Ok, so everything Juno Dawson writes is just pure gold. I loved everything about HMRC and The Shadow Cabinet when I read them last year so was super excited to get my hands on this novella to fill the void whilst we wait for the final instalment in the HMRC trilogy.

If you’ve read the HMRC series, you’ll know the roots of the organisation that’s central to the story dates back to Anne Boleyn and this short novella picks up following her execution.

Lady Grace Fairfax, is reeling from the execution of her friend, and coven leader, Anne Boleyn. Determined to uncover the person who betrayed Anne’s secrets, Grace discovers there are more powers working against her and the other witches in London. Namely, King Henry VIII and his witchfinders.

This was a short novella, but filled with everything I have come to expect from Juno as a writer. This story is packed with drama and emotion, a fabulous portrayal of women and their power through love, friendship and fear.

I’m a sucker for any story about witches so this was always going to be a winner. A brilliant story to keep you hooked whilst we wait for Human Rites.

I’m a big fan of the HMRC series and was excited for this novella whilst waiting for the third. However, this didn’t add much to the current books. Dawson is still a great author and this shows in this book but I didn’t feel a connection to the characters or feel like we got any deeper insight into the magic system or the inner workings of witches. I’m still looking forward to reading Human Rites!

Juno Dawson's writing is pure MAGIC.

The newest instalment as part of the HMRC realm of books, Queen B takes readers back to the Tudor era and the first Royal Coven under Anne Boleyn. Its chapters make the pages fly by, each one worldbuilding and keeping me so invested!

A delight to explore the origins of HMRC and meet a new cast of witches. I really enjoyed this re-imagining of the tudor court and the tragic end of Anne Boleyn. If you already enjoy this series this book is a real treat, I look forward to spending more time with these characters.

This is a prequel to Her Majesty's Royal Coven and The Shadow Cabinet, the first and second books in this series and has been billed as the HMRC Origin Story. I have read (listened to, great narrator) both books prior to reading this one, but I guess you don't need to.
So... this book is set in the court of King Henry VIII, beginning at the time when the young Anne Boleyn arrives at court. We all know what happens next, the current queen, Queen Catherine, is on the cusp of being replaced by Anne. And all the shenanigans that go with. Well, we actually begin at the end when Anne has been betrayed and beheaded!
Interestingly enough - for me more than you - I have just seen the play of the film of the book written by Phillipa Gregory, The Other Boleyn Girl, so I am actually well versed in what probably could have possibly happened at that time and the author does stick with this quite well.
So, we also meet another young witch - Lady Grace Fairfax - who arrives at court only to find that there are others of her kind there already. We follow how she gets close to the queen and how they form HMRC in the fight against the Witchfinders sent by Henry to seek out and eradicate them...
It's only a short book but it sure does pack a punch as it weaves fiction into fact to deliver a credible story. One that explains the origins of the HMRC which are referred to in the subsequent series main books. I guess there will be some who don't like the way that the author has besmirched Anne Boleyn by outing her as a witch, but this is something that has been speculated on by many people over the years. There are many myths that have been dispelled and/or proved regarding this but there is proof of the witchfinders at that time, so why not embrace the possibility...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I have had the Her Majesty's Coven books on my TBR for a while, but was glad to see this short story available and gave found that it has really whet my appetite to start the others soon!

I would like to thank netgalley and HarperCollins UK for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited for this, and it did not disappoint. It's a unique take on Anne Boleyn, and witches.

I will start my review of Queen B by Juno Dawson by stating that I have actually not read Her Majesties Royal Coven or The Shadow Cabinet yet.

I am glad, however, that I have read this one first as this is a short novel which introduces us to the origins of the coven, as well as the betrayals the coven faces, and has left me looking forward to the others in the series.

Queen B is set during the rule of King Henry VIII in the year 1536 and begins with the execution of infamous figurehead Anne Boleyn. As someone who enjoys history, with one of my specific interests being the Tudor reign, I was left spellbound by this stunning blend of historical fact with fiction.



Thank you to the publisher and the author for this ARC

Review will also be posted on my Instagram page (see link below) by the end of the day of which this is written

https://www.instagram.com/rhielisereads?igsh=MTgxbGNlMmsyemtrZQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Enjoyable as ever!

This is a pretty small book, so I won’t delve too deeply into the storyline, but it’s about the rise, and subsequent fall, of Anne Boleyn, set in the world of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. The story cuts back and forth, as we piece together how things happened, and the relations between all these women, during such a perilous time for witches. The goals, the dreams, and the failures.

Dawsons writing is always a treat, and this was such an interesting background insight into this fantasy world she has created. She excels at writing strong characters, and that’s no different here. The book is compulsively readable, and the strong feminism that resides in the main series remains shining through, even here, set in the bleaker centuries gone by.

As always, I just adore the magic of these witches - they’re practically powerful forces of nature, and I’d love to read more about them throughout history (and maybe more books to follow up on that ending!)

This is a great little bite of a story to help tide us HMRC readers over until we can get our hands on the next mainline instalment!

Thank you to the publishers, and Netgalley, for the copy to review.

Juno Dawson’s HMRC books have been on my TBR pile for a while. You know how it is with those TBR piles, so when the prequel, Queen B showed up on NetGalley, I thought it was the perfect chance to start the series I keep hearing about.

Queen B achieved a perfect balance of introducing to the HMRC world while providing an alternate history for the women around Anne Boleyn, which I have always been curious about.

I really enjoyed learning about the different kind of witches and the powers they possess, especially in the context of the tense and misogynistic rule of Henry VIII. I didn’t really get a feel of the love between the women as much as I wanted to, but this probably due to it being a short story, which doesn’t allow the build up and detail you would get in a longer novel.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley, Juno Dawson and the publishers for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest and completely unbiased review.

