I did finally finish it! The Henry VIII/Tudor setting never stopped being jarring. It's really interesting period in English history but this weird isolated 'England' with magic and dragons and whatnot ignored why it was interesting. Henry as part of some unbroken line from Aethelred? Was there no War of the Roses? How does Scotland fit into the magical barrier (Or Wales?) Or the Norman Conquest?
The book would've been stronger if it were just another magical universe, which would have also given Rice a little more freedom. The 'sapphic longing' remains just longing which felt very 90s.
Overall, it was a very frustrating read.

When you take one of the most famous Kings in British history, and all six of his wives, and put them in a fantasy setting, you get a wonderful story that is compelling in a way that you will find hard to put down until you have finished. And then once it is done, it will leave you wanting more.

Henry is the King of Elben, an island nation that has fought off conquests for centuries because of the power of the King. He has six wives, and each wife controls one of the six castles around the island's edges. Each wife bonds to the castle, and that helps the magic that keeps the island secure and the King powerful. Henry is happy, he has a wife to suit each mood, and most are loved by their people. All except Queen Boleyn. Her people do not like her, she is ambitious and strong-willed and acts too much like a man. And then there is Seymour; a former lady in waiting to Boleyn, who was sent to her with a mission, but soon becomes a Queen herself.

But what happens when the Queens start to bond? Will the power dynamic on the island change, and what does that mean for the King?

I loved this book, I loved that it was based on Tudor history, but the fantasy element was brilliant. A must-read!

A fresh and unmissable take on a classic tale of historical fiction, Six Wild Crowns is the story of the wives of Henry, and what they could have done together. This is packed with strong characters, female friendships, and the perfect bit of fantasy. I absolutely loved seeing Boleyn's plots unfold, and her relationships with the other queens and herself grow, throughout this novel. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys feminist historical fiction retellings, with some fantasy mixed in.

Six Wild Crowns offers a fabulous new twist on a well-known part of history, bringing a fresh and creative perspective to a familiar backdrop. The author’s ability to blend historical elements with fantasy aspects was one of the highlights of this book. I loved how Holly Race took a well-established historical framework and twisted it into something new and exciting. It felt like a refreshing take on the genre. The world-building was imaginative, and the incorporation of fantastical elements into historical events added an intriguing layer to the narrative.

The writing itself was easy to follow, which made for an engaging reading experience overall. However, while I thoroughly enjoyed the concept and the overall world the author created, there were moments when the plot felt like it lacked momentum and began to drag. There were sections in the middle where the story seemed to slow down, and almost halt, and I found myself wishing for more forward movement or excitement.

Overall, Six Wild Crowns has a lot of potential, and I think readers who enjoy historical fantasy with a unique twist will find much to love here.

This was a bold and brave take on the history of Henry and his six queens, set in the mythical land of elben rather than each bride being sequential, Henry takes six queens to fill each of the castles as legend states the king needs six wives to uphold the bordweal - a magical barrier that keeps elben secure from invasion.

Chaos and rebellion is the fuel for the six wild crowns in this book, from polyamory being normalised, sapphic affairs, and a foundation of twisted religion that may not be as it all seems. Boleyn and Seymour are the main focus and protagonists in this novel, and through untangling lies that have twisted their way around true history, power struggles and betrayal become a duo I came to love, which was a surprise as they begin at odds with each other but grow into something else entirely.

This is the beginning to an unbeatable fantasy world that I cannot wait to see grow and will surely be a series that becomes a top fantasy with readers hooked for years to come. Personally, i found the initial world-building a bit dreary and dense which had me feeling unconfident in my final review, but once we saw discoveries of truth and sparks of rebellion I felt much more engaged. Knowing going into this it was about all six queens i was initially shocked it may just be one book, but with that ending I am confident that this will grow into a series of jaw-dropping, strong women, kicking ass, putting a more feminist lense on the true tragedies that our real tudor queens experienced.

I do think Six Wild Crowns was a little slow to start, still when it got going - it really got going. The wives being called by their historical surnames was a little hard for me to take seriously at times but I still enjoyed Boleyn as a character a lot, though I'm glad it didn't necessarily go down the same route as blaming Rochford for everything because that's overdone in Tudor related media. I am intrigued by what the sequel will bring.

WOW Holly Race what an incredible book you have written I loved it so much My love for Anne Boleyn is even stronger after reading about her in this fantasy world I loved that all six queens had their own palace at the same time
I also now really want a dragon
Can't wait for the next book to see what Jane
Seymour does next

Thank you very much for this eARC.

A sapphic, female rage filled fantasy spin on Henry VIII and his six wives.

It took me a little while to settle into this book—I think the tone of the narration is different to the usual sorts of books I like, and I slightly struggled with how characters fell in love with each other so rapidly, their emotions less mature than I might expect from an adult novel. It also felt like Seymour, one of our two main characters, was a bit unstable in her goals. But as the plot unfolded, and as Seymour finally made active choices, I was drawn into the story.

