I received this book from Harper Collins UK via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've read a couple of Juno Dawson books in the past and I enjoyed Say Her Name so I was looking forward to reading a book by Dawson that wasn't a horror, but did have a spooky vibe. This 100% didn't disappoint.

The witchy atmosphere in this book permeates every page and character. Honestly, reading this book about all these strong women with solid female friendships just filled me with everything I needed for spooky season. This book felt like it embodied everything I wanted from a modern-day witch book. I really loved Niamh - she was so sweet and kind, but also a complete badass. Leonie's coven was great to see and it was interesting to explore the politics of this world through her newly-created coven.

Dawson also explores so many important topics within this world: feminism, racism, and LGBTQA+ rights, just to name a few. She handles these topics so well and sensitively. Theo is thought to be an incredibly powerful warlock until it's discovered that she identifies as a woman; the book cleverly explores the impact her gender has on the society of witches, because it doesn't seem like they've ever thought about how trans witches or warlocks can fit into their world comfortably. Reading from the perspective of someone who is a white supremicist TERF is incredibly frustrating (mostly because of how sadly realistic that sort of character is in our world), but we also get the perspectives of progressive women who support Theo and Leonie, and that is wonderful to see.

I really enjoyed reading about the politics of the witches' world and how it fits into the world we have now. I wish we'd seen more of the world, and the main character's pasts in the war. I would love to see a book about that showing how the four women were friends and how they grew into the women they are in this book.

My only issue with the audiobook arc that I listened to was that it was sometimes difficult to distinguish which perspective you were listening to. It would take a few minutes of the narrator talking before it became obvious who it was. Some of the side characters were easy to get muddled up with as well because they weren't given enough time on the page for the reader to remember who they were in relation to the main characters. I'm really looking forward to get a physical copy to see if it's easier to pick this up on re-read rather that listening to the audiobook.

Overall, I really loved this book and it's perfect for the autumn/witchy season. If you're looking for a fantastic urban fantasy with great queer representation then I highly recommend picking this book up. I already can't wait for the sequel, especially after that cliffhanger ending.

Oh! What a time to read this book!

A secret government organisation of witches faces a prophecy said to doom them all.

I read this book as an audiobook. It has 4 POVs, which are all easy to tell apart, even though the audio only has one narrator. Nicola Coughlan did an amazing job, I’d happily listen to her narrate anything from now on.

This book has a lot of different kinds of feminism, we have the old school white feminism, terfs and intersectional. HMRC are pretty ‘old fashioned’ and don’t fully accept non white or queer witches, and DON’T EVER BRING UP TRANS WITCHES BECASE OMG TERFS. Loved the way the book dealt with those issues within the community and questions institutions' stances on ‘traditions’.

This is the first book of an adult fantasy trilogy, and with an ending like that I’m eagerly awaiting the second book.

Protect Theo at all costs.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK Audio for giving me an ARC audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

How I rate books
1- I disliked this book very much. Highly unlikely to read this author again
2- Eh. I didn't hate it. Might give the author another go
3- It was fun
4- Amazing and would read again
5- I'm in love. Give me more right now!

Hidden among us is a secret government department of witches known as Her Majesty’s Royal Coven.

They protect crown and country from magical forces and otherworldly evil, but their greatest enemy will come from within…

There are whisperings of a prophecy that will bring the coven to its knees, and four best friends are about to be caught at the centre.

Life as a modern witch was never simple … but now it’s about to get apocalyptic.

Prepare to be bewitched by Juno Dawson’s first adult series. A story of ancient prophecies and modern dating, of sacred sisterhood and demonic frenemies.

I knew from the offset that this was going to be the kind of book that I enjoyed. On paper it sounded like everything that I look for when picking my next read. This is a fantasy read set very much in a modern and believable Britain. I felt that the world that Dawson created was immersive and could easily be real. The book touched on many important social issues whilst also have a light hearted aspect which invoked a lot of nostalgia for me. I was pulled in from the offset and devoured every chapter. The ending!!! I cannot wait for the next book!

Read this as an ARC from NetGalley, thank you.

Whilst I LOVED the idea of this book I think it fell a little flat. Some of the grown up themes such as grief and queen politics just all seemed so juvenile. I really struggled to relate to any of the characters and I found this made it hard to continue with the story in any significant way. Not something I’ll be thinking about any time soon.

