3.5 stars rounded up :)

If I hadn't consumed Six Wild Crowns in audiobook format, I would have probably not enjoyed it as much as I did. The narrator truly brings the court intrigue and emotional turmoil of Queens Seymour and Boleyn to life. The politics and feminine rage was raging however Boleyn kept annoying me with her simping for Henry like I was so happy when she realised what a plonker he had been and then she goes back to "i can fix him" NO look at SEYMOUR pretty please WRAAAAAA It is annoying because she clearly has the brains she employs in the last few chapters of the book BUT USE IT EARLIER MAYBE GWEIKGJSHFGJBFDGKHBFDKK

I went into this not knowing much about the the Tudor side of history, and expecting a lot of dragons: after all, they take center stage on the cover. As pleasantly surprised as I was about the lapdragons (they are a need), I was hoping to see more of them and hear more of their origins. It was great to see sapphic yearning and polyamorous/bisexual rep; however, it could have been gayer??? Seymour falling for Boleyn was peaaaaaaaak BUT I was left yearning for more Seymour-Boleyn moments. Also, they did my man Wyatt dirtyyyyyyyyyy

Also, the Oracle and prophecies have to be one of my fav things

That ending took me out though and I can't speak about it without spoilers so — you will find out :D (Boleyn, we all wanted you to be plotting like that earlier on in the book)

Recommended to readers who like their fantasy prose-heavy & slow-paced with a side of political intrigue and sapphic yearning as dessert. (there's not a lot of dragons btw so for people going in hoping for more dragons & sapphics, I hate to be the harbinger of bad news--)

I will certainly be continuing the series as long as I get it in audiobook format from the same narrator because I need to know the other queens' side of the story as well + I'm a simple girl I NEED to see henry suffer and more feminine rage plis :3

Thank you Netgalley & Hachette Audio for the advance audio copy!

The narrator was great and honestly one of the reasons I kept reading.

This was just a little too lacking for me. It felt like the fantasy elements were an after thought when thought about at all. And it just dragged.

A fantasy tale inspired by Henry VIII and his six wives, we journey through this world through the eyes of Boleyn and Seymour. In this world King Henry is married to his six wives at the same time, as their seats in their respective castles keeps the kingdom safe. The blurb promises politics and adventure akin to Priory of the Orange Tree, but it fell short of that.

The Good:
- The prose and most of all the narration in the audiobook are very good and definitely kept me going until I was over the first hump (45%) of the book. After the book did a better job of keeping my interest.
- After the hump the story did interest me to go on. The book really isn't that bad if you can ignore the plot holes.

The Could be better:
- The courtly intrigue was there, but could be better. The actual purpose of the queens (aside from being there) in their respective castles isn't that clear. We are told Aragon and Cleves (not shown) have taken care of their respective areas and made them prosperous. But Boleyn, for all her cleverness and restlessness, is never shown actually governing anything and it doesn't really fit her character.
- To expand on that: the characters often behave contrary to their supposed character traits and seem to be pushed and pulled into one direction or action or another by the writer. It feels forced at times.
- There's a lot of tell, instead of show. Don't tell me Boleyn is clever or Seymour is dull, show me!

The Bad:
- So where the book mostly falls apart for me is that Holly Race doesn't seem to have a clear understanding of the worldbuilding she wants to portray. It's clear she's enamoured by the historical figures and is determined to mix in actualy history into this fantasy story without thinking about what works, and what doesn't. For example their names: Aragon, Boleyn, Seymour, Cleves, Howard and Parr. Now I get that you can't have 3 characters named Catherine and 2 characters called Anne. But why not rename them instead of obviously using last names? And somehow they're both at the same time? Because Boleyn is of the Boleyn family (her siblings are all referred to as Boleyns), but when her father introduces her to the king he also calls her Boleyn. So she's named Boleyn Boleyn? Renaming them and hinting at the inspiration would have served the story more.
- Furthermore, within the worldbuilding there are more things that just don't make a lot of sense. So this world has magic and magical/mythical creatures and oracles, but Boleyn being accused as a witch makes more sense in the real world than this fictional one. But fine, women have always been villainized, I'll ignore it. But one of the most pressing matters at hand is that the king needs a male heir. You'd think that would be more easy with six wives? But one doesn't have to perform at all and the others barely. Having those six castles so far away from each other you'd think he'd barely have time to be away at war. And in the meantime, who even governs the country? It's never clear.
- The three sort of love interests for Boleyn and how she keeps googly eyeing Henry despite everything. It was just too much and unnecessary. Though I did like that third semi-love interest.

