Queen B: The Story of Anne Boleyn, Witch Queen

Her Majesty's Royal Coven #0.5

by Juno Dawson, Nicola Coughlan (Narrator)

This next spellbinding installment of Juno’s “irresistible” fantasy series Her Majesty's Royal Coven (Lana Harper) takes us back to the reign of Henry VIII and the origins of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven under the beautiful, the bewitching, Anne Boleyn.

It’s 1536 and the Queen has been beheaded.

Lady Grace Fairfax, witch, knows that something foul is at play—that someone had betrayed Anne Boleyn and her coven. Wild with the loss of their leader—and her lover, a secret that if spilled could spell Grace’s own end—she will do anything in her power to track down the traitor. But there’s more at stake than revenge: it was one of their own, a witch, that betrayed them, and Grace isn’t the only one looking for her. King Henry VIII has sent witchfinders after them, and they’re organized like they’ve never been before under his new advisor, the impassioned Sir Ambrose Fulke, a cold man blinded by his faith. His cruel reign could mean the end of witchkind itself. If Grace wants to find her revenge and live, she will have to do more than disappear.

She will have to be reborn.

In this gripping, propulsive, sultry short novel, Juno Dawson takes us back to the bloody beginnings of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven to show us the strength, steel and sacrifice it takes to make a sisterhood.

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Historical, Witches, Queer

5 pages, Audiobook

First published July 23, 2024

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

reading vlog: https://youtu.be/yOpShJza85A

fed my childhood obsession with anne boleyn yep i ate it up yup yup

[milliereadsalot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ugh, Junooooo, why was this not a full length novel?? I would’ve devoured 500 pages of this so easily. This author’s writing is so fantastic and so immersive, and I loved getting this background insight into the world of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. I think that because it was so short, I didn’t feel properly connected to the characters like I do of those in HMRC, but this does pack a punch and is full of emotion and I still really enjoyed it.

[Jamie Canaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this series!
The audiobook is narrated by Nicola Coughlan aka Penelope Featherington aka Clare Devlin so obviously that format is fantastic.

[Hannah McCullough · Rating 2 out of 5]

So sad not to have loved this, I’m just not sure what the point was? Short, sharp chapters that only give what feels like a third of the story, a 2D villain shoehorned in, expecting the reader to know all of Henry VIIIs court… “Bow Down Witches”, to what?

I’m still excited for Human Rites but so disappointed to pay £16.99 for 169 pages that felt like a cashing in exercise rather than adding to the reader experience.

[Анастасія ꒰⁠⑅⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠꒱⁠˖⁠♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Не дуже прям зацікавила, а момент, який особливо мене роздратував, це коли казали, що що б не робила жінка, її всеодно будутб вважати відьмою. Та і взагалі це було чи 16 століття здається, там завжди жінок за все вважали відьмами. Хоча всі забувають, що чоловіки куди небезпечніші навіть відьом.

Теоретично, тут була ж/ж любовна лінія, але прям не дуже описано, а і навіть любовний трикутник ж/ж/ж, хоча останній аж під кінець виявиться.

[Izzy Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't wait to read this!! HMRC is so kickass. I just know this will be amazing especially after seeing how Juno talks about this book. Screw the one star reviews. I'm super excited.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Juno Dawson's previous two novels in the Her Majesty's Royal Covern series were excellent & this novella takes us back to the 1600s with a cast of new characters.
Dawson blends fact & fiction together very neatly, but this time the story doesn't have the excitement of her previous books. The characters are as good as ever, but the plot lacks the magic (!) of the other HMRC stories & is missing Dawson's wonderful sense of humour. It's still worth reading, but I hope the next HMRC novel will see a return to form.

[Brend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conflicted because it being short is the reason I gave it a try, yet after reading it, wishing it was 400 pages.
This was wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that I have decided to pick up the other books.
I felt connected to every character despite not knowing them very much, the story was fast paces and interesting, the time jumps were executed perfectly and never confusing, it was sapphic, it had a cool ending, loved the writing style. Will update you when I read HMRC.

