Oh my god! I have devoured this book.
This is more of a modern take on the witchy books we know and love. I can’t believe how much I’ve enjoyed it.

I just love Theo, without spoilers I just needed a character like her to make this book feel really modern and keeping up with the times of acceptance and chosen families.
If you can get this book!

HER MAJESTY'S ROYAL COVEN is my first Juno Dawson book, partly read because of the title and partly because of the stunning publicity campaign (so tongue in cheek and mocking the various government adverts of the last two years!) I think I picked a really good book to try by the author, given I am more of an adult fan than YA these days.

This is a feminist book about sisterhood, womanhood, and motherhood. The POVs are women who have been through one war and are now living very separate lives, trying to juggle jobs, relationships, family, and their own desires for life - as well as being witches hiding from the general world.

I loved their complicated relationships with each other and their various partners/children. It's so rare to see older protagonists (the four are all in their thirties) and such a variety of lives - some are married with kids, some are in relationships, some are single. It really helps round out the variety of experiences on the page, and the various intersectionalities explored.

There's a common piece of writing advice "the villain is the hero of their own story" and this book exemplifies that. We get the villain's POV, following as they have the fall arc into villain, entirely believing she is doing the right thing, for the greater good, at all times. It's really interesting to get that POV, to understand why everything that is happening happens.

Nicola Coughlan does so so well as the narrator. There are four POVs and there are characters from all over the UK, but she handles the variety of voices and accents like it's a breeze. She makes it such an engaging read, bringing out the emotions and pulling you into the world.

The ending more or less sums up the main plot, but there's a lot left over - and some last minute events that really make me want to know what happens next.

Her Majesty's Royal Coven follows the story of 4 witches in an alternative magical England who have between them bonds of sisterhood, past and future betrayals and the weight of legacy.

The 4 characters we follow are Niamh, a sentient (telepathic) witch working as a vet and struggling to move on with her life after her husband died many years ago. Leonie, a witch who ran away from the main coven to start her own, diaspora, a more welcoming and inclusive coven. Leonie is also a lesbian and has a girlfriend and I enjoyed the brief glimpses we got of their relationship. Elle is a healer witch and has mostly left the witch world in her past, living with her human husband but when her daughter Holly starts developing witchy powers she gets back involved. Helena is the last one of their little coven and is in a high ranking position in her majesty's royal coven and is very proper and traditional in her beliefs, and willing to go to any length to protect the coven.

I wouldn't have said this book has loads of plot, it is mainly exploring the characters and relationships between them. There was a war in the magical world that we don't find out a lot about but I think it happened about 8 years prior to the book taking place and the characters are still dealing with the fallout of that. There is also a dark prophecy that the witches are trying to get ahead of.

The main highlight of this book for me was exploring all the complex and nuanced relationships the women have with each other and other loved ones. It just felt very human and realistic in the relationships it explored. It showed how friendships can drift apart and change over time and well as highlighting more parental style relationships (elle/holly, niamh/theo etc) and the different ways of expressing love and acceptance. I think the author has some wonderful insight into society and the roles we play in it, as well as the relationships that make us human (or witch as the case may be).

This book explores in depth transphobia, especially in the context of "feminism" (TERFs) which feels particularly timely at the moment. One of the characters, Theo, is a young trans witch but some members of the coven refuse to accept her into it. I think this book discusses very well how people get sucked into the twisted belief system that trans women are just men pretending to be women with some sinister motivation and also highlights how most people don't think like this, just a loud minority who unfortunately have too much power. I believe the author is trans as well which I think shows in the authenticity and empathy the themes are handled.

The very last chapter/epilogue of this book had me gasping out loud and so so excited for the sequel. I think Keira, who doesn't not have much of a part in book 1, is possibly going to be my favourite character - I love a good unhinged woman and I'm very intrigued by more of her story.

Overall I would really recommend this book - it toes the line between contemporary lit fic with a hint of fantasy and magic but ultimately feels like a very human story at heart. It reminded me a lot of the TV show Derry Girls, just with slightly older characters and the fact they happen to be witches!

Officially Under HMRC’s Spell - Bring On Book 2!

🧡 This thoroughly modern imagining of witchcraft in whitehall had me bewitched from start to stop. It reminded me of the excellent Fort Salem TV series, with its intricate alternate history and defined power structure, not to mention complex relationships.

💚 The fantastic cast of characters, their personal politics, machinations and betrayals, all of it works brilliantly, but for me it is the coming of age journey of transgender witch Theo that tugged at my heart. The view of witchcraft as traditionally female acting as the source of prejudice was, if not subtle, certainly smart. Can’t wait to see how her story unfolds.
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SOUNDBITE

🎧 There are too many characters and plot lines to call this an easy listen. I had to concentrate quite hard to keep track of it all.