All in all I feel like the writer should've trusted her own imagination more instead of forcing the historical events on these characters and this world. It would've made for a far better book. I'm glad I finished it, but I have no desire to continue the series.

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this Audio ARC. All thoughts are my own.

1.25
The premise was genuinely intriguing, and as a fan of historical fiction blended with fantasy, I was excited to dive in. Unfortunately, the execution didn’t quite live up to the potential.

One of the biggest letdowns was the lack of actual fantasy elements. Despite the promise of magic and dragons, they felt more like background decoration than essential parts of the story. For a genre that thrives on wonder and the extraordinary, this book kept things frustratingly muted.

That said, the narrator did a fantastic job. Their performance was engaging and brought the characters to life, making the listening experience more enjoyable than the story itself.

Overall, while the concept had promise, the underused fantasy elements left me disappointed.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Six Wild Crowns is a historical fantasy reimagining of the life of Henry the Eighth and his 6 wives, but with polyamory/polygamy. Which is a great premise. I also really enjoyed a lot of the other world-building in this book, like naming their main deity Cernunnos (a pre-Christian Celtic god) and giving first-born daughters the family name as their first name, so that even after marriage everyone knows what family she came from. However, a lot of the world-building was also way more wishy-washy and should have been explained better (e.g. what actually are Henry’s powers?).

The story took a bit to get going, so for me it took until about the 50% mark to really get hooked on the mystery and intrigue that was happening. There obviously is plot before then, but it was more focused on establishing the world and the 2 POV-characters and their relationships. As for the plot, it was rather predictable and nothing new; the magic system based on oppressive patriarchy and misogyny is bad and a lie, who could’ve guessed! But honestly I don’t think that diminished my enjoyment of the story by much, cause I still really liked it.

Now, I didn’t grow up in the English-speaking world, so my knowledge of the historical events this is based on stems mainly from the musical SIX and is thus quite limited. I know the wives’ names, the mnemonic («divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived») and the whole creation of the Anglican church thing. The author explicitly states at the beginning that she’s taken some liberties with the historical facts, but I was still pretty sure that one of the POV-characters would end up dead by the end. And yet the ending still hit like a ton of bricks. In part also because I am a hopeless lesbian who was illogically holding out hope for Seymour and Boleyn to get together.

Also this is tagged as «Dragons» on goodreads, but do not read this for the dragons. They hardly appear at all and play no role in the plot. Since the dragons weren’t the main selling point of this book for me (it was actually the lesbians), I wasn’t too disappointed by their insignificance. Though I do really hope that we’ll get to see more of them in the sequel.

All in all, I am really excited to read the sequel, whenever it comes out. I hope it contains more dragons and lesbians though.

3.25/5

This had a lot of good potential. I just wish it had leaned more into the magic aspects of the story. Overall, not bad for an adult debut novel.

Olivia Dowd did a fantastic job narrating this story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an audiobook copy.

DNF at 20%, leaving 3 stars because I do not want to judge the whole book based on the part I managed to get through. I'd give 1.5 stars to the 20% I read.

I had high hopes based on the premise, expecting the story to pull me in and awe me with magic, dragons and intrigue - but I was bored almost from the beginning. The writing style and dialogues left me feeling cold, uncomfortable... They evoked the usual dirty portrayal of old England in me. And maybe the author intended it so, but it sadly felt offputting.

I do not believe it is a spoiler, since it's a minor thing so far, but the moment Seymour mentioned her brothers and how they have always told her she smelled during her period? That they could smell her? I wonder if there is some continuation of it later in the story, but up to the 20% it left me feeling disturbed. Not because there is something wrong with periods or someone being smelly for whatever reason (especially if they cannot access proper hygiene, which the character can) - but why would the brothers even mention this? It completely threw me off. If there is a continuation, perhaps an explanation - I'd like to know. Because if not, I wonder why it was added to the book.

