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The launch book in a trilogy, the first half is largely world-building and the cliffhanger ending is pure torture.
So when Helena asks Niamh to look after Theo (with budding magical - at times uncontrollable - traits) all goes well until Helena discovers unsettling prophecies which will bring about the apocalypse and means the witches are forced to act. The world of the covens may be immersive, the social commentary highly pertinent and the combination of demons and domesticity deliciously enticing, but it is the relationships between the women, in all their gnarly complexity, that form the real meat of the novel: the messy, tender, fierce realities of friendships honed over a quarter of a century. She has very limited views on life, but is a woman who knows her own mind and will not be removed from her path once she has started. She's the Switzerland of the group, always trying to keep the peace and keep together her friend's who have slowly drifted apart. She has appeared on Pointless Celebrities, BBC Women’s Hour, Front Row, ITV News, Channel 5 News, This Morning and Newsnight.Told from the POV's of our four friends, Niamh, Helena, Leonie and Elle, we see lots of different versions of the HMRC.
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. But what Dawson does brilliantly is show that as children we are so sure that life will work out the way we want, we have blinders on to life, rose tinted glasses that make everything seem possible. Ebooks fulfilled through Glose cannot be printed, downloaded as PDF, or read in other digital readers (like Kindle or Nook). But what Dawson does brilliantly is show the physical use of magic through her descriptive writing, every scene where it was used be it in battle, or a more mundane task was effortlessly brought to life and I almost felt like I was watching the scenes like a movie in my head whilst reading.Her writing is smart and witty, the dialogue reminiscent of gossip with a good friend, littered with nostalgic pop culture references: the bickering over who would be each Spice Girl becomes eerily significant. I would say that the story started off a little slowly, I wasn't 100% sure where it was going until about 40% of the way through, but once it get's going it absolutely takes flight and I found the last 50% so hard to put down. Fast forward 20 or so years , Helena is head of the English coven, Niamh is a vet, Ellie a nurse, Leonie has formed her own coven and Ciara? Her first adult fantasy trilogy HER MAJESTY’S ROYAL COVEN launched in 2022, becoming an instant best-seller. Her debut short film was THE BIRTH OF VENUS (BBC 2020) and she created the first official Doctor Who scripted podcast DOCTOR WHO: REDACTED (BBC Sounds 2022).
A big theme in this book is what it means to be a woman, is it biology that makes you one, or can you choose to become one at will.But unfortunately that is the state of the world we live in today and Dawson does a great job showing the daily plight of trans people. It’s the first time I’ve read anything by Juno and I’m thrilled to discover her writing…am very much looking forward to HMRC 2 … oh and the ending of book 1!
I found myself getting incredibly angry throughout the story, that someone could have that limited a belief and be willing to kill for it, be willing to go to such incredible extremes because their way of life is threatened. The premise doesn't really give away much of the story, which makes it so much more shocking and entertaining whilst reading, but does make it incredibly hard to talk about without giving away any spoilers. When a menacing prophecy is deemed to involve a trans child old rivalries are reopened and new battles fought. Elle is a nurse who has largely eschewed the witching community for the comforts of middle-class mediocrity. We see the people we grew up with become unrecognisable, put things into motion, dangerous things, because their way of life is threatened.Now lead by Helena Vance, the Coven is at it's strongest ever which is good for a prophecy has arisen, one that could lead to the destruction of Witch kind forever. Partially my fault because I had it in my head this was a stand alone, but I also just can't believe she went there. When our characters joined the Coven, they became sisters, linked in a way that is difficult to destroy. Still recovering from the last war Niamh, Elle and Leonie lead their own lives, separate from the Coven, but Helena is quick to draw them back in when trouble rears it's head. She knows how dangerous Warlocks can be after the High Warlock started the last war, and knows that men are the problem.
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