[Emilie Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given that I have not read the other books in this series and therefore only as this sequel to go off of, I was slightly disappointed - however, I acknowledge it might be due to reading it first.

That said, I found the book's whole concept to be interesting and original. It's a fun way to use historical events and change them or breathe fresh air into them.

The book felt somewhat empty at times, and the plot relatively thin, but given that it thankfully did not stretch over more than 200 pages, it did not take away from the reading experience.
I found the book interesting, and while I was not blown away, I am not opposed to reading the other installments in the series.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

I love the HMRC series from Juno Dawson, and I also love Tudor history so I thought this combo would be a match made in heaven. Unfortunately though, this novella is just too short for me to sink my teeth into the story. And for someone who knows a fair bit about Tudor history, I was pretty confused by the large cast of characters too. There's bits and pieces of brilliance, with some great action scenes, but I found the relationships between all of the women to be really lacking in depth and meaning - especially that of Grace and Anne, and to a lesser extent Cecilia and Grace too. The lack of development to their relationships really undermines Cecilia's motives as I just didn't find her actions to be all that believable.

If you enjoy the HMRC series, maybe give this a go, but I don't think it's a necessary addition to that story and I even found the tone of this one to be very different

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have liked a full novel of this! But I get why she made it a novella. Still, with more space and development room for the characters, this could have been a five star read for me.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

I'm always happy to read about witches but this wasn't quite up to the standard of the other HMRC books.

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't sure about this at first, seeing the title and then reading the summary. I was worried it wouldn't be enough about Anne and too much about the other ladies.

Glad to see my worries were unfounded. It has a nice mix of Anne and the people around her, how they were affected/influenced by Anne and the aftermath of her execution, the Coven struggling to stay afloat, find the traitor and keep out of the witchfinder's grasp.

The blend of history and magic/fantasy was well done. It felt like real life in it's own way and not overdone with the fantastical with magic just shoehorned in there.

There was more than meets the eye with a certain person in the story. I felt more sympathy for her afterwards.

I will continue with the series:) Eager to see how the next ones play out.

Wouldn't mind another novella or book about the witches in the past , partly to see how they fared with the witchfinders.

[Taleah Ushendibaba · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5

Although not super exciting, this was a good prequel to the series. It gives enough background to go into the first book and not be confused. I'm excited to read the rest of the series!

[ELLIE · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally I wasn't going to read this one but I found it in a charity shop for £2 and love this series so I thought why not!

I did really enjoy my time with it, however, I felt it was faar too short to tell the story as there were a lot of players and a lot of time jumping for a book under 200 pages and it did feel a bit disjointed. I didn't connect to any of the characters particularly (I simply didn't have time) but I did enjoy the story and easily flew through this.

My only real issue was the scene with Anne and the demon as I felt that it was very unnecessary and kinda fed into the misogynistic propaganda that was spread at the time to justify her murder and destroy her image which obviously juxtaposed the feminist tones of the book buuuut hey ho.

Really love Juno's writing style. It's so easy to follow and really sucks you into the story so I'm very excited to finally get to book 3 and conclude this story!

[Jayne Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series, and Juno Dawson has done it again! The story of the 16th century coven of Anne Boleyn and her lady's maids was so interesting and, of course, full of female empowerment in a time when that was hard to come by. Their coven has been betrayed, The queen has been beheaded, The king's witchfinders are on the hunt. Grace, the queen's most trusted lady's maid, is determined to find the traitor and protect the coven. The mix of action, character development, and character interaction and relationships was just right, as it was in the other books in the series. The time period and the setting were expertly portrayed. Honestly, I would have loved it if this had been a full-length novel with even more of the same. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this wonderful book!

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

A prequel novella to Dawson's HMRC series.