Boleyn so far feels like a naive girl, who thinks a man with 5 wives loves only her. Even if unaware of the real history, I would not trust that man.

At 20% I would also perhaps expect to know more about the characters, somehow connect with them. I was listening to what the narrator and the characters were saying, but I could not get myself to care about anything or anyone.

And lastly, the first (and probably petty) thing that made me dislike the book even before it began - the author includes a foreword and mentions "history" and "herstory". As a non-native speaker, I find it childish. The word exists in similar forms in other languages, but the native-English speaking often act as if everything is about them. I do not blame the author for it, rather the person or people who even thought about it - and felt clever. It pulled me away from the fantasy and magic of the book, and the politics that were about to take place there.

Pack your bags girl cause we are diving into this Tudor historical fiction meets fantasy. I enjoyed this twist of the we have all come to know of the six Tudor queens. I do think that they needed to add more mythical creatures, especially dragons. There was not enough in the story for me. I know that was besides the point, but I just would’ve been nice lol. Amazing female MC energy. Sapphic yearning. Incredible magic system in world building. I highly recommend, especially for historical fantasy lovers like myself.

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette audio for the opportunity to listen to this book.

I couldn't vibe with it. The narrators were good but the story line sounds choppy. I believe it's in present tense and I cannot do it. The world is interesting and the way it circles around king Henry. And the povs with their names as their last names helps tremendously. It is very heavy court manipulation and deceit. Interesting concept o just couldn't vibe with it.

big thank you to holly race, hachette & netgalley for gifting me an arc. all opinions are my own! ♡

.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡ happy publication day!! +..｡*

₊˚⊹⋆ i believe this story has so much potential to be amazing. the promise of dragons, a fantasy take of king henry and his many wives, seymour + boleyn yearning, a magic protected by the many wives?

I didn’t hate this but didn’t like it. The narrator was amazing and is what really kept me going with this book. I feel like the description of the book is slightly misleading because it doesn’t really follow history so much. The other wives weren’t given much personality or explored other than Boleyn. The court and politics were very surface level. The sapphic longing between Seymour and Boleyn was a let down. If you’re going to mention dragons you’ve got to deliver! I was most excited for that aspect because come on…. It’s DRAGONS ….. give me dragons! This book had potential for sure. I think if you took out the whole Henry Vlll retelling reference completely and changed those parts this would’ve been a lot better. I got hung up on the history way too much.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ALC and eARC in exchange for an honest review!

From the very beginning of Six Wild Crowns, the writing is immersive and when listening to the ALC, the narrator did a fantastic job with the all of the various characters/accents. I'm always a fan of court politics and this book was full of it. I was slightly disappointed that even though the blurb mentioned dragons, magic, and high fantasy elements, those were very small details in the book. Also the back and forth between Boleyn and Seymour just wasn't believable. The longer it went on the more annoying it became.

That said, overall it was a fine book and I will probably continue the series. I might just not rush to get the second book right at release.

Six Wild Crowns is a very imaginative concept, following the six wives of Henry VIII alive together in a fantasy world with magic, dragons and political intrigue. We mostly follow Boleyn and Seymour as they adjust to court life and the mysteries and power struggles that come with it.

I liked the blend of the Tudor setting and fantasy world, which made the story more engaging for me while also being based in fact. The constantly evolving relationship between Boleyn and Seymour was a high point for me and helped show the themes of resistance and strength in unity, particularly from a female perspective against male royals.

While these main characters were more well-developed through their POVs and backstories, I hoped I would see more depth from some of the side characters which would have made their actions more impactful. I also found the pacing to be a bit uneven, with some parts racing through important plot points and other sections slowing right down.

I've never read a historical fantasy retelling quite like this before, and I was pleasantly surprised to find I enjoyed the historical aspect more than I expected. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys feminist retellings and courtly political intrigue.

The audiobook for Six Wild Crowns was fantastic! I loved the narrator and found their voice to be easy to understand and well paced even at fast speeds. The audio really added to the story and I think I enjoyed the book more because of the audio.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for this audio copy to review.

