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A review by bonnie_bee
Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
A quick warning that there are a couple of spoilers in some of the other reviews for this one, so if you're trying to go in spoiler free proceed with caution.
Personally, I found myself both loving parts of "Her Majestys Royal Coven", for some chapters I was utterly invested. The way this book tackles certain identity issues felt incredibly real, and I found myself choked up in some parts watching characters come to realize themselvesVery specifically one of the main cast comes out as transgender, and how supportive Niamh is. It handles the entire process maturely .
Unfortunately, I don't think that the book handles other aspects of representation as well as it did others. The way Leonie forged her own coven to offer a safe haven for black and marginalized witches was a good concept, I liked the fact that it was tackling an issue as nuanced as the effects of colonialism on power imbalances and prosperity from other peoples culture. Sadly, I found myself feeling that the actual writing let down the message. There was very little nuance, heavy-handed speeches were jarring and had no plot relevance, making it feel like it could be just brushed aside. I would have loved to see Leonie being more directly involved with the plot rather than just - kinda there. Existing.
This is a problem I found repeated itself on a few avenues. The main villain I feel was tragically under-developed. Maybe it was just me, but her sudden hate and bigotry went from 0 to 100 and I would have preferred to see a build-up to make it feel more connected. The anti-LGBTQ+ talking points of the villains are also very on the nose, which in fairness is just most TERFs you could come across in real life, so it was already a difficult thing to translate into words.
To finish on a positive, the actual world building is fun, and I liked the twists in the book good enough. It's pretty easy to follow if you can invest into the modern-speak dialogue and offers a nice escapism for everyone who wishes they could live in a coven with good witches to rely on.
Personally, I found myself both loving parts of "Her Majestys Royal Coven", for some chapters I was utterly invested. The way this book tackles certain identity issues felt incredibly real, and I found myself choked up in some parts watching characters come to realize themselves
Unfortunately, I don't think that the book handles other aspects of representation as well as it did others. The way Leonie forged her own coven to offer a safe haven for black and marginalized witches was a good concept, I liked the fact that it was tackling an issue as nuanced as the effects of colonialism on power imbalances and prosperity from other peoples culture. Sadly, I found myself feeling that the actual writing let down the message. There was very little nuance, heavy-handed speeches were jarring and had no plot relevance, making it feel like it could be just brushed aside. I would have loved to see Leonie being more directly involved with the plot rather than just - kinda there. Existing.
This is a problem I found repeated itself on a few avenues. The main villain I feel was tragically under-developed. Maybe it was just me, but her sudden hate and bigotry went from 0 to 100 and I would have preferred to see a build-up to make it feel more connected. The anti-LGBTQ+ talking points of the villains are also very on the nose, which in fairness is just most TERFs you could come across in real life, so it was already a difficult thing to translate into words.
To finish on a positive, the actual world building is fun, and I liked the twists in the book good enough. It's pretty easy to follow if you can invest into the modern-speak dialogue and offers a nice escapism for everyone who wishes they could live in a coven with good witches to rely on.