn't like this book either, but not for that reason. I didn't like this book in the same ways I didn't like The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin: dwelling on the power that racists/sexists/homophobes/transphobes/etc have just bums me out. I know things suck. I read to remind myself that sometimes people don't suck. I read to keep myself from falling into a pit of despair about the state of the world. Apart from Niamh, Theo, and Holly, I didn't really like any of the characters. I absolutely hated the ending. I felt like I knew what was coming the whole time and just wanted it to be over. I gave it 3 stars because of the intention, the world-building, the setting, and there were some funny lines. I don't think this is a bad book, it just didn't suit me even though I agree with its message. The narrator for the audiobook was really fantastic, I'll be looking for more books narrated by them.

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