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Nampeshiweisit #1
To Shape a Dragon's Breath
A young Indigenous woman enters a colonizer-run dragon academy—and quickly finds herself at odds with the “approved” way of doing things—in the first book of this brilliant new fantasy series.
The remote island of Masquapaug has not seen a dragon in many generations—until fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragon’s egg and bonds with its hatchling. Her people are delighted, for all remember the tales of the days when dragons lived among them and danced away the storms of autumn, enabling the people to thrive. To them, Anequs is revered as Nampeshiweisit—a person in a unique relationship with a dragon.
Unfortunately for Anequs, the Anglish conquerors of her land have different opinions. They have a very specific idea of how a dragon should be raised, and who should be doing the raising—and Anequs does not meet any of their requirements. Only with great reluctance do they allow Anequs to enroll in a proper Anglish dragon school on the mainland. If she cannot succeed there, her dragon will be killed.
For a girl with no formal schooling, a non-Anglish upbringing, and a very different understanding of the history of her land, challenges abound—both socially and academically. But Anequs is smart, determined, and resolved to learn what she needs to help her dragon, even if it means teaching herself. The one thing she refuses to do, however, is become the meek Anglish miss that everyone expects.
Anequs and her dragon may be coming of age, but they’re also coming to power, and that brings an important realization: the world needs changing—and they might just be the ones to do it.
The remote island of Masquapaug has not seen a dragon in many generations—until fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragon’s egg and bonds with its hatchling. Her people are delighted, for all remember the tales of the days when dragons lived among them and danced away the storms of autumn, enabling the people to thrive. To them, Anequs is revered as Nampeshiweisit—a person in a unique relationship with a dragon.
Unfortunately for Anequs, the Anglish conquerors of her land have different opinions. They have a very specific idea of how a dragon should be raised, and who should be doing the raising—and Anequs does not meet any of their requirements. Only with great reluctance do they allow Anequs to enroll in a proper Anglish dragon school on the mainland. If she cannot succeed there, her dragon will be killed.
For a girl with no formal schooling, a non-Anglish upbringing, and a very different understanding of the history of her land, challenges abound—both socially and academically. But Anequs is smart, determined, and resolved to learn what she needs to help her dragon, even if it means teaching herself. The one thing she refuses to do, however, is become the meek Anglish miss that everyone expects.
Anequs and her dragon may be coming of age, but they’re also coming to power, and that brings an important realization: the world needs changing—and they might just be the ones to do it.
511 pages, Paperback
First published May 9, 2023
1234 people are currently reading
57331 people want to read
About the author
Moniquill Blackgoose
2 books887 followersMoniquill Blackgoose, an enrolled member of the Seaconck Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and descendand of Ousamequin Massasoit, writes fantasy and science fiction. To Shape a Dragon's Breath is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,490 reviews
February 17, 2025
This Nordic-inspired, steampunk-adjacent, anti-colonial, polyamorous, queer, dragon academia fantasy with dragons on literally every page (no exaggeration), was really original and captivating.
If you liked Andarna from that other dragon fantasy war college book, there is a good chance you’ll be enamoured with Kasaqua. This adorable baby dragon has bonded with Anequs, our 15-year-old Masquisit protagonist, and their relationship is gorgeous. But what really sets it apart is how their bond reflects the book’s deeper themes. Anequs sees Kasaqua as a partner, an equal, she belongs to her dragon. Meanwhile, the Anglish settlers see dragons as something to be tamed, controlled, and wielded as status symbols. This fundamental clash of ideologies of coexistence vs. domination mirrors the larger cultural struggle at the heart of the book.
The novel unpacks the insidious ways colonialism operates which is not just through violence, but through the erasure of culture, language and autonomy.
Anequs, our protag, refuses to contort herself to fit into a world designed to exclude her. She’s constantly underestimated, patronised and expected to assimilate. The microaggressions aren’t just coming from overtly racist villains, either, although there are plenty of those too. They’re embedded in the well-meaning classmates who patronise and condescend to her, whilst believing they’re being kind. In the teachers who think that “including” her means forcing her to conform rather than questioning why the system was built to erase people like her in the first place.
Fortunately, Anequs finds allies and true friends along the way, and I especially loved the author’s nuanced characterisation of them all but particularly the neurodivergent rep in one of them and the friendship that flourishes.
That said, while the book nails its themes, Anequs herself sometimes feels too perfect. Don’t get me wrong, I adore and admire her. She’s beautiful, brilliant, self-assured, compassionate, effortlessly competent, and somehow never truly shaken, no matter what gets thrown at her. And while I love that she doesn’t have to suffer to be worthy of her own story, I wish she had more internal conflict. Her arc is largely about proving herself to others rather than experiencing meaningful personal growth and that makes her journey feel a bit static. That said, I do adore how she can verbally eviscerate someone in a debate and her directness. I’d pay money to watch.
Besides that, the other Indigenous characters aren’t a monolith, they’re layered and compelling. Anequs’ brother believes that working within the Anglish system could be a way to help their people. Another student, orphaned and raised to be a “model” servant, has internalised Anglish superiority to survive. Survival under colonial rule forces difficult choices, and the book respects those complexities.
Even the romance subplot resists easy categorisation. Instead of slotting into a traditional love triangle trope, it challenges ideas of love, gender, and monogamy in ways that feel organic to the world. Love itself is explored as something shaped by the systems we exist within, who we’re “allowed” to love, under what conditions, and with what expectations.
Anyways, if you love dragons in your academia and fantasy books, you’re going to love this. I found the rich themes, compelling world and decolonisation of engrained social attitudes super refreshing and empowering. There is also a lot of academia and exposition in the classroom itself. I’m so eager to see where the author takes the story for book two. Highly recommend!
A big thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey for the digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
♦️♦️♦️
Edit: Don't worry, fixing it right now.
Don't know how I let this dragon academia magic school book sit unread for so long?
If you liked Andarna from that other dragon fantasy war college book, there is a good chance you’ll be enamoured with Kasaqua. This adorable baby dragon has bonded with Anequs, our 15-year-old Masquisit protagonist, and their relationship is gorgeous. But what really sets it apart is how their bond reflects the book’s deeper themes. Anequs sees Kasaqua as a partner, an equal, she belongs to her dragon. Meanwhile, the Anglish settlers see dragons as something to be tamed, controlled, and wielded as status symbols. This fundamental clash of ideologies of coexistence vs. domination mirrors the larger cultural struggle at the heart of the book.
The novel unpacks the insidious ways colonialism operates which is not just through violence, but through the erasure of culture, language and autonomy.
Anequs, our protag, refuses to contort herself to fit into a world designed to exclude her. She’s constantly underestimated, patronised and expected to assimilate. The microaggressions aren’t just coming from overtly racist villains, either, although there are plenty of those too. They’re embedded in the well-meaning classmates who patronise and condescend to her, whilst believing they’re being kind. In the teachers who think that “including” her means forcing her to conform rather than questioning why the system was built to erase people like her in the first place.
Fortunately, Anequs finds allies and true friends along the way, and I especially loved the author’s nuanced characterisation of them all but particularly the neurodivergent rep in one of them and the friendship that flourishes.
That said, while the book nails its themes, Anequs herself sometimes feels too perfect. Don’t get me wrong, I adore and admire her. She’s beautiful, brilliant, self-assured, compassionate, effortlessly competent, and somehow never truly shaken, no matter what gets thrown at her. And while I love that she doesn’t have to suffer to be worthy of her own story, I wish she had more internal conflict. Her arc is largely about proving herself to others rather than experiencing meaningful personal growth and that makes her journey feel a bit static. That said, I do adore how she can verbally eviscerate someone in a debate and her directness. I’d pay money to watch.
Besides that, the other Indigenous characters aren’t a monolith, they’re layered and compelling. Anequs’ brother believes that working within the Anglish system could be a way to help their people. Another student, orphaned and raised to be a “model” servant, has internalised Anglish superiority to survive. Survival under colonial rule forces difficult choices, and the book respects those complexities.
Even the romance subplot resists easy categorisation. Instead of slotting into a traditional love triangle trope, it challenges ideas of love, gender, and monogamy in ways that feel organic to the world. Love itself is explored as something shaped by the systems we exist within, who we’re “allowed” to love, under what conditions, and with what expectations.
Anyways, if you love dragons in your academia and fantasy books, you’re going to love this. I found the rich themes, compelling world and decolonisation of engrained social attitudes super refreshing and empowering. There is also a lot of academia and exposition in the classroom itself. I’m so eager to see where the author takes the story for book two. Highly recommend!
A big thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey for the digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
♦️♦️♦️
Edit: Don't worry, fixing it right now.
Don't know how I let this dragon academia magic school book sit unread for so long?
March 6, 2025
This has the makings of what I want in a novel. It's a YA fantasy that doesn't really read as such. It's historical. There's own voices representation, which is so important. And do we have a hint of poly in the future?
Anequs is a Nampeshiweisit, having bonded with a dragon. Her people used to bond with dragons, but it has been a long time since they have had one. She is sent to an Anglish school to learn their ways, and more importantly, to learn to shape a dragon's breath. I'm almost always wary of beautiful covers, but this story is beautiful as well. I'll be interested to pick up the sequel.
--
Note: I'm aware the author is Native. I know this is own voices. My previous complaint was about minority stories written by white authors, e.g. AMERICAN DIRT.
And since no one here knows how to read, three stars isn't a bad rating. While I enjoyed this, I didn't love it. And if I may continue, just because you loved something doesn't mean everyone else has to.
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey
Anequs is a Nampeshiweisit, having bonded with a dragon. Her people used to bond with dragons, but it has been a long time since they have had one. She is sent to an Anglish school to learn their ways, and more importantly, to learn to shape a dragon's breath. I'm almost always wary of beautiful covers, but this story is beautiful as well. I'll be interested to pick up the sequel.
--
Note: I'm aware the author is Native. I know this is own voices. My previous complaint was about minority stories written by white authors, e.g. AMERICAN DIRT.
And since no one here knows how to read, three stars isn't a bad rating. While I enjoyed this, I didn't love it. And if I may continue, just because you loved something doesn't mean everyone else has to.
