✧₊‧˚⁀➷ 3.90/5 .ᐟ

ʚɞ ⁺˖ plot • not really a whole lot of action, more just characters plotting and stumbling into scenarios. i found that annoying for the first half of the book, but by that point, i was super invested in the characters themselves and didn't care about the specific plot so much.

ʚɞ ⁺˖ characters • i both love and hate boleyn and seymour, depending on the day, but they redeemed themselves in the final chapters. regardless of my personal feelings, however, they were vivid, fully realized characters, with their ambitions and flaws and love for each other jumping off the pages.

ʚɞ ⁺˖ worldbuilding • my only problem with this book. the "bigotry" in this book, supposedly the theme it revolves around, is so... sanitized? very weirdly executed. this world is so misogynistic, they were calling boleyn an uppity whore for wearing her hair loose at her wedding and for getting "a man's education" and somehow in this same universe, the president of misogyny henry has a bisexual sister with a harem of twelve girlfriends whose lifestyle he and the taxpayers are funding. this isn't like a "rich women aren't as affected by misogyny" thing either. they explain it in the story as younger daughters are allowed to be gay and choose who they marry and get jobs, but violent misogyny (forced marriages, etc) only impact firstborn daughters. there's a full conversation in the book with boleyn talking about how mary tudor will be sold to some country as a child bride, but elizabeth can be an asexual lesbian and no one will gaf. and even if this makes a lick of sense, the concept of 1600s britain being this pro-queer is bizarre. boleyn's brother has a husband and a wife, and he's also the most popular nobleman. like alright. it's just not a very good exploration of sexist oppression at all and completely ruins the story at times.

➺ overall, i actually enjoyed it very much, which you probably can't tell based on the above rant, but anyway. thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy.

Unfortunately this book was a DNF for me - it started out so strong but quickly fell flat for me. It didn't vibe with how it was marketed, IMO. Where are the dragons?! I got such a cute one with my ARC and then they were barely there. I also wanted world building from the beginning. I also found it really jarring how some the names were split between factual and fictional in a way that was incredibly confusing. I'm still sad I didn't love this one!

"Six Wild Crowns" by Holly Race is the first book I've read by this author, and I’m excited to explore more. King Henry has been chosen by god to marry six queens, who are said to be the only barrier between the kingdom and its downfall—or so they’ve been told. Six queens compete for the King’s favor, but Boleyn is clever and determined to become his favorite, willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means starting a war. Seymor, a spy and assassin, navigates a court brimming with dragons and strange magic. When Boleyn and Seymor form an unlikely alliance, the balance of power begins to shift. Together, they uncover an ancient, decaying magic at the heart of Elben—a magic the king will stop at nothing to protect.
I absolutely loved the cover of this book and this unique fantasy, filled with magic, dragons, and romance, and I can’t wait to read the second book. Thank you Netgalley, for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first book in the Queens of Elben series, and my first read from Holly Race. What a cool premise, a fantasy inspired in historical fiction with characters based on King Henry VIII and his six wives. It had three attributes that I love: dragons, political intrigue, and sapphic longing. I did find some aspects of the book to be confusing, such as context on locations and the names of characters were hard to keep track of as they were unconventional outside of the King's wives. Do check content warnings for this novel.

Knowing the historical events of King Henry VIII does not give away this book as many aspects are changed, however, I did find myself looking for the similarities when the two did not line up. Do not go into this book expecting a retelling, though the main characters are Queen Boleyn and Queen Seymour. We do uncover that there are secrets withheld from the queens and how the patriarchy's religion attempts to minimize the queens' powers. Societal gender roles and gender equality is explored throughout the novel. I found myself rooting for Boleyn and Seymour's feminist character development. If you wanted more time with dragons, like I did, I assume the sequel novels will explore them more.

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy of this novel.

2.5 stars--

Six Wild Crowns was not terrible but it was odd. This is a fantasy reimagining of Henry VIII's six wives. In this world, the king has six wives in order to create a magical boundary around the nation that's prevented other countries from invading the fictionalized England for hundreds of years. Part of what made this book so odd was the split between factual and fictional names, places, roles, etc. of the story. England is Elben and Spain is Quisto (I think?) and France is Lothair, but I was constantly trying to connect the real location to the book location. Now, it may be a fault of my own because I am American and unfamiliar with UK geography.

The world itself is not fully built. There are dragons of all sizes and types, but there is no point in their existence. They don't play any part of the story except to say "this world has magic", which we already know because of the magical boundary. It could be argued that for instance the lantern dragons play into a caged bird motif, but there are also literal caged birds in every palace. The plotting was also odd, with the majority of the story taking place in the last 20%. I was left with many questions: What was the point of the crones killing soldiers in the woods? Were they implying that the crones were the bodies, spirits, corpses of the past queens? What happened to Mary since we've deviated from the historical accounts?

