#Her Majestys Royal Coven

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

goodreads

If you look hard enough at old photographs, we're there in the background: healers in the trenches; Suffragettes; Bletchley Park oracles; land girls and resistance fighters. Why is it we help in times of crisis? We have a gift. We are stronger than Mundanes, plain and simple. At the dawn of their adolescence, on the eve of the summer solstice, four young girls--Helena, Leonie, Niamh and Elle--took the oath to join Her Majesty's Royal Coven, established by Queen Elizabeth I as a covert government department. Now, decades later, the witch community is still reeling from a civil war and Helena is now the reigning High Priestess of the organization. Yet Helena is the only one of her friend group still enmeshed in the stale bureaucracy of HMRC. Elle is trying to pretend she's a normal housewife, and Niamh has become a country vet, using her powers to heal sick animals. In what Helena perceives as the deepest betrayal, Leonie has defected to start her own more inclusive and intersectional coven, Diaspora. And now Helena has a bigger problem. A young warlock of extraordinary capabilities has been captured by authorities and seems to threaten the very existence of HMRC. With conflicting beliefs over the best course of action, the four friends must decide where their loyalties lie: with preserving tradition, or doing what is right.

Mod opinion: I've read it and if you want a british witch story this one is fun :)

[libinih28]

I think what is stopping me from finishing HMRC by Juno Dawson (I'm going to finish it obvi) is that I keep thinking of it as a witch book. It's not a witch book though, there's not a lot of world building and magic and action for a good majority of the book. Just like an enchantment of Ravens isn't a fae book, it's a romance. I have to start thinking of HMRC as a political book with witches as a metaphor and I'm starting to enjoy it a lot more that way. (To me though I only enjoy like three characters and the rest annoy me, but other than that it's really good)

[withsomejam]

Book Review: The Shadow Cabinet, Juno Dawson

Ugh, what a book! The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson is the second instalment to the Her Majesty’s Royal Coven trilogy -well I read somewhere that this would be a trilogy but who knows, I may be wrong. I read and reviewed the first book here, and absolutely loved it. It’s within the genre of fantasy but I would say sits more within a sub-genre of low-fantasy as yes it includes witches, warlocks,…

[pikminenjoyer]

The great gatsby was really good, and im already a third of the way into Mexican Gothic (won with the aid of discord polls), and im really really into it

So its time to know what I'll read next!

[cardboardboxfly]

OHMYGODS IVE JUST FINISHED HER MAJESTYS ROYAL COVEN BY JUNO DAWSON AND I NEED TO GE THE SECOND BOOK

I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO NIMAH AND THEO NOW…

[annafromuni]

A Stunning Adult Fantasy Featuring the Spice Girls

I’m not lying, there are references to the Spice Girls, and if anything that should make you add Her Majesty’s Royal Coven to your tbr lists ASAP. Juno Dawson is a mastermind for creating this funny, relatable British modern low fantasy and I am here for it. I don’t see many of these kinds of fantasy books making waves in the market. These books meaning fantasy books with mature characters (in…

[transbookoftheday]

Transfem Book Recs for International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day! Here are some transfem book recommendations for you:

Book Titles:

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier

Joy, to the World by Kai Shappley and Lisa Bunker

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

Just Happy To Be Here by Naomi Kanakia

Me and My Dysphoria Monster by Laura Kate Dale and Hui Qing Ang

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

For the Love of April French by Penny Aimes

Fake It by Lily Seabrooke

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

Fierce Femmes And Notorious Liars by Kai Cheng Thom

Princess of the Pomegranate Moon by Emily Wynne

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

The Ojja-Wojja by Magdalene Visaggio and Jenn St-Onge

Galaxy: The Prettiest Star by Jadzia Axelrod and Jess Taylor

Into the Gray by Margaret Killjoy

Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) by Hazel Jane Plante

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

Top 10 of 2023 ✨

These were the reads that wouldn’t leave my head, that I loved the most, that I can’t stop thinking about even at the end of the year. What were yours?