🎧 I really enjoyed Nicola Coughlan’s performance. She has this silky voice and gorgeous Irish lilt and she kept everything understated, allowing the fiction to speak for itself. However, whenever there are so many characters, I do prefer having the added vocal cues of multiple narrators.

Big thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for providing me with an ALC in return for an honest review.

I was completely drawn in by the premise of this book, a secret coven of witches that protect the UK from all evils until one day someone from within the coven betrays them, what is not to love about that? With the addition of hearing that the book is filled with positive rep it seemed as though it would be the perfect read.

However, that was sadly not the case. HMRC left me feeling quite disappointed, the book is so clichéd from the dialogue between characters, the black and white good/bad guy character arc to everything being too thought out and the end result was quite a flat reading experience.

My rating is based on the positive representation and the narrator (Nicola Coughlan), both of which I thought were great.

I was surprised how much I liked this audiobook and how much I’m looking forward to the next in the series.

I thought this was a YA book focused on a coven of witches and it is. Although definitely on the older end of the YA range. It’s also a delicate look at the patriarchy, trans identity and how ageing changes a person. The writing of relationships between women was a special delight.

. In Dawson's England HMRC is even more daunting as Her Majesty's Royal Coven, the largest society of British witches, representing witchkind to the few aware of there existence amongst those in power amongst the mundanes. On the other side of the coin are the cabals, the unions of the less powerful warlocks who exist in a not-always-friendly relationship with their female counterparts. Elements of the story will be familiar, especially the charismatic enemy, a powerful warlock who led a faction of witches and warlocks in an attempt to take power and rule in magic over the rest of the world. This is a historical war that forms the history of the story, that of Niamh, Elle, Leonie and Helena, the four remainders of a friendship group of five. Following the war they went their separate ways but remined friends, Helena as High Priestess of HMRC, Leonie who founded a rival coven to better represent the interests of witches of colour and LGBTQIA wielders of magic, Elle, somewhat happily married to a man who knows nothing of her other worlds and a daughter showing clear signs of the gift and Niamh, part-time vet and no longer a member of any coven. Still healing from the events of the war the four women are thrown into disarray and conflict when an ancient prophecy of the end times re-emerges, centred around an isolated child of terrific power with secrets that could tear apart the magical world.

I loved it. A badass, intersectional, magical triumph. Dawson doesn't shy from any issue, from the universal changing friendships of adulthood and loyalty in times of disagreement to the discrimination faced by People of Colour and the LGBTQIA community. She gives them a magical twist but she delves deep into these very real issues and the fraught, often unstable nature of allyship. I loved that her women were all flawed, some more than others and the main difference between them was the willingness to listen and empathise. The characters are brilliantly realised and fully-rounded and the world utterly convincing. Centring the story in Hebden Bridge and bringing in the history of witchcraft in Pendle and the north of England was a lovely touch, no doubt influenced by her own roots in Yorkshire. It's funny, it's fast-paced, it's thrilling, it's thoughtful. It's also angry and takes no prisoners in the advocacy of intersectional womanhood and feminism.

As for Nicola Coughlan, she gives a masterclass of narration. Delicately paced and brilliantly characterised. Some of the accents are a little better than others but it really doesn't matter as she sweeps you along in the story, investing in the people and emotion of the story. I'd happily listen to any audiobook she cares to take on.

Firstly, the narrator! Nicola Coughlan from Bridgerton! Yes Penelope reading a story! Fabulous!

Just want to say next that this is definitely an adult read because of the language that's used. I'm known to sometimes have mouth of a sailor but the baddest swear was sprinkled around in here like confetti!!!

And one more thing.....I didn't realise this was set in England and I couldn't be happier, the terms that I don't normally see in books , DPD, a Fiesta (car), Yorkshire Bank, fabulous!

Oh and one more! I did chuckle at the use of HMRC as I deal with them most days for my job. I can tell you they are very different things!

So here we have 4 witch friends coming back together when they take in a young, very powerful warlock. Helena, High Priestess of HMRC, Leonie who has branches off and started another coven, Niamh who uses her powers to be a vet and Elle, housewife.

OK so no spoilers here but I do have a couple of gripes that affected my enjoyment of this.

I really did waver through this book. I had a hard time getting into the story first of all and also had an issue with characterisation, they all sounded so similar (apart from Helena and she was vile) and I can't say I gelled with any of them. The only one I actually really liked throughout this story was Theo I'm sad to say.