Boleyn's chapters were much much stronger than Seymour's, and I wish both queens had gotten the attention needed for their individual plot points. And my last and probably biggest gripe is the ending. We didn't even get to see the events play out after the queens unite. It's like there were so many good ideas for this book, but then not enough time/space/pages spent on executing them all.

Some things I liked: it's an easy read, Boleyn's character arc is really interesting, flips the 6 wives narrative on it's head, touches on historical fact vs. public perception when it comes to the queens, there are animal companions (that don't get killed), a bunch of gays everywhere (unless you're a first son/daughter because heirs of course), and everything about Queen Cleves.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for an eARC copy!

Not sure how I feel about this one.
On the one hand I found the unique magical twist on this royal family interesting.
On the other hand, being a huge history person, not sure i liked some of the changes?
Overall though, I did like it, especially the "twist" so to speak regarding the Queens roles and power. That whole discovery and the confrontation scene was pretty epic and made me want more. Excited to see where else this goes 😊

Six Wild Crowns is a captivating fantasy filled with political intrigue, complex characters, and high-stakes power struggles. The story weaves together themes of loyalty, betrayal, and self-discovery as multiple characters navigate dangerous alliances and shifting loyalties in a richly built world. With fast-paced action balanced by emotional depth and nuanced relationships, the book draws you into a world where every decision carries weight and trust is hard-earned. Perfect for readers who love immersive fantasies with layered plots and morally complex heroes, Six Wild Crowns offers a thrilling and thoughtful journey without revealing its secrets upfront.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of Six Wild Crowns by Holly Race.

Set in Tudor England the story follows Boleyn and Seymour (like and Anne and Jane respectfully).

This story fell between historical fiction and fantasy so that was fun to dive into! It was a bit difficult to get into at first.

Started off really slow because of the world building; however it quickly picked up and I was whisked into the Tudor world but with fantasy elements attached to it.

I felt like there was a queer representation between Boleyn and Seymour and that makes perfect sense because of the tension that was being built. All and all a solid 3.75 stars.

Right now, with fast publishing and poor editing, I value writing quality and execution more than anything. And I want to start by saying this book had both. Well 👏👏 done👏👏
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I was especially impressed at how we are just thrown right in to the action, viscerally. I think it was baller for the author to describe someone’s period in chapter two. It fit the tone and subject of the novel so well, and felt like a middle finger to the patriarchy that always shames women for having them.
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However….this book was not for me. I was really excited to see the Tudor Court with fantasy elements….but really it was more of a fantasy court that shared a few details with the history Henry VIII and his wives. The setting didn’t feel English and the fantasy points overshadowed the queen’s real stories, in my opinion. I expected Philippa Gregory with a little fairy magic, but the novel is Handmaiden’s Tale in a brutal world of blood magic.
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Also…the baby dragon sacrifice was the equivalent to ‘the dog dies’ for me. I had to bow out. But I really hope this book finds its right audiences because it’s unique, powerful, and absolutely fearless.

This book did not grab my interest. I had to take multiple "breaks" to get it finished. it was not a well written book.

3.75 stars

The premise for Six Wild Crowns hooked me right away. I appreciate the feminist themes, sapphic yearning, and character development of Boleyn and Seymour. This is a book about women and girls empowering themselves. I would have liked to see more development of the world and magic system, as well as stronger dialogue that felt more believable. I think this book will appeal to fans of The Grace Year by Kim Liggett and Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid.

I really wanted to love this book, the premise, historical setting, and sapphic romance were all so compelling. It had a lot of potential, but I found myself unable to finish it. Maybe it’s one I’ll need to return to at a different time when it resonates more with me.

I was really excited when I heard of this sapphic, polyamorous fantasy with dragons based off King Henry VIII and his wives. However, I found this book hard to get into and kind of tedious to read. There are so many names of places and people as well as foreign language terms that are all hard to keep straight. I kept get confused over who was who and what place was a foreign country and which was a city of Elben. I did really enjoy the dragons but I wish we knew more about them. They seem to be more similar to dogs in this world with hunting dragons, lap dragons, guard dragons, etc.

I could see depth in Boleyn character. She loves Henry and she must scheme to keep his attention while also ensuring what is best for Elben. However, Seymour's pov chapters annoyed me so much. I lost count in her first 2 chapters how many times she refers to herself as "stupid" or something similar. I felt like it was being shoved down my throat that her self worth was non existent.

I do think some people will like this one, it just wasn't moving fast enough for me and there were too many names and terms thrown at me to keep straight.

I've always been a huge fan of anything Tudor, especially Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, so the premise of the book was right up my alley!
I enjoyed the contrast in Seymor's and Boleyn's POVs, and the magic system integrated through religion was so well done!

For me, the oomph of truly understanding all of the wives and their decisions was lacking, and I didn't understand how both parties came to decide on their final actions, or what exactly they meant. Overall, the ending was a bit rushed and thus confusing.