It's an alternate historical fantasy based on the historical figures of Anne Boleyn and her ladies-in-waiting.

The story didn't grip me like the other books in the series. It wasn't just the usual depiction of promiscuous Anne or Anne the witch that didn't sit well with me, what pulled me out of the story most often were the anachronisms used (right now only "sharing a bevy" and "smog" come to mind, but there were more).

All in all it an interesting prequel, but it didn't add depth or important information to the existing story.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing in this was stunning. I’m obsessed.

THE PREMISE: Anne Boleyn is dead and her lover, Lady Grace Fairfax, is hunting the witch who betrayed her.

TROPES & VIBES:
- Now and then time-jumps
- Multi-pov historic sapphic novel
- Lesbian witches
- Female rage
- Secrets and lies
- When the novella’s so good you wish it was a full-length novel
- When the author note at the end gets you teary

I haven’t read Her Majesty’s Royal Coven yet (like an idiot!), so can safely say this can be read as a standalone. Thank you for the arc, HarperCollinsNZ. I loved it. Clearly.

5⭐️ No 🌶️

[Abbie at the_book_fort · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

My favourite HMRC book so far! I loved the premise and historical setting of this one.

Queen B shows a more traditional view of witches, yet with a modern outlook that features LGBT+ relationships and female emancipation. This novella is filled with passion and power, set in the vibrant historical world Juno Dawson has created.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book had promise but didn't do it for me

[Jessica May · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really let down by this book, which is a shame because I love HMRC and the Shadow Cabinet.

Spoilers(ish!)
I had hoped that this book would be a reclaiming of the misogynistic historical rhetoric of Anne Boleyn being a self-serving, calculating witch and the story of her infiltrating government to establish the Royal Coven as an opposition to Henry, or something similar.

I felt instead this was a really surface level story that needed a lot more to make me care about the characters. To reduce it all down to largely romantic motivations was disappointing to me, and it was really disappointing that Anne was once again presented as a cutthroat. The slips into modern parlance was also jarring at times and made it feel like perhaps the research wasn't fully there for a historical setting.

To me, I was really hoping that it would be about the formal establishing of HMRC in a similar way to how it interacts and functions with government in the main books; that in a tudor setting would have been so interesting!

[Aoife · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Queen B is a really fun side story related to Juno Dawson's HMRC trilogy and in this we go all the way back to the 1500s and the time of Anne Boleyn who we know from the main trilogy was a witch. We follow Grace Fairfax, a young woman in court and part of Anne Boleyn'c coven reeling from the devastating execution of Anne and the growing threat of witch hunters.

This was fun as a fan of both HMRC trilogy and also a big fan of Tudor history. I do think a prior knowledge of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII and his wives etc would be best going into this book and really understanding some of the tensions and the threats and also as a way of appreciating how Juno Dawson fine tuned history to fit in with her witchy story.

I would have liked this to be a longer, full-scale novel as I don't really feel; I truly got to know who the characters were. I feel like we didn't have enough to really understand Grace's affection for Anne, and in turn Cecelia's affection for Grace. I feel like the relationships were suppose to be integral to the story but we barely got to skim the surface of them, and because it was novella we missed out on some of the slower paced building up of these relationships.

I'm all here for more HMRC novellas though and would love more in Queen Elizabeth's time as well - and even more interesting would be some set in the time of King James and the English Witch Trials of the time.

[Val - My Little Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

J'ai adoré les deux premiers tomes de HMRC, j'attendais donc avec impatience ce prequel, et il ne m’a pas été déçue ! Se déroulant sous le règne d'Henri VIII, connu pour avoir exécuté plusieurs de ses nombreuses épouses, l'histoire tourne autour de l'emblématique Anne Boleyn. Dans cette réimagination, elle est dépeinte comme une sorcière déterminée à amener son peuple au pouvoir. Le récit est riche en conspiration, ambition et trahison, faisant de Queen B un roman féministe et saphique extrêmement prenant. C'était fascinant d'assister aux premières étapes de la création de Her Majesty’s Royal Coven et à la manière dont elles façonnaient déjà le monde moderne. Juno Dawson excelle dans la création de personnages complexes et attachants, notamment dans son portrait de femmes fortes.

