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aleenabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
diana_reads_and_reads's review against another edition
2.0
I’ve been wanting to read When Women Were Dragons for two years, and I was so excited when someone picked it for bookclub. Alas, I didn’t really like it. I thought it was boring and angsty and just not for me. I really thought that all the knots were going to turn out to be something—possibly a protection against dragoning—but they were left as a loose end (pun intended). I know other people in book club really enjoyed it so I’m looking forward to a lively discussion. Now on to some of the titles I’ve been eyeing longingly on my kindle.
megoolego's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
4.0
escapingreality101's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
caoilo's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Books UK, Hot Key Books for an e-ARC of this book for review.
In America lives Alex Green. Her life is not so different from ours except of one thing, for her world Dragons are real Unfortunately Dragons are not liked, if fact it is against the law to acknowledge them at all. Why you might well ask (as well as how?"
You see Dragons were not just any creature before they had wings and scales and tails, Dragons were mostly women. And this made Dragoning a "Woman's problem".. Wasn't it bad enough men had to put up with their wives complaining about giving birth and their "Time of the month" but how dare they shape-shift and fly away leaving the men to cope with such womanly chores as caring for children and the washing up (!) Or so society and the patriarchy saw it.
For the most part Alex was unaware of what was happening, (score one for society) but that was until her Aunt Marla transform. Suddenly her Aunt was gone and now her cousin was now her sister ?! A lot of things stopped making sense but Alex knew never to ask any questions, they never lead anywhere good. That however did not stop Alex from looking. As if being a teenager was not hard enough without the worry of Dragoning. Hormones and emotions, as well as trying to see where you fit in the world. Alex didn't know how she fit into the world yet, just that she fit with Sonja. Another Taboo she was not supposed to talk about, there was a lot of things she was not supposed to talk about, to anyone.
Alex asked the only person she could about the dragons, herself. She wanted to know why, how and where to get answers.
It should be obvious from the blurb alone that this book is most definitely a feminist one. Don't let the F word scare you, it is not a bad word. Barnhill shows just what it was like for women living in 50's America. And how after a taste of liberation and work, women were just expected to be "reasonable" and go back to the kitchens once the men began to return from war.
How women were treated just the same as children, as in they were to be seen and not heard. Even Alex's mother was very much of this school of thought. It was due to the reaction of Alex's mother that Aunt Marla gave up her dream job to be married and have a child. The pressure of society is no doubt the cause of "Dragoning" in the book.
The book also showed levels of abuse and neglect, Particularly by Alex's father who left her to raise her cousin on her own as well as raise herself. Her father definitely came across as a narcissist, only caring for his new family.
There is also LGBTQ+ rep in the book with both Marla and Alex both falling in love with women. There are also other references to LGBTQ+ characters but unfortunately I feel Barnhill did a disservice to the Trans community. More on that later..
It is also worth noting that there is no mention of POC characters. No underpaid over worked maid or secretary dragoning.. I did get the feeling that most of the characters seemed to be middle class white woman.
I also do not recall hearing of any disabled women dragoning, old women yes but not disabled.
I think with a few small changes I could have loved this entire book, but there are just one or two things that stop this book from being a 5 star.
Firstly Barnhill says that there are those who are not women who have dragoned but that most of them have "chosen" to be women. I felt that the use of the word "Chosen" to be very demeaning to the Trans community. I think Barnhill would have done much better to say that they were people who had "excepted" they were women. To say T people have a choice about who they are feels extremely wrong to me. Yes they can choose to have surgery or medicine but that does not change who they ARE. (This did not sound like Intersectional feminism even if Barnhill meant it to be. As they say, it was a poor choice of words)
Secondly it would also have felt like intersectional feminism if even one dragoning story had included a POC character. Which made no sense giving what was happening in the Black Rights Movement at the time.. Again I say all this aware that I am not part of the POC community but I still felt the absence.
It also accrued to me that there were no disabled characters who dragoned which was disappointing to say the least. While I might be part of the disabled community I still feel as strongly about the aspects that do not effect me personally.
I would have liked to seen what law reforms were made, about dragons. It may have been ironic to see law enforcement try to take dragons to court about murdering their partners but given that the evidence was destroyed by the same law enforcement they had nothing to go on. I would have felt more real if there were also laws about how dragons were to re-frame from setting people and things on fire.
I still loved this book, even with it's problems, I found myself strongly identifying with Alex, of course I don't know any dragons, but her home life was quite reflective of my own (though swapping the parents around as my father died when I was young and my mother was the neglectful one.) it was hard not to love this work. Alex struggle to keep her family life secret from school and still attend, while also having to adult instead of a parent was so well depicted from a lived view point. The worry about bills and money while trying to graduate was something that really hit home. The not having any extended family to turn to was also a familiar feeling (even if it was for different reasons.) I would honestly have doubts about anyone who could read this and not feel sorry for Alex.
I do have to commend Barnhill for one thing in particular. They seemed to have done some research on Ireland before including it in the story. This is rarer than you might think. A lot of writers who are not directly from Ireland and have never been here, tend to write what they think to be true rather than do actual research. So that was very much appreciated.
If the problems I mentioned above were addressed in future editions I could totally see this being a 5 star work. For now I think it will have to be a 4 star.