3 stars from me for this one.

I've heard of the name Juno Dawson in the fantasy genre for a number of years and reviewers seem to have raved about her books for YA, so what would I make of "Her Majesty's Royal Coven ", the first book in her trilogy for adults? Well, to put it simply, this is the group of witches that Hermione Granger wants to join!
Powerful, intelligent, diverse (thankfully) and sassy as hell these witches are tough and they are the women in charge.
So, who are they? Well, as the novel opens we meet, Niamh and Ciara (twins from Ireland), Helena, Elle and Leonie. Our young heroines are teenagers and we meet them on the eve of their initiation into the Coven. For adult readers (particularly someone in their late 30s), there is much joy in this scene as we read of the 90s pop culture with references to Spice girls, Boyzone etc. Ah, my forgotten youth, this chapter brought back so many forgotten memories....
Erm, and fast forward 25 years, a war, murders, grief and our girls have grown up.
Niamh is now a vet (and a widow, as her husband died a decade in the war),
Ciara is in a type of magical come due to a battle during the war,
Helena is now the head of Her Majesty's Royal Coven (HMRC)
Elle is working as a healer and has a husband and two children
Leonie (did I mention she is mixed race?) is a lesiban and living with her partner. She has setup Diaspora, an alternative to HRMC.
The aforementioned war is over but repercussions remain and Helena is convinced that danger is coming.
Dawson sets her story in a contemporary setting, a world that is easily recognisable to readers and does not shy away from tackling issues such as Racism, Transphobia, and Homophobia, along with examining the problematic, and often cruel treatment of peoples and inclusion issues. She does so very effectively by providing her characters with the opportunity to express and explore their own identity with the story. Actually allowing the character to grow, rather than simply placing them in a box with labels. The portrayal of being a young trans person and the confusion felt by Theo is shown through her powerful explosion of emotions and powers: her angry, attacking herself, her internal conflict is shown.
Likewise the attitudes of society are shown through the characters:
Helena attitude is disgusting and sadly all too reminiscent of the anti-trans (terf) mindset in society. Go Leonie and Niamh though, they are just brilliant! Especially Niamh as Theo's teacher and carer, she doesn't understand what Theo is going through but she will do all that she can to support the young witch. Her loyalty and support are wonderful to read.
The bonds between the original group has been sorely tested and are now facing their greatest test.
The e-audiobook is narrated by Nicola Coughlan who brings the characters to life: she perfectly embodies the characters that she narrates.

A perfect piece of summer escapism. My only complaint is now we must wait for the next edition.

Dawson’s take on age old witchiness is whip smart and brilliant. She’s brought history into the modern era, discussing feminism, gender and race with deft articulation.

The audio book narration is so well executed, I will continue the entire series in this format.

So I was kindly given this book as an audio ark so thanks to Juno Dawson the publishers and Net Galley.

Sometimes I pick books purely for their titles and covers and don't read the blurb at all and this was one of those books.

In my head I'd decided that this book took place in maybe Queen Elizabeth's era and she had a coven of witches that aided her during her rule, but I couldn't have been more wrong! This book is contemporary/urban fantasy and is about a secret government department HMRC (this pun made me laugh) A coven of Witches who help out in times of crisis but are also responsible for keeping other witches in line.

The book was narrated by Nicola Coughlan who has a lovely voice and all in all the narration was enjoyable but when someone has such a strong accent I often find it hard to distinguish which character I'm currently listening to.

As a whole I enjoyed this book, the representation of different cultures and their approach to magic being seen as not correct by HMRC was really interesting to me and I wish this was explored more throughout the book.
We got to see some diverse characters it would have been interestin to me if we'd got to have seen more of the other covens but political commentary that intertwined was well done and interesting.


I found the modern references a bit over used and obvious, the part about Hebden Bridge being the Lesbian Capital of Europe reminded me of a Dave Gorman joke, and I felt that point was used a few too many times.

I grew up in the shadow of Pendal Hill I've even climbed it a couple of times so that felt wonderfully nostalgic for me. On the whole I did enjoy the book I will probably pick up the sequel just to see how the story progresses.
3.5 stars

Hubble bubble toil and trouble!

And trouble there is in bucketfuls in this the first adult fantasy by Juno Dawson. I was quite excited to receive this Audiobook from the publisher’s Harper Collins through Netgalley.

