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A review by triforcefusion
Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-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
3.5
This book is a WB show waiting to happen, or it would be if the WB didn't mess up with the Charmed reboot after season 1.
The book has interesting premises for witch kind. It's very heavy handed in its portrayal of bigotry to the point of the main villain being cartoonish. The magic system is on the softer side. There were a few moments where the use of magic didn't make sense other than for the drama it created.
I liked the main protagonist and her ward. I didn't expect the tiny sprinkle of smut in the middle of the book, but it was very brief.
The book touches on big themes of racism, classism, misogyny, transphobia and patriarchal structures, but not very deeply. To make a lot of the book specifically about trans and racial issues, I felt like it could have done more than "these people are TERFs and white women don't understand their privilege." It BARELY touches on the villain's past trauma, and basically makes the character very 2D. I feel like the author just made a straw man villain and didn't flesh them out as a person.
The book ultimately kept me interested because the author does throw some good twists in. Some were obvious, some were not. And I liked the protagonist and her fight to protect a child against an insane bigot. It was cathartic to at least see a character stand up and be an ally in literal life and death situations.
The book has interesting premises for witch kind. It's very heavy handed in its portrayal of bigotry to the point of the main villain being cartoonish. The magic system is on the softer side. There were a few moments where the use of magic didn't make sense other than for the drama it created.
I liked the main protagonist and her ward. I didn't expect the tiny sprinkle of smut in the middle of the book, but it was very brief.
The book touches on big themes of racism, classism, misogyny, transphobia and patriarchal structures, but not very deeply. To make a lot of the book specifically about trans and racial issues, I felt like it could have done more than "these people are TERFs and white women don't understand their privilege." It BARELY touches on the villain's past trauma, and basically makes the character very 2D. I feel like the author just made a straw man villain and didn't flesh them out as a person.
The book ultimately kept me interested because the author does throw some good twists in. Some were obvious, some were not. And I liked the protagonist and her fight to protect a child against an insane bigot. It was cathartic to at least see a character stand up and be an ally in literal life and death situations.