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey
July 24, 2024
This book wasn't for me. I really did want to like it, but what it was trying to do versus what I wanted from a story like this blended like oil and water, leaving it a struggle to finish. In a way, the book is also a struggle to review because had I not requested an ARC of it I simply would have dropped it as it became clear that its style of storytelling isn't one I enjoy. But I requested a copy because I believed I would love it from the synopsis, and I will be honest in my experience.
I'll simply focus on what didn't work for me, and if these elements are what you're looking for in a story, perhaps this review could work as an advertisement of sorts because these elements exist in abundance. Elsewise, if you're undecided and don't like the sound of things, it could help you decide to pass on it.
Anequs is a young indigenous woman who due to events in the opening chapters attends a dragoneering academy run by her people's colonizers. These colonizers, the Anglish, hold strong prejudices against her and her people, sometimes overtly hateful and sometimes due to ignorance, and they practice cultural norms that they place great value on but that Anequs is unfamiliar with.
The main issue for me is that there is no struggle, internal or external, for our lead because Anequs is largely unruffled about her situation from start to end. She is logical and never exhibits anything but good intentions, honesty, and practicality regarding every problem she faces. She has clear values and voices her opinions strongly so that others can be influenced by her, but she herself does not change or have flaw in any way. As implied by this, the morality of the story is very black-and-white, with Anequs' view being the reasonable and correct view and everyone else's needing adjustment. Her speaking her views aloud is a large part of the novel; Her being in a culture that hates her and her people and then shrugging it off and doing what she wants anyway is the main plot.
And I can imagine it being cathartic to see the sexist, racist, and xenophobic culture of a mid-1800s euroblend of countries be called out and questioned by someone who's having none of the nonsense. But man, is it... really bland and boring to read this pattern of Anequs seeing a moral failing in Anglish society, pointing out why it's bad, and being justified in pointing it out repeated ad nuseum throughout the entire book. I love books with things to say, but in this case it's not so much thought-provoking as it is annoying if you agree with it (because it really reads like a laundry list of issues with society that Anequs notices as she notices them), and it certainly won't change the mind of anyone who doesn't already agree. Her observations on society are not detailed, leaving the critiques to feel very surface-level and more focused on hitting on as many of them as possible and contrasting with how those things are better in her own culture.
What's even odder is that Anequs never seems to face consequence for expressing her values despite being in such a hostile situation. Academic struggles don't cause her any meaningful distress because she's smart and simply learns the material anyway without help, and until very close to the end of the novel the plot actually seems to go out of its way to make sure she has no consequences on a personal level. When she messes up social niceties or expresses a view radical to those around her like support of transgender people, there are some gasps, but then life goes on. People tell her not to do things because they might be dangerous, but no danger ever follows her actions when she does act. As an example, Anequs kisses another female character within this novel. This is a potentially massive upheaval for both her and the character due to the homophobic culture of the Anglish (a culture the other character was raised in), but the other character ends up having already come to the conclusion that she likes women long ago, meaning after a brief talk later they simply both go on with their lives as before. No one who could cause conflict finds out.
Then there are the dragons, or rather the lack of them. The bond between Anequs and her dragon, Kasaqua, is present for the opening chapters and then disappears into the background when they move to the academy, and it remains there ever on. There are some fun facts about the dragons dropped in here and there, but aside from one class on dragon handling that the reader witnesses, there is nothing of note pertaining to them. Kasaqua is a cute and cat-like, but do not go in expecting her to be a character in her own right or for their bond to be explored.
What the story does have a lot of focus is on a fantasy version of chemistry with all the elements and main terms renamed into new ones. You sit in on lectures for the subject and listen to side characters talk about how they're going to use the subject to make new engines and machines. If you have a background in chemistry you'll be able to piece together which real life elements correspond to which fantasy names and get a general idea of how they're building things, but the detail was far more than the story necessitated and I'm struggling to figure out why chemistry lessons were dropped directly at the reader so frequently unless the reader was meant to understand them as Anequs did. That did not work.
The side characters also felt very one-note and limited to one or two defining character traits each, and as someone who is often a character-focused reader, it made things even more boring to me.
But yes, despite all of this, there was clear love put into this book, and I did enjoy the premise and several individual scenes, particularly those within Anequs' village. I hope those who will like this book find it.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this opportunity to read an ARC of "To Shape a Dragon's Breath" by Moniquill Blackgoose in exchange for an honest review.
I'll simply focus on what didn't work for me, and if these elements are what you're looking for in a story, perhaps this review could work as an advertisement of sorts because these elements exist in abundance. Elsewise, if you're undecided and don't like the sound of things, it could help you decide to pass on it.
Anequs is a young indigenous woman who due to events in the opening chapters attends a dragoneering academy run by her people's colonizers. These colonizers, the Anglish, hold strong prejudices against her and her people, sometimes overtly hateful and sometimes due to ignorance, and they practice cultural norms that they place great value on but that Anequs is unfamiliar with.
The main issue for me is that there is no struggle, internal or external, for our lead because Anequs is largely unruffled about her situation from start to end. She is logical and never exhibits anything but good intentions, honesty, and practicality regarding every problem she faces. She has clear values and voices her opinions strongly so that others can be influenced by her, but she herself does not change or have flaw in any way. As implied by this, the morality of the story is very black-and-white, with Anequs' view being the reasonable and correct view and everyone else's needing adjustment. Her speaking her views aloud is a large part of the novel; Her being in a culture that hates her and her people and then shrugging it off and doing what she wants anyway is the main plot.
And I can imagine it being cathartic to see the sexist, racist, and xenophobic culture of a mid-1800s euroblend of countries be called out and questioned by someone who's having none of the nonsense. But man, is it... really bland and boring to read this pattern of Anequs seeing a moral failing in Anglish society, pointing out why it's bad, and being justified in pointing it out repeated ad nuseum throughout the entire book. I love books with things to say, but in this case it's not so much thought-provoking as it is annoying if you agree with it (because it really reads like a laundry list of issues with society that Anequs notices as she notices them), and it certainly won't change the mind of anyone who doesn't already agree. Her observations on society are not detailed, leaving the critiques to feel very surface-level and more focused on hitting on as many of them as possible and contrasting with how those things are better in her own culture.
What's even odder is that Anequs never seems to face consequence for expressing her values despite being in such a hostile situation. Academic struggles don't cause her any meaningful distress because she's smart and simply learns the material anyway without help, and until very close to the end of the novel the plot actually seems to go out of its way to make sure she has no consequences on a personal level. When she messes up social niceties or expresses a view radical to those around her like support of transgender people, there are some gasps, but then life goes on. People tell her not to do things because they might be dangerous, but no danger ever follows her actions when she does act. As an example, Anequs kisses another female character within this novel. This is a potentially massive upheaval for both her and the character due to the homophobic culture of the Anglish (a culture the other character was raised in), but the other character ends up having already come to the conclusion that she likes women long ago, meaning after a brief talk later they simply both go on with their lives as before. No one who could cause conflict finds out.
Then there are the dragons, or rather the lack of them. The bond between Anequs and her dragon, Kasaqua, is present for the opening chapters and then disappears into the background when they move to the academy, and it remains there ever on. There are some fun facts about the dragons dropped in here and there, but aside from one class on dragon handling that the reader witnesses, there is nothing of note pertaining to them. Kasaqua is a cute and cat-like, but do not go in expecting her to be a character in her own right or for their bond to be explored.
What the story does have a lot of focus is on a fantasy version of chemistry with all the elements and main terms renamed into new ones. You sit in on lectures for the subject and listen to side characters talk about how they're going to use the subject to make new engines and machines. If you have a background in chemistry you'll be able to piece together which real life elements correspond to which fantasy names and get a general idea of how they're building things, but the detail was far more than the story necessitated and I'm struggling to figure out why chemistry lessons were dropped directly at the reader so frequently unless the reader was meant to understand them as Anequs did. That did not work.
The side characters also felt very one-note and limited to one or two defining character traits each, and as someone who is often a character-focused reader, it made things even more boring to me.
But yes, despite all of this, there was clear love put into this book, and I did enjoy the premise and several individual scenes, particularly those within Anequs' village. I hope those who will like this book find it.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this opportunity to read an ARC of "To Shape a Dragon's Breath" by Moniquill Blackgoose in exchange for an honest review.
January 10, 2025
To Shape a Dragon's Breath is an exceptional start to a new YA Fantasy series. The world-building was great and I loved the protagonist, Anequs, and the setting of the Academy.
Also, DRAGONS!!!
This story follows Anequs, a teen girl, who lives on the remote island of Masquapaug, with her family and peoples.
After Anequs finds an abandoned dragon egg, she brings it back to her village and they guard over it, keeping it safe. Once the baby dragon hatches, it chooses Anequs and they are bonded.
The people of the village are delighted. In a previous time, their society had many dragons and those prosperous times are still remembered well in song and story.
After the baby dragon chooses Anequs, She becomes their only Nampeshiweisit; a person with a special relationship with dragons.
Unfortunately, there is no one left alive who remembers the old ways and can teach Anequs what she needs to know to safely raise and train the dragon.
For that and other reasons, Anequs needs to enroll in a private academy, far away on the mainland, where she will be registered as, and learn to become, a dragoneer.
We follow Anequs as she and her dragon, Kasaqua, travel to the city and enroll in the Academy. It's Anequs first time living amongst the Anglish and it's jarring; definitely not the easiest transition for her.
We get to meet the other students, as well as the Professors and get a front row seat to their classes and the inherent racism found there.
This story takes us through Anequs entire first year and leaves off in a great spot for the continuation of the story. I'm excited about the possibilities of the second book.
Blackgoose developed a lush and detailed world with this book. There was a lot of information given to the Reader involving the magic system, history and society's relationship to the dragons.
I tried not to get too bogged down in the details, because I could see how trying to remember every single thing could ruin this experience for some Readers. I trusted Blackgoose to be able to weave an impactful tale without me having to take notes while Anequs was at class.
For me, it worked and I can see, as the series, continues, how things that seem foreign at the start as concepts, will just become old hat, the more you read in this world.
I was torn at the end on how to rate this one. It is very impressive in the scope and the world-building. Also, I enjoyed very much the intrigue as Anequs's presence at the Academy has the potential to shake up the social order.
