Unfortunately this book wasn't for me, i was pretty bored while reading it. I'm a massive fan of all things Tudors so I was highly looking forward to sox wild crowns but it just felt a little flat to me.
The only character that had a personality was Boleyn, the rest all felt the same

3.5⭐. Thank you NetGalley & Little, Brown Book Group UK for the ARC.

SWC has an AMAZING concept: for every generation, the current king requires six queens at any single time as foretold by their patron deity, in order to wield divine power to protect the land. One of the latest line of queens, Anne Boleyn, discovers the foundation-shattering truth behind this magic, and seeks to unite the other queens to ensure all their survivals. It is because of this strong premise that I hung on till the second half of the novel, when the plot finally swings into gear. Honestly, the second half is so much stronger than the first that I'm very intrigued to see the payoff of that very gutsy ending.

Given that they are the two POVs of the book, Anne Boleyn & Jane Seymour got the most development and growth, and I thought they were both great individual characters. Anne displays complexity in being ambitiously manipulative yet capable of compassion, and having genuine feelings for Henry despite how vile he truly is. I do appreciate the character Clarice explaining Anne's complicated relationship with Henry with a simple line: "She loves him. People forget a lot when they're in love. But she still moved against him." Meanwhile, Jane eventually develops the courage to wrestle control of her life, after spending the entire book downplaying her own intelligence and cunning. She also gives her abusive brother his comeuppance, and who doesn't enjoy that.

That said, I rounded down the .5 of the rating rather than up because I have too many gripes with how certain things were handled.

My first nitpick is the novel's insistence on calling the queens by their family names: Boleyn, Seymour, Howard, Parr. The novel explains it that firstborn daughters are called so to "make sure everyone knows who their fathers are even after they take their husbands' name". (It then gets ridiculous since two of said queens are referred to as Aragon and Cleves, which are the names of PLACES they're from.) I get that this was one of the ways that author Holly Race wanted to emphasise the deeply patriarchal society, but this naming convention could've been limited to how others refer to the queens, rather than their POV. I also recognise that Race might've wanted to differentiate the shared names like Catherine, but this could've been mitigated by using Katherine of Aragon and Kateryn Parr, which are spellings the two women have historically signed their names as. Hell, tweak it to Ann of Cleves even, to differentiate from Anne Boleyn.

Next, I'll preface that I love the reimagining of Jane as queer. I don't even mind one-sided yearning nor the fact that the object of her affections, Anne, isn't even sapphic herself. What annoyed me is that yearning built on insta-lust is boring. Jane is smitten by Anne from the start because of how beautiful she finds the latter. That infatuation develops into a ride-or-die kind of love fast, which baffles me because Anne hasn't been particularly warm to Jane just yet nor have they bonded. I do like how their dynamic eventually develops into deep friendship.

(I didn't expect to see non-binary rep in a fantasy Tudor book, but here we have it. 👏)

This book is also pitched as having ~legendary dragons~, when the dragons that appear the most are smaller ones that act like glorified pets for the queens. Not even the kind where they could ride, which would've been badass, but smaller ones that fulfill the role of cats & dogs in a contemporary setting. Remove the dragons and nothing noteworthy would change. (Jane gets a wicked cool panther though, which I liked.)

There's definitely some attempt into delving into political intrigue / court politics but they felt shallow.

And what annoyed me most is Kateryn Parr's characterization. Race goes out of her way to flesh out Catherine Howard and Anne of Cleeves (who is a lesbian here!!), giving them agency as the plot unfolds. And in the limited scenes we get of Katherine of Aragon, she at least displays some assertiveness to attain her goals. So I don't get why Kateryn is relegated to merely following whatever Katherine decides. The only wife to historically survive Henry, and she can't make her own decisions? Where is HER strategic thinking? She is also the queen that got the least interaction and page time, but I get that juggling six queens to develop is a huge task.

I almost forgot to mention that I also didn't like that Anne commited adultery. Even if it's justified and yes Henry is the Worst. Given how the novel has gone out of its way to try to be subversive, this feels like giving into what the real Henry historically slandered her with.

