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bella_finlayson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Gaslighting
chanlo1994's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I've been done got by the plot. That's all I'm going to say on that lol.
This book's theme focuses on the eternal struggle between men and women. There's a lot of reflection on both prospectives, irregardless if they are right or wrong, especially when discussing the dynamic within a modern day setting.
This book's theme focuses on the eternal struggle between men and women. There's a lot of reflection on both prospectives, irregardless if they are right or wrong, especially when discussing the dynamic within a modern day setting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Genocide, Trafficking, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Racism, and Self harm
jhbandcats's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
3.5
I really liked this right up until the last two pages when it went off the rails. Like the book that preceded it, it was enjoyable and entertaining. The writing was smooth and drew me in rather than complex and dense. It seemed more like YA fare but with non-YA explicit sex scenes.
We learn a lot more about the character Ciara who was only briefly noted in the first book, and we gradually learn her history. She’s presented as a sympathetic character here although she was distinctly unlikable when introduced.
I found this book too manipulative and preachy. I agree with everything the author is saying but I prefer to figure things out on my own. That said, I did appreciate the clear references to our divided society, conservative and xenophobic nationalism versus liberal acceptance and globalism. It was still too heavy-handed, though. Ultimately somewhat disappointing, mostly due to the ending.
We learn a lot more about the character Ciara who was only briefly noted in the first book, and we gradually learn her history. She’s presented as a sympathetic character here although she was distinctly unlikable when introduced.
I found this book too manipulative and preachy. I agree with everything the author is saying but I prefer to figure things out on my own. That said, I did appreciate the clear references to our divided society, conservative and xenophobic nationalism versus liberal acceptance and globalism. It was still too heavy-handed, though. Ultimately somewhat disappointing, mostly due to the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
thebuzzcutreads_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death and Abortion
imds's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
3arth2kaye's review against another edition
5.0
I’m actually fuming, like steam’s coming out of my ears. 5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexism and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Car accident and Death of parent
hobbithopeful's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you Penguin for this ARC
This book tore my heart out and then served it back to me on a silver platter. What's worse is that I loved every second of it!
Dawson perfectly captures what's like to experience life as a woman, it feels like she reaches into my brain and puts my darkest experiences to page. Part of the reason this trilogy is so difficult to read is because how close to real life it is. All the hate, fear, and bitterness isn't fictional. The only thing fictional about this book is the magic and witchery. Everything else sadly, you can easily find anywhere in the world.
This is in no way shape or form a light and happy read. There is sisterhood, family, and love, but what they all go through and experience is difficult at best, depressing at worst. Definitely check your tws before reading because there is a lot of death, murder, homophobia, sexism and more fun stuff.
I was so ready to hate Ciara, everything we learned in the last book really had her painted as "evil" plain and simple. If there's anything I should have learned from Dawson's writing, is that people are messy, complex, floundering creatures. There is no good or evil, only the choices we make, and we can always come back from it. ‘No. There’s always a way back,’ he said, trying to convince them both. ‘You just . . . turn around and go the way you came.’
My favorite pov is from Leonie, she is such a badass and I loved her adventure. On the flip side I always have such a hard time enjoying reading Elle's chapters. She just really annoys me and the way she behaves would drive me to therapy if I were her child. I didn't expect Luke's plotline to take him where it did, I enjoyed it, but it almost feels like too much out of left field.
Another MUST READ from Juno Dawson, this is shaping up to be one of my favorite series! Please I need the final book! DAWSON LOVES CLIFFHANGERS TOO MUCH!!
This book tore my heart out and then served it back to me on a silver platter. What's worse is that I loved every second of it!
Dawson perfectly captures what's like to experience life as a woman, it feels like she reaches into my brain and puts my darkest experiences to page. Part of the reason this trilogy is so difficult to read is because how close to real life it is. All the hate, fear, and bitterness isn't fictional. The only thing fictional about this book is the magic and witchery. Everything else sadly, you can easily find anywhere in the world.
This is in no way shape or form a light and happy read. There is sisterhood, family, and love, but what they all go through and experience is difficult at best, depressing at worst. Definitely check your tws before reading because there is a lot of death, murder, homophobia, sexism and more fun stuff.
I was so ready to hate Ciara, everything we learned in the last book really had her painted as "evil" plain and simple. If there's anything I should have learned from Dawson's writing, is that people are messy, complex, floundering creatures. There is no good or evil, only the choices we make, and we can always come back from it. ‘No. There’s always a way back,’ he said, trying to convince them both. ‘You just . . . turn around and go the way you came.’
My favorite pov is from Leonie, she is such a badass and I loved her adventure. On the flip side I always have such a hard time enjoying reading Elle's chapters. She just really annoys me and the way she behaves would drive me to therapy if I were her child. I didn't expect Luke's plotline to take him where it did, I enjoyed it, but it almost feels like too much out of left field.
Another MUST READ from Juno Dawson, this is shaping up to be one of my favorite series! Please I need the final book! DAWSON LOVES CLIFFHANGERS TOO MUCH!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
aseel_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
For the first part of the book, I was very confused about the plot but I was here for the vibes! Using witches to talk about sexism, racism, transpobia etc is a sure fire way to make me love a book. But as it kept going, I saw the plot unfolding and I'm super keen to see where this series goes and I hope it's a long one!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
just_one_more_paige's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
I read the first book in this trilogy, Her Majesty's Royal Coven, just a few months ago and thought it was a fantastic start to the series. I had a few critiques (which you can read more about in that review), but for the most part I was on board, invested in where the rest of the plot was going to take me, and ready for this next installation.