I also very much enjoyed the growth we see in Anequs as a character. She literally grew leaps and bounds over the course of this story.
However, it did have some pitfalls for me as well. For one, I felt it was a little too long and perhaps there were a few too many details, as far as the content of her classes went, etc.
The pace was slow, particularly around the middle of the story and some of the social circumstances bordered on repetitive. I waxed and waned and ultimately decided, as recently as this morning, to give it a solid 4-star rating.
I did enjoy this one very much and I am definitely going to be picking up the next book. I would recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a lush YA Fantasy, with strong cultural influences and important social commentary.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Del Rey, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
This is a grand debut and I look forward to reading more from Moniquill Blackgoose!
Also, DRAGONS!!!
This story follows Anequs, a teen girl, who lives on the remote island of Masquapaug, with her family and peoples.
After Anequs finds an abandoned dragon egg, she brings it back to her village and they guard over it, keeping it safe. Once the baby dragon hatches, it chooses Anequs and they are bonded.
The people of the village are delighted. In a previous time, their society had many dragons and those prosperous times are still remembered well in song and story.
After the baby dragon chooses Anequs, She becomes their only Nampeshiweisit; a person with a special relationship with dragons.
Unfortunately, there is no one left alive who remembers the old ways and can teach Anequs what she needs to know to safely raise and train the dragon.
For that and other reasons, Anequs needs to enroll in a private academy, far away on the mainland, where she will be registered as, and learn to become, a dragoneer.
We follow Anequs as she and her dragon, Kasaqua, travel to the city and enroll in the Academy. It's Anequs first time living amongst the Anglish and it's jarring; definitely not the easiest transition for her.
We get to meet the other students, as well as the Professors and get a front row seat to their classes and the inherent racism found there.
This story takes us through Anequs entire first year and leaves off in a great spot for the continuation of the story. I'm excited about the possibilities of the second book.
Blackgoose developed a lush and detailed world with this book. There was a lot of information given to the Reader involving the magic system, history and society's relationship to the dragons.
I tried not to get too bogged down in the details, because I could see how trying to remember every single thing could ruin this experience for some Readers. I trusted Blackgoose to be able to weave an impactful tale without me having to take notes while Anequs was at class.
For me, it worked and I can see, as the series, continues, how things that seem foreign at the start as concepts, will just become old hat, the more you read in this world.
I was torn at the end on how to rate this one. It is very impressive in the scope and the world-building. Also, I enjoyed very much the intrigue as Anequs's presence at the Academy has the potential to shake up the social order.
I also very much enjoyed the growth we see in Anequs as a character. She literally grew leaps and bounds over the course of this story.
However, it did have some pitfalls for me as well. For one, I felt it was a little too long and perhaps there were a few too many details, as far as the content of her classes went, etc.
The pace was slow, particularly around the middle of the story and some of the social circumstances bordered on repetitive. I waxed and waned and ultimately decided, as recently as this morning, to give it a solid 4-star rating.
I did enjoy this one very much and I am definitely going to be picking up the next book. I would recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a lush YA Fantasy, with strong cultural influences and important social commentary.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Del Rey, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
This is a grand debut and I look forward to reading more from Moniquill Blackgoose!
April 24, 2023
LOVED this book! It is the queer poly indigenous dragon riding book dismantling colonialism in an academic setting that I had no idea I so desperately needed. I'm extremely into it.
It's got adult/YA crossover appeal and is perfect for teens who are really into dragons, adults who used to be or still are extremely into dragons, and also just for adults who enjoy a great story and writing.
It's got adult/YA crossover appeal and is perfect for teens who are really into dragons, adults who used to be or still are extremely into dragons, and also just for adults who enjoy a great story and writing.
November 23, 2024
This was fantastic, and I would like book two yesterday. Thanks.
Read
March 9, 2025Read for this fantasy reading vlog: https://youtu.be/SjKt0n3fjJs
Written review on the way!
Written review on the way!
August 20, 2025
I'm most impressed by the fact that a book about a dragon academy doesn't have to be high stakes and action heavy but can feel rather real and grounded instead. It's not a cozy story, but it's told in a calm yet powerful way, from the perspective of a unique main character. Anequs, a young indigenous woman, enters a colonizer-run dragon academy upon being chosen by a dragon herself, but she is absolutely immovable when it comes to her believes and values and she doesn't falter in the face of the new world that she is confronted with. It was such a pleasure to read from her perspective with her being calm and smart and caring. Multiple other characters were very lovable too and it was so great to see how Anequs had both strong familial bonds and new close friendships. There were many moments that really touched me and the writing transported emotions remarkably well in my opinion. I loved reading every page of this book, but I also hope that book 2 will add a bit of a stronger plot and explore new places. The necessary world building for that is already there, and it was so very interesting to me that it was more of an alternate history to our own world than a pure fantasy setting. I must compliment Moniquill Blackgoose for writing such an outstanding story and I'm very excited to read the sequel and more from this author in general.
Read
November 23, 2023DNF - 62% (when the kissing started). I really wanted to like this one and timed it for Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month, which is when I spend the most time thinking about how colonialism screwed over indigenous peoples - and also trying to make acorn bread to remind myself what a newcomer I am in this land (broken nails = self-flagellation?). Anyway, I think what I'm trying to say is that I went into this ready to sneer at the alt-Europeans in their bigotry, sexism, and illiberalism, but I came out of it wondering if there was anything - anything - that wasn't perfect in the indigenous culture depicted.
Heroine Anequs would say no, and I think that's maybe why we didn't get along. Compelled to attend dragon academy in an Anglish town, she has no insecurity to overcome and nothing to adapt to: her plan is to go to school and then go straight home. In the face of Anglish injustice, bullying, homophobia, and classism, she explains the superior Masquisit ways to her unenlightened classmates, who are astonished at the generosity and functionality of her culture. Anequs encounters many stereotypes (and some of these sound like they might come from lived experience - ouch), and she not only overcomes them all but also champions the other downtrodden.
Lots of this. I mean, I agree with Anequs, having been owned by several cats, but the inferiority of Anglish culture is pointed out so frequently that it gets a bit wearying. I get it; white people suck.
As someone who is also between cultures, I would have loved a little more nuance in the portrayals of each culture even while acknowledging the problems born of racism and colonialism. I did enjoy the bits about Masquisit food and dance, but I needed a more dynamic heroine who faced real challenges and maybe even made mistakes sometimes.
Also, the dragons are disappointingly personality-free - they might just as well be magical talismans for all the individuality. Kasaqua is more of a plot point than an entity in this book, even though we're told she and Anequs share an emotional bond.
After three hundred pages, I'm still not invested in the plot (which, if present, is veeeeery slow moving) or the characters, so back it goes to the library.
Heroine Anequs would say no, and I think that's maybe why we didn't get along. Compelled to attend dragon academy in an Anglish town, she has no insecurity to overcome and nothing to adapt to: her plan is to go to school and then go straight home. In the face of Anglish injustice, bullying, homophobia, and classism, she explains the superior Masquisit ways to her unenlightened classmates, who are astonished at the generosity and functionality of her culture. Anequs encounters many stereotypes (and some of these sound like they might come from lived experience - ouch), and she not only overcomes them all but also champions the other downtrodden.
"Dragons are sacred to my people," I said, trying to understand how she could so casually talk of dragons being put to death. "Being chosen by one is an incomparable honor that changes one's life forever. The word for 'dragoneer' in Masquisit is 'Nampeshiweisit.' It means 'person who belongs to a dragon'- just like Naquisit means 'person who belongs to Naquipaug,' and Masquisit means 'person who belongs to Masquapaug.' I don't think that 'dragoneer' means the same thing at all, from what I've seen. I don't think that your people understand dragons."
Marta looked stricken for a moment, and her dragon rose to his feet. Then she took a breath and seemed to compose herself.
Lots of this. I mean, I agree with Anequs, having been owned by several cats, but the inferiority of Anglish culture is pointed out so frequently that it gets a bit wearying. I get it; white people suck.
As someone who is also between cultures, I would have loved a little more nuance in the portrayals of each culture even while acknowledging the problems born of racism and colonialism. I did enjoy the bits about Masquisit food and dance, but I needed a more dynamic heroine who faced real challenges and maybe even made mistakes sometimes.
Also, the dragons are disappointingly personality-free - they might just as well be magical talismans for all the individuality. Kasaqua is more of a plot point than an entity in this book, even though we're told she and Anequs share an emotional bond.
After three hundred pages, I'm still not invested in the plot (which, if present, is veeeeery slow moving) or the characters, so back it goes to the library.
November 27, 2023
WOWOWOW! a favorite of the year for sure!
May 9, 2023
Ahoy there me mateys! This is a dragon book and the start of a new series that ended up being an uneven read even though I do want to read the next one when it comes out.
Pros:
- Dragons: Cause who doesn't love them?
- Indigenous main character: I really enjoyed Anequs and did sympathize with her plight regarding her world being colonized by the Anglish.
- Diversity: I enjoyed the ideas of a bi-sexual main character who comes from a culture that is okay with polyamory. I enjoyed the neurodivergent friend. I loved Anequs befriending a servant against the norm.
- Alternate History: I like worldbuilding where our world is twisted.
Cons:
- Dragons: How can they be a con? Not much happens on the page with them. If they were turned into fancy horses or dogs, a lot of the story would stay the same.
- Indigenous main character: Anegus world seemed like an utopia with only a little bit of money. It seemed like an overly idealized version of such a culture.
- Diversity: Some of the friendships seemed contrived, and I am not always a fan of the friend group being made up of all misfits. Makes it feel like the characters are checkboxes.
- Alternate History: I felt that this alternate history was too much English and Nordic culture. We did not get enough of Anequs' world. I also feel like the message about colonization took away from the plot. Too much moralizing and not action.
- Too Long: This book was over 5oo pages. A lot of the political philosophizing could have been removed as well as the chemical educational lectures. This novel needed about 200 pages trimmed. And more dragons!
Arrrr!
Pros:
- Dragons: Cause who doesn't love them?
- Indigenous main character: I really enjoyed Anequs and did sympathize with her plight regarding her world being colonized by the Anglish.
