Her Majesty’s Royal Coven

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, Book 1

By: Juno Dawson

Narrated by: Nicola Coughlan

Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

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.

©2022 Juno Dawson (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Juno Dawson is at the top of her game in this vibrant and meticulous take on witchcraft. Her characteristic wit and grit shine through." (Samantha Shannon)

A major struggle

This audiobook first left me bored (for the complete first half), then scandalized (due to an audacious - to say the least - development in one of the characters) and ultimately with a stale aftertaste.
First of all the reading. In a less than flattering accent (why would you do this ? to make a point for the North vs London ? really ?), a continuous flow with little to no help for the listener to distinguish characters. A major issue for me also that it was very hard to understand vs the background noises of the car, made me continuously rewind not to miss anything.
The story, or rather, the lack of it. For the most part the writer dwells in trifles in the lives of the main characters. Imagine this somewhere between "Friends" and "Sex and the City" (the latter actually a wanted or unwanted parallel given the number of adult main characters). The first half of the book is certainly amidst the most boring I have read for a long time. Then, it gains some pace, however, never managed to really captivate me due to its lack of originality. I will say that the last pages let me revise my 1-star story rating to 2 because finally there is actually a twist worth reading. But who wants to wait for 98% of a book before getting that ?
The world. I actually love a good fantasy setting, especially the ones that are intricately woven between a magic and our modern world. This, however, is far from being amongst the genre's best or even average. There is hardly anything in this book that is original. The magic concept, based on Gaia (greek goddess, strong female alpha) remains extremely vague and lifeless (loveless from the point of view of the author). Male magic practitioners are much less powerful than female (really ?) and the source of all past evil. The non-magic population is positioned as weak, corrupt and dispensable.
The characters. I am not going to go into details on the 4 female main characters which are to my mind rather caricatures. ***SPOILER ALARM ON*** Worth noting though is the mid-book gender transformation of the teenage hero which basically shifts him/her from the bad to the good side of the world (really, really, really ?). Strangely enough, this is the only interesting feature of this character who remains otherwise remarkably grey and ultimately unimportant, a fact which - I will never know for sure - will likely be exploited in the sequels to this edition. ***SPOILER ALARM OFF*** Lastly, all male characters in the book are either evil (some magic ones), idiots (some magic and non-magic ones) or bastards (the husband that has weekly anal intercourse with the receptionist... yes, with the receptionist).
It's funny, I actually got this one because I saw the hard copy advertised in a book shop. Personal learning: better research before spending a credit.