I picked Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson as my favorite read of March. I based this opinion off the vibes I got from the story and the pure entertainment I experienced while reading it.
This book had great world building. Even though we are set in a present day world, there are magical elements and Dawson did a great job of explaining without dumping. I especially liked the teleporting magic and how you couldn’t just do it whenever you wanted. And how Niamh could tell when someone was about to appear because of a charge in the air.
Then there were the bits about the past sprinkled in to explain the war and how the coven was set up. It was very well done and told us everything we needed to know when we needed to know it.
My favorite scene had to be when Elle hurried after her daughter in the car and stops next to her to deliver the famous line from Mean Girls, “Get in loser, we’re going shopping.” So beautifully done and a fantastic example of how she sprinkled in modern pop culture references. I saw a review complaining about this detail of the book, but I loved it. It might ‘date’ the book later on, but it really displays how people talk. I know my friends and I make references like that all the time in our day-to-day conversation. And I wouldn’t want authenticity to be sacrificed just to make the book ‘age’ better.
The main characters were also great. They were individual personalities and had conflict like any real group of people would. They faced hard truths together and made tough decisions about people who used to be their friends. There was also extraordinary growth for all.
And I can’t finish this post without exclaiming about that cliffhanger ending! Ahhhh!!! I need the next book now!
Anyway, if you like modern day witch stories, definitely check this one out. A very entertaining read.