All is not as it seems within the halls of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven…
Despite thinking they’ve thwarted the prophecy, the witches are still reeling from the events of the past few months.
Ciara now occupies her twin sister’s body as she prepares to take on the role of High Priestess. But why are the sinister government agents of the Shadow Cabinet so invested in her coronation?
And then there’s the small matter of Dabney Hale: freshly escaped from Grierlings prison, he’s on the hunt for a mythical object that will give him unimaginable power. Leonie’s brother is on the trail, but doesn’t know the danger he now faces, and so she sets off to bring him home and bring Hale to justice.
Meanwhile, Theo and Holly are left to their own devices. Theo to work out how her miraculous transformation took place and Holly to discover what’s going on with her mum and dad. Elle’s Instagram-perfect world is about to come crashing down in the most terrifying way.
Payback’s a witch as Ciara, Leonie, Elle, Theo and Holly are about to find out.
Earlier this year, I read and thoroughly enjoyed Her Majesty’s Royal Coven and couldn’t wait to get stuck into the sequel, The Shadow Cabinet. As the sequel, you really do need to have read the first novel before diving into this one – these don’t work as standalone novels and while you’ll pick up on the broadest strokes of what happened before, you’ll miss so much of the detail if you skip Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. And fair warning, I think it’s difficult to discuss the events of this novel without giving away elements of what happened in the first book. I’ll avoid this as much as possible, but if you have any intention of reading Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, look away now.
One of the things that I absolutely love about this series is the characters. Where the first novel focussed predominantly on Niamh and Helena, this novel lets the reader get to know Elle and Leonie in more detail, giving them more active roles. Elle comes across as such a sweet and kind individual, always looking to help those around her. She seems like a people pleaser, and her life seems prosaic despite her being a witch as she looks after her husband and children while working as a nurse. It comes as no surprise to the reader that her life is about to be disrupted in any number of ways, and I couldn’t help but feel for her. She’s a lovely person, and it seems that some people have taken advantage of that.
Leonie is a quite a different character, and this novel sees her tracking down her brother who is in turn attempting to track down escaped warlock, Dabney Hale. I love Leonie for quite different reasons to Elle – she’s powerful and not afraid to stand up to prejudice and do what she thinks is right. This is apparent in her having left HMRC to start her own coven, Diaspora, for witches and warlocks of colour, finding HMRC pale and stale if not male. Leonie isn’t perfect but she’s an extremely likeable individual, and her journey from London to Italy and beyond makes her realise just how much she’s taken her relationships for granted, never telling her brother that she loves him (who does?) and fearing taking the next step in her relationship with long-term girlfriend, Chinara.
And then there’s Ciara. In a coma-like state for the duration of the first novel, she now, unbeknownst to anyone, inhabits her twin sister’s body. The reader has been told that Ciara is a bad egg, and she was on the wrong side of the war that saw Dabney Hale incarcerated and that nearly tore the magical community apart. I loved getting to know her more, and not just through the insights of others. Firstly, she’s a lot of fun – a morally grey character who has never been afraid to stand up for what she thinks is right, even if her actions aren’t widely condoned. And while I expected to dislike her, particularly for ousting Niamh as she has, she’s a much more balanced character than I expected, and one who raises the question of self-fulfilling prophecy. Treated as the bad twin from a young age, she – quite naturally – begins to act out, and I couldn’t help but wonder whether her path would have been different if she’d experienced more fairness as a child.
Another strength of these novels is the worldbuilding. These novels are set in the world that is familiar to us but overlaid with witches and warlocks and the power they command, and I love the way in which these extra elements fit in so seamlessly with the world as we know it. That worldbuilding is expanded in this novel, and the titular Shadow Cabinet – a small group comprised of both magical and mundane individuals including the Prime Minister – illustrates how witches work in the world and their role in defending the country. The Prime Minister takes a more active interest in this novel, particularly as Ciara prepares to take on the role of High Priestess, and one wonders whether it’s genuine interest, or if there’s a more nefarious intent behind his unscheduled visits to the Coven. Witchfinders are also introduced in this novel, adding another layer of complexity, and while I don’t want to say too much about them, this is also very cleverly done.
I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I absolutely adore this series. Dawson’s writing is wonderful – I find it to be witty and intelligent – and I love the exploration of gender politics and prejudice that she so insightfully incorporates into the narrative, giving them an appropriate degree of importance with a message of inclusivity, but without letting these elements overwhelm the plot. My only regret in having read The Shadow Cabinet is that I now have to wait until 2025 for the final instalment, Human Rites, although there is a prequel novel, Queen B, to bridge the gap coming in 2024 which explores how HMRC first came into being. Highly recommended.
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