deleore's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Transphobia, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Dysphoria, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
lira_the_recluse's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Transphobia, Violence, and Drug use
bookwyrmdancer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Violence, Dysphoria, Death, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Racism, and Murder
written_between_the_stars's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.5
This started pretty slow and it took the first 200 pages until I really settled into the story, but damn introducing each character and their dynamics paid off so much in the end. I was so invested. The atmosphere was also a lot cozier than expected.
A feminist book about witches with a queer chosen one and the villain is JK Rowling/terf coded. Hell yes!!!
This gave me all the complex, Gilmore Girls, Witch Club, Jennifer's Body, Yellowjackets, feminine rage/complexity/friendship vibes I wanted. It just was so 💗girly💗 and fem. You know those posts about how there's always a majority male cast in books and like one woman. In HER MAJESTY'S ROYAL COVEN you won't have this problem. It's the opposite. Basically every character is a woman or girl in this. With the exception of the side characters.
This book is so many different genres depending on whose POV you're reading from. It was thriller, cottage core cozy fantasy, horror, coming of age and 90s/early 2000s romance movie all in one. It highlighted the camaraderie of womanhood without ignoring the ugly/competitive parts of being in a "girl friendship group" and the racism/queerphobia of white feminism.
This easily could've been told through the teenagers' POV in this story (a few of the MCs are mothers) but I'm so glad it wasn't the hundredth version of the "Chosen One" or "16 year old realizing she has powers". I love that we follow these very different types of thirty-something women/witches through a slice of their mundane and magic life instead. With a big magical boom at the end. It was basically Sex & the City + Magic. Such a fresh take on common tropes. I already ordered the sequel!
A feminist book about witches with a queer chosen one and the villain is JK Rowling/terf coded. Hell yes!!!
This gave me all the complex, Gilmore Girls, Witch Club, Jennifer's Body, Yellowjackets, feminine rage/complexity/friendship vibes I wanted. It just was so 💗girly💗 and fem. You know those posts about how there's always a majority male cast in books and like one woman. In HER MAJESTY'S ROYAL COVEN you won't have this problem. It's the opposite. Basically every character is a woman or girl in this. With the exception of the side characters.
This book is so many different genres depending on whose POV you're reading from. It was thriller, cottage core cozy fantasy, horror, coming of age and 90s/early 2000s romance movie all in one. It highlighted the camaraderie of womanhood without ignoring the ugly/competitive parts of being in a "girl friendship group" and the racism/queerphobia of white feminism.
This easily could've been told through the teenagers' POV in this story (a few of the MCs are mothers) but I'm so glad it wasn't the hundredth version of the "Chosen One" or "16 year old realizing she has powers". I love that we follow these very different types of thirty-something women/witches through a slice of their mundane and magic life instead. With a big magical boom at the end. It was basically Sex & the City + Magic. Such a fresh take on common tropes. I already ordered the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Sexism, Child abuse, Violence, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Death, Deadnaming, Cultural appropriation, and Classism
neni's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really wanted to give this book a higher rating because the whole concept is, in theory, quite cool and full of promise. However, the execution failed spectacularly in several ways:
1 - The biggest flaw for me was the writing. I'm aware this can be somewhat of a personal preference, but the writing style felt juvenile, empty and overly descriptive. There were often massive chunks of info-dumping about the world-building that could have been introduced in other ways, as well as long descriptions of common place objects/concepts intersperced with unnecessary pop culture references that just added clunk to the flow of the story. This is a great example of "telling, not showing". Everything was told to us in the same tone, so that descriptions of outfit colours and characters emotional status felt like they had the same weight.
2 - I went into this not knowing anything at all about the story, so I was quite surprised by the themes in the second half of the book. Not in a negative way. Trying to be as spoiler free as possible here, I think this was an interesting setting to explore the "arguments" that get thrown around when approaching the subject, and I wish we could have focused more on this instead of trying to do 10 other things with the story and the characters. It felt like the author wanted to cram as much representation and equality issues as possible in there, while also keeping it fun and light, and also dramatic and adventurous at the end. It all just felt shallow and not developed enough. I would have prefered to see Theo's story developed in a more sensible, complex way, instead of having the theme thrust upon the reader out of nowhere and have one of the main characters turn into an obnoxious Disney movie Villain half way through. I think it took away from the emotional connection the reader might have had with the characters, and it all ended up feeling a bit like those run of the mill adventure action movies you go see in the theater and immediatelly forget after. Then again, if you're looking for a fun fast read about LGBTQIA+ witches I suppose this isn't a bad choice.
