Scan barcode
katiecentabar's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.25
I enjoyed where this book ended up but I didn't always love the journey to get there. There were times that felt very gender essentialist and there were moments that alluded to the ongoing Civil Rights movement. I think there's a very specific reason it was set in the 50s and I wish that had been explored more fully ie. in a way other than "patriarchy is bad".
I would have preferred split narratives to get different perspectives on dragoning because the most compelling parts of this story were not the main character. I really enjoyed the last third of the book.
I would have preferred split narratives to get different perspectives on dragoning because the most compelling parts of this story were not the main character. I really enjoyed the last third of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Misogyny, Dysphoria, Grief, and Sexism
Minor: Sexual harassment and Panic attacks/disorders
bubblegirl858's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
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? Yes
5.0
For my 2023 book rating system I gave this book 5 stars. This was our January Book Club read and I really enjoyed this book, even though it also frustrated me. It was a highly feminist novel told from a point of view that is not often seen, a child who is being forced to grow up too quickly in a world that doesn't explain how anything works and actively tries to suppress information. I really enjoyed the whole plot of women turning into dragons. It is a fantastic idea. Setting it in the 50's was also such an amazing way to show how men, the government, the public in general, and women who have internalized misogyny treat other women. The suppression of women's issues as being "sensitive" or "vulgar" is insane to most modern women, but it is how the world has always been and continues to be in some places, even if the normalization of speaking about women's issues and rights grows. This novel perfectly illustrated how children are taught to hate and be bigoted, how women are taught to shrink themselves and make themselves more palatable, and how love is