- Diversity: I enjoyed the ideas of a bi-sexual main character who comes from a culture that is okay with polyamory. I enjoyed the neurodivergent friend. I loved Anequs befriending a servant against the norm.
- Alternate History: I like worldbuilding where our world is twisted.
Cons:
- Dragons: How can they be a con? Not much happens on the page with them. If they were turned into fancy horses or dogs, a lot of the story would stay the same.
- Indigenous main character: Anegus world seemed like an utopia with only a little bit of money. It seemed like an overly idealized version of such a culture.
- Diversity: Some of the friendships seemed contrived, and I am not always a fan of the friend group being made up of all misfits. Makes it feel like the characters are checkboxes.
- Alternate History: I felt that this alternate history was too much English and Nordic culture. We did not get enough of Anequs' world. I also feel like the message about colonization took away from the plot. Too much moralizing and not action.
- Too Long: This book was over 5oo pages. A lot of the political philosophizing could have been removed as well as the chemical educational lectures. This novel needed about 200 pages trimmed. And more dragons!
Arrrr!
July 22, 2024
4.5 stars rounded up
This was great and I immediately want more! To be fair, I love a magic school book and I think what this one is doing thematically is really cool. To Shape a Dragon's Breath follows an indigenous teen girl who attends a colonizer-run dragon academy. She's kind of great because she could not be less bothered about what anyone wants her to do or be, to the point of occasional recklessness that makes sense for her age. I do wish we got more with the dragons, but really enjoyed the book and how it puts a fresh spin on well-trodden tropes.
This was great and I immediately want more! To be fair, I love a magic school book and I think what this one is doing thematically is really cool. To Shape a Dragon's Breath follows an indigenous teen girl who attends a colonizer-run dragon academy. She's kind of great because she could not be less bothered about what anyone wants her to do or be, to the point of occasional recklessness that makes sense for her age. I do wish we got more with the dragons, but really enjoyed the book and how it puts a fresh spin on well-trodden tropes.
November 13, 2024
I love this book so much! Ms Blackgoose's storytelling style is immersive and compelling. Our heroine, Anequs, tells the story of her dragon in first person, inviting you to get to know her and her wonderful family intimately. The difference between Anequs and her indigenous family/people and the "Anglish" colonizers is profound. Anequs must attend an Anglish dragon school on the mainland, where they consider her and her people uncivilized barbarians, which would be laughable if the Anglish didn't have power over Anequs and her dragon (and her people). It's blazingly clear who the barbarians are—and they're not the indigenous peoples. The Anglish are, like all colonizers, racist, narrow-minded and mean-spirited. Not all are villains, but all are lacking in integrity and empathy. Anequs has to prove herself civilized enough to be a dragon rider to people who are entitled, shallow and horrible. White people try to ruin everything... Despite the overt racisms she must endure, Anequs is heroic and smart and stands up for herself, her dragon and her people. I cheered for her and will continue to in book two! I highly recommend. I especially enjoyed the audio book because I was immersed in the beautiful language.
November 3, 2022
this would be an excellent 300 page book that for some reason the author decided to make over 500 pages. i simply don’t need a multi page exclusively dialogue lecture about fantasy geometry. the first chunk ruled to hell and then it fell apart sorry to say.
January 19, 2024
4.75⭐️
To Shape a Dragon's Breath is an absolutely stunning debut. It offers itself up as a deeply-rooted criticism of the political and social ideals within Western European cultures, and does not shy away from the cultural appropriation and blatant racism taking place within its pages. It is a story about being presented with a role for which you are expected to fill, but being spurning it in favour of being true to your individuality and your own beliefs, and Moniquill Blackgoose executes it beautifully.
This is not a high-stakes, black-and-white good-vs-evil type of novel. The characters will not fight in an epic battle with the fate of the world on their shoulders. Instead, the conflict within this book are largely social and political, a battle of wills and social ideals over those of swords and armies. Worldbuilding and characterization are highly emphasized in favour of plot and epic scale, and I loved every minute of it.
The worldbuilding, especially, is where I think this book really shines. The worldbuilding is very heavy - and as somebody who loves heavy worldbuilding, this worked very well for me. While clearly modelled after our own world, the author creates a society so rife with original history and a deeply rooted sense of culture that I found myself astounded at its depth. The cultural conflicts, specifically between the Anglish and Masquisit people, were such a blatant reflection of a similar conflict taking place in our own history (both recent and not-as-recent) that I found myself, yet again, getting angry at the Euro-centric mindset that is still present today, the idea that their culture and civilization are the only correct one, and everybody else simply needs to be "civilized."
Which leads me into the characters - they were so delightfully complex, and flawlessly written with so many flaws. I had such a complicated relationship with so many of them, with they way they would do something iconic and badass one page, and then the next be spouting racist crap that, in retrospect, they've been taught since childhood, a racism so deeply rooted that it is difficult to move past - not that that is any excuse for the shit some people say to Anequs. One prime example of such a character is Karina Kuiper, who has a Mulan-esque backstory but also firmly believes that the Anglish perspective is the "correct" perspective, and that all other cultures must conform to this perspective, and it was... absolutely infuriating.
The utter infuriation this book was able to instill within me was probably my favourite part of this book. If you look at my top 5 favourite books, you'll notice a common theme among them - they've all, on some level, manage to instill a deeply rooted anger within me, mostly along the lines of misogyny, which is also definitely present in this book, but also with one group of people believing without question that they are objectively better than another. This book managed to accomplish that feeling, where such rage was weaved through that pages, and what I was feeling is both a personal reaction, and a hint of the POV character's own emotions spilling from the page, intertwining with my own. This book made me so mad. And I loved every minute of it.
In all honesty, the one factor that kept this book from being a true 5-star is that, as much as I loved the worldbuilding, sometimes it felt like it was not quite enough. I wanted to know more, to get a deeper understanding of the very foundations upon which this world was built upon, and I didn't quite get that. However, this was a phenomenal, emotional novel, and I highly, highly recommend it.
To Shape a Dragon's Breath is an absolutely stunning debut. It offers itself up as a deeply-rooted criticism of the political and social ideals within Western European cultures, and does not shy away from the cultural appropriation and blatant racism taking place within its pages. It is a story about being presented with a role for which you are expected to fill, but being spurning it in favour of being true to your individuality and your own beliefs, and Moniquill Blackgoose executes it beautifully.
This is not a high-stakes, black-and-white good-vs-evil type of novel. The characters will not fight in an epic battle with the fate of the world on their shoulders. Instead, the conflict within this book are largely social and political, a battle of wills and social ideals over those of swords and armies. Worldbuilding and characterization are highly emphasized in favour of plot and epic scale, and I loved every minute of it.
The worldbuilding, especially, is where I think this book really shines. The worldbuilding is very heavy - and as somebody who loves heavy worldbuilding, this worked very well for me. While clearly modelled after our own world, the author creates a society so rife with original history and a deeply rooted sense of culture that I found myself astounded at its depth. The cultural conflicts, specifically between the Anglish and Masquisit people, were such a blatant reflection of a similar conflict taking place in our own history (both recent and not-as-recent) that I found myself, yet again, getting angry at the Euro-centric mindset that is still present today, the idea that their culture and civilization are the only correct one, and everybody else simply needs to be "civilized."
Which leads me into the characters - they were so delightfully complex, and flawlessly written with so many flaws. I had such a complicated relationship with so many of them, with they way they would do something iconic and badass one page, and then the next be spouting racist crap that, in retrospect, they've been taught since childhood, a racism so deeply rooted that it is difficult to move past - not that that is any excuse for the shit some people say to Anequs. One prime example of such a character is Karina Kuiper, who has a Mulan-esque backstory but also firmly believes that the Anglish perspective is the "correct" perspective, and that all other cultures must conform to this perspective, and it was... absolutely infuriating.
The utter infuriation this book was able to instill within me was probably my favourite part of this book. If you look at my top 5 favourite books, you'll notice a common theme among them - they've all, on some level, manage to instill a deeply rooted anger within me, mostly along the lines of misogyny, which is also definitely present in this book, but also with one group of people believing without question that they are objectively better than another. This book managed to accomplish that feeling, where such rage was weaved through that pages, and what I was feeling is both a personal reaction, and a hint of the POV character's own emotions spilling from the page, intertwining with my own. This book made me so mad. And I loved every minute of it.
In all honesty, the one factor that kept this book from being a true 5-star is that, as much as I loved the worldbuilding, sometimes it felt like it was not quite enough. I wanted to know more, to get a deeper understanding of the very foundations upon which this world was built upon, and I didn't quite get that. However, this was a phenomenal, emotional novel, and I highly, highly recommend it.
May 17, 2023
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is young adult Indigenous fantasy set in a world remarkably similar to ours, but with dragons. Fifteen year old Anequs, our main character, is a Masquapuag girl who finds herself bonded to the first Nampeshiwe dragon to be hatched on their land in generations, marking Anequs as the first Nampeshiweisit, or dragon companion, in recent memory. Her people are thrilled, but the Anglish, who conquered the land many years ago, have very specific ideas for how a dragon and her dragoneer should operate. In order to keep her dragon from being put to death as a feral, Anequs enrolls in a prestigious dragon academy on the mainland. Here, she is confronted for the first time with the nearly insurmountable differences between her people and the Anglish, who have so many unspoken rules about society and what makes a person civilized. Anequs must learn to navigate this new, baffling world, while also trying to learn everything she needs to know in order to bring her dragon home, and somehow managing to not lose herself and her heritage in the process.
I’m a sucker for a book about dragons, and anything dealing with academia has my immediate attention. Pair that with discourse on colonialism, beautiful depictions of Indigenous life, and a main character I can root for, and I’m sold. This book delivered all of those elements with great aplomb, along with social commentary that both fascinated and enraged. I loved that the world was essentially our own, with the setting similar to America at the cusp of the Industrial Revolution. However, in this version of the world, besides the fact that dragons existed, Christianity never rose to power. The Anglish are essentially Vikings, with their governmental setup and religion, though the names of the Norse gods have been very subtly changed. Subtle name and word alterations are a huge part of Blackgoose’s world building here. Our Freya and Odin are Fyra and Joden in their world. Witchcraft is witskraft. Algebra is aljabr, and geometry is anglereckoning. These little differences threw me at first, and felt unnecessary if the differences between this world and our own were so thinly veiled, but I gradually acclimated to them.
