A review by pitbulls_and_prose
Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

dark emotional tense medium-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

4.0

It's been 10 years since a civil war broke out among witches and a fascist was defeated. Now, four women, who grew up together and fought side by side, are all in different places in their lives, not sure how witchcraft or the coven fits in with their lives. When a new prophecy threatens the relative peace the world has lived in, these women have to reckon with their past and their friendships.

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this book. I'll admit I picked it up on vibes alone based on the cover. It was definitely a very slow start. There were a lot of characters and I was getting lost quickly. This book also does the thing that irks me about some fantasy novels, which is spending A LOT of time talking about an event in the past that sounds more interesting than what I'm currently reading. 

All that being said, once I got about 50-60% in, I loved it. It was definitely more of a set up book for the rest of the trilogy - but definitely had its action scenes by the end of the book. This book (written by a trans woman) also felt like a direct F you to JKR which I am here for every single day! There is a lot of social commentary on what it means to be a woman and how white feminism is so dangerous. I thought the commentary on friendship was also so relatable. Sometimes we can get stuck staying in friendships with those we grew up with just because we've known them forever. But it's very human to grow apart and change, and we don't owe it to people to stay in harmful relationships just because we put a lot of time into them.

AND THAT CLIFFHANGER! I can't wait to read the rest of the series.