Book 27 of 2023: Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

Just finished this, the first in a new trilogy of British set fantasy novels. I’d say urban fantasy at a push, but it’s somewhat rural too, set largely in northern England. The story revolves around five witches who we first meet as young girls. Then we meet them again years later, by which time there’s been a magic war. All are now involved to some extent in the secret witches organisation run as part of the UK establishment. And then things kick off. I found the book tricky initially, with probably one too many main characters for me to not get confused. The back story of what had happened in the magical war was also a lot of information to take in as it was gradually revealed. However by halfway through I was well and truly gripped, and remained so to the end. The book has an extremely novel take on gender identity issues, which is totally fitting here. And the ending is a stunner. I will absolutely have to read the next book. Good stuff. Rating: 4 stars.