Overall, excellent concept, some execution fell short, but I'm still down to pick up the sequel so this did the job!

This was a really interesting take on the wives of Henry VIII set in a magical version of England with dragons and old gods. I thought the depiction of Seymour was fantastic, giving her a far feistier and cunning personality than how history has portrayed her and Boleyn was intelligent and caring, rather than simply devious. All in all, I enjoyed this a lot and will be picking up the sequel to see where the queens go from here.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Six Wild Crowns felt very unique. I wasn't sure how historically accurate it would be before going in (and I didn't mind either way), but I was overall glad to find that the story was only very loosely inspired by Henry VIII and his six weeks wives.

I enjoyed the politics, court intrigue and character dynamics. The magic system is not widely explored in book 1, but this felt right based on how the story unfolds and the characters own knowledge of how the magic works. However I did hope for more dragons!

Looking forward to the next book in the series.

Do you know when you can’t get into a book no matter how hard you try? I tried at least 3 times and struggled more than 2 chapters at a time before I had to take a break.
I wanted to love this, the idea of fantasy meets Tudor history with dragons and court politics ticks a lot of my boxes but the style of this book made it hard for me to finish.
I struggled with the writing style, the descriptions and names (all issues of my own and I know any other reader might be fine with these aspects and love the book - this is just my personal experience.
Thank you to Holly Race, NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group for the opportunity to read this.

Oof, I did not vibe with this one at all, I've tried to start it multiple times and just couldn't get into it.

Basically, the prose is overly descriptive making all the scenes drag and it takes ages for anything to happen.

No, really, it opens with Boleyn about to marry the king and it takes 3 chapters until she actually marries him. And except Seymour becoming her lady in waiting, nothing else happened within those 3 chapters. Just descriptions and infodumps about political relationships.

Also I wasn't a fan of Seymour being "the stupid girl" so she can be used as a plot device to explain everything to the reader extra thick.

If you like immersive, atmospheric, ornate bordering on overwrought writing style, you might like this book. Also if you're a fan of Tudor era in vibes, because this isn't really a historical fantasy, it's in its own world, but there's plenty of descriptions of dresses, interiors and even "old language" (I don't know is it faithful to Old English, I barely know modern English).

Thank you Netgalley, Orbit and Little, Brown Book Group for the ARC.

DNF @ 5%

I never normally dnf a book so early on but I could tell this wasn’t going to be for me right from the start.
I came across three issues that I wasn’t a fan of:
1. The 6 wives of Henry are all alive and currently married to him.
2. The author refers to Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour as if their last names are their first.
3. The second chapter is Seymour’s and repeatedly mentions her feeling her period blood clotting in her underwear 🥴
I chose this book on NetGalley to review as I was really interested in hearing the original story from the wives POV and expected some fantasy based twists but going from points 1 and 2 I feel as this is a completely different story and there is just no need for point 3.

Set in an alternate version of historic England, King Henry VIII is just about to marry Anne Boleyn to join his other five wives. In this fantasy world, the King of England MUST have six wives at all times to strengthen the magic that is available only to him as the divine ruler and conduit of the divine, Cennunos. At least that's the story the royal family has passed down from male heir to male heir at any rate.

This was sych an interesting twist on the old story of Henry's six wives - living and sharing their husband as sister wives each with their own territory and motivations going on. The addition of dragons and fairies as well as the magic bestowed upon the king really altered the world of the well known story.

Told in the POVs of Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, each queen is referred to only by surname (probably to reduce confusion with the abundance of Annes and Catherines, but this worked really well in enabling me to keep track of everybody really easily - especially with Anne Boleyn's sister Mary and the Princess Mary, referred to as Princess Tudor, I just felt like that small detail just worked.

Although some details have been completely flipped there is a real sense of dread for the outcome of the book as Boleyn was one of Henry VIII's wives who sadly did not outlive him in real life and this is put to good use in the story to ramp up the tension as you don't know how closely the book will follow history.

All in all I loved it! I've always found Henry and his wives fascinating but the six Tudor Queens really stand apart in this and I cannot wait to see what happens in the sequel.