[souldagger]

happy trans day of visibility, i wanna share my favourite books i read for the trans rights readathon!

fiction:

fierce femmes and notorious liars: a dangerous trans girl's confabulous memoir by kai cheng thom (magical realism YA - a dark, humorous and surreal subversion of the "trans memoir" genre; trans MC+author)

a lady for a duke by alexis hall (cute historical regency romance; trans MC+genderqueer author)

the brides at high hill by nghi vo (fifth novella in the exquisite singing hills cycle; nonbinary MC; comes out may 7th!)

the salt grows heavy by cassandra khaw (weird (<-complimentary) and gory gothic horror novella about a killer mermaid and a plague doctor; nonbinary love interest+author)

nonfiction:

none of the above: reflections on life outside the binary by travis alabanza

readme.txt: a memoir by chelsea manning

[book--brackets]

Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson (2022-present)

Hidden among us is a secret coven of witches. They are 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 five 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.

Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake (1946-1959)

Starts with the birth and ends with the first birthday celebrations of the heir to the grand, tradition-bound castle of Gormenghast. A grand miasma of doom and foreboding weaves over the sterile rituals of the castle. Villainous Steerpike seeks to exploit the gaps between the formal rituals and the emotional needs of the ruling family for his own profit.

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson (2021)

The dead of Loraille do not rest.

Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the deceased so that their souls can pass on; otherwise, they will rise as spirits with a ravenous hunger for the living. She would rather deal with the dead than the living, who trade whispers about her scarred hands and troubled past.

When her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia defends it by awakening an ancient spirit bound to a saint’s relic. It is a revenant, a malevolent being that threatens to possess her the moment she drops her guard. Wielding its extraordinary power almost consumes her—but death has come to Loraille, and only a vespertine, a priestess trained to wield a high relic, has any chance of stopping it. With all knowledge of vespertines lost to time, Artemisia turns to the last remaining expert for help: the revenant itself.

As she unravels a sinister mystery of saints, secrets, and dark magic, her bond with the revenant grows. And when a hidden evil begins to surface, she discovers that facing this enemy might require her to betray everything she has been taught to believe—if the revenant doesn’t betray her first.

The Unwritten by Mike Carey (2010-2015)

Tom Taylor's life was screwed from go. His father created the Tommy Taylor fantasy series, boy-wizard novels with popularity on par with Harry Potter. The problem is Dad modeled the fictional epic so closely to Tom's real life that fans are constantly comparing him to his counterpart, turning him into the lamest variety of Z-level celebrity. In the final novel, it's even implied that the fictional Tommy will crossover into the real world, giving delusional fans more excuses to harass Tom.

When an enormous scandal reveals that Tom might really be a boy-wizard made flesh, Tom comes into contact with a very mysterious, very deadly group that's secretly kept tabs on him all his life. Now, to protect his own life and discover the truth behind his origins, Tom will travel the world, eventually finding himself at locations all featured on a very special map -- one kept by the deadly group that charts places throughout world history where fictions have impacted and tangibly shaped reality, those stories ranging from famous literary works to folktales to pop culture. And in the process of figuring out what it all means, Tom will find himself having to figure out a huge conspiracy mystery that spans the entirety of the history of fiction.

Leven Thumps by Obert Skye (2005-2009)

Fourteen-year-old Leven Thumps (a.k.a. Lev) lives a wretched life in Burnt Culvert, Oklahoma. But his life is about to change and his destiny be fulfilled as he learns about a secret gateway that bridges two worlds -- the real world and Foo, a place created at the at the beginning of time in the folds of the mind that makes it possible for mankind to dream and hope, aspire and imagine. But Foo is in chaos, and three transplants from that dreamworld have been sent to retrieve Lev, who alone has the power to save Foo.Enter Clover, a wisecracking, foot-high sidekick; Winter, a girl with a special power of her own; and Geth, the rightful heir to Foo. Their mission: to convince Lev that he has the power to save Foo. Can this unique band of travelers help Lev overcome his doubt? Will Lev find the gateway in time? Or will Sabine and his dark shadows find the gateway first and destroy mankind?

