Perfectly fitting for a Halloween night in, Her Majesty’s Royal Coven is a thrilling, witchy fantasy by Juno Dawson. The novel takes place in current day England, where everything is true to life except for the secret society of witches thriving under the noses of regular humans (or, as Dawson calls them, mundanes). For centuries, witches have furthered the progress of womankind by protecting and fighting in the shadows, operating officially as Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, a covert government society formed under Queen Elizabeth I. Our story follows a group of four witches — Niamh, Elle, Helena, and Leonie — who started out as young girls with a shared love of the Spice Girls, and who now find themselves as grown women with complicated, over-scheduled lives. As adults, the friends have all forged different paths; Niamh is a country veterinarian, Elle is a nurse and mother, Helena is the reigning High Priestess of HMRC, and Leonie broke off from HMRC to form a more progressive coven called Diaspora. Even so, when Helena gets word of a boy found with destructive powers, one that fits the bill of a terrifying prophecy, she calls on her old friends for help. Now, combining forces once again, the women must overcome past grievances and present differences if they hope to save the coven.
Her Majesty’s Royal Coven is an ambitious novel that delivers in a big way. On the surface, it’s an entertaining fantasy novel about badass witches. Suspenseful action sequences make the chapters fly by, and the many invocations, exorcisms, and sacrifices left me thoroughly spooked. One level deeper, it’s a novel about friendship. The relationship between Niamh, Elle, Helena, and Leonie is heartfelt and deeply relatable; Dawson does a lovely job of considering how friendships change with age, especially those that begin in childhood. The banter between the women keeps the overall tone of the novel upbeat, even during highly charged moments. And at its core, Her Majesty’s Royal Coven is about gender and identity and the way these things intersect with politics and society. Dawson explores these topics with grace, and I could feel her fiercely inclusive spirit on every page. On a less positive note, I struggled with unexplained plot points and was caught off guard by a few intensely gruesome scenes. Some dialogue also felt slightly repetitive; Dawson demonstrates her ideas so clearly through her characters’ actions that I found some of their longer speeches to be unnecessary. However, these were minor drawbacks to an overall wonderful reading experience, and I’m eagerly anticipating Book 2 of the trilogy (coming March 2023). Her Majesty’s Royal Coven is a fantasy with humor and heart, a definite yes for me.
I’d recommend this book to…
- Anyone who loves stories about witches and sisterhood and fighting for your beliefs… it’s similar in theme to The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
- Anyone who appreciates vivid world building and doesn’t mind a bit of gore and violence… it’s similar in style to A Darker Shade of Magicby V. E. Schwab
- Anyone looking for something that’s both funny and eerie, light and complex… it’s similar in tone to The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