Unfortunately this one just wasn't for me. I kept trying, but I just didn't find I could get along with it. I kept picking it up & hoping something would click, but then I'd switch to something else, so have decided I need to DNF.

I can see from other reviews that this is getting a lot of love so I'm sure it's a me problem. It may be that I'm not a fan of a Tudor retelling as this is one of my favourite periods & as a fantasy novel this doesn't follow the script.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC via NetGalley. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to read this book early.

Six Wild Crowns delivers a refreshingly original take on Tudor history, blending magic and politics in a version of England called Elben—where Henry Tudor rules alongside all six of his queens, alive at the same time. It’s an imaginative and bold concept that instantly pulled me in, and the execution exceeded my expectations.

The writing is beautiful and evocative, with a style that completely immerses you in the world and its characters. One scene that truly stood out was when Boylen gives birth to Elizabeth. It was such a powerful, epic moment—so beautifully written and emotionally intense that it completely overwhelmed me. It just hit in all the right ways. I honestly had to pause for a second because it was that stunning.

The magical framework woven into this alternate history feels rich with potential. Elben is a land full of political tension, courtly intrigue, and subtle enchantments, all crafted with care. The author has a gift for creating atmosphere and tension while giving each character emotional depth and authenticity.

This was a standout read for me—elegant, inventive, and emotionally rewarding. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next in this world.

HELLO Tudors, court intrigue and sapphic yearning!

I was excited about the idea of this book because I love historical fantasy, all things Tudor, and I'm going to see the musical Six in May, so I thought an alternate past in which Henry is a bisexual polyamorous husband who needs marriages to six very different queens to bind his magic? Sapphic longing between Seymour and Boleyn? What can go wrong?

This book was a pleasant surprise! A historical fantasy that mixes the Tudors with magic, dragons and gods. The characters are well-developed, with interesting personalities that set the tone for this story full of intrigue and betrayal. A great experience!

Amazing book and not what I expected at all! I love love love the relationships between all the queen's and how they develop over the course of the book.

A must for any Tudor fangirl who wanted to punch Henry in the face!

DNF @ 74%
The story was nice enough but it wasnt gripping me at all. It just became so repetitive, mundane and boring. The story progressed very slowly then all of a sudden it would jump ahead months at a time.
I really liked cleaves and boleyn but Seymour was such a drag and unfortunately a lot of the story is centred around her.
Might come back to it at another time but nothing about the story was compelling me to carry on with it.
From the blurb I expected it to be somewhat tied to the actual stories of the six wives however the similarities end at their names.
The story isnt much like I expected it to be.

Thanks to the publishers for a copy of the book.

It's a 2.5 star read for me. I expected more about the dragons and magic but i felt like it wasn't talked about enough. I had trouble connecting to the characters. I just expected it to be different.

I did like the writing style which was easy to read. Too bad the story wasn't for me.

DNF. Six Wild Crowns was one of my most anticipated releases of 2025, and the lush prose of the opening had me very hopeful. But this book is all style, no substance.

First off, this isn’t a Tudor retelling. The setting is not England – which I actually thought made things more interesting, but underscored the ‘eat your cake and have it too’ strangeness of the whole premise. Scrapping all pretense of this being about Henry 8th would have been a huge help; as it is, Six Wild Crowns wants the Tudor aesthetic (and the glamour of notorious historical figures) but isn’t interested in actually exploring or engaging with it.

And a fair bit of the worldbuilding clashes with it. I loved the normalisation of polyamory, but if a woman can have multiple husbands simultaneously then quite a bit of the Tudor patriarchy makes no sense. Nonbinary people exist in this setting (much yay!) but it’s very unclear how they fit into Tudor gender relations. The religion here reveres Cernunnos, and since there’s not a whole lot under that name historically (we literally have one record of the name being used in a historical context) he really only has his modern mythos, which sets him as the consort of a dominant goddess – making it jarring that in Six Wild Crowns his faith is patriarchal. I read to the halfway point and I still don’t follow the reasoning for why firstborn noblewomen have their family names as their first names – beyond Race wanting an excuse to call Anne Boleyn, Boleyn, and Jane Seymour, Seymour, obviously.