(Side note)
To finish this book I had to use an Audio book (long story) And as someone who finds audio books difficult to listen too or retain information from, I found the Audio book a delight! Narrated by both Kimberly Farr and Mark Bramhill . I really enjoyed Farr's voice acting, they not only changed their voice depending on the character but were able to emit emotion in an incredible way. Would definitely recommend.
In America lives Alex Green. Her life is not so different from ours except of one thing, for her world Dragons are real Unfortunately Dragons are not liked, if fact it is against the law to acknowledge them at all. Why you might well ask (as well as how?"
You see Dragons were not just any creature before they had wings and scales and tails, Dragons were mostly women. And this made Dragoning a "Woman's problem".. Wasn't it bad enough men had to put up with their wives complaining about giving birth and their "Time of the month" but how dare they shape-shift and fly away leaving the men to cope with such womanly chores as caring for children and the washing up (!) Or so society and the patriarchy saw it.
For the most part Alex was unaware of what was happening, (score one for society) but that was until her Aunt Marla transform. Suddenly her Aunt was gone and now her cousin was now her sister ?! A lot of things stopped making sense but Alex knew never to ask any questions, they never lead anywhere good. That however did not stop Alex from looking. As if being a teenager was not hard enough without the worry of Dragoning. Hormones and emotions, as well as trying to see where you fit in the world. Alex didn't know how she fit into the world yet, just that she fit with Sonja. Another Taboo she was not supposed to talk about, there was a lot of things she was not supposed to talk about, to anyone.
Alex asked the only person she could about the dragons, herself. She wanted to know why, how and where to get answers.
It should be obvious from the blurb alone that this book is most definitely a feminist one. Don't let the F word scare you, it is not a bad word. Barnhill shows just what it was like for women living in 50's America. And how after a taste of liberation and work, women were just expected to be "reasonable" and go back to the kitchens once the men began to return from war.
How women were treated just the same as children, as in they were to be seen and not heard. Even Alex's mother was very much of this school of thought. It was due to the reaction of Alex's mother that Aunt Marla gave up her dream job to be married and have a child. The pressure of society is no doubt the cause of "Dragoning" in the book.
The book also showed levels of abuse and neglect, Particularly by Alex's father who left her to raise her cousin on her own as well as raise herself. Her father definitely came across as a narcissist, only caring for his new family.
There is also LGBTQ+ rep in the book with both Marla and Alex both falling in love with women. There are also other references to LGBTQ+ characters but unfortunately I feel Barnhill did a disservice to the Trans community. More on that later..
It is also worth noting that there is no mention of POC characters. No underpaid over worked maid or secretary dragoning.. I did get the feeling that most of the characters seemed to be middle class white woman.
I also do not recall hearing of any disabled women dragoning, old women yes but not disabled.
I think with a few small changes I could have loved this entire book, but there are just one or two things that stop this book from being a 5 star.
Firstly Barnhill says that there are those who are not women who have dragoned but that most of them have "chosen" to be women. I felt that the use of the word "Chosen" to be very demeaning to the Trans community. I think Barnhill would have done much better to say that they were people who had "excepted" they were women. To say T people have a choice about who they are feels extremely wrong to me. Yes they can choose to have surgery or medicine but that does not change who they ARE. (This did not sound like Intersectional feminism even if Barnhill meant it to be. As they say, it was a poor choice of words)
Secondly it would also have felt like intersectional feminism if even one dragoning story had included a POC character. Which made no sense giving what was happening in the Black Rights Movement at the time.. Again I say all this aware that I am not part of the POC community but I still felt the absence.
It also accrued to me that there were no disabled characters who dragoned which was disappointing to say the least. While I might be part of the disabled community I still feel as strongly about the aspects that do not effect me personally.
I would have liked to seen what law reforms were made, about dragons. It may have been ironic to see law enforcement try to take dragons to court about murdering their partners but given that the evidence was destroyed by the same law enforcement they had nothing to go on. I would have felt more real if there were also laws about how dragons were to re-frame from setting people and things on fire.
I still loved this book, even with it's problems, I found myself strongly identifying with Alex, of course I don't know any dragons, but her home life was quite reflective of my own (though swapping the parents around as my father died when I was young and my mother was the neglectful one.) it was hard not to love this work. Alex struggle to keep her family life secret from school and still attend, while also having to adult instead of a parent was so well depicted from a lived view point. The worry about bills and money while trying to graduate was something that really hit home. The not having any extended family to turn to was also a familiar feeling (even if it was for different reasons.) I would honestly have doubts about anyone who could read this and not feel sorry for Alex.
I do have to commend Barnhill for one thing in particular. They seemed to have done some research on Ireland before including it in the story. This is rarer than you might think. A lot of writers who are not directly from Ireland and have never been here, tend to write what they think to be true rather than do actual research. So that was very much appreciated.
If the problems I mentioned above were addressed in future editions I could totally see this being a 5 star work. For now I think it will have to be a 4 star.
(Side note)
To finish this book I had to use an Audio book (long story) And as someone who finds audio books difficult to listen too or retain information from, I found the Audio book a delight! Narrated by both Kimberly Farr and Mark Bramhill . I really enjoyed Farr's voice acting, they not only changed their voice depending on the character but were able to emit emotion in an incredible way. Would definitely recommend.
allisonbraun's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
sleepy_owl_'s review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
kaitzo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
3.5