Book rating: 3 stars, audiobook rating: 5 stars, average: 4 stars

I feel the synopsis does not accurately describe the book. There are elements that are there but is mostly a mischaracterization. I also think the history of Henry the 8th and his six wives were used as set dressings instead of being integral to the plot. You could have changed all the names and still have the story progress as it did.

I liked the chapter that included the letters and was just the letters. I wished that was done more since other letters were mentioned more as one offs. I liked the narrator. She had a lovely voice and had a good pace. For clarity I would have preferred the queens to be voiced by different women. I also wished I got to hear from the other queens, not just Seymour and Boleyn.

Overall, I think the writing and premise were solid. I enjoyed the magic and fantasy creatures. There was a nice twist at the end. I want to see what they do with it.

I DNF'd this book at 41%, I thought in theory having a fantasy retelling with the Six Wives of Henry VIII was an interesting concept and could tell a good sapphic story. Unfortunately all of the characters felt flat, I couldn't suspend my disbelief Henry was this ab riddled stud and the store itself wasn't old my attention.

3.75/5 rounded up.

Thank you to Orbit, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with eARC and early audio for this title in exchange for an honest review. I want to shoutout the narrator Olivia Dowd early on as she did an excellent job bringing the story to life. She was able to effectively tell the story, provide unique voices for each character we encountered and convey the right emotion, especially towards the end of the story when things picked up.

I was really excited to get into this story as someone who found the story of the six wives of Henry the VIII compelling in school. I was also excited at the idea of a magical twist with sapphic components to the story. As other reviewers have stated, the bit about dragons is a bit unnecessary in the blurb, while dragons do exist, they aren’t the focus, but given that all other parts of the blurb were also interesting to me, I was still really happy I gave this story a chance.
Rather than this worlds Henry marrying each individual wife one at a time, he (and the other kings) instead needs six wives to maintain the protection of the country, and the story uses Henry the VIIIs wives as an entry point to help us get into the story.

The two main narrators we follow are Boleyn and Seymour, who are reinterpretations of Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, as they enter into the courtly realm at the center of this story on the day of Boleyns wedding to Henry. We alternate between each of their perspectives as their relationships with Henry start, and as we begin to uncover that not everything is as it seems based on the old history of the world.

I found the idea of this world compelling, and the mystery that Boleyn begins to unravel fascinating. I think it’s become clear that this will be a part of the series and I am devastated at the ending but still interested to see how the rest of it plays out. At times it was predictable, but not in a bad way. I think anyone who knows more of the original relationships between the historical counterparts will see some of the twists coming, but I am glad I was not completely aware as they still felt rewarding. I enjoyed that the idea that this story was able to revisit our understanding of who the wives were. It was done in a powerful way, and, specific spoiler ahead, the idea that Boleyn is working to undo the way that Henry is stealing from his wives and using them for the magical power that they are entitled to, felt like a timely point.

I enjoyed it. Admittedly I requested the audio because I was having a hard time getting into the story just on the pages, but that is likely more a me thing as I couldn’t read on my walks. I do think that there was a lot going on, and some random points were said that I didn’t quite follow, but it may have just been lost on me. I think that now that the world is established, and we know the goal and how it will happen, the story is going to be intense. And (again spoiler ahead), now that Boleyn won’t be a main player, who our additional POV will be.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly, this is a DNF for me.

I DNF'd this one at 6% which I usually don't do. I was struggling to keep up with this audiobook and stay interested. The narrator is pretty good, however I had to go back multiple times because I was confused by the wording and what was going on.

As bored as I was I would have stuck to it BUT the one thing I did not like was that there was no trigger warning for animal death and that is one of the triggers that I honestly can't handle. Right at the beginning of the story they unalive a dragon at a wedding for its blood or some crap IDK?! Really.. I would have appreciated being told that there was gonna be animal death and basically light torture of an innocent animal... not to mention fairies being trapped in rings for the heck of it? ugh no thanks

Sorry, this just was not for me.

👑 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰⁣ 👑
‘𝘚𝘪𝘹 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴’ 𝘣𝘺 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘦 ⁣
⁣
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I enjoyed this feminist book! Holly did an excellent job with world building, it was interesting. There was enough detail to depict the scenes well without drowning in floof. The overall plot was unique, there was a good twist I did not expect! A great read for historical fantasy fans.