3 - That ending! Brought the writing down half a point I'm sorry to say. I HATE it when author's do that. Just completely unnecessary, out of the blue, plotwist cliffhanger just so the reader feels compelled to immediately jump into reading the next book. I'm sorry. That's cheap af and I will not be continuing on.
Finally, and this isn't really a criticism, more of a funny observation - after the developments of the second half of the book, I cannot, for the life of me, not picture J.K.Rowling anytime a certain white rich TERF bitch is in a scene and that's kinda funny and probably on purpose lol
1 - The biggest flaw for me was the writing. I'm aware this can be somewhat of a personal preference, but the writing style felt juvenile, empty and overly descriptive. There were often massive chunks of info-dumping about the world-building that could have been introduced in other ways, as well as long descriptions of common place objects/concepts intersperced with unnecessary pop culture references that just added clunk to the flow of the story. This is a great example of "telling, not showing". Everything was told to us in the same tone, so that descriptions of outfit colours and characters emotional status felt like they had the same weight.
2 - I went into this not knowing anything at all about the story, so I was quite surprised by the themes in the second half of the book. Not in a negative way. Trying to be as spoiler free as possible here, I think this was an interesting setting to explore the "arguments" that get thrown around when approaching the subject, and I wish we could have focused more on this instead of trying to do 10 other things with the story and the characters. It felt like the author wanted to cram as much representation and equality issues as possible in there, while also keeping it fun and light, and also dramatic and adventurous at the end. It all just felt shallow and not developed enough. I would have prefered to see Theo's story developed in a more sensible, complex way, instead of having the theme thrust upon the reader out of nowhere and have one of the main characters turn into an obnoxious Disney movie Villain half way through. I think it took away from the emotional connection the reader might have had with the characters, and it all ended up feeling a bit like those run of the mill adventure action movies you go see in the theater and immediatelly forget after. Then again, if you're looking for a fun fast read about LGBTQIA+ witches I suppose this isn't a bad choice.
3 - That ending! Brought the writing down half a point I'm sorry to say. I HATE it when author's do that. Just completely unnecessary, out of the blue, plotwist cliffhanger just so the reader feels compelled to immediately jump into reading the next book. I'm sorry. That's cheap af and I will not be continuing on.
Finally, and this isn't really a criticism, more of a funny observation - after the developments of the second half of the book, I cannot, for the life of me, not picture J.K.Rowling anytime a certain white rich TERF bitch is in a scene and that's kinda funny and probably on purpose lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Outing, Cursing, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Transphobia, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Animal cruelty
verinvaldez's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.0
A gripping storyline all the way through with highly emotive themes and dynamic characters. The plot was intriguing and difficult to predict, the magic system was fun to learn about and I loved how it was linked to nature.
It was wonderful to read a fantasy story from the perspective of adult women, where many of them have kids/kid charges and it's an accomplishment that the children were all dynamic characters and not frustrating to read about or detrimental to the plot in a way they sometimes are. Themes of motherhood and found family are very strong here.
The romances and friendships all felt organic to me and I was definitely rooting for the budding new romance in the book.
The trans storyline was by far the strongest and was what made this book 5 stars for me, it used a great many talking points I've heard from trans people, allies and TERFs so it was bone chilling how accurate to real life the arguments the characters were having felt.
We also get POC characters and lesbian characters, but their struggles were sidelined somewhat and I am hoping they will get their chance to shine in the next book.
I'm glad the second book is out because I can't wait to read it and find out where these characters go next.
Edit: After reading the second book I've changed my rating to 4 stars as I realised the ending to this book destroys multiple characters storylines and is partially responsible for book 2 being disappointing.
It was wonderful to read a fantasy story from the perspective of adult women, where many of them have kids/kid charges and it's an accomplishment that the children were all dynamic characters and not frustrating to read about or detrimental to the plot in a way they sometimes are. Themes of motherhood and found family are very strong here.
The romances and friendships all felt organic to me and I was definitely rooting for the budding new romance in the book.
The trans storyline was by far the strongest and was what made this book 5 stars for me, it used a great many talking points I've heard from trans people, allies and TERFs so it was bone chilling how accurate to real life the arguments the characters were having felt.
We also get POC characters and lesbian characters, but their struggles were sidelined somewhat and I am hoping they will get their chance to shine in the next book.
I'm glad the second book is out because I can't wait to read it and find out where these characters go next.
