Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose

57 reviews

_lostinthetrees's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It was a privilege to read this book. I genuinely loved it, and the story it told, though I wanted to jump through the page and scream at some of the adults in it more than once. 

Anequs was such a lovely, dynamic main character. Also, Kasaqua was just the bestest dragon. 

As far as books about dragons go, this one is top tier; well thought out descriptions and lore abound. 

I loved the varied cast of characters who are in Anequs' orbit; at least, the ones who didn't cause her so much grief, anyways.  

Overall, I definitely hope to reread this book one day, to appreciate the story all over again. This one deserves to become a classic, and I cannot wait for the next book in this series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Death, Transphobia, Violence, and Death of parent

rorikae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

'To Shape a Dragon's Breath' by Moniquill Blackgoose is a fantastic start to a new YA fantasy series about a girl training to be a dragonrider so that she can bring dragon's back to her homeland. 
Dragons are scarce on Masquapaug so it is a surprise when Anequs finds a dragon egg and bonds with the hatchling. When the Anglish colonizers hear that a dragon has been born, they are unhappy and reluctantly allow Anequs to enroll at the dragon academy to study and potentially become a dragon rider. But at this new school, Anequs has to face a society that looks down on her people and doesn't believe that she is capable of studying at the school, let alone being a dragon rider. But Anequs' presence at the school has the potential to affect the political landscape and she is determined to do what she can so that she and her dragon can live and bring dragons back to Masquapaug. 
This is such a fantastic start to a fantasy series and I cannot wait until we learn more about the next installment. Blackgoose has created an engaging world reminiscent of North America, with steampunk and fantastical elements. She weaves together an engaging coming of age story that touches on colonization, representation, academia, and more. Her characters are easy to root for and fully fledged people that feel like they could walk right off the page. I'm fascinated to see where this story goes next as the first book introduces so many great concepts, a fascinating world, and great characters. If you like dragons, I cannot recommend this book enough. A wonderful start to a new fantasy series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Genocide

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, and War

blakeandbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual harassment, and War

hawksrye's review

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Child death, Transphobia, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.75

If you want to read an incredibly well-written fantasy with vivid and expansive worldbuilding (which will, to the American reader, seem verrrry familiar) that involves dragons, some queer romance, and, most importantly, a clever young Indigenous woman handily beating the racist colonizers at their own game even with all the chips stacked against her, then this is an absolute MUST.

I read this in audiobook format on a couple long drives, and I thought the narrator, Charley Flyte, was really impressive. It was an engaging and thrilling listening experience.

This story will make you laugh, it’ll make you cheer, and it’ll most certainly make you viscerally angry. I highly HIGHLY recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Gun violence and Homophobia

novella42's review

adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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? No

5.0

Such a phenomenal read, and my favorite speculative fiction book of the year! Indigenous otter dragons!!! Moniquill Blackgoose made a truly audacious worldbuilding choice I have never encountered before, and which took me something like 70 pages to understand. But once it clicked, I felt in awe of her. I won't spoil it for anyone, but the risk she took and the monumental effort she put into her worldbuilding absolutely paid off on multiple levels. 

Also, I don't know what the audiobook is like, but I can't imagine getting the same effect without a text version. I'm very glad I have the hardcopy so I could page back and forth to the pronunciations, maps, periodic table, etc. I wish I could share photos of the pronunciation guide because it's a sliver of a glimpse of the amount of brainpower Blackgoose poured into this work. I wish I could show you some of the heart, too, but for that you'll need to immerse yourself in the story.

As a lifelong wheelchair-user, I really enjoyed the steampunk wheelchair alternative (though if I were that character I'd probably try and develop some sort of smaller backup mobility aid to allow me to move into all the inaccessible places around the school where the larger device couldn't go). I loved the magical AAC device the neurodivergent character uses to communicate, too! Brilliant and respectful rep for disability, neurodivergence, queer, and polyam characters. I've been recommending it left and right. I cannot wait for the next book in the series! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Slavery, Suicide, Transphobia, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Medical content, and Pregnancy

noellelovesbooks's review

4.75

 Content Warnings: racism, colonialism, ableism, sexism, homophobia, blood, gun violence, hate crime, and violence.
Mention of: genocide, animal death, animal cruelty, suicide, death of parents, and internalized racism.

This book was incredible. I love all the lore within, how every so many chapters we get a story told to us, and I LOVE how the dragon's look.

Anequs is such a great main character. She knows who she is, where she's from, and isn't ashamed to speak up when she needs to. Although she's stuck living within a different culture, one that views hers as below them, she stand firm in her teachings and culture. She is determined to learn what she needs to ensure her dragon doesn't cause unintentional harm or danger so that she can return home and help her people.

I love that this book has short chapters, short chapters always make it easier to get through books imo.

I have no idea when book 2 is set to release but I look forward to learning more about Anequs, her people, those that she's connected to, and just more about her life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Genocide, Suicide, and Death of parent

rockyroadbutch's review

adventurous emotional informative reflective tense medium-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? No

4.75

Wonderful, interesting, compelling. A bit slow to start but worth it. Love the diverse representation and the opportunity to get to know such a powerful main character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

5.0

Wow, I loved this!! I was pretty anxious throughout the whole book because

I kept expecting the Anglish to go kill everyone because...yeah

but I should have trusted the author. <3 Also I wanted to slap so many people in this book. Except Sander.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Bullying, Genocide, Slavery, Transphobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

courtnoodles's review

challenging medium-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? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Confinement and Fire/Fire injury