I’m somewhere in the middle with this. I’ve thoroughly loved the previous two books and so was looking forward to this. And I’m in two minds because I’m not a huge fan of novellas, mainly because I just start to enjoy them and get into the plot and it ends. As I found with this, you just start to feel like the characters are developing and it’s ending. I also would have enjoyed something more about the history of the HMRC as opposed to just the retelling of Anne Boleyn being a witch.

That said, it’s an enjoyable light and easy, read and a good filler while we wait for Human Rites.

This is a fun historical novel, but you really have to suspend your belief. Queen B has the bones of the coven but unfortunately is too weak to hold up to its magic. At is core , it is a queer love story and Juno is a very good writer.

I class myself as a "reluctant reader" (aka my brain is easily distracted and I find it hard to settle into reading), but I INHALED this book in 2 sittings

I'm not sure why, but the HMRC books have never really appealed to me, but once you add in Anne Boylen I'm very much there! The story wasn't so much about Anne, but the women around her and the impact her death had on them.

A nice quick read, not very deep but then that's not always what I'm after in a book, sometimes I just want a quick interesting read, and this is very much that.

I'm minded to look at the others in the series now, given the slight teaser ending

I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.

Honestly, I put down Her Majesty's Royal Coven when I started reading it a few months ago (I had it on audio, I was very confused with such an enormous cast of characters) but after picking this one up, I feel far more inclined to return to it in a different medium and see if I enjoy it. 'Queen B' is a novella set in Tudor England, building on the theory that Anne Boleyn was actually a witch. Anne is more of a side character in the story - the central part focuses on Grace Fairfax, one of her young ladies in waiting and another witch.

Generally, I found this book to be compelling and well-written, packed full of historical action. Dawson really captures the period well and the fantastical elements only enhance the intrigue and gothic nature of the Tudor setting. I did find there to be too many indistinguishable characters - they're not given enough time to become unique persons due to the short number of pages - I warmed to Grace as a lead character over time and sort of wish I'd been able to spend more time with her in the present than in the past. The later connection to a real-life figure of history was also excellently put together.

I'm knocking a star off because I felt, once we'd hit halfway, the story lost steam. The novella jumps back and forth between the past and the present, telling two tales simultaneously - the fallout following Anne Boleyn's execution and her using her witchcraft to entrance the King and make herself Queen, all told through Grace's POV. Things start strong - the coven has vowed vengeance on the woman who betrayed Anne - but start to fall apart once they discover where the woman has run to and when they find her. I found the 'I did it for love' motivation to be bland and uninteresting, particularly as Grace and the betrayer were written with very similar constitutions. More distinction would have made the chase and the capture more interesting.

Nevertheless, I'd love to see Juno Dawson write more in these historical contexts - she has a fantastic grasp on the period and there's so much detail in every chapter. With the hundreds of 'witchy' books out there, she really presents something unique and interesting. And with the line at the end, is there a suggestion that we may see more of these witches and their connection to the royal family in the future? I'd love to see it with Victorians, particularly as (following Elizabeth I) we had to wait until Victoria to get a full proper Queen on the throne.

I think that this is the best book out of the three so far. There was a sense of fun in the writing, and enough research and history to make me want to learn more about the period. It isn't known if Anne did have women lovers (especially Sarah) as women were more physical in platonic friendships at that time to. A really good read, which then led to watching 'The Favourite' and researching that time:)

The perfect novella! A lot more serious feeling than the original books but that was entirely in keeping with the setting and time period, and I just found myself in awe that Dawson could so seemingly effortlessly switch to historical fiction. Excellently paced and a great gateway into the HMRC world if people aren't ready to dive into the full length books.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free E-ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

I adore Juno's HMRC world, so being able to read a snippet of the HMRC history made me very happy!
This novella is short and sweet, and will do well to tide us over until the next instalment of HMRC!

📚 review 📚
queen b - juno dawson

the origin story we’ve all been waiting for - we learn about the og coven from juno dawson’s her majesty’s royal coven series in this prequel novella set in the tudor era and following the intrigue around britain’s first coven leader - queen anne boleyn.
this tongue in cheek story plays on the rumours of anne boleyn’s witchcraft and provides a wonderfully rich addition to the series so far.
i for one am very excited for the third book in the series!

thank you @netgalley for the early copy. queen b is out this month.

I loved this Anne Boleyn story retelling. Juno Dawson’s Her Majesty’s Royal Coven series is so unique and a joy to read.

Queen B by Juno Dawson

Thanks to Harper Collins and Netgalley for my copy.

What a fantastic prequel! If you haven’t read Her Majesty’s Royal Coven or The Shadow Cabinet yet then what have you been doing?! But you could also read this novella first and then start the series and understand how the coven got to where it is now.

Set in Tudor England it is the story behind Anne Boleyn and the events leading up to and after her untimely demise by beheading.

**A lady is an artifice of lace and manners; of rouge and silk. A witch is of blood and sky.**

I really enjoyed the switch between narrators and timelines as it opened the story up just enough for you to get a grasp of what was going on and the implications for the current day of the book but not enough to spoil things.

I loved the exploration of the witch's talents and the origins of it. The language around Gaia I found really interesting.

I loved that it wasn't only Anne's coven in the book and their interactions were not always smooth sailing.

Mostly I loved the fierce nature of Grace and her undying loyalty to Anne despite not always agreeing with her actions and ideas.


Spoiler ‼️
I feel like the ending for Grace was a gift from Anne from beyond the grave.

Overall a fantastic read as a standalone but a fabulous prequel to the HMRC Trilogy!