Spice Rating: 🌶️
Open door intimacy scenes with very little detail. Focuses more on the yearning then the anatomical.
—
Tropes:
Court intrigue, political weapons instead of actual weapons, one king x six wives, unrequited love, feminist asf, women of all shapes and colors, sapphic yearning, lap dragons.

Notes:
The quality of the audiobook recording was clear and crisp, the narrator did a good job with male and female voices. While there is not a lot of action or adventure in this book, the excitement comes from the drama. This is a story about the resilience and hidden power of women, especially when working together………… I did not include the following part in my public review, but the blurb for the book is a bit misleading if you ask me. This book does not have nearly enough action, adventure, or bloodshed to be compared to ‘House of Dragons’. In my opinion, that is what ARC readers so far have been disappointed about. This book is more drama and court intrigue based, which is totally fine. But I think that needs to be more clearly represented to readers so they do not feel mislead.
—
Thanks:
As always, I want to express how grateful I am to have revived an ARC from Holly Race and Hachette Audio in exchange for an honest review. It means the world to me, truly! I cannot wait to read the next book in the series. And to my audience, thanks for taking the time to read my review.

With love, @QueenBee.Reads

ARC Review of Six Wild Crowns Audiobook

TLDR: passes the Pride Month vibe check but wouldn’t pass in history class; 1st in a new series; No HEA; 🌶️=2/5; listed trigger warnings; great narration; no true MMC imo.

This is not history, it’s fantasy. You may know the players but you FOR SURE do not know this game. If you know and love the Tudors… just know before diving in that they are used in name only. It’s not even a fantasy retelling in my opinion. And don’t worry, if you’re a couple chapters in and you’re thinking “whaaaaaaat?”, it’s ok… it will be explained, sort of.

It does have some spice. And it is great to drop in Pride Month as it does include LGBTQ relationships, situations and yearnings.

Olivia Dowd was an excellent narrator. I love a clear and articulate British accent. She ran a little slow for my liking - I bump up the speed to 1.25… but even at increased speed the diction was crisp and her voice was compelling. I do wish we’d had a male voice for Henry and the other men, but it feels like a preference rather than a need.

I enjoyed the world building and the magic system even though much of it was unexplained, more left as puzzle pieces for the reader to try to fit together. I wish I’d had a little more understanding of what exactly a “boardwheel” is… but I think over a few chapters I understood. Dragons and magical creatures exist in this world but they do not necessarily look or behave how you expect, which I found interesting. I love the way female empowerment rolled through the plot. This is the first duel POV book I’ve read where there really is no MMC. Two FMCs guide this story and I’m curious if that will continue in future installments. It definitely gave some plot twist moments I didn’t anticipate.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and I’ll definitely read the rest of the Queens of Elben series! Thank you Holly Race, Olivia Dowd, Orbit Books & Hachette Audio for this ARC read! (My first ever)

Six Wild Crowns had such a promising hook- Tudor queens, sapphic longing, and a fantasy world with dragons and magic? I was so ready for courtly intrigue and villainous queens scheming in magical castles. Unfortunately, the actual story didn’t deliver what the premise promised.

This reads more like a slow political fantasy inspired by the Tudors than a true historical fantasy retelling. The connections to Henry VIII and his wives feel surface-level at best, and the magic system (while cool in theory) barely factors into the plot. The dragons? Mentioned, but mostly decorative. If you’re picking this up hoping for a fast-paced, dragon-filled, magic-heavy ride, manage those expectations.

Boleyn is the only character who somewhat stood out, but even she lacked the ambition and sharpness I expected. Seymour, meanwhile, is cast as a wide-eyed servant turned assassin (kind of?) with unreciprocated feelings for Boleyn that felt more like a crush than anything deeper. The sapphic subplot had potential but didn’t feel fleshed out or earned.

There’s a lot of description and slow build-up without much actually happening, especially in the first half. The emotional beats between characters often came out of nowhere, and some felt jarringly underdeveloped. I kept waiting for the story to come together… and it never quite did.

I wanted to love this. The concept was so intriguing, but the execution felt scattered, overly drawn out, and lacking the sharp edge the synopsis teased. A unique idea, but not one that worked for me in the end.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Thank you to NetGalley, Orbit