I enjoyed a lot of the original ideas in the narrative—King Henry marrying six wives at once to protect the magical boundaries of his kingdom is a cool concept that made me want to read this book—and from this starting point, I could not possibly have guessed where the story was headed. There are garnets that are red from the blood of a massacre. There are magical mirrors allowing the Queens to see each other.

At points, the worldbuilding was a bit chaotic—the world is simultaneously queer-normative and polyamory-accepting, but deeply patriarchal and sexist. Dragons exist, but not in a particularly plot-relevant way, and magical super-fast roads connect the 6 castles to the centre of the Kingdom, presumably because otherwise the book would be full of awkward time-skips. As I got into the book, I accepted that the world was not going to be totally logical, and decided to just enjoy the ride.

I enjoyed the exploration of how Henry’s wives were put into boxes, or else assumed to be rivals of each ofher—mirroring the historical narratives often told today about his six wives. The subsequent challenging of these ‘boxes’ in the narrative itself was also clever—the confident Boleyn is full of insecurity and vulnerability, where the so-called ‘blank page’ Seymour is full of surprises and cunning of her own. And more, when Boleyn and Seymour begin to realise that pitting the queens against each other helps no one, and that they were more powerful forming alliances, I thought this was a really neat way of turning common historical narrative on its head.

The book had its dark moments, and I enjoyed that it did not shy away from the violence the Queens faced—but it was also exciting and hopeful, as the Queens began to realise how much power they did have. I’ll be reading the sequel when it comes out and recommending to anyone who enjoys romantasy!

Six Wild Crowns by Holly Race - what a wild ride this was. Historical characters we all know but not as we know them. Throw in a fantasy world with dragons and magic and you have an awesome mix. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope for more in the same world.

this was a good time!! i'm never sure going into historical fantasies if i'm going to like them or not, but as soon as i read the synopsis for this, i was intrigued so much (even if most of my knowledge comes from six the musical lol). i loved the premise, the narrative, and that even though the chapters were only told from boleyn and seymour's perspectives, we still got to see the other queens. i'm guessing from the fact this this is going to be a trilogy (and from the events of the penultimate chapter 😭) that the pov's will be from different queens next time, and i cannot wait!! i'll definitely be looking out for the other two releases when they come out!!

thank you to netgalley and little brown book group for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Incredibly assured and seductive writing that draws you in from the very first line, Race will have you spellbound until the breathless end. This is Philippa Gregory with dragons and you’re going to want to tell all your friends about it!

Thanks to Orbit, Little Brown Books and Holly Race for this advanced copy of Six Wild Crowns!

A historical fantasy, based around Henry 8th and his six wives, centring on Boleyn and Semour as Henry’s newest wives, but bringing in many recognisable figures for anyone with a little bit of knowledge of English history.

I have to admit that the first quarter took me a little while to get into, and I deliberated giving up a few times. Not that it starts badly - it just wasn’t grabbing me.

But once I got past that first quarter, I found myself really immersed and finished the rest of the book in a day.

I’ve never come across anything like it in terms of plot and I thought it was so interesting! I did find some elements I could predict - but I don’t find that to be a bad thing. I also really enjoyed Holly’s writing and world building, and I’m already looking forward to reading the sequel!

Political intrigue, sapphic yearning, historical retelling and dragons? Sign me the hell up.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a fascinating fantasy reimagining of the six wives of Henry the VIII and it was wonderful to have each of them fleshed out more as opposed to simply being Henry’s wives. The world building was superb and easy to fall into, my only critique would be that there were less dragons than I expected which was a shame.

Thanks to net galley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I unfortunately had to DNF this one. I was roped in by the description of the book but found the actual story to be lacking in what I had signed up for. Not to say it was a bad book or bad writing, it just wasn’t what I thought it would be and I didn’t enjoy it.

This superb new twist on a historical saga takes us into Tudor times as we’ve never known before. The mighty, and magical, King Henry has married six queens - all alive and living in separate castles - and through alternate POVs Boleyn and Seymour narrate the story.

Conflict and tension dominate the story in this character driven novel where enemies and alliances are central to the plot. The magical elements are superb and the inclusion of magical defences, mythical creatures and dragons make for a great pageturner that I devoured in a weekend.

I had no idea how the story would unfold and the climax and ending are expertly constructed. Im very much looking forward to books 2 of The Queens of Elben.

