I’ve never been so glad that I picked up a book again after DNFing as with Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson. I first read it when I received it as part of my Fairyloot Adult Fantasy subscription, but as I struggled with concentration issues and an impossible review agenda at the time, I didn’t manage to finish it. A year later, I picked it up again and fell helplessly in love with this series.
Attention: I will be reviewing all books of the series in this post (gradually), but everything apart from the first book will be hidden so that you will not see any spoilers for the rest of the series (unless you want to, of course).
Her Majesty’s Royal Coven
The book start out several years before the actual start of the story. Four young witches are about to take the oath to join Her Majesty’s Royal Coven (a secret government department in the UK), a prospect which delights them. At the start of the actual story, however, civil war and life have largely trashed the young girl’s optimism. Helena, who has become the High Priestess in the meanwhile, is the only one who’s still active in the Coven. Niamh has become a veterinary, Elle is pretending to be a non-magical housewife, and Leonie has left the coven to start a more inclusive one called Diaspora. But when a young warlock with seemingly extraordinary magical powers is captured, all four friends get together again to find a way forward. Unfortunately for them, they do not exactly see eye-to-eye as to what the best course of action is.
Interesting social critique
This book has great characters, an twisty, original plot, and superb dialogue. However, what I loved most about it was its exploration of various topics that are so very relevant today: gender, race, belonging, discrimination, found families, government corruption, abuse of power etc.
This book read as the literary love child of a Fantasy novel and a social critique, and I loved every single minute of it. Please check out the trigger warnings below though, as there’s quite a bit of opinions voiced in this novel that might be triggering to read!
From a DNF to a very well deserved four out of five gemstones:
Recap book 1
In the following section, you’ll find a recap that you can use to prepare for the next book. Of course, this is by definition full of spoilers, so it is hidden behind a spoiler tag. Enter at your own risk!
Want a recap before starting the next part? (click here, contains spoilers)
World: Elizabeth I has created a secret government organisation, Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, which consists of witches that work together with the British government. In this world, witches are more powerful than warlocks. Other covens exist as well, like Diaspora the more inclusive coven (in terms of skin colour). Non-magical folk are called mundanes. Main characters: Helena: High Priestess of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. Her daughter is called Snow. Her husband died during the war trying to save mundanes from a flood. Leonie: Leader of Diaspora, an inclusive coven. Her girlfriend is called Chinara, her brother Radley is a warlock. Niamh: Vet. She’s dating the non-magical Luke, but she has difficultly to move past the trauma of losing her fiancé Conrad during the war when he was killed by a sentient. Elle: Pretending to be non-magical, but her daughter Holly is starting to show magical abilities, so she will have to tell her and her husband Jez about witchcraft soon. Her grandmother Annie is an oracle. Ciara: Niamh’s sister who was part of the rebellion and who has been in a coma ever since Niamh tried to stop her attacking Helena. Theo: Teenager who is brought into the care of Niamh after accidently destroying the school. Plot: Helena asks Niamh to help her by caring for a troubled young boy called Theo who has been arrested for blowing up his school and who she suspects to be the Sullied Child prophesised to destroy the witches. Infuriated by the way the coven has treated the child (Helena even wants him dead), Niamh agrees to take him home with her and slowly starts to win his trust. Theo refuses to speak out loud, but can communicate with Niamh in her mind. Meanwhile, Elle’s daughter Holly has started to show magical abilities, and Elle decides that it’s time to tell her she’s a witch. Holly then joins Niamh’s tutoring sessions of Theo so that she can learn to control her powers as well. Theo and Holly hit it off right away. Helena’s spies tell her that Theo has lost control over his powers during a training exercise at the park. She instructs her daughter Snow to join the tutoring sessions so she can report everything back to her. Theo accidentally injures Luke when he happens upon a training session, and Elle has to come over to save him. Elle believes Holly is acting differently than normal and makes her tell her that Theo is a transgender girl. Ell is shocked and informs Niamh. This explains why Theo was way more powerful than would be expected of a warlock (witches are stronger). Snow overhears their conversation and reports it back to Helena. Helena asks her three friends to join her for a girl’s night at the local pub. This is a ruse, however, to get Niamh out of the house and to abduct Theo. Niamh takes a potion to make her more powerful, so that she can fly to the van in which Theo is being