This book picks up pretty close to where the last one left off. (I'm going to include a few spoilers for the first book in this little blurb about the plot of this second book, so beware if that's a concern for you!) We open with Leonie, Elle, and Niamh (or really, Ciara), along with Holly and Theo and some of the rest of the HMRC witches, at the funeral for Ciara (or really, Niamh, though none of them know it yet). And the novel quickly opens from there into a new set of dramas and threats: Ciara in Niamh's body trying to figure out who brought her back and why and preparing to take over as High Priestess (a role she never dreamed of having) while not letting on to anyone that she's an imposter, Leonie takes off to search for her brother who is missing in his efforts to recapture Dabney Hale, Theo is struggling with how she got her new body and what it means for the rest of her life/future and a mysterious lessening of her powers, Elle is trying to hold it together as all her friends have scattered and are struggling in their own ways and she becomes aware of her own troubles at home, and Holly is probably the most typical of them all with her worries about her best friend Theo falling for her brother (ew!) and her father's familial betrayal. And of course, along with all their individual struggles, the greater forces around them are coming together: mundane politicians, secret witch hunter societies, Hale's bloody search for power and control, and the oracles' constant visions about the plans of the demons to bring down the world as we know it to an end.
Alright, the growth from the first novel to this one, in Dawson's writing and plot development and general depth, was so solid. There was a lot more background and bigger picture look at the interactions between witches and the mundane world and how they coexist. It's hard not to make this comparison, so I'm going to, but I want to recognize that it's not an uncommon trope in coexisting magic/non-magic societies fantasy novels, but there are some aspects that are reminiscent of HP, with magically hidden building facades, parallel governmental structures that the "mundane" leaders find out about after election, etc. But also, Dawson takes it further, recognizing the actual current-day politics of the developed world (and how they're getting ever more intolerant) within all those tropes. The gender politics in these overlapping groups have gotten deeper and more nuanced here, including the same witch-warlock tension as before, but now with an additional incel-vibes mundane-males group, and more. I appreciated that increase in complexity as the story unfolds more, it's great series-level arc growth. Related, these additional nuances and development extended to other areas as well, even within the witch community, and while there is always room for growth on this front, I thought the intersectionalities of womanhood and femininity were definitely better addressed here than in the first.
Another thing I loved about this second book was the growth past the characters of the first. There were a couple of characters that played huge roles in the first novel that are no longer around, and Dawson filled those gaps with new voices and/or with developing other voices more and I was impressed with how smoothly she made that transition happen. As part of that, a couple explorations in particular were well done. One sort of reminded me of a concept from Wrath Goddess Sing - feeling guilty about actually getting the body that you want, while so many can’t - and how that shows up really makes you think about all the different ways our brains and society can sabotage our happiness, no later how joyful something could/should be. Another is that, as Ciara's memories came back and we learn more about Luke's background (and things got gorgeously complex!), there was a real reckoning with the individual responsibility versus being forced to do things because you have less power or are under someone's (or a substance's) will/influence or exist within the confines of a system that you cannot fight or bring down alone. Dawson addresses difficult questions like where does that line of personal culpability exist and what can you be forgiven for doing under those circumstances and what takes it too far and how do you atone (internally and externally)? She also brings up questions around what is acceptable in the fight to make a better/more equal power structure. Just, such multifaceted issues to grapple with and it's done really well as this second book helps grow the series into something more.
A few final notes. I still love the magic. So much. It's such classic feminine witch power and while that's not everyone's jam, it's definitely mine (more concrete than, but similar vibes to, the magic in VenCo). I still hate the body-switching trope, but since it got resolved within this book, I'm letting it go and moving forwards because the rest is good enough that I want to. The ending was great. (I was confused about Milo for a while, but there was a break between my reading the first and second books and I have spotty detail memory so I just kinda went with it, but then the final little twist was like, whoa.) And it was a well-balanced cliffhanger situation - enough for me to be somewhat edge of my seat for the next one, but not uncomfortably so (which I really dislike the feeling of, so I'm glad for that).
So yea, a great second book. I didn't get any of the slow bridge-between-opening-and-closing that the middle book in a trilogy sometimes brings, which is fantastic and hats off to Dawson for that. The plot was action-packed and interesting (still no punches pulled with deaths and the responses of remaining characters - so good) and the human emotions and traumas and decisions are so messy and nuanced. This book really took all of that to the next level. It was a dramatic ride and I'm very excited for the finale!
“Other people’s memories of your life are unreliable narration at best.”
“Inside every witch there are two crows: one saying you can't use your powers to fix the world to your liking, and another cawing, why not?”
“She hadn’t even started to think about her life beyond becoming a girl. That had been her only goal. It turned out there was a whole lifetime of stories waiting after that happy ending.”
“Absolute certainty is the language of fools, and the demagogues who exploit those fools.”
“They say love is blind, but it makes you blind.”
“I will live to see the day when men no longer fear powerful women.”
“He believed he was in love with her, and isn't that more or less love itself?”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
writeronherway's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Abandonment