📚 review 📚
six wild crowns - holly race

divorced, beheaded, died. divorced, beheaded… you know the rhyme. it’s a story you’ve heard before but never told like this.

six wild crowns is an alternative, fantasy history of the tudor reign, featuring all the names you’ve heard before, cardinal wolsey, thomas more and thomas cromwell, alongside dragons, kelpies and tame panthers!
rather than the tudor england we know and love, our story is set in the kingdom of elben, ruled by henry viii and his six queens, each, as tradition, dictates must reside in their own castle to help protect the magical shield that surrounds the realm. everyone in elben knows that the queens are needed to support their glorious king… however, queen boleyn has learned something about the true history of the land and she needs her fellow queens help if she’s ever going to put henry back in his place and return the magic he wields to its rightful owner.

of all the books about the tudor queens i’ve read this one is the only one that doesn’t dismiss seymour as being the boring one. she is as kickass as boleyn, even if she doesn’t always believe it. cleves is clever and cunning, aragon fiercely loyal, parr sensible and howard not as air headed as you might think. though this is a fantasy and plays a little fast and loose with historical fact, it does capture the paranoia of the tudor court, of how tenuous henry’s grasp of the crown really was and how his wives should never be reduced to a rhyme. it has all the fun and frivolity of a fantasy with the intrigue and machinations of a historical fiction.

six wild crowns is the first in a series and is released in june (there’s a fancy special edition from waterstones if you’re interested in preordering!) thank you to @netgalley for the early copy.
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Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown/Orbit for this early copy of Six Wild Crowns.

If you’re picking up Six Wild Crowns for “a court teeming with dragons” and "Seymour acts as spy and assassin" within all the juicy intrigue promised in the synopsis, let me save you some time: those things are barely in the book. The premise makes it sound action-packed and full of magic and backstabbing, but honestly, it’s way more low-key than that.

Since this was an ARC, I expected a few errors, and there were four spelling mistakes in the first six chapters. After that, I didn’t notice any more, so hopefully, those will be cleaned up in the final version.

About the whole Henry VIII and his six wives thing, it sounded like such a fun idea, right? But it felt like a gimmick. The wives are definitely there, but they don’t really have the personality or defining traits that made their historical counterparts so interesting. If you’re a history enjoyer like me, you’ll probably agree that it barely scratches the surface of what it could have been. Honestly, it feels like the whole Henry VIII connection was thrown in to grab attention, it's a great marketing tool, but it doesn't go beyond much more than that.

Holly Race could definitely improve when it comes to writing emotions and interpersonal relationships. Characters' feelings would shift out of nowhere, and I was often confused about why certain people were suddenly close or in love. Love is thrown around a lot, but there’s not much to back it up. The only emotion that sort of was written well enough was fear, but even that wasn’t enough to explain the characters' motivations.

Oh, and can we talk about Henry VIII being portrayed as handsome? I couldn’t stop laughing. All I could picture was the famous painting of him, overweight, wearing male-pantyhose, not exactly a heartthrob. It’s such a weird image to overwrite.

Overall, the idea was cool, but the execution was just meh. It didn’t live up to what it promised. I won’t be picking up the rest of the series.

I've never read a book on the Tudors and the six wives of Henry VIII that is so original and compelling. It is set in an alternative mythic Britain where the king receives magical strength from Cernunnos the ancient forest god. The six queens, all known by their family names, such as Boleyn, Aragon and Seymour, live in six castles which bolster the king's power. There are elements of the real events that took place - Aragon is the rejected queen, Howard the silly child, and Boleyn, and Seymour, the main characters, are recognisable as their historical selves. This is also a story of female power and how it has been repressed and subverted by the king - how the natural power of the land and the queens who are supposed to protect it, have been manipulated and used by him, how Boleyn recognises that and, ultimately, how she enables the others to take back that power - if they choose. The story ends on a cliffhanger and I hope that part 2 comes out soon because this was an absolutely gripping, wild and brilliant read.

Thanks so much to Orbit for letting me read this book!

As an avid fantasy reader and someone who is deeply fascinated by history I was instantly intrigued as soon as I first heard about this story. Six Wild Crowns is an enchanting tale told through the eyes of two notorious figures of history reimagined in a vibrant fantasy world.
I was instantly sucked in to ways in which Elben and the world functioned, from the traditions surrounding the king and his queens to the little lap dragons. I also loved seeing our two protagonists evolve over the course of this story and seeing them slowly come to the realisation that they and the world around them weren’t the same as they initially thought was immensely satisfying. Additionally, I really enjoyed the way this book talked about the different dynamics that women are taught to have among each other, and I don’t really want to get into spoilers so I think the most important thing I can say to anyone who might read this is, get a copy of this book and explore this wonderful story yourself.
Personally, I had a great time reading this book and I cannot wait to see what the future of this story is going to look like.

they said dragons, sapphic yearning and tudors and I ran

this book was very much my cup of tea, a bit slow in the beginning but a true page turner as the story unfolded
I love the world this story takes place in and my dear queens!!!
so excited for the other books to come out