Now I have to say that this was on my list of ‘Oh my gods, I really need to read that!’ And doubly so after listening to Juno Dawson’s recent Dr Who Adventure on BBC Sounds.

The story starts on the eve of the solstice as we join five young girls who are about to be inaugurated into the service of Gaia and Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. A secret branch of her majesty’s government established by Anne Boleyn in order to protect the country from magical threat and unnameable evil.

We then quickly move to the five girls as they are grown up. Helena, is the youngest ever high priestess of the coven. Leonie, mixed race and gay has become digruntled with the predominantly whtie, middle class leanings of the HMRC and has formed her own breakaway coven called Diaspora. Irish born Niamh, widowed in the civil war that shook the HMRC is a vet in Hebden Bridge and is trying to come to terms with her grief and fight her attraction to six packed veg man, Luke. Whilst Ellie has turned away from the coven to become a nurse and raise her family. Meanwhile, Niamh’s sister, Ciara lies incarcerated in a coma like state after she fought on the opposing side in the civil war.

The friends are drawn back to the coven when the ‘Sullied Child’ who is prophesied to bring about the raising of the evil that will destroy both the world and the coven, Leviathan is found and is being held with the HMRC’s prison.

Niamh, appalled at the treatment of an innocent convinces Helena to let her try to get through to the child and hopefully turn him from the dark side. However not everyone is convinced, especially Helena, who believes that the child will bring about hell on earth.

Set against a nuanced backdrop of intricate world building, Juno Dawson writes an entertaining tale of friendship and magic.

I have to say that I enjoyed this. If you are going to be offended that women can have a starring role in fantasy and that men play second fiddle to the female stars of the book, or discussions of trans or gay rights or social inequality and think that things like this shouldn’t be in a fantasy book then walk away now because Juno Dawson is not afraid of having these discussions. Me? I have no problems with these topics being included in the fantasy that I read and couldn’t get enough of Juno Dawson’s writing. However, I knew that I was going like this after listening to Dr Who Redacted on BBC Sounds.

The first half of the book does take a bit to get into as there is a large amount of set up in the story, not just in the alternative setting that Juno Dawson has created, but also in the friendships and the power dynamics of the group. However, when we do get past this act of the book, the story sets up a gear as the plot takes over characterisation and we move towards the end of the tale.

I listened to this on audio, and Nicola Cochran does a fantastic job of bringing the story to life with her narration. She was able to portray all of the characters and manages to convey the differences in each of the characters. The production was spot on, and there were no times where I got lost in the story.

A fantastic introduction to a new fantasy series and one of my favourite witchy novels I've read in the past few years. Witty and self aware but also serious when it needs to be, Her Majesty's Royal Coven strikes a really good balance.

Juno Dawson infuses modern life with hidden witchcraft in a very refreshing way without falling into too many cheesy cliche traps. The integration of gender politics and LGBTQ+ support is mindful and sensitive -- present and important.

Nicola Coughlan was the perfect choice for the audiobook narration - so good.

I really wanted to like this but I got halfway through it and realised I couldn't tell one character from another. Decided to DNF but would love to give either Juno Dawson books a try. Also really appreciative of her attempt to deal with the JKR controversy.

LISTENING TO THIS BOOK FELT LIKE FEVER DREAM
There were some witches, some demons, screaming "Leviathan will rise", magic.

I don't know what was going on and I wouldn't be able to name any characters besides Theo for my life, but the vibe of this book>>>
It's great for spooky season.


"I looked at boys and I was like no, no. My mama was like, honey, you're a boy. And I was like, oh no, b!tch, I beg to differ."

Thank you NetGalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

I'm not a big audiobook listener but this being narrated by Nicola Cochran drew me in, alongside the great cover art!

The first in a trilogy of LGBT, pro feminist fantasy titles. We first meet four witches: Helena, Leonie, Niamh and Elle who have been friends forever and have taken an oath in their withcraft to be part of Her Majesty's Royal Coven (HMRC) who protect us in mostly invisible ways. The play on words with HMRC won't be lost on UK readers!

Now Helena is the high priestess of HMRC everyone else has left the coven until they are brought back together to continue their work. This is a story about friendship and values, and is a very promising start to the trilogy.