transported and take her back. She then brings Theo to Elle’s and goes to confront Helena, who confesses to the abduction and who says she does not believe Theo is transgender. A young oracle informs Helena that she has had a vision of the witches being destroyed and Theo standing over them. This encourages Helena even more to try and get rid of Theo. She goes to visit the former leader of the rebellion (and her ex-boyfriend), Hale, in prison and asks him how to summon a demon (Belial). She then kills Annie, Elle’s grandmother and oracle, so that she would not warn the others about her plans. After summoning the demon, Helena and some of the witches in her employ go to capture Theo. Niamh is warned by Snow that her mother is coming, and Leonie and Chinara are alerted as well. Leonie, in turn, tries to warn Elle (overheard by Holly). The group manages to get through the barrier Helena created around the village. It comes to a battle between Helena and Niamh and Theo. Theo’s body is transformed into a feminine one. Niamh defeats Helena, and Belial leaves her body. Elle manages to keep Helena alive. In the meanwhile, Hale escapes prison (aided by Belial). Helena is sentenced to death for what she’s done. Snow, Holly and Theo go through the ritual, but Snow is out for revenge on Niamh and Theo for the death of her mother. Niamh goes to visit her sister Ciara in the hospital where she has been in coma for years. Bilial, however, has given Ciara the possibility to switch bodies with Niamh, so that she is now trapped in the sleeping body, and Ciara is free in Niamh’s.Book 0: Queen B
Review coming soon!
Book 2: The Shadow Cabinet
Summary & Evaluation. (click here, contains spoilers)
I loved this book even more than I did the first. It’s so…real? It continues to address many social topics that are close to my heart and those in combination with these interesting characters and a plot that will leave you breathless makes for the best mix of ingredients I could ever want for. Without a doubt: 5 gemstones out of 5!
Recap book 2
Want a recap before starting the next part? (click here, contains spoilers)
Niamh has been murdered by her sister, Ciara, who is now pretending to be her. Thanks to the events of book 1, HMRC now asks “Niamh” to be their new High Priestess. Ciara doesn’t remember what’s happened, however, only that she must play the part of her deceased sister and fool everyone. In this book, we are introduced to the Shadow Cabinet , a department of the government who are supposed to be the bridge with the witches, but who are actually quite suspicious of them. Dabney Hale, the warlock freed by the demon at the end of book 1 and Ciara’s former lover, is now rumoured to be seeking a dark object, connected to the government. Leonie is searching for him.
Book 3: Human Rites
Review coming soon!
Notes on the Her Majesty’s Royal Coven Series
Age Category: Adult
Representation: LGBTQ+ main characters, Mental Health
Trigger warnings (click here, contains spoilers)
Abortion, alcohol/drug abuse, (ritualistic) animal death, cheating, misgendering, racism, transphobia
Do you want to discover more?
If my review inspired you to pick up the first book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores:
Amazon.nl: Hardcover Edition
Special editions
As I mentioned before, Fairyloot included book 1 in their Adult Fantasy subscription of June 2022. Their edition has an exclusive cover, endpaper illustrations, digital edges, and is signed by the author. In 2023, they also created a special edition for book 2, and in 2024 for book 3. Both books had the same customisations as their first one, as well as artwork on the hard cover. In 2025, they will publish the third book as well, with the same customisations (although the hard cover is announced to have “foiling” rather than “artwork”). These special editions can be found on the second-hand market in about the same price range as they were originally sold for (about € 25).
Similar to this
I haven’t read any other books by Juno Dawson yet, but her This Book is Gay is definitely on my TBR. It’s a non-fiction book that is marketed as a “manual to all areas of life as an LGBT person”. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?
I recently read The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen and something in the writing style just kept reminding me of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven (although the two books couldn’t be more different). It’s a rom-com fantasy about an undertaker who – unbeknownst to her – develops a pen pal relationship with a marshal she cannot stand. My review can be found here.
I admit, I have frequently confused Her Majesty’s Royal Coven with The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, due to the title. This book, written by Sangu Mandanna, seems to be quite different though (it’s described as “warm” and “uplifting”, two adjectives I wouldn’t exactly use to describe HMRC). It’s the tale of Mika Moon, one of the few witches left in Britain, who is asked to teach three young witches to control their powers. Definitely on my TBR!
Last but not least, the whole “secret magical government society” theme also reminded me of A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske. This book is about Robin, who is named – by accident – Civil Service Liaison to a hidden magical society.