This was a very on-point book about the ways in which women are treated in society from the ways they are underestimated, talked down to, or treated as expendable, to the ways that a woman may not realize that the man she loves is bad unless she sees how he’s treated others.
I wish we had had more of the dragons, magic and the other wives besides Boleyn and Seymour, however, as they are significant elements that carry the plot forward but that we don’t see very often.

- Synopsis does not match up with the plot
- Character names are all this story really has to do with the history of Henry VIII
- Characters have little personality
- Pay attention to the trigger warnings
- Very much focused on female empowerment; there’s only three or four redeemable male characters in the book, and most of them play minor background roles. Has a “Six” (the musical) vibe—all the women joining together to rewrite history, er, “HERstory.”
- The “love” in this book felt more like infatuation. It happens too quickly, like children developing crushes

SIX WILD CROWNS by Holly Race is one of those novels I thought I would be speed-reading simply to finish it. There was something about the first few chapters that turned me off to the entire story. I attribute part of this reaction to the publisher's synopsis. This is not a retelling of Henry VIII and his six wives. There is nothing about the fictional country of Elben that relates to England except that they are both island nations. As for being a story about the Tudors, that is true only because the characters have the same names. And not even their first names. Despite being a patriarchal society, Elben uses the family surname for firstborn daughters, so we have Aragon, Cleves, Seymour, and the like instead of Catherine, Anne, and Jane.

Ms. Race does keep her heroines as close to the real queens as possible. Aragon is the first wife, having married Henry when he was still a teenager. Cleves enjoys a life without the king just as her real-life counterpart did. Parr is a name on a page, much like there isn't much known about Catherine Parr. As for Howard, Ms. Race makes the interesting and somewhat disturbing choice to keep her queen young, as in barely thirteen when she marries him. And yes, Henry makes his ...ahem... dutiful visits to her as much as he does with the other ones.

Then there is the little issue of Henry's polygamy. The publisher may state SIX WILD CROWNS is polyamorous; it is not. His six wives have no choice in the matter. They accept the proposal from the king and the existence of his other wives, or they don't. And, as Seymour tells Boleyn, there is no way anyone can say no to the king. Neither do they have the option of taking a second spouse or even a lover to fill their days when Henry is not visiting. To even contemplate it is akin to treason. The polygamy alone was enough to have me wanting to toss the book across the room.

A funny thing happened, though, as I sped my way through the first half of the book. I found myself intrigued by Seymour's struggles against the strong and violent men in her life and Boleyn's search for knowledge about the island's past. It wasn't that I liked the story more; it was more that I wanted to know how Ms. Race would tie the real-life queens' fates into her fictional queens. I was also curious to discover how Boleyn and Seymour handle their not-so-surprising discovery. These two things piqued my interest enough to warrant me slowing down my reading pace to catch more details.

This does not mean I enjoyed SIX WILD CROWNS in the end. The story is a heavy-handed feminist twist on the Tudor dynasty, but with magic and pet dragons...and panthers. How Ms. Race adapts the Tudor queens to her story is clever and, at times, quite surprising. The plot, however, is less so. There are no real plot twists, and the story follows the standard "women finding out that men are taking advantage of them" plot line that almost every other feminist fantasy novel uses these days. Ms. Race assuaged my curiosity about the two aspects of the story I was most interested in seeing to the end in a satisfactory manner, but I have no desire to find out what happens next.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This book was fun! It was a fun take on history and I loved all the scandals that were unfolding. I cannot wait to read the next one!!!

Thank you Orbit for the eARC!

Rating: 3.75/5 🌟

Six Wild Crowns had such a cool premise—six magical queens, a crumbling kingdom, and a sapphic romance with real tension. The vibes were Tudor court meets dragon fantasy, and I was hooked on that alone.

Boleyn and Seymour’s dynamic? Loved. There’s angst, betrayal, slow-burn feelings—everything I want in a queer fantasy romance. Plus, the worldbuilding is lush and creative, even if a little dense at times.

That said, the middle lost me a bit. Some parts dragged, and I found myself needing to reread to keep track of who was who and what was going on.

4.5/5 stars
Six Wild Crowns by Holly Race is an interesting twist based loosely on King Henry VIII and his infamous wives. The very very basics of this book are that you have Henry (King Henry the eighth) who must simultaneously marry six wives and tie them to different points in the land of Elben to maintain the bordweal (which is a magical protective barrier that protects the island). The story is told from the two Queens' point of view, Boylen and Seymour. I can’t tell you much more about the plot without revealing things and half the fun was figuring out what was going on.

This book has politics and court intrigues and rivalries, slow-burning, sapphic romance, magic and dragons, and leaves you with plenty of questions. I gave the book 4.5 out of 5 stars. I’ve always been fascinated by the Tudor dynasty, particularly Henry VIII’s reign and his wives. To see this book do justice to what we know of these monarchs but be completely unique made my heart happy. I honestly can’t think of a book to compare this to at this point. It felt a little like Lightlark in the beginning, but I think that was based on the similar segregated island idea. This is definitely a unique read and I will be looking forward to the next book in the series, which I desperately hope comes soon.