Anequs is a wonderful character, and I could have read about her relationship with Kasaqua, her dragon, forever. The dragons in this book all sounded beautiful, and I love that there were so many different breeds included, but Kasaqua definitely felt the most unique. I love how much time we got with her as a hatchling, and it was bittersweet witnessing her grow. And Anequs is such a self-assured, loyal, upstanding, brave person. I adored every scene set on her home island of Masquapuag, and I loved getting to learn so much about her culture.
It was the Anglish culture that I found distasteful. The emphasis on propriety and adhering to unspoken societal expectations was almost as tedious for me as it was for Anequs when she was among them. It was the amount of time spent on this culture, as well as the fact that Blackgoose could become very info-dumpy with her world building under the guise of the school setting, that had me putting the book down quite often. There were a couple of points where I bogged down enough to consider not picking the book back up, but I’m very glad that I stuck with it.
This is a book with a ton of representation, and none of it felt forced. The city in which Anequs attends school is a melting pot, and we see people of all races and religions, as well as the prejudice that sadly follows such diversity. Multiple sexualities are represented, though we see how those things are closeted out of fear in Anglish society while being accepted without question by the “nackie” (Native) society. And finally, we have some neurodivergent representation in the form of one of my favorite side characters, Sander, as well as the first time I’ve ever encountered fidgets in a fantasy novel. I thought those were a lovely touch.
I ended up very much enjoying To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, even though I felt it was a bit too long and involved too much info-dumping in the worldbuilding. This is such a unique story, and I’m thrilled that Indigenous fiction is coming more to the fore. I will be eagerly awaiting the sequel!
I’m a sucker for a book about dragons, and anything dealing with academia has my immediate attention. Pair that with discourse on colonialism, beautiful depictions of Indigenous life, and a main character I can root for, and I’m sold. This book delivered all of those elements with great aplomb, along with social commentary that both fascinated and enraged. I loved that the world was essentially our own, with the setting similar to America at the cusp of the Industrial Revolution. However, in this version of the world, besides the fact that dragons existed, Christianity never rose to power. The Anglish are essentially Vikings, with their governmental setup and religion, though the names of the Norse gods have been very subtly changed. Subtle name and word alterations are a huge part of Blackgoose’s world building here. Our Freya and Odin are Fyra and Joden in their world. Witchcraft is witskraft. Algebra is aljabr, and geometry is anglereckoning. These little differences threw me at first, and felt unnecessary if the differences between this world and our own were so thinly veiled, but I gradually acclimated to them.
Anequs is a wonderful character, and I could have read about her relationship with Kasaqua, her dragon, forever. The dragons in this book all sounded beautiful, and I love that there were so many different breeds included, but Kasaqua definitely felt the most unique. I love how much time we got with her as a hatchling, and it was bittersweet witnessing her grow. And Anequs is such a self-assured, loyal, upstanding, brave person. I adored every scene set on her home island of Masquapuag, and I loved getting to learn so much about her culture.
It was the Anglish culture that I found distasteful. The emphasis on propriety and adhering to unspoken societal expectations was almost as tedious for me as it was for Anequs when she was among them. It was the amount of time spent on this culture, as well as the fact that Blackgoose could become very info-dumpy with her world building under the guise of the school setting, that had me putting the book down quite often. There were a couple of points where I bogged down enough to consider not picking the book back up, but I’m very glad that I stuck with it.
This is a book with a ton of representation, and none of it felt forced. The city in which Anequs attends school is a melting pot, and we see people of all races and religions, as well as the prejudice that sadly follows such diversity. Multiple sexualities are represented, though we see how those things are closeted out of fear in Anglish society while being accepted without question by the “nackie” (Native) society. And finally, we have some neurodivergent representation in the form of one of my favorite side characters, Sander, as well as the first time I’ve ever encountered fidgets in a fantasy novel. I thought those were a lovely touch.
I ended up very much enjoying To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, even though I felt it was a bit too long and involved too much info-dumping in the worldbuilding. This is such a unique story, and I’m thrilled that Indigenous fiction is coming more to the fore. I will be eagerly awaiting the sequel!
June 26, 2024
DNF @ 45%
I really wanted to love this book, and from the description - I should have. Unfortunately, it's a bit tedious and boring. The main character is so blase about the upheaval of her life, there is no angst or anger. She's presented as wiser than all the colonizers and their silly ways, it's presented that her culture is like utopia but with poverty - which isn't a problem because they have what they need. There are no nuanced looks into... well, anything.
Then you have dragons who have nothing really special or magical about them and no real personality. Just another brainless beast of burden. It could've been a cat or horse and the story would stay the same.
I really wanted to love this book, and from the description - I should have. Unfortunately, it's a bit tedious and boring. The main character is so blase about the upheaval of her life, there is no angst or anger. She's presented as wiser than all the colonizers and their silly ways, it's presented that her culture is like utopia but with poverty - which isn't a problem because they have what they need. There are no nuanced looks into... well, anything.
Then you have dragons who have nothing really special or magical about them and no real personality. Just another brainless beast of burden. It could've been a cat or horse and the story would stay the same.
January 22, 2023
This book felt like it was written for me. It clearly wasn't, of course; for one thing it's a YA novel, and I am 36 years old. But it did a bunch of things I absolutely love in fiction and very rarely see. It's my first time getting to read an ARC but I'm very happy this book happened to catch my eye just after I set up my Netgalley account!
Anyway, I requested this book because 1. DRAGONS and 2. I enjoy familiar fantasy tropes juxtaposed with worldbuilding that I haven't seen five hundred times, and "telepathically bonded dragon rider" is something I've enjoyed a lot of, but "alt-history fantasy North America from an Indigenous perspective" is not something I've seen much. I will admit that I didn't notice the "magical boarding school" aspect of the blurb when I requested this ARC (I was very excited by the dragons!) but it's also a trope I've enjoyed; that said, I know enough history to be aware that "magical boarding school" has an extremely different tenor when you add "Indigenous protagonist," and I was a little apprehensive that it would be very dark. (It was not. There was certainly darkness, and Anequs' boarding school experience is a troublesome requirement of the society that's colonizing her people's land rather than a welcome escape, but this is also not a book about the realities of child abuse and cultural genocide at residential schools for Indigenous children. There's certainly discussion of both cultural and literal genocide, but Anequs is always able to find her way out of harrowing situations eventually.)
Anyway, I loved the dragons immediately, of course, and the alternate history + boarding school elements were really interesting, but the trope absolutely nothing prepared me for was the particular focus on how magic interacts with chemistry. Instead of a map in the front, the book has an in-universe periodic table of elements, or "aethers" -- with some super intriguing (to me, anyway) gaps and layout changes from the one I'm familiar with, and a completely different set of names and abbreviations for substances I recognize. (It was very jarring at first to realize their abbreviation for carbon was K, but fortunately I was not, as I first feared, in danger of confusing kolfni with potassium.) This is the part where "this book feels like it was written for me" comes in, and it is not necessarily a selling point for other people, because I don't know how many people have thought "if only Uncleftish Beholding was longer, and maybe more about chemistry," BUT! If you do like that kind of thing, you will like this book a lot. I should also say that the Uncleftish Beholding comparison is a bit unfair, because this author is trying to tell a story, not showcase how many commonplace science words come from Latin and Greek sources, so it's less of a vocabulary puzzle and was pretty easy to follow along. That said, I am a little apprehensive about how my less-STEM-focused friends will enjoy this aspect of the book; my main Discord hangout now has a thread filled with me shouting at my friends about biology/chemistry/physics-related worldbuilding implications I discovered along the way, and I'm aware that people who didn't like chemistry won't find this aspect of the book as enchanting as I did. So that is potentially a selling point if you, like me, are into aspects of real science mixed in with your magical worldbuilding, but potentially also a stumbling block if that's not your jam.
Although maybe if you're nerdy about something else mixed in with your magical worldbuilding, you'll find it here, because this book has so much Explaining in it. It rarely gets to the point of feeling like an unnecessary infodump, but sometimes it does feel odd for people to be so patient with Anequs for a couple paragraphs when they are often so impatient with her elsewhere. She certainly deserves their patience, as someone faced with having to navigate an unfamiliar culture that is hostile to her existence, but as a fictional character, I do sometimes wish she'd distribute the knowledge gained from these explanations throughout the text when we need it a little more often, rather than slowing the action down to digest it all at once. The world the author has built is very different from our own, particularly in terms of technology, the dominant cultures/religions, and vocabulary, and I understand why so many explanations are needed, but it does get kind of frustrating unless the explanation is about something you happen to be really into, like, for example, if you are me and the explanation is about chemistry.
Back to the good stuff, though! I rated this book five stars despite the slowness of some of the conversations about the worldbuilding, and that's because it's absolutely fantastic at other things.
In terms of pure writing/tropes, I enjoyed the dragon descriptions greatly, from the worldbuilding about dragons' breath (not a breath of flame, exactly, but of chemical reaction!) to the way Anequs and Kasaqua's connection is written. (Also, I would extremely like to pet Kasaqua; I am sure she wouldn't rearrange my molecules unless I really deserved it.) I loved Anequs as a protagonist who is determined not to lose herself and to do what's right by those she loves, but is also prickly and impatient and sometimes unwise; I love that this book turns the trope of "opulent magic boarding school" on its head and turns it into "these gifts come with so many strings attached, and an insufficient performance of gratitude will get you in trouble."
One thing that I know other reviewers will be talking lots about is the ethnic diversity of the cast, so I won't spend a ton of time blathering on about this. The thing that strikes me here is that that diversity felt as natural as it ought to, despite being set in a highly stratified, very segregated world. A lot of authors write this kind of thing very awkwardly, and one gets the impression they've never been on a city bus before, but in this book no one ever feels like a tokenistic Representative of Their Race, even though Anequs is constantly being forced into that mold in-universe along with the other Native characters who have the misfortune to capture the attention of the public.
Another thing that felt true to life was the way in which people kept pressuring Anequs to do all their holidays, and how annoyed they were when her culture had its own holidays which she wanted to observe with her family. I'm white, but I'm Jewish, and while people are aware I might not celebrate Christmas I've still gotten the weird reactions to not doing Easter that Anequs gets about several of the holidays in the book, and while that's moderately annoying, some friends of mine have much, much worse stories about not being allowed to observe holidays in peace. The "well it can't be THAT important a holiday, I haven't heard of it, anyway you should come do Jule with us!" attitude that Anequs' Anglish classmates and the school administration has is familiar and infuriating. The narrative also perfectly captures the absolutely suffocating feeling of telling people over and over -- people in authority, who ought to be standing up for you, and maybe even think they are standing up for you -- that there's just no point in being civil to powerful people who think your entire ethnic group needs to be eliminated, and that nice manners won't win them over; that this might be a fun thought experiment for them but recent history suggests that for your family it could be life and death.
And one last, smaller "diversity!" note: I adored Sander, Anequs' best friend in the book. He's kind and helpful, enthusiastic about geometry, and really loves pennik novels. He also is mostly nonverbal (when he speaks, it's often not quite what he means to say) and communicates primarily through a wax tablet which magically erases itself when he runs out of space. I can't speak to Authenticity Of Experience, because I'm not autistic, but I have a lot of good friends who are, and Sander immediately bonding with Marta over pennik novels was delightful and relatable, and a lot of his struggles with getting people (especially his family) to take him seriously sounded familiar too.
Finally, I want to talk about the romance plot -- which is yet another thing that I have been wanting but didn't know I was ever going to find, especially not in a YA novel. See, the thing is, I like a lot of YA tropes, but I dislike YA love triangles enormously. I especially dislike love triangles where a girl must choose between a sexy bad boy and a sexier, worse boy, and neither of them treat her very well and it's a big important symbol of her choices in the plot, but the bad boy and the worse boy act so similar I sometimes forget which one is which.
None of that fucking happens in this book and I love that. I adore that. I was delighted for that not to happen. You may think, "well, yes, I've read other reviews, this book is apparently queer and poly," and those things help, but it goes beyond that.
In this book, a girl meets another girl who is kind to her at a time where it really matters, and she also meets a boy who's initially hostile but also clearly terrified for completely understandable reasons, and as she gets closer to these people they become important to her -- and most importantly, to me, they genuinely feel like people she cares for and not a symbolic binary choice she must make to further the narrative. And because Anequs herself is from a culture where polyamory is fine and normal and so is queerness, there is no time wasted on BUT WHICH OF THESE NEARLY IDENTICAL CHOICES WILL I CHOOSE??? The dramatic tension instead comes from everyone's ongoing character development, and how that bumps up against the world that they live in, and that feels so much more authentic. I don't know that this book series is necessarily going to end with polyamory -- I do hope so! -- but I do know that it's not setting up a "Team Bad Boy" vs "Team Worse Boy" dynamic, and I am so glad of that. The romance aspect in this book is pretty low-key, but I generally like how this author has been writing interpersonal relationships and I don't think the romance subplots will feel forced no matter how they shake out.
Anyway, look: if one or two of the nerdy topics in this book sounds interesting, I really highly recommend it. I recommend it even more if one of those topics is chemistry and/or alternative history! But I also recommend it if you'd just like some YA fantasy adventure that has (at least, I think) a good, readable mix of dragon-y gaslamp escapism and emotionally real scenes of a protagonist navigating (and often defying) a hostile and uncaring dominant culture that's trying to remake her.
Anyway, I requested this book because 1. DRAGONS and 2. I enjoy familiar fantasy tropes juxtaposed with worldbuilding that I haven't seen five hundred times, and "telepathically bonded dragon rider" is something I've enjoyed a lot of, but "alt-history fantasy North America from an Indigenous perspective" is not something I've seen much. I will admit that I didn't notice the "magical boarding school" aspect of the blurb when I requested this ARC (I was very excited by the dragons!) but it's also a trope I've enjoyed; that said, I know enough history to be aware that "magical boarding school" has an extremely different tenor when you add "Indigenous protagonist," and I was a little apprehensive that it would be very dark. (It was not. There was certainly darkness, and Anequs' boarding school experience is a troublesome requirement of the society that's colonizing her people's land rather than a welcome escape, but this is also not a book about the realities of child abuse and cultural genocide at residential schools for Indigenous children. There's certainly discussion of both cultural and literal genocide, but Anequs is always able to find her way out of harrowing situations eventually.)
Anyway, I loved the dragons immediately, of course, and the alternate history + boarding school elements were really interesting, but the trope absolutely nothing prepared me for was the particular focus on how magic interacts with chemistry. Instead of a map in the front, the book has an in-universe periodic table of elements, or "aethers" -- with some super intriguing (to me, anyway) gaps and layout changes from the one I'm familiar with, and a completely different set of names and abbreviations for substances I recognize. (It was very jarring at first to realize their abbreviation for carbon was K, but fortunately I was not, as I first feared, in danger of confusing kolfni with potassium.) This is the part where "this book feels like it was written for me" comes in, and it is not necessarily a selling point for other people, because I don't know how many people have thought "if only Uncleftish Beholding was longer, and maybe more about chemistry," BUT! If you do like that kind of thing, you will like this book a lot. I should also say that the Uncleftish Beholding comparison is a bit unfair, because this author is trying to tell a story, not showcase how many commonplace science words come from Latin and Greek sources, so it's less of a vocabulary puzzle and was pretty easy to follow along. That said, I am a little apprehensive about how my less-STEM-focused friends will enjoy this aspect of the book; my main Discord hangout now has a thread filled with me shouting at my friends about biology/chemistry/physics-related worldbuilding implications I discovered along the way, and I'm aware that people who didn't like chemistry won't find this aspect of the book as enchanting as I did. So that is potentially a selling point if you, like me, are into aspects of real science mixed in with your magical worldbuilding, but potentially also a stumbling block if that's not your jam.
Although maybe if you're nerdy about something else mixed in with your magical worldbuilding, you'll find it here, because this book has so much Explaining in it. It rarely gets to the point of feeling like an unnecessary infodump, but sometimes it does feel odd for people to be so patient with Anequs for a couple paragraphs when they are often so impatient with her elsewhere. She certainly deserves their patience, as someone faced with having to navigate an unfamiliar culture that is hostile to her existence, but as a fictional character, I do sometimes wish she'd distribute the knowledge gained from these explanations throughout the text when we need it a little more often, rather than slowing the action down to digest it all at once. The world the author has built is very different from our own, particularly in terms of technology, the dominant cultures/religions, and vocabulary, and I understand why so many explanations are needed, but it does get kind of frustrating unless the explanation is about something you happen to be really into, like, for example, if you are me and the explanation is about chemistry.
Back to the good stuff, though! I rated this book five stars despite the slowness of some of the conversations about the worldbuilding, and that's because it's absolutely fantastic at other things.
In terms of pure writing/tropes, I enjoyed the dragon descriptions greatly, from the worldbuilding about dragons' breath (not a breath of flame, exactly, but of chemical reaction!) to the way Anequs and Kasaqua's connection is written. (Also, I would extremely like to pet Kasaqua; I am sure she wouldn't rearrange my molecules unless I really deserved it.) I loved Anequs as a protagonist who is determined not to lose herself and to do what's right by those she loves, but is also prickly and impatient and sometimes unwise; I love that this book turns the trope of "opulent magic boarding school" on its head and turns it into "these gifts come with so many strings attached, and an insufficient performance of gratitude will get you in trouble."
One thing that I know other reviewers will be talking lots about is the ethnic diversity of the cast, so I won't spend a ton of time blathering on about this. The thing that strikes me here is that that diversity felt as natural as it ought to, despite being set in a highly stratified, very segregated world. A lot of authors write this kind of thing very awkwardly, and one gets the impression they've never been on a city bus before, but in this book no one ever feels like a tokenistic Representative of Their Race, even though Anequs is constantly being forced into that mold in-universe along with the other Native characters who have the misfortune to capture the attention of the public.
Another thing that felt true to life was the way in which people kept pressuring Anequs to do all their holidays, and how annoyed they were when her culture had its own holidays which she wanted to observe with her family. I'm white, but I'm Jewish, and while people are aware I might not celebrate Christmas I've still gotten the weird reactions to not doing Easter that Anequs gets about several of the holidays in the book, and while that's moderately annoying, some friends of mine have much, much worse stories about not being allowed to observe holidays in peace. The "well it can't be THAT important a holiday, I haven't heard of it, anyway you should come do Jule with us!" attitude that Anequs' Anglish classmates and the school administration has is familiar and infuriating. The narrative also perfectly captures the absolutely suffocating feeling of telling people over and over -- people in authority, who ought to be standing up for you, and maybe even think they are standing up for you -- that there's just no point in being civil to powerful people who think your entire ethnic group needs to be eliminated, and that nice manners won't win them over; that this might be a fun thought experiment for them but recent history suggests that for your family it could be life and death.
And one last, smaller "diversity!" note: I adored Sander, Anequs' best friend in the book. He's kind and helpful, enthusiastic about geometry, and really loves pennik novels. He also is mostly nonverbal (when he speaks, it's often not quite what he means to say) and communicates primarily through a wax tablet which magically erases itself when he runs out of space. I can't speak to Authenticity Of Experience, because I'm not autistic, but I have a lot of good friends who are, and Sander immediately bonding with Marta over pennik novels was delightful and relatable, and a lot of his struggles with getting people (especially his family) to take him seriously sounded familiar too.
Finally, I want to talk about the romance plot -- which is yet another thing that I have been wanting but didn't know I was ever going to find, especially not in a YA novel. See, the thing is, I like a lot of YA tropes, but I dislike YA love triangles enormously. I especially dislike love triangles where a girl must choose between a sexy bad boy and a sexier, worse boy, and neither of them treat her very well and it's a big important symbol of her choices in the plot, but the bad boy and the worse boy act so similar I sometimes forget which one is which.
None of that fucking happens in this book and I love that. I adore that. I was delighted for that not to happen. You may think, "well, yes, I've read other reviews, this book is apparently queer and poly," and those things help, but it goes beyond that.
In this book, a girl meets another girl who is kind to her at a time where it really matters, and she also meets a boy who's initially hostile but also clearly terrified for completely understandable reasons, and as she gets closer to these people they become important to her -- and most importantly, to me, they genuinely feel like people she cares for and not a symbolic binary choice she must make to further the narrative. And because Anequs herself is from a culture where polyamory is fine and normal and so is queerness, there is no time wasted on BUT WHICH OF THESE NEARLY IDENTICAL CHOICES WILL I CHOOSE??? The dramatic tension instead comes from everyone's ongoing character development, and how that bumps up against the world that they live in, and that feels so much more authentic. I don't know that this book series is necessarily going to end with polyamory -- I do hope so! -- but I do know that it's not setting up a "Team Bad Boy" vs "Team Worse Boy" dynamic, and I am so glad of that. The romance aspect in this book is pretty low-key, but I generally like how this author has been writing interpersonal relationships and I don't think the romance subplots will feel forced no matter how they shake out.
Anyway, look: if one or two of the nerdy topics in this book sounds interesting, I really highly recommend it. I recommend it even more if one of those topics is chemistry and/or alternative history! But I also recommend it if you'd just like some YA fantasy adventure that has (at least, I think) a good, readable mix of dragon-y gaslamp escapism and emotionally real scenes of a protagonist navigating (and often defying) a hostile and uncaring dominant culture that's trying to remake her.
Read
May 8, 2023Our heroine is Anequs, an Indigenous girl living in an an alternate Earth that evokes the mid-nineteenth century, when empire-building was rampant. She discovers that a Nampeshiwe, a nearly extinct dragon, has laid an egg on her island. As in many dragon fantasies since Andre Norton first introduced dragon-egg bonding, the baby dragon, Kasaqua, on hatching bonds with Anequs.
As dragons are nearly extinct, no one has any idea how to care for and train a dragon, so Anequs must attend an Anglish dragoneering academy. And here, she runs straight into colonialist racism and bigotry, but she has to stick it out learning how to shape her dragon’s breath, or her dragon will be put to death.
The opening was a real page turner. The setting was vivid, island life rich with tradition and details of daily life. I also loved the fact that polyamory was a part of life here, and Anequs's bisexuality was an integral part of her personality.
That said, once Anequs got to the dragon academy, the plot slowed down. I found myself putting the book down after shorter and shorter reading engagements. The emphasis on colonialist bigotry was like a huge, stomping boot constantly thumping its message, between long, long dissertations on the "science" of dragon breath. It could be that all this is setup for the series, but it made it difficult to engage with the story, especially when the narrative voice resorted to summarizing occasional action after the fact.
Also, though I really like diversity in novels, the sense that the protagonist's group is all rejects for being Different veers a bit too close to checking boxes. But that might be my old age, and younger readers coming fresh to a book with lots of diversity will be engaged with the characters, who--as individuals--I liked a lot.
To wind this up, we have a very long book here that I felt would have kept its great pacing all the way through if a couple hundred pages had been trimmed at the back end. But overall, it's an engaging read, and I'm sure once the story gets going, the stakes, and the pacing, will pick up again, fulfilling the promise of the early part of the book.
As dragons are nearly extinct, no one has any idea how to care for and train a dragon, so Anequs must attend an Anglish dragoneering academy. And here, she runs straight into colonialist racism and bigotry, but she has to stick it out learning how to shape her dragon’s breath, or her dragon will be put to death.
The opening was a real page turner. The setting was vivid, island life rich with tradition and details of daily life. I also loved the fact that polyamory was a part of life here, and Anequs's bisexuality was an integral part of her personality.
That said, once Anequs got to the dragon academy, the plot slowed down. I found myself putting the book down after shorter and shorter reading engagements. The emphasis on colonialist bigotry was like a huge, stomping boot constantly thumping its message, between long, long dissertations on the "science" of dragon breath. It could be that all this is setup for the series, but it made it difficult to engage with the story, especially when the narrative voice resorted to summarizing occasional action after the fact.
Also, though I really like diversity in novels, the sense that the protagonist's group is all rejects for being Different veers a bit too close to checking boxes. But that might be my old age, and younger readers coming fresh to a book with lots of diversity will be engaged with the characters, who--as individuals--I liked a lot.
To wind this up, we have a very long book here that I felt would have kept its great pacing all the way through if a couple hundred pages had been trimmed at the back end. But overall, it's an engaging read, and I'm sure once the story gets going, the stakes, and the pacing, will pick up again, fulfilling the promise of the early part of the book.
October 5, 2024
a book with the subtlety of a sledgehammer but damn it could hit me upside the head any day
March 16, 2023
THIS BOOK. It's only March but this is going to be one of my top reads of the year. Absolutely showstopping, I couldn't put it down. To Shape a Dragon's Breath is a blockbuster of a book that you will regret missing. It's sharp, wise, fun, and angry all wrapped in one which makes for the most brilliant mood for a book. Highly recommend this to anyone looking for anticolonialist writing with dragons (which should be everyone, by the way).
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okay I'm halfway through this book and can we talk about how this book doesn't hold back at all? the white people are called the ANGLISH. This book is a loosely veiled story of colonialism and i'm HERE FOR IT. If white men can do loosely veiled medieval England time and time again, indigenous authors can and should do loosely veiled colonization. more of this PLEASE.
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okay I'm halfway through this book and can we talk about how this book doesn't hold back at all? the white people are called the ANGLISH. This book is a loosely veiled story of colonialism and i'm HERE FOR IT. If white men can do loosely veiled medieval England time and time again, indigenous authors can and should do loosely veiled colonization. more of this PLEASE.
Bookish Brews | Ko-Fi | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook
November 14, 2023
There is ONLY ONE dragon book you should all be talking about this year and it's this one.
December 1, 2024
The shapeless medicine of a dragon’s breath is change.
rating: 4.25★
i knew i had to read this after hearing the words "dragon academy".
the beginning was quite impactful, esp after reading several indigenous books this year about the real history of colonization. i could see clearly where blackgoose had tied in true history to her historical fantasy's events.
i was intrigued by the myth of dragons and the magic system of a sort of dragon alchemy where dragon's breath is able to change (what i think basically are) elements.
there were even times i felt the themes and some characters mirrored babel by rf kuang (though fortunately in a far less tragic way).
however, there isn't a driving plot. which is ok, but i found myself trying to grasp what the path or journey of anequs's story would be in this book as well as the series overall.
the dragons are very interesting and at some points adorable, but they don't have a strong presence individually. this might be more bc kasaqua is not at a size she can ride yet and has not learned how to shape her breath. i'm hoping there's a more directly cohesive relationship of the two in future books.
also, while it does take place at an academy and there is a magic system that is utilized, i felt this was more a historical fantasy than academia book (just my expectations).
overall, i enjoyed this and i'm quite curious to see how the story pans out.
I was going to make sure that the Anglish understood that we had never gone anywhere. That despite their best efforts, we were still living here among them on the lands where we’d always lived. I was going to show them just how many of us there were.
rating: 4.25★
i knew i had to read this after hearing the words "dragon academy".
the beginning was quite impactful, esp after reading several indigenous books this year about the real history of colonization. i could see clearly where blackgoose had tied in true history to her historical fantasy's events.
i was intrigued by the myth of dragons and the magic system of a sort of dragon alchemy where dragon's breath is able to change (what i think basically are) elements.
there were even times i felt the themes and some characters mirrored babel by rf kuang (though fortunately in a far less tragic way).
however, there isn't a driving plot. which is ok, but i found myself trying to grasp what the path or journey of anequs's story would be in this book as well as the series overall.
the dragons are very interesting and at some points adorable, but they don't have a strong presence individually. this might be more bc kasaqua is not at a size she can ride yet and has not learned how to shape her breath. i'm hoping there's a more directly cohesive relationship of the two in future books.
also, while it does take place at an academy and there is a magic system that is utilized, i felt this was more a historical fantasy than academia book (just my expectations).
overall, i enjoyed this and i'm quite curious to see how the story pans out.
I was going to make sure that the Anglish understood that we had never gone anywhere. That despite their best efforts, we were still living here among them on the lands where we’d always lived. I was going to show them just how many of us there were.
on-hold
June 26, 2024This is a really good dragon school historical-esque fantasy that centers on an indigenous young woman being made to go to a school ran by the people who colonized her country and it really has a lot of great things to say! I think there’s also a f/f/m poly relationship brewing?? I just haven’t been able to pick up a book in days, so there’s no way I can finish this by the time it’s due tomorrow 🙃
on hold ~ 55%
on hold ~ 55%
May 17, 2023
This was such a beautiful book. The writing style reminded me of Naomi Novik's in Uprooted and Spinning Silver. It takes an honest look at colonization and the suppression of cultures in a way that reminded me of RF Kuang. All the while, it weaves a beautiful story about an Indigenous girl, Anequs, and her dragon, who are taken from their homeland in order to train at a special school for dragon and their caretakers. She constantly pushes back against the societal norms that the school tries to impress upon her. In the end, she must decide who she wants to be, and who will she let shape her into the woman she'll be for the rest of her life.
The only thing I would say is this book could have been shorter. The pacing dragged because of all the information I was trying to absorb while reading. While I did enjoy the thorough look at Anequs's culture, heritage, and rich world-building, it could have been woven more seamlessly into the plot, instead of the info-dumps throughout the book.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
The only thing I would say is this book could have been shorter. The pacing dragged because of all the information I was trying to absorb while reading. While I did enjoy the thorough look at Anequs's culture, heritage, and rich world-building, it could have been woven more seamlessly into the plot, instead of the info-dumps throughout the book.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
December 4, 2024
*Banging pots and pans together* SEQUELNOWSEQUELNOWSEQUELNOWSEQUELNOW!!
I'm not that articulate of a reviewer, I talk about nonsense and vibes mostly. If you want a good, thoughtful review, please read one from somebody else. I'm just here to say I fucking LOVED this book, which did surprise me since I'm painfully finicky about fantasy books. I read most of this in one sitting and it wouldn't have hurt my feelings at all if there was another 500 pages of story. The bonds the students had with their dragons actually reminded me a little of this book that I read when I was a kid, Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher so I was definitely having a blast whenever the dragons were on page and thankfully they were often on page. This was truly a perfect book in my opinion, everything works together so seamlessly.
I kind of want to eat this book I love it so much, does that make sense?
I'm not that articulate of a reviewer, I talk about nonsense and vibes mostly. If you want a good, thoughtful review, please read one from somebody else. I'm just here to say I fucking LOVED this book, which did surprise me since I'm painfully finicky about fantasy books. I read most of this in one sitting and it wouldn't have hurt my feelings at all if there was another 500 pages of story. The bonds the students had with their dragons actually reminded me a little of this book that I read when I was a kid, Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher so I was definitely having a blast whenever the dragons were on page and thankfully they were often on page. This was truly a perfect book in my opinion, everything works together so seamlessly.
I kind of want to eat this book I love it so much, does that make sense?
Read
January 23, 2024I'm not going to rate this one because I'm absolutely not the right audience for it (I would no longer consider myself a fantasy reader, I don't particularly care for long books and YA is most often not my thing).
The main character got on my nerves because she was a teenager acting like one, I felt like nothing much happened except the dynamics between the characters which evolved a little and the dragons that grew. If I had read this one as a younger reader, I would have probably adored it though.
The main character got on my nerves because she was a teenager acting like one, I felt like nothing much happened except the dynamics between the characters which evolved a little and the dragons that grew. If I had read this one as a younger reader, I would have probably adored it though.
August 13, 2025
When Anequs finds the first dragon egg in centuries, and the baby chooses her to be her companion, she realizes her village doesn’t know how to shape the dragon’s breath anymore. With the goal of keeping her village safe from both the dragon and the colonizers who might attack them for hiding the creature, Anequs enrolls in a dragon academy.
She wasn’t expecting her presence to cause any kind of rebellion, or Anglish people to be so racist and have so many rules. She must learn to keep away from trouble without forgetting her roots, if she wants to return home with her dragon alive.
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath was a slow paced story, where you mainly follow the daily life at the dragon academy, as well as getting to know the folklore and traditions of Anequs people. It’s also a clear portrayal of the prejudices against indigenous people, showing clearly how the colonizers (called Anglish) consider themselves superior for following hundreds of society rules that make little sense.
Colonialism, as well as how indigenous people are treated as uncivilized just because their traditions, folklore and society rules are different, it’s a very interesting and important theme, and one that we need to be educated on. I found very scary how many readers seem to be enjoying books pro-colonialism, often not even understanding what the stories are even supporting (I’m talking about books like A Dark and Drowning Tide, which was a Goodreads nominee).
It was a breath of fresh air to finally read a young adult/new adult fantasy book that handled the theme of colonialism correctly. When I learned that the author herself was part of an indigenous community, it made sense that the theme was so important in the story and so well-portrayed.
I also loved being inside this story. I adore books set in a magical academy, where you can follow the characters as they learn about their powers while they develop relationships between each other. It was great, going back to that fantastical place every time I opened this book.
While I enjoyed how the story was set, my interest in the book slowly decreased the more I read, because the pacing was too slow for me. I really appreciated the indigenous and queer representation, but I wanted the story to give me a thrilling plot to match.
Overall, I’m actually glad I read this because I really enjoyed the first part, until I started to gradually lose interest because of the pacing. To be honest, I don’t think I was quite the audience for this. If you are someone who chooses vibes over actual plot, and you love the idea of a dragon academy as much as I do, this may be the book for you. The writing was good and everything was solid, just not action-driven enough to keep my interest until the end.
*Rating: 2.5/5
I kindly received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
✦ My rating system
My rating is mainly based on how much I enjoyed a book, and compare it with other books I've read of the same genre.
⭐ I hated it. The book shows a clear support for values/morals I don't agree with (sexism, homophobia, colonialism, racism...) or it was specially awful.
⭐.5 I didn't like it/bored me to death.
⭐⭐ It didn't work for me, but I understand why other people liked it. I may have been close to dnf because I was bored.
⭐⭐⭐I enjoyed it. It was good, but not unforgettable.
⭐⭐⭐⭐I loved it (new favorite of the year)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐New all time favorite, it has stolen a special place in my heart 💙
I can reread anything I rate 3-5 stars.
She wasn’t expecting her presence to cause any kind of rebellion, or Anglish people to be so racist and have so many rules. She must learn to keep away from trouble without forgetting her roots, if she wants to return home with her dragon alive.
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath was a slow paced story, where you mainly follow the daily life at the dragon academy, as well as getting to know the folklore and traditions of Anequs people. It’s also a clear portrayal of the prejudices against indigenous people, showing clearly how the colonizers (called Anglish) consider themselves superior for following hundreds of society rules that make little sense.
Colonialism, as well as how indigenous people are treated as uncivilized just because their traditions, folklore and society rules are different, it’s a very interesting and important theme, and one that we need to be educated on. I found very scary how many readers seem to be enjoying books pro-colonialism, often not even understanding what the stories are even supporting (I’m talking about books like A Dark and Drowning Tide, which was a Goodreads nominee).
It was a breath of fresh air to finally read a young adult/new adult fantasy book that handled the theme of colonialism correctly. When I learned that the author herself was part of an indigenous community, it made sense that the theme was so important in the story and so well-portrayed.
I also loved being inside this story. I adore books set in a magical academy, where you can follow the characters as they learn about their powers while they develop relationships between each other. It was great, going back to that fantastical place every time I opened this book.
While I enjoyed how the story was set, my interest in the book slowly decreased the more I read, because the pacing was too slow for me. I really appreciated the indigenous and queer representation, but I wanted the story to give me a thrilling plot to match.
Overall, I’m actually glad I read this because I really enjoyed the first part, until I started to gradually lose interest because of the pacing. To be honest, I don’t think I was quite the audience for this. If you are someone who chooses vibes over actual plot, and you love the idea of a dragon academy as much as I do, this may be the book for you. The writing was good and everything was solid, just not action-driven enough to keep my interest until the end.
*Rating: 2.5/5
I kindly received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
✦ My rating system
My rating is mainly based on how much I enjoyed a book, and compare it with other books I've read of the same genre.
⭐ I hated it. The book shows a clear support for values/morals I don't agree with (sexism, homophobia, colonialism, racism...) or it was specially awful.
⭐.5 I didn't like it/bored me to death.
⭐⭐ It didn't work for me, but I understand why other people liked it. I may have been close to dnf because I was bored.
⭐⭐⭐I enjoyed it. It was good, but not unforgettable.
⭐⭐⭐⭐I loved it (new favorite of the year)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐New all time favorite, it has stolen a special place in my heart 💙
I can reread anything I rate 3-5 stars.
September 15, 2024
This was so incredibly good! I am absolutely itching for a sequel.
April 12, 2024
Thanks to the publisher (Del Rey) for the ARC of this book.
I have a huge nostalgic soft spot for both dragon riders, magic schools, and stories where women say “fuck you” to restrictive societal expectations. Add an anticolonialist and queer twist to all that and of course I absolutely loved it. How could I not? It’s nostalgic yet refreshing, and even cozy.
The plot is essentially slice of life, following Anequs as she takes classes, makes friends, learns to take care of her dragon, and deals with Anglish people’s racism and their desire to “civilize” her into a proper, respectable lady. She is, of course, having none of that. And I’ve always wanted to see someone walk into a stuffy fantasy of manners book and wreak absolute havoc. At its core, the plot is fairly standard and predictable, but why would that be a bad thing? The framing is fresh, and it’s all executed very well.
Speaking of her friends, the side characters were fantastic. The complicated relationship with Marta, who is the only other female student, but still desperately trying to fit into the Anglish society and simply not getting why Anequs might not want to. Sander, who doesn’t fit in because he’s autistic (it’s never explicitly stated, but it’s quite clear) and usually communicates via a special erasable tablet. Theod, who was raised Anglish and taught to be ashamed of his parents and heritage. There’s a lot of complexity in both the characters and the interactions between them, and it’s just. So good.
I also liked the worldbuilding twist – alternate history of course, but with Anglish being English with purely Germanic influences and Norse-inspired religion. It was fun, especially figuring out which of the elements (the magic system is chemistry-based) extracted with dragon breath is which.
Not only am I looking forward to the sequel, To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is likely to make it into my comfort reread rotation.
Enjoyment: 5/5
Execution: 5/5
Recommended to: anyone who likes dragons, fantasy schools, magic systems, complicated characters, friendship, and new takes on old tropes
Not recommended to: those looking for something with more action and faster pacing
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
I have a huge nostalgic soft spot for both dragon riders, magic schools, and stories where women say “fuck you” to restrictive societal expectations. Add an anticolonialist and queer twist to all that and of course I absolutely loved it. How could I not? It’s nostalgic yet refreshing, and even cozy.
The plot is essentially slice of life, following Anequs as she takes classes, makes friends, learns to take care of her dragon, and deals with Anglish people’s racism and their desire to “civilize” her into a proper, respectable lady. She is, of course, having none of that. And I’ve always wanted to see someone walk into a stuffy fantasy of manners book and wreak absolute havoc. At its core, the plot is fairly standard and predictable, but why would that be a bad thing? The framing is fresh, and it’s all executed very well.
Speaking of her friends, the side characters were fantastic. The complicated relationship with Marta, who is the only other female student, but still desperately trying to fit into the Anglish society and simply not getting why Anequs might not want to. Sander, who doesn’t fit in because he’s autistic (it’s never explicitly stated, but it’s quite clear) and usually communicates via a special erasable tablet. Theod, who was raised Anglish and taught to be ashamed of his parents and heritage. There’s a lot of complexity in both the characters and the interactions between them, and it’s just. So good.
I also liked the worldbuilding twist – alternate history of course, but with Anglish being English with purely Germanic influences and Norse-inspired religion. It was fun, especially figuring out which of the elements (the magic system is chemistry-based) extracted with dragon breath is which.
Not only am I looking forward to the sequel, To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is likely to make it into my comfort reread rotation.
Enjoyment: 5/5
Execution: 5/5
Recommended to: anyone who likes dragons, fantasy schools, magic systems, complicated characters, friendship, and new takes on old tropes
Not recommended to: those looking for something with more action and faster pacing
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
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