Merci NetGalley pour l’ENC.

[Emily G · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a captivating prequel to Her Majesties Royal Coven. When I saw this was a short, snappy prequel of HMRC, set in Tudor times, there was no way I wasn’t going to read it.

Dawson provides a brief reimagining of Anne Boleyns life if it was infused with magic. The book follows a dual timeline, set both during Anne’s rise to power and after her death. We are given a brief look into a key historical figure within the HMRC world. Although named Queen B, the majority of the book takes place from the POV of two of Anne’s coven-mates as they deal with the aftermath of her execution. There is not a deep dive into Anne’s character but instead a look at what she left behind (in this story).

I do not believe it is necessary to have read HMRC beforehand, but some of the world building around the witches may make more sense if you do.

As I’ve come to expect with Dawson, expressive writing captures the extravagance and danger of the Tudor court, the plot blending historical events (or tragedies) with fantasy. The novel also looked at themes of power, gender, sexuality and autonomy, making the witch’s struggles feel both timeless and relevant.

I do believe the novella relies on readers having pre-existing knowledge and understanding of Anne Boleyn’s life. The book doesn’t go into a lot of detail (as to be expected with only 168 pages), but still manages to tell the story it sets out to. With short, captivating chapters, it’s very easy to devour this in one sitting.

Thankyou to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

[Jodie Simpson · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️ I adored Her Majesty’s Royal coven and look forward to continuing the series, so when I received an ARC of Queen B I was very excited. Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this one which I put down to it being historical fiction, as I don’t usually enjoy this genre.

Queen B taps into the history of Anne Boleyn but instead of being a retelling it focuses on the women around her and their lives after her death. The main focus being on Grace, who is determined to find the traitor within their coven with whom she holds responsible for her Queen’s death.

I did try to enjoy the book but I just found that I couldn’t connect with the characters in the same way I have done in the main books of the series. This was a big part of why I loved the books so much therefore highlighting the difference of Queen B for me.

This novella isn’t a necessary read within the series as it doesn’t add to the story. I can imagine those who love the series and enjoy the historical fiction genre would really enjoy the reading experience.

[V. M. Brewster · Rating 3 out of 5]

• "Grace, listen to me. The king, the coven, is my work. You are my fate. We will not be changed, come what may." •

🔮👑🇬🇧

Hexen im historischen England, die das Königshaus zu unterwandern suchen, um endlich nicht mehr um den Fortbestand ihres Zirkels bangen zu müssen - "Queen B" ist eine nette, kleine Ergänzung zur Haupttrilogie von Dawson in Form eines Prequels.

An der Story und ihrem Aufbau in zwei zeitlich versetzten Zeitsträngen habe ich nichts auszusetzen; außer dass sie eine volle Buchlänge verdient hätte, um ihre Wirkung entfalten zu können. So gibt es ein paar erfreuliche Momente, doch insgesamt liest sich die Novelle leider recht dröge.

[Rodger’s Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️

I simply must have so much fun with the world of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. If you are like me and loved HMRC and the Shadow Cabinet and want a little tid bit to tide you over to book 3….here it is. This is a very quick read detailing how HMRC came to be and starting the conflict with the witch hunters that features prominently throughout the series. I would not recommend this as a starting place to the series, it is just a fun side bit of world building if you are already loving this series.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me access to a review copy via NetGalley.

[maddie's reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!

3.5 stars, rtc

[Emelye · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hands down one of the worst books I’ve ever read. Very poorly written, stupid plot line and generally uninteresting. The only redeeming aspect is that it’s very short!

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️