Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose

15 reviews

kimapede's review against another edition

adventurous informative 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia, Genocide, Hate crime, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Lesbophobia, Racism, Colonisation, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide, War, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

theirgracegrace's review

emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

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

4.25

Flying in with a masterpiece, Moniquill Blackgoose sets up a world with this first instalment of the Nampeshiweisit series. The story centres around Anequs, a young Indigenous woman who discovers a dragon egg on an island near her home. When it hatches, the dragon bonds to her, and the Anglish settlers of her land order that she join a local dragoneering academy.

My favourite part of this book was the worldbuilding! Blackgoose builds a world like our own, but without a Roman Empire or Christianity, the Europeans have a distinctly Norse flair that matches well with the themes of resistance against colonialism. Each character has distinctive features, mannerisms and traits that make them real and powerful parts of the narrative.

Eagerly awaiting the next book of this series, particularly in light of the final handful of chapters!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Ableism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Genocide, Bullying, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Animal death, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Murder, and Sexual content

Moderate: War and Medical content

Minor: Cannibalism, Cursing, Infidelity, and Vomit

nicoleevelyn's review

adventurous challenging fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Can I give this a million stars? Only flaw is the sequel isn't out now. Beautiful use of fantasy to highlight real-world atrocities in a more accessible way. Lovably flawed characters. Just gorgeous 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Slavery

mj1588's review

reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Genocide, Hate crime, Police brutality, Sexism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Gun violence and Fire/Fire injury

star_charter152's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Colonisation, Lesbophobia, Ableism, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Classism

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Mass/school shootings, Bullying, Hate crime, Violence, and War

Minor: Slavery, Animal death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, and Homophobia

jainabee's review

adventurous challenging inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

I couldn't put this down and I told each and every one of my friends, colleagues, and quite a few strangers that they really ought to read this book! I can barely wait for the next one—so curious to see where the story goes from the astonishing set-up of the first book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Colonisation, Classism, Death of parent, Racism, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Gaslighting, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

The great thing about the challenging content is that is is witnessed from the point of view of a very confident young woman of color who calls out that %$#!

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

Moderate: War, Sexual harassment, and Homophobia

thecatconstellation's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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

This was really enjoyable. A decent amount of plot and a lot of excellent world building. I enjoyed the various folklores, the representation of queer and poly relationships, and the autistic representation. The dragons! So many different dragons. I love reading about them. I also love the bond that they have with their chosen people. The pronunciation guide at the beginning is super helpful!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Colonisation, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Hate crime, Genocide, Racial slurs, Death, Classism, Transphobia, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Bullying, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual content and Alcohol

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

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

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

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

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