Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose

116 reviews

applejacksbooks's review

adventurous fast-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

5.0

Now this is a dragon book that everyone should read and love. It's so well done and the narrator for the audiobook is amazing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Racism

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

booknchaoswithmarz's review

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Racism, Colonisation, Hate crime, and Racial slurs

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

mmccombs's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective slow-paced

4.75

For lovers of Babel and dragon content, this is exactly the book for you! It is nuanced and full of heart, the world building was fun and the Kasaqua was just so cute! This book tackles colonialism, traditional ways of knowing, the “first gen” experience in school, being forced into “professionalism” (i.e. conforming to a culture of white supremacy) in an effort to be accepted, and truly so much more.

In the beginning when I got to the part about fantasy chemistry I was NOT sure about my ability to get through this book because I barely understand real life chemistry, but when we get to Anequs’ epiphany

about how traditional dances were skiltakraft

it was so poignant, it gave me chills! This book stressed the importance of stories and the passing down of knowledge, or rediscovering that knowledge after it was stolen by seeking inner wisdom or that of your community. This aspect was so incredibly moving and something I’ll think about for a long time.

The only reason this isn’t an entirely perfect book for me was because Anequs was exactly that, too perfect. She was wise, kind, smart, and brave from start to finish, so there wasn’t any character growth for her. There was lots or growth happening around her, but I think this could have been more compelling (and would have created more plot conflict) if she felt a bit more like a real 15 year old who made weird choices and wasn’t so fully formed. I also would have appreciated a glossary and/or a list of characters, I found myself losing track of who the teachers were, what the various school courses were, and what the heck a thane is.

Overall though, this book was exactly what I hoped for. Indigenous through and through, delightfully queer, and with great dragon lore, if you’re down for a fantasy that is light on plot and more of a coming of age story, this is the book for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Grief, Genocide, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Violence

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

yourbookishbff's review

challenging emotional informative reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Bullying, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Animal death, Classism, Misogyny, and Genocide

dragonwriter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Anequs never intended to be a dragon rider. Dragons hadn't been seen on her island for 200 years! So when she sees a dragon cross the abandoned temple, she decides to pay homage to the visit, only to find a dragon egg there. She takes it back to her tribe, who hatch it in their traditional dance, and the hatchling chooses Anequs as her rider. Unfortunately, since it's illegal for natives to own weapons, having a dragon on the island could spell deadly danger for the tribe, so Anequs has to go to the mainland to enroll in a colonizer academy for dragon riders. She's not the only native there; she's quickly introduced to Theod, an indentured servant of the dragon rider headmistress, who is the model minority of the school. Anequs quickly discovers that she is expected to become 'civilized' (according to colonizer standards), but Anequs only agrees to respect their standards. She refuses to become 'civilized' (because she already IS civilized), and continues to hold to her people's beliefs, despite the pressure to conform to colonized society.

This was a very heavy book that took me a while to read. It dealt with racism, colonism, homophobia, misogyny, and had an autistic student whose mother would have preferred to lock him in the attic. Add to that, there were a lot of lectures about made up magics that all sounded very technical. I did like how the alchemic patterns tied in with the Native American dances, and I liked how committed to her own culture Anequs was. I generally liked all the good characters, but the racism was very heavy and it made me not want to read further because I wanted the racism to stop. It was all handled well and shown in a very telling light, but I just didn't have the spoons to handle it.

Read with caution.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Colonisation

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Classism

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

Moderate: Classism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement and Fire/Fire injury

wxddo's review

adventurous inspiring

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Colonisation