I really enjoyed this book and I’m so intrigued to see where the story goes. It did take me a little bit of time to get into it at first but after the first 100 pages I was invested. I love that it mixes this magical story with important issues that affect the world as we know it. Can’t wait for the sequel.

I have highly anticipated this book for so long and Im so happy b/c I really, really loved absolutely everything about this book !!! I adored the magic system, the classes of Witch and adepts and what they could do, I loved the concept of the procephy and the characters working to prevent/unintentionally ensure it. I rlly loved sm characters and most of our leading Coven.

I genuinely hated Helena with everything I had to give. She started to wind me up and grate on me very early into the book when she wouldnt listen to Niamh and kept gettijg defensive bc Niamh was her friend so why wasnt she taking her side, and yet Helena wouldnt just trust Niamh's judgement and realising she was doing the right and compassionate thing. And then she got increasingly worse and too stuck in her beliefs and believing she was right to even consider any other angle or listen to anyone who disagreed with her. And then she was down right transphobic and fuck that shit, its so vile and there is no possible justification for being so hateful, even her past abuse is no excuse to be transphobic, fuck. that. shit. Even in her final moments, she blamed her friends for all she'd lost instead of realising she'd done it herself, she'd brougjt it on herself and more tjan anything, SHE would be responsible for triggering the start of the rise of Leviathan and the visions of death and destruction she'd seen. ALSO, when she killed Annie in cold blood, that hurt me so much. And for what??? FOR WHAT HELENA??? WHAT GOOD CAME OF THAT????

Niamh was absolutely my favourite character, I rlly loved her development throughout the book as she opened herself up to love and living again after losing her fiancé in the War. I adored her relationship with Theo, she was so accepting and patient with her, and became so protective of her, which is rlly what Theo needed after all the shit she'd been through since being so small. I love that Niamh acted with compassion to save Theo from being shut in the prison and so rapidly went down the pipeline of almost reluctant foster parent to her new adoptive mother who would actually die to protect her and sacrifice everything. She was just so strong and fierce in her love, and I adored her so fucking much !!!

I loved Theodora so fucking much too, she was so sweet and I loved watching her settle in to living with Niamh, being able to be herself and feel safe and loved. When she had her witch ceremony at the end eith Holly and Snow, I genuinely bawled my eyes out; its what she deserved !!! Im rlly excited to watch her grow more and become the powerful witch she !!

And THAT ENDING?!?!? excuse me, how could she do this to me?!?!?! Im so hyped to read The Shadow Cabinet and also so scared !!!

I went in not really knowing what to expect as I have never read anything by Juno Dawson before, but I am happy to say that i thoroughly enjoyed this book.
And yes that ending has been hanging on for book 2.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for providing this Arc for review. All thoughts and opinions are completely my own.

This is a well-paced easy-to-read book that does what it does really well. Set in a world that isn't quite our world the ordinariness of a Yorkshire setting contrasts with the unexpected nature of having organised witchcraft in parallel to more mundane lives. The sisterhood and belonging is explored nicely, and the premise of the central character is sound and provokes a lot of questioning about who gets to belong and take their place in the coven. And there has to be at least one sequel after this...

To make this rather short I think that the strength of this book is its message as a direct response to JK’s…um…idiocy? Thoughts? Call it whatever you want but, in the end, it’s transphobia. And for this reason, and this reason alone, this book is a great story. Now, after having listening to it on audio, so many things are just very confused in my mind and I honestly think it’s because of the narration. 1) imagine my surprise when I heard Nicola’s voice (aka Penelope’s actress from Bridgerton) but um 2) her accent was kinda hard to follow along and all the names just got confused in my mind as well as who was the character narrating the chapter. I think it would’ve been better with one narrator for each character but that’s a me problem you know? The magic system was interesting it’s simply the pacing and the narration that had me struggling a lot. I’d still recommend it and maybe I’ll try book 2 when it comes out. 3.5 stars

I love everything about this book and the audiobook is amazing! You follow a group of friends who were thrown together as kids and have retained their unlikely friendship through war and disagreements as sisters do. A prophecy about a child has driven an irreparable wedge between members of the group and the plot develops from there.

