A large part of me wishes this had nothing to do with King Henry or his 6 wives, and this author had just used that as a template instead but chosen completely different names. Since this reimagined England really had nothing to do with reality, given the magic and mythological creatures, I don't feel like it would have been that much of a stretch. Otherwise the author relies too heavily on readers already knowing and understanding the women these characters were based on.

The FMC (Boleyn and Seymour) were decent as leads. I think it took way too long for Seymour to grow a spine. I liked that Boleyn was a bit humbled by the end - she wasn't as clever as she thought she was. I didn't like the relationship between the two; it felt forced and inauthentic.

Overall, this went on for far too long with little action to be had. The bits that could have had a lot of tension were minimized.

A couple of my favorite genre to read are fantasy and historical fiction, I have a soft spot for dragons within the former and especially enjoy history of the Tudor court from Wars of the Roses to the reign of Elizabeth I within the latter so the premise here caught my notice. I would not say there was a dominance of dragons here (and no mother of dragons on the throne) nor was there a strong connection to the history of the six wives of Henry VIII, but once those expectations dropped and I settled into this story, it became an entertaining read. The author does name her characters after the historical queens and several members of the court (i.e. Cromwell, Wolsey) but the marriages are not in the same order as the history moreover they are more a harem since they were all married to Henry at the same time in this fictional land whereas England got a new religion and heads literally rolled before the next bride. There is an underlying magic in this world and it is tied to 6 queens in their 6 castles. Though all 6 appear as characters, the narration comes from the viewpoints of two, Boleyn and Seymour. There is court intrigue, and romance, and a power struggle. Overall, it was an interesting fantasy about the wives of a polygamous king. Readers that are able to distance themselves from the history and let a new story unfold may find that they enjoy this creative tale. I'm looking forward to seeing where this series goes. (3.5/5)
I received access to this eARC thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Orbit Books) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

What an incredible read! A totally original take on Henry VIII with a fantasy twist. The author’s writing style is beautiful and I was drawn in from page one. I can’t wait for her future books! Thanks so much for the opportunity to read in advance.