This month we are discussing Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson.
Content Warning!!! Before reading this book please be aware it contains situations and subjects related to: blood and gore, transphobia, occult, racism, violence/murder.
Spoiler Warning!!! This post is full of spoilers for Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson.
Discussion:
Jac: Hello friends and welcome to our discussion of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson. This book surprised me. I think I expected it to be a bit cozier, and I was honestly confused for quite a bit of the first part of the story. There were a lot of characters and dynamics and history to learn. Once I got into it, though, I loved the premise, and I think Dawson did a really good job in how she incorporated the issues around the lack of intersectionality in society as a whole, but feminist spaces specifically. Honestly, the entire book read as a big “fuck you” to the TERF who shall not be named and those who support and replatform her bigotry and hate.
Michaela: I felt like this book had more to it than I expected. It went so much deeper into the history of their world, deeper into the social issues, and even just deeper into the characters themselves than what I was expecting from this story. A pleasant surprise for me. I didn’t think it was a targeted attack on a particular TERF personally, but to all of them in general. As well as a fuck you to the patriarchy and how it messes with us all. It was a commentary on our society while also being completely fantastical in nature. It kind of felt in the same vibe as When Women Were Dragons, not the same, just similar in how it made me think about things while also being in a story with magic.
I did not start the book expecting to have to keep track of so many characters at once either. I think it took me a good chunk of the book before I fully grasped who everyone was and their relations to each other. But once I got there, everything I had read made a lot more sense. We didn’t delve overly deep into the friendship between these women, just deep enough that I felt like I understood them and cared for them.
Jac: I really enjoyed the intricacies of the “treehouse girls” friendships with each other. Each person had different histories with the others, both individually and as a whole, and different perceptions of their time together. I really wasn’t expecting Helena to end up being the main bad guy of this book, but the fact that it was her made it all feel that much more painful and fraught. Poor Niamh has had to be the one to make such incredibly hard decisions in order to stand up for what’s right and protect those who deserve to be protected. First Ciara during the war, and now Helena. I can’t believe that she’s dead, even with the ending we received. I don’t doubt for one second that Theo will realize quickly that something isn’t right… but I suppose we have to keep reading the series in order to know for sure.
I don’t think Helena could blame her actions and hatred on Belial. It seems like there was a history with her husband that no one else knew about, but even so, her hatred and short sightedness wasn’t justified. I would think that most witches, especially one at her level, would be aware of the fact that the future isn’t set in stone and that things are often way less cut and dry than they seem. I think that at the very beginning, the root issue was ambition and a desire for stability. That quickly gave way to hatred and bigotry and distrust. She was so completely blinded by it all that she turned against her entire group of friends. I’m incredibly anxious about Snow in the rest of the series. I anticipate losing her mother will stoke a hatred and bigotry in her as well, even if she was part of the reason Niamh was warned about her in the first place.
Michaela: One of the women in the friend group becoming the bad guy added so much dimension to the story. I also liked that we got to see it from each woman’s perspective including the antagonist, I think we so rarely get that view point. Helene really was grasping at anything that would support her hate train. She saw a single vision from a newer oracle, that no other oracle could confirm, and said “yes this one fits into my hatred so that’s what I’m basing every decision off of”. Truly blinded by hate, ignoring all other advice and reason. Niamh pointed out that Helena’s hatred of Theo is most likely related to her hatred of her abusive late husband and furthermore the patriarchy, that hits so hard. Like snaps for saying the quiet part out loud to that woman, and others like her, even if she didn’t actually listen to it. Then she goes to blame all her own choices on others in the end. Belial may have freed Hale and Ciara but Helena made every wrong choice that led to that happening. She could have chosen peace while not understanding Theo, but she didn’t. She actively chose the most violent route.
I feel like it is wild that the HMRC uses not only execution but death by fire. Absolutely insane after witches were hunted throughout history and burned at the stake. Like what the hell is that? But Hale sits in a cushy prison and Ciara is in a hospital bed for similar crimes. Both the HMRC and the cabal seem super twisted. Maybe Niamh being more involved now will either bring more of this to light and/or she’ll bring about change. That is if she isn’t actually DEAD. It has been so long since a book has truly made my jaw drop at the twist ending, but this one did it. I was not ready for Ciara not only taking over Niamh’s body but then MURDERING HER. Insane, I am so stressed after that plus the whole battle. I truly have no idea what to expect from the story in the following books of the series after all of that.
Jac: The fact that Helena was so willing to murder Annie, too. Like it blows my mind the depths she was willing to go. I think Leviathan will indeed rise, but it will rise because Helena invoked Belial, who unleashed Hale and Ciara again. She was the reason it truly began, not Theo. I am not sure whether I expect the rest of the series to continue following the same set of people, or if we’ll also get some chapters from Theo, Snow, and Holly later on.
Gotta say, Luke was absolutely fabulous and I had no doubt in my mind that he wouldn’t be bothered by Niamh being a witch. Jez was a gross douchebag, even if he was accepting, so I’m glad SOMEONE has a good mundane man by their side.
Well, friends, that’s it for Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. Thanks for joining us, and we’ll see you next time!