Nicola's narration is fantastic, voicing all the characters and her own eloquent voice as narrator.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and listening to this via audiobook. I was kept engaged and thoroughly enjoyed Coughlan’s narration. I’m not usually into these kind of books but this may have converted me to witchy fantasy as I thoroughly enjoyed this and Dawson’s writing.

A gripping book once you get up to speed with all the characters, very exciting and lots happening to keep you hooked.

It took me a while to get a grip on all of the characters.
The chapters are broken up into the POV of the four main characters; Niamh, Helena, Leonie and Elle.
Add to this the various side characters of family members, love interests and protagonists; it can certainly get a tad confusing. However, as the book progressed and personalities came through, I very much became Team Niamh.
Helena was so well written with her discriminatory vitriol against the trans community that I genuinely hated her.
Leonie’s struggle of being a Black woman in the coven community was incredibly powerful in showing how even when minorities are fighting against the bigger ‘evil’ there is still discrimination within the ranks of the oppressed.
I genuinely screamed at the ending of this book. I could not believe the cliffhanger. I’m just hoping that part 2 won’t be too long in the making.

“Both history and the past are fiction. Only the present is real.”


I had so much fun listening to this book, so much so I couldn't stop and listened to it start to finish in one day. It was so different to what I expected too which made it even better!!

The audiobook was fantastic.
Just what I needed at that moment in time. Highly recommend.

COULD NOT STOP LISTENING!!!!! I finished this arc in about 3 days! Straight from the first chapter, I was hooked! I've been meaning to give any title by Juno a read for a while, and have been debating buying this, so was over the moon to be accepted the audiobook! The story follows a group of witches who take the 'oath' together as children. The main story follows the lives of these women as they're (now) adults who have heard a prophecy of a 'sullied child.' The story is set in modern day and mostly takes place in Hebden Bridge. ( which is a small town about 20 mins from where I live so I loved hearing about it!!) Theres a huge range of diversity within the book too, from lesbian witches of colour to the coming out of a trans kid, again which I loved to read about.

The only negative comments I have is that the book ends on a MASSIVE twist/cliffhanger and the next one isn't due out until next year!!! Haha! Amazing book and can't wait to read again once the second is released!!

Thank you to NetGalley for this audio ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Ok firstly Nicole Coughlan as a narrator? Brilliant.

I was really excited to read this and it didn't disappoint. A hidden coven that works adjacent with the government? Yes, please. However, I would have liked to see more of that, more of how the coven works alongside the government instead of just being their to keep witches in line so to speak. I really enjoyed the magic system too. It wasn't too difficult to follow. Having been born and raised in London and now living in Leeds, I also appreciated that I knew where some of the locations this was set it. It helped me better visualise the story.

It's multiple POV which I love in a book, but I think there may have been too many cooks in this kitchen. It was often hard to remember where one character left of by the time the POV went back to them.

This book is set around a group of 5 young girls and then it jumps to who they are in present day. From the beginning it was obvious who the Villain was going to be I would have just liked to have seen a bit more on how she got to that point. Leonie, a POC lesbian witch, seemed to only have those two character traits which was a bit frustrating. There's more to a character than their ethnicity and sexuality. I also think as a friendship group they weren't good friends to Elle. At least two of the group knew that her husband was sticking it in to someone else and willingly chose not to tell her. That didn't sit right with me at all. As her friends they should have told her so she doesn't get blindsided.

This book explores a number of important topics including; White cishet privilege. Transphobia. The representation for the LGBTQ+ community and I think the approach to these topic was beautifully done. I think the approach to the character of Theo was done incredibly well. We don't often see teens going through the whole 'trying to figure out who you are and what you want stage', so to see it here with Theo was really great. Especially because Theo's journey is a lot more than that.

The ending, although I kind of knew it was going to somewhat go that way, was still frustrating to me! And I absolutely need to know what's going to happen in the next book. Overall I really enjoyed this book, was there too many pop culture references? Yes there was but I enjoyed them all the same. Whilst there are aspects of this book that could definitely be improved on, I think the approach to the political and social issues was done well, the pacing of this was really good and a majority of the characters were written well. 5 stars.

I thought this was a fun, original book. I liked the magical characters, although it took me a while to get my head around who was who as there are quite a few characters. An overall good book and fun read.

This is such an engrossing, fun, clever story. Excellent, immersive world-building and distinct characterisation. An action-packed, emotional story with a smart trans allegory at play. Wonderful reading by Nicola Coughlan.