Lastly there's one bit that I'm trying so hard not to spoil so I'll just say this. Magic knows who the most powerful are.

Firstly I loved the narrator! Anything with Nicola Coughlan is a win for me. She did a fab job of giving each character life and separate voices. Now the story- we are following witches , some are in the governments coven , others are not. Doomsday has basically been foretold and they believe this one young warlock could be the source - Theo. Now when we first met Theo in his cage , I was like it’s a silence of the lambs moment! The government are terrified of him. Within a few pages he was in the car with a non government witch to go live with her… and from there the story kind of lost me. I did finish the book and I did t love the narration but the pacing was just off. Sorry. I gave it three stars because some parts were amazing!

Amazing! Such a beautiful and mesmerising read! The story was intriguing, sad, joyous and thrilling - the perfect start to what should be an epic trilogy. The characters are all likeable (even the antagonists to an extent) and the narrative is completely gripping from beginning to end.

Told using multiple pov of coven members, we really get an insight into character emotions and thoughts. This and through Theo’s heartwarming and heart wrenching experiences as a fledgling witch, the author dealt with so many important issues (including identity, gender and race) in a powerful and entertaining way. So much is revealed through the clever multi- pov that you can’t help but wonder who to root for at times. There was also some hints of nostalgia with regencies to my home town, Manchester, the Trafford centre and the Spice Girls.

The climax scene was so good that I literally held my breath! And I did not see that ending coming at all! Loved it! Now I’m desperate to read on! Absolutely enthralled by this brilliant witchy read.

Juno Dawson - you are one hell of a talented writer (as well as being absolutely stunning).

The audiobook was great! Thank you so much for my advanced audiobook.

I loved the premise of this book. I’m game for anything witchy and love plots centred around magic, power and witchy covens so this was a must read (or listen in my case. I had an audiobook version of this book and it was amazingly narrated).

It was intriguing from the get go, with a looming feeling of danger, demons and powerful witches on the horizon. The characters were well made and thought through but I didn’t much feel attached to them as I thought I would. The book constantly flitted from 3 stars to 4 and back again throughout and I really struggled to rate this one. Elements of amazing and then bits that fell a bit flat for me. I don’t mind swearing but some things in this book just felt unnecessary.

The writing was great though and it was very well established and thought out. The representation was also great in this.

A great read for someone looking for lgbtqia+ representation and fantasy.

I think that, because I was coming off the highs of reading series by Sarah J Maas, Jeanine Frost and Maggie Stiefvater, my expectations for this read were really, really high and, unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this read as much as I hoped I would. I felt like the magic systems in the world were ok, but that there wasn’t much originality brought to the well-worn tropes of witches and warlocks. The pace felt slow and I didn’t connect with the characters, although the narrator did a really good job with the different accents.
Huge thanks to the author and publisher for this advance review copy. Views my own. 3*

**Listened to the audio book**

I adore Juno Dawson... as a writer, as a spokesperson, and as a person! She is phenomenal and she talks a lot of sense. So it really pains me to say I disliked this book.
I found the plot to be very slow, and I just didn't connect. The only time I felt engaged is when Theo is introduced in the cage... it got a bit exciting there - but that was it. The premise sounded right up my street but unfortunately the book itself did nothing for me. There were plenty of times I was thinking of DNF'ing to be honest.

The narrator of the audio was good, and did a variety of accents that helped to identify the characters - something that helped as there is A LOT!

Really didn't like this one - will have to wait for the next Juno Dawson book not within this HMRC world!

I wanted to like the book based on the summary but I can’t engage with any of the characters or the plot after the first few chapters.

When I first heard about this book I was so excited - I have loved everything I’ve previously read by the author and I’m a sucker for anything about witches so it sounded like exactly my cup of tea.

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced audio copy and was nervous to start it because of my high expectations but I needn’t have worried because it completely blew me away. Once I started it I found it really hard to put down and couldn’t stop thinking about it. The narrator had a great voice which didn’t distract at all from the story making it feel effortless to listen to.

I loved how we were introduced to the main characters briefly as childhood friends before moving forwards to see them as adults with very different lives. The magic system was easy to understand and the plot exciting.

The story also has some main plot points which incorporate intersectional feminism which worked perfectly in the story and made some very valid and important points whilst feeling completely relevant to the story.

I’m so glad that this is the first part of a new series because I need to know what happens next! I am very invested in all of the characters - even the villains are fascinating.

With this book Juno Dawson has broken into the adult fantasy genre in incredible fashion and I can’t wait to see where she takes us next.