I loved the magic system and most of the characters. It was so cozy and high stakes. It made me feel so angry as well as love and understanding. It was so well written and I can’t wait to read the next installment.

Pick this book up now! I highly recommend the audiobook, the narrator and all the accents really elevate the story and created another level of immersion.

Thank you to NetGalley, Juno Dawson, and the publisher for the ARC audiobook for Her Majesty's Royal Coven.
I love Juno Dawson, and was really intrigued by the politics and witchcraft elements combined. Gave me American Horror Story: Coven feels.
This book read like a direct reply to JKR's very vocal opinions on transgender people and I loved that about this book. It holds such an important message.
Thr downside for me that was I felt like a lot of the main characters were very similar, to the point where I would often forget who's poi t of view I was listening to until their name was mentioned. Some more diversity in personality would have made this book a four star for me.
The narrator was wonderful, and read the book fantastically.

This book was incredible and added much needed diversity to the fantasy genre. Absolutely brilliant narrator who I hope carries on with the series. The ending left me with many unanswered questions- which is good for a series. Really looking forward to the next one! Don’t want to give spoilers so just read this!

3.5/5.0

HMRC is a secret arm of English government dealing with all things witchy. Helena is current high priestess and after a bloody war she is trying to maintain peace across England. But that's easier said than done when the oracles prophesise that "Leviathan will rise" bringing with him the destruction of all witch kind.

I so wanted to enjoy this book more than I actually did after being on my tbr list for most of 2022.

I unfortunately found the prose of this book to be a little too cliche and cheesy for my liking - soo many pop culture references and at points it felt like I was reading a teenagers diary, it felt like this was in an effort to make your usual witchy fantasy read more relevant.

This book definitely explores some very important themes regarding transgender and racial biases but overall not the great read I was hoping for.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of the audiobook.

An enjoyable novel about witchcraft and politics tying in to current conversations about gender identity. Nicola Coughlan was the perfect choice of narrator and made the story come alive.

I got a copy of the audiobook for Her Majesty’s Royal Coven through NetGalley. First, I just want to say that Nicola Coughlan is the most fantastic narrator. I wish she could narrate all audiobooks I listen to in future - just brilliant!

Overall I really loved the premise of the story. There are some really great ideas, and I thought the way real life gender politics were explored in this fantasy world was really well done.

I have to admit there were a couple of moments I found quite jarring, which is why I’m only rating this 3.5 stars. As someone who grew up in the 90s I liked a lot of the pop culture references (boyzone/ spice girls etc) but I felt these just got a bit much as the story went on. Most notable being the Kate Hudson fabletics reference in the middle of the main action scene, and the sporty spice reference at the very end. Those in particular really pulled me out of the moment, when there was so much happening already.

Given that a lot of the marketing and reviews for this book focused on how diverse the characters are, I felt a little disappointed that most of the story is told from the POV of the cis white women. The main plot is centred around a trans character, but we never get to hear their POV, and only get a glimpse into how they’re feeling through the POVs of the other characters. I thought this was a missed opportunity, and I really hope we hear more from this character’s perspective in the next book.

Other than that, I did enjoy it. I loved the ending - I didn’t see it coming at all and it definitely took me by surprise. I’m really looking forward to reading the next one now.

Stunning from start to finish and expertly narrated. I hope Nicola is back for the whole trilogy. She did such a good job. That ending though! Good god. I need book 2 now!

Thank you to the publishers Harper Collins UK Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an audiobook copy of this book to read and review.

This was a great book that I could not put down. I really enjoyed it and the fantastic narration by Nicola Coughlan. I loved all of the accents and how she portrayed the characters.

For me, this wasn’t quite a five star read. The pacing of the book was a little slow to start, with the action mainly happening towards the very end of the book.

I would have liked to see the perspective of some of the younger witches and their experiences joining the coven in contrast to the older witches.