By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey (1991)

Granddaughter of the sorceress Kethry, daughter of a noble house, Kerowyn had been forced to run the family keep since her mother's untimely death. Yet now at last her brother was preparing to wed, and when his bride became the lady of the keep, Kerowyn could return to her true enjoyments - training horses and hunting.

But all Kerowyn's hopes and plans were shattered when her anscestral home was attacked, her father slain, her brother wounded, and his fiancee kidnapped. Drive by desperation and the knowledge that a scorcerer had led the journey which would prove but he first step on the road to the fulfillment of her destiny.

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (2020-present)

It's the most-watched game show in the galaxy!

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth--from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds to all the trucks and cars--collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground. 

The buildings and all the people inside, they've all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your views and your followers. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.

You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.

You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game, with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy. 

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Dao Zu Shi) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (2016)

Wei Wuxian was once one of the most outstanding men of his generation, a talented and clever young cultivator who harnessed martial arts, knowledge, and spirituality into powerful abilities. But when the horrors of war led him to seek a new power through demonic cultivation, the world’s respect for his skills turned to fear, and his eventual death was celebrated throughout the land.

Years later, he awakens in the body of an aggrieved young man who sacrifices his soul so that Wei Wuxian can exact revenge on his behalf. Though granted a second life, Wei Wuxian is not free from his first, nor the mysteries that appear before him now. Yet this time, he’ll face it all with the righteous and esteemed Lan Wangji at his side, another powerful cultivator whose unwavering dedication and shared memories of their past will help shine a light on the dark truths that surround them.

The Unicorn Chronicles by Bruce Coville (1994-2010)

As each chime sounds, Cara climbs faster up the steep bell tower. Eleven! She must be on the roof when the next bell tolls. Twelve! With a deep breath, and only half believing she will survive, Cara jumps off the church roof and into Luster, land of the unicorns.

In Luster, Cara meets many wonderful creatures, but the most magnificent of all is Lightfoot, a rebellious young unicorn. Cara's band of friends comes to include a hairy creature named the Dimblethum and the monekey-like Squijim. Together, they set out to reach the Unicorn Queen before the mysterious man who is following them does - to prevent the destruction of all unicorns forever.

The Saint of Steel by T. Kingfisher (2020-2023)

Stephen's god died on the longest day of the year...Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind...

[aroaessidhe]

read in 2023: witches

The Golden Frog Games

The Feast Makers

The Poisons We Drink

The Day Death Stopped

Every Gift a Curse

In The House of Transcendence

The Ojja-Wojja

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven & The Shadow Cabinet

Witch Hat Atelier

[libinih28]

Spoilers for her majesty's royal coven:

Helena gets mad at snow for spying on her aunt's when she literally asked snow to spy on them?

[homerjacksons]

[instagram]

[withsomejam]

Book Releases I’m excited for in 2024

Last year I delved into so many new authors and genres that I never would have before. I also read some longtime-favourites, who I will always get heart-eyes over. As a mood reader, I’ve never been all that phased about pre-orders and new releases however, the past year has really revitalised my love for reading. I find myself keep checking on publication dates out of fear that they’ve been…

[pikminenjoyer]

At the time of counting, and with the added Book Hater Discord votes, phantom of the opera won and I did not enjoy it. Maybe this isn't the year for classics.

This however, means picking a new book to read!

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Character, book, and author names under the cut

Quinn Saint Nicholas- The Tarot Sequence by KD Edwards

Kade Bronson- Wayward Children Series by Seanan McGuire

Leonie Jackman- Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

Seregil í Korit Solun Meringil Bôkthersa- Luck in the shadows/the nightrunner series by Lynn Fleweling