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A review by utopiastateofmind
Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: misgendering
Her Majesty's Royal Coven is a story about systems and freedom. About ingrained systems that are held up, institutions, over time and which - in some ways - resist change. This idea that they are exclusionary, not listening or acknowledging voices, like marginalized ones. It's about these systems of power and also to celebrate voices and forces of change. Of people who are able to see when to speak out, and those who have made spaces of their own. It's a multiple POV story surrounding this core of friends who have drifted apart.
I enjoyed watching the character's lives unfold, specifically as they began to intersect more and it was clear they were keeping things from each other. But I do feel like some perspectives took more of the center stage. Maybe that's because of the ending and how it's set up for this series, but I felt like some of my favorite characters didn't get as much time as I would have liked. Even more than that, one of the characters is incredibly transphobic.
I am not trans and so I cannot speak to these comments, but I can say that it was incredibly difficult to read. I realize that these sentiments are those shared by some people within our society - this TERF sentiment that pervades certain spaces - but it just felt like in a story which is supposed to feature a trans minor at the heart of it, that it was difficult to read. The story of her search for recognition and specifically as a girl is so central to the plot of the story and so this POV felt even more hostile.
TW: misgendering
Her Majesty's Royal Coven is a story about systems and freedom. About ingrained systems that are held up, institutions, over time and which - in some ways - resist change. This idea that they are exclusionary, not listening or acknowledging voices, like marginalized ones. It's about these systems of power and also to celebrate voices and forces of change. Of people who are able to see when to speak out, and those who have made spaces of their own. It's a multiple POV story surrounding this core of friends who have drifted apart.
I enjoyed watching the character's lives unfold, specifically as they began to intersect more and it was clear they were keeping things from each other. But I do feel like some perspectives took more of the center stage. Maybe that's because of the ending and how it's set up for this series, but I felt like some of my favorite characters didn't get as much time as I would have liked. Even more than that, one of the characters is incredibly transphobic.
I am not trans and so I cannot speak to these comments, but I can say that it was incredibly difficult to read. I realize that these sentiments are those shared by some people within our society - this TERF sentiment that pervades certain spaces - but it just felt like in a story which is supposed to feature a trans minor at the heart of it, that it was difficult to read. The story of her search for recognition and specifically as a girl is so central to the plot of the story and so this POV felt even more hostile.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Sexism, Homophobia, and Deadnaming