Edit: After reading the second book I've changed my rating to 4 stars as I realised the ending to this book destroys multiple characters storylines and is partially responsible for book 2 being disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Transphobia
Moderate: Car accident, Infidelity, Murder, Outing, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual content, Classism, Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, and War
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Eating disorder, and Toxic relationship
risaleel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Outing, Death, Transphobia, Racism, and War
Moderate: Sexism, Toxic friendship, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Drug use, Confinement, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
mouse42's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Kidnapping, and Deadnaming
tiredcreature's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
There is a core of a solid criticism of white cishet feminism in there, but ultimately all the intersectional characters act as backdrop and support to a conflict between two white cishet women, and the whole thing falls flat
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Child abuse, and Transphobia
Moderate: Hate crime
Minor: Kidnapping and Car accident
bookishwondergoth's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
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
I loved this book. It was well written, modern, fresh and topical and full of twists and turns.
I see from other reviews people have commented that the writing style seems too informal and littered with slang and references that are shoe-horned in. I personally don't agree with this criticism at all. The informality works for its contemporary setting. Also, Niamh and the relationship she has with her friends and their children felt very familiar to me and my own experiences as an adult who lived as a child through the 90s.
I also really enjoyed the examinations of intersectional feminism (or the lack of it in many white women) and its flat-out codemnation of TERFism. This was very clearly written in response to J. K. Rowling's transphobic essay published in 2020. It's not subtle, but then TERFs are not at all subtle with their transphobia in the UK, so did I care? No. Fuck TERFs. Their mindset makes ZERO sense and Juno Dawson does a really good job of showing just how completely nonsensical it is.
I do think there are some segments that could have been better fleshed out/made relevant to the main story (pretty much everything to do with Leonie and her breakaway coven, Diaspora). However, this is the first book in a trilogy, and in the author Q&A with Juno Dawson I attended a couple of weeks ago, she told us that Leonie comes more into play in subsequent books.
I also seriously disagree with those pointing out that for a book about feminism, the women are awfully divided and therefore the book is not feminist. That is the point. Division over these issues is not feminist because the division is caused by bigotry and intolerance. Therefore the people who do not fight for the rights of women—all women, including transwomen and BIPOC women—are not feminist and they absolutely must be challenged in their views. We're all getting fucked over by the patriarchy here, some moreso than others. Acknowledging that divide, difference, and the very real divisions in friendships and families who disagree over fundamental human rights is important.
This book made me really really angry in the best way and I can't wait to read the next one. Might have to borrow it from a friend as the copy I plan to buy isn't due for dispatch until November, gah.
Anyway, loved it. Highly recommended.
I see from other reviews people have commented that the writing style seems too informal and littered with slang and references that are shoe-horned in. I personally don't agree with this criticism at all. The informality works for its contemporary setting. Also, Niamh and the relationship she has with her friends and their children felt very familiar to me and my own experiences as an adult who lived as a child through the 90s.
I also really enjoyed the examinations of intersectional feminism (or the lack of it in many white women) and its flat-out codemnation of TERFism. This was very clearly written in response to J. K. Rowling's transphobic essay published in 2020. It's not subtle, but then TERFs are not at all subtle with their transphobia in the UK, so did I care? No. Fuck TERFs. Their mindset makes ZERO sense and Juno Dawson does a really good job of showing just how completely nonsensical it is.
I do think there are some segments that could have been better fleshed out/made relevant to the main story (pretty much everything to do with Leonie and her breakaway coven, Diaspora). However, this is the first book in a trilogy, and in the author Q&A with Juno Dawson I attended a couple of weeks ago, she told us that Leonie comes more into play in subsequent books.
I also seriously disagree with those pointing out that for a book about feminism, the women are awfully divided and therefore the book is not feminist. That is the point. Division over these issues is not feminist because the division is caused by bigotry and intolerance. Therefore the people who do not fight for the rights of women—all women, including transwomen and BIPOC women—are not feminist and they absolutely must be challenged in their views. We're all getting fucked over by the patriarchy here, some moreso than others. Acknowledging that divide, difference, and the very real divisions in friendships and families who disagree over fundamental human rights is important.
This book made me really really angry in the best way and I can't wait to read the next one. Might have to borrow it from a friend as the copy I plan to buy isn't due for dispatch until November, gah.
Anyway, loved it. Highly recommended.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Death, Body horror, Bullying, Violence, War, Cursing, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia
Moderate: Sexism, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Animal death, Lesbophobia, and Racism