I really liked the world building and characters. There was so much depth to the magical government / political system in the book.

I think Juno Dawson is a great writer and I am keen to read more of her work. I can’t wait to read the sequel… especially after the cliffhanger ending! I need to know what happens next.

Excellent narrating from the magical Nicola Coughlan. What an exceptional storyteller, with each accent and character so distinct and memorable. Juno Dawson's writing is wonderful, and I will definitely be adding more of her books to my TBR list!! Would highly recommend this book (especially as an audiobook!)

An exciting story of a group of childhood friends in their different lives as young witches. Elle, Neve, Helen and Leonie are navigating their 30s: relationships, careers, family life, and most of all, their witchy covens. When trouble is brewing ahead will the women stand together as they had before, or will politics and power get in the way of their friendship?

A thoroughly enjoyable fantasy with heart-warming scenes and relatable characters. I can't wait to read more from Dawson.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy of Her Majesty's Royal Coven audio book, narrated by Nicola Coughlan.

✨ Audiobook Review ✨

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven - Juno Dawson.

I don’t know where to begin with this one if I’m completely honest. I feel like the political issues and they way they were dealt with were pretty spot on however it felt like nothing really happened.

A group of witches, know as Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, are hidden as a secret government department. They use their magic to protect the crow at all costs. However, when a young Warlock appears, with the threat to bring everything to its knees, the coven is split. They cannot agree on the best course of action.

For such a long books, nothing really happened during this? I was on the edge of my seat, ready for the action to start throughout this but it just lacked any atmosphere. The plot line, though highlighted many important societal issues, was actually pretty bland. The world building was lacklustre and I didn’t connect with any of the characters at all.

Overall, this just wasn’t for me. I’m not hugely into politics and all this book seemed to do was spout ideologies at me. I’m a huge plot-centred reader and this lacked all things plot. I was waiting for the story to commence but it just didn’t. It just felt like political conversations from start to finish. Pass… next!

Unfortunately that was not for me at all. I would have loved to like it but I did not.
Someone else will probably like it more. The audio was really good.

Firstly thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

Now for my review, this might be slightly controversial as this is one of the most talked about books at the minute, but I only feel this was a 2 star. However, I think it may be because it was an audiobook and not the actual book! For probably 80% whilst I understood the plot, I didn’t fully have an idea what was going on and I was only hooked when Helena did her final act. It’s such a shame because even the narrator was captivating…maybe this is why I continued and did not give in.

However, all this said, I actually have preordered the next book! So despite feeling I didn’t get into the book, it has at least hooked me in for the next one and got me curious to find out what happens next.

This is an expertly narrated edition of an absolutely superb novel by superstar author Juno Dawson. everything she writes is pure gold, and Her Majesty's Royal Coven is brought to life by Nicola Cochrane whose has such a spellbinding manner, I was totally transformed in time and space to the secret coven. an absolute joy to listen to, even the most emotional bits... but especially the most emotional bits! Vivid and sparkling. I can't wait for book 2!

This was a really great book to listen to as an audiobook.
Nicola Coughlan’s narrative is second to none! I have never enjoyed a narrator this much. Her accent skills are so diverse and worked so well with the storytelling.
I really enjoyed the storyline too, the characters were both likeable and at times unlikeable which I think gives them a good amount of depth.
Great for witch-lit fans but also for anyone who likes a bit of fantasy. Sort of reminded me of Harry Potter at times with the wizarding world mixing with the ordinary.

The social commentary aroud the topics discussed - mainly that of gender and transphobia with a little bit of race and feminism thrown in there too - is honest, brutal, and done really well.

Enjoy probably wouldn't be the right word to use, due to my visceral feelings of discomfort and anger (intentional I'm sure), but I was invested in the fast paced and compelling plot.

I do feel however that the author invested too much time on the above and neglected character development. The potential for complex characters that I could be invested in was there but instead got surface level generalisations that left me not really caring.

Despite it's flaws this book evoked very intense feelings from me, and I applaud it for that.