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A review by adoto
Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed this direct fuck you to JK Rowling and her TERF-y bullshit. It's an important book to have been written and I enjoyed the characters and how each of them represented a specific facet of womanhood while also being complex in their own ways. Loved Niamh and Leonie out of the five especially.
But this book got hard to read. Sometimes it was prose issues: there were times it felt like plot points or dialogue were inspired a little too much by Twitter, and the writing was overall quite on the nose. There were moments that were beautifully written but dark and difficult to swallow. The chapters in Helena's head were especially unbearable, even though I understood why they needed to be written.
In the end I'm really glad that those who grew up loving Harry Potter but no longer feel now have a better UK magic universe to work with.
But this book got hard to read. Sometimes it was prose issues: there were times it felt like plot points or dialogue were inspired a little too much by Twitter, and the writing was overall quite on the nose. There were moments that were beautifully written but dark and difficult to swallow. The chapters in Helena's head were especially unbearable, even though I understood why they needed to be written.
In the end I'm really glad that those who grew up loving Harry Potter but no longer feel now have a better UK magic universe to work with.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Violence