Scan barcode
cadence99's review
adventurous
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? No
4.75
I absolutely loved this book- incredibly lovable characters, dragon companions, romances that had me giggling and kicking my feet and a nice leisurely (though certainly high stakes at times!) plot to carry us along. I loved the intertwining of historical elements and serious subject matter woven into this fantasy world and truly cannot wait to see where the series leads
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Bullying, Colonisation, Racism, and Ableism
Moderate: Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Animal cruelty, War, Classism, Death of parent, Homophobia, Violence, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, and Hate crime
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, and Genocide
readwithria's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Homophobia
centrifugepolitics's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Ableism, Classism, Colonisation, and Racism
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Genocide and War
The content warning are for explorations of the subjects, the book obviously doesn’t espouse any of these thingstardisbookcat's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Colonisation
Moderate: Classism
chaoticbookgremlin_'s review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Hate crime, Racism, and Cultural appropriation
betweentheshelves'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
I will say, don't go into this book if you're expecting a fast-paced, action-packed fantasy because that is not what this is. It's more focused on Anequs's journey to the Anglish school, learning about a different culture, and trying to carve a place for herself in a world that doesn't necessarily accept her. There is a very heavy emphasis on storytelling, both from Anequs and from her classmates at the academy where she's studying.
The dragon's aren't really characters in this like they might be in other dragon novels, as they don't speak to their humans, but I loved the focus on their connections. Essentially, the dragons felt like large cats and honestly, I'm totally okay with that.
There is also a lot of discussion about colonialism and learning to co-exist with each other. This is the first book in a series, and I have a feeling that things will become more high stakes the further we go into the series. Especially as Anequs gains more power.
A lot of great diverse representation is in this book as well. Even though it was more slow moving, I found myself wholey invested in Anequs and her story. So much so that I basically listened to this entire book in two days. And I can't wait to see where this story goes next!
The dragon's aren't really characters in this like they might be in other dragon novels, as they don't speak to their humans, but I loved the focus on their connections. Essentially, the dragons felt like large cats and honestly, I'm totally okay with that.
There is also a lot of discussion about colonialism and learning to co-exist with each other. This is the first book in a series, and I have a feeling that things will become more high stakes the further we go into the series. Especially as Anequs gains more power.
A lot of great diverse representation is in this book as well. Even though it was more slow moving, I found myself wholey invested in Anequs and her story. So much so that I basically listened to this entire book in two days. And I can't wait to see where this story goes next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Ableism, and Racism
Moderate: Homophobia, Genocide, and Violence
Minor: Animal death and Death of parent
caitb_05's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Colonisation, and Hate crime
Moderate: Ableism and Genocide
Minor: Misogyny and Homophobia
sydapel's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Really compelled by Aneqes as a teenage main character who is unflappable in her ability to recognize the discrimination and injustice around her, and her deftness at navigating it. This book is uninterested in convincing you about the nuances of colonization and racism, which I respect the hell out of it for. While I don't think I 1000% understood how the chemistry/alchemy elements of the world worked, I am deeply interested in where it goes next. Oh and also, I really loved the take on dragons in this world as this deeply emotional and physical bond (think like the creatures in The Golden Compass series) - super interested to explore that further in the next installment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, Murder, and Ableism
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Violence
audelidou's review
adventurous
inspiring
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Ableism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, and War