I might have been able to overlook all of this if there’d been any freaking plot – or if the characters were three-dimensional and interesting. But there isn’t and they’re not. Everyone’s defined by one, max two character traits, nothing happens for the entire first half of the novel, and I’m deeply sceptical this is going to turn into some kind of sapphic romance given that one of the women involved seems to be straight. Even if she isn’t, there’s no depth to the feelings of the queer character; it reads like a crush, not a passionate love.

There’s so much telling-not-showing: with the worldbuilding, with the relationships, even with character thoughts and motivations. There’s nothing to feel because everything is paper-thin infodumps or hand-waved summations of time passing or actions taken. And while I enjoyed the visuals Race comes up with occasionally – the underwater palace of glass comes to mind – it’s all set-dressing, an aesthetic, not anything you can sink your teeth into. Race very clearly doesn’t know what to do with the lovely details she creates, like underwater palaces, or garnets born from bloodshed.

Or, you know, the dragons, who are just house-pets in the background, filling the role of lapdogs or cats in our world. Sure, we hear about dragons used in war, but that’s both off-page and in no way plot-relevant – if they were cut from the book, no one would even notice.

Also, I created my straight-up-stupid shelf on goodreads precisely for books that do things like have a queen send a random, inexperienced lady-in-waiting she has never previously spoken to…to assassinate another queen. Which is how Race gets Seymour sent to Boleyn. You know, the thing that kickstarts the entire book.

That’s definitely how a worldly, experienced queen arranges assassinations. For sure.

Six Wild Crowns is kinda pretty, but deadly dull, and I'm not interested in finishing it.

4 Stars: Dark, dazzling and twisted

Six Wild Crowns is an epic, fiery fantasy with bite. Think Tudor queens with dragons, deadly magic, and razor-sharp ambition, what’s not to love? The political scheming kept me hooked, and I was especially drawn to the unexpected alliance between Boleyn and Seymour. Their dynamic added real depth and intrigue. It’s fierce, queer, and full of surprises. I tore through it and already want more: Holly Race has built a brutal, brilliant world I won’t forget

This is a fantasy loosely based on Tudor England but with Henry supposedly ruling alongside six yes six Queens. The belief is that Henry was given magic that is tied to the land and as this story begins his sixth wife to be crowned is Boleyn. Boleyn loves Henry with a passion and she is determined to be the wife he wants above all others. Seymour is sent to spy on Boleyn by Queen Aragon and assassinate her but quickly realises that she is definitely not going to achieve that. What she does achieve is a secretive alliance that threatens not just the other Queens but everything Henry stands for !
Ok lets address the synopsis which is very misleading as this is not a dragon book and yes there's treachery and danger but it's not a tight political story. It is about women trying to hold power when an insidious magic could easily end their lives. The more I read the more I disliked Henry and Boleyn truly became heroic although she is flawed. Seymour perhaps went through the biggest transformation from pretty downtrodden to actually stepping up (eventually). This book embraces female love and yet the relationships that shape Seymour just didn't feel real to this reader. Plus the magic and how it was used just wasn't explored enough. I am rating this quite highly because I did find myself eagerly turning the pages but I fear many might be disappointed after reading the blurb.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested and my thoughts are I believe fair ppl I'm

I expected better, but Six Wild Crowns falls short in many aspects. One of these aspects is the world-building of it where the magic system wasn't explained well. The characters are interesting, yet the saddest part I found here was I couldn't care less about the sapphic subtext between Boleyn and Seymour. It is also quite boring that I found myself skimming through most pages. The ending was good, but other than that there's no right reason for me to not find this book mediocre at best.

This really wasn't the book I was marketed. The Tudor link tried to give the characters much needed context and personality that the story couldn't carry by itself. The dragons were intresting but we didn't see much of them (and I couldn't work out if you actually eat honey dragons). There's definitely sapphic yearning but what the description doesn't say is that it's painfully one sided to the point you just feel sorry for a woman with no personality outside of her historical counterpart.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC