Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - To Shape a Dragon's Breath

I can safely say that this book lives up to the promise of its incredibly original and interesting plot synopsis. In fact it's even more out of the box than you'd expect. I was confused when I opened the book and was greeted with a partial periodic table of elements - something left off the cover is that dragons don't breathe fire in this world, their breath instead reduces anything it touches to their base elements like carbon and nitrogen. Chemistry is a major and constant plot point!

This is a book that only could have been written by a Native American, and is a shining example of what we're all missing out on when publishers don't give minority voices a space in SF/F. This book tells a steampunk story in a magic school about a Girl And Her Dragon, while also being an unflinching account of the struggles of indigenous people at the turn of the century. Despite having a plethora of characters along almost every axis of diversity I can think of, no one felt like a hollow check mark on a list to me. I especially liked that the indigenous characters are not uniform in their opinions on how to shape the future (you know, like real people!). As you would also expect, the range of white characters realistically behave in ways of their time, with well-intentioned ones also being various degrees of racist/ethnocentric. It's a story that's both "important" while also being a great read on it's own, you know?

I found the plot itself to be beautiful while not neatly fitting into a standard action-oriented structure. If you need some sort of central mystery or struggle to unfold and then be solved by the end of the book, this one might not be for you. There's a revelation around the 60% mark that brought tears to my eyes. While it's not a YA novel, it's the kind of fiction that would have blown my mind as a young teen and I hope going straight to paperback allows it to fit into as many hands as possible.

My only complaint is that I wish there was a glossary of terms, even though I feel it was intentional so we feel as overwhelmed and out of place as our protagonist. While she eventually got the hang of things, my dyslexic self constantly struggled.

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marleywrites's review

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adventurous hopeful tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

In this story, we follow Anequs and her dragon, Kasaqua, as they attend an Anglish school for dragoneering. Anque is a young indigenous woman, and she travels from her island of Masquapaug to attend the school. At the school she is met with hardships and difficulties from classmates, professors, and the Anglish community alike. There are a few heavy themes explored in this novel, such as racism, xenophobia, and bullying. This is a slower paced novel, very “vibe exploration” if you will. You learn a lot about world building. Overall, I rated this story a 5/5 stars.

I rated this story as five stars because I fell in love with the characters. We learn pretty quickly that Anequs is highly adaptable, intelligent, stubborn, and completely ignorant of Anglish customs and social practices. This makes for numerous challenging encounters for Anequs throughout the novel, oftentimes getting her into trouble without her realizing. Following Anequs’s story as she learns to engage with people in a way that does not compromise who she is and what she stands for was something I was grateful for.

I loved the side cast of this novel. Sander has my heart, and Theod became a favorite by the end of the novel. I adore Liberty, and Marta is growing on me. All the little ones were pleasant to read about as well.

In addition, I loved the representation in this novel. Without naming specific characters, I appreciated the representation of LGBTQ+ people, indigenous people, polyamorous people, women, and autistic people. The portrayals were extremely well done. I was also excited by the politics of the story. I find the political intrigue fascinating and the author wrote it very well.

Lastly, I’m eager to see where any sequels will go with this novel. This novel had a lot of world building and was a slower pace, and I’m hoping that we will see more action in the coming novels. I am looking forward to more from this author!

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boglord's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

(Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

Spoiler Free Summary: Anequs, a young woman from an indigenous community on the outskirts of Anglish country, becomes Nampeshiweisit when she is gifted a dragon egg by one of the indigenous dragon species thought to be extinct by her community. Faced by the threat of prosecution by local Anglish laws, Anequs must take Kasaqua, her dragon, to an Anglish dragoneering school in order to properly master Kasaqua's breath, a powerful force when unshaped. In the course of her first year at the school, she makes friends, falls for two different people at the school, and deals with racism and bigotry. In the end, this is a character-driven novel that investigates the relationship marginalized communities have within this fictionalized 19th century America.

I really enjoyed this book. The relationship Anequs has with her friends was constantly touching, and I was thoroughly impressed by the author's ability to fit so many important discussions on racism, homophobia, ableism, and colonialism in a very digestible yet meaningful format. I've seen other reviews speaking of the book as though it was boring; I was never bored. But I did not know what to expect coming into this book- if you're looking for a fantasy adventure this is not one. The book focuses on Anequs in her attempt to figure out how she can exist genuinely in her indigenous identity in a society that wishes she would assimilate. If you're looking for a story of a brave young woman struggling to assert herself in a world that's trying to put her down, while uplifting other marginalized people who she befriends along the way, this is a feel-good, hopeful story that shows how strong we can be when we are together.

I have to say that the plot struggles at some points near the end. The culminating action that takes place in the last couple chapters feels extremely rushed and I wished that some major plot points weren't glossed over, as they would have not only been extremely exciting bits of action to read, but they also would have been great instances to interact with what all the characters who are introduced think and feel as the story wraps up. As it is, I think that the author leaves a lot unsaid, where throughout the rest of the story we are entrenched in the characters' thoughts and feelings.

At times I also struggled with the intense academic nature of the story- there was one chapter near the beginning of Anequs' story that was incredibly difficult to read and digest. Later in the book it became clear that this was intentional to highlight how difficult it was for Anequs to understand, also an outsider to the germanic technical terms used throughout.

I recommend this book and give it 4 stars! I am very excited for this series to continue as I can imagine many ways that the story might progress now that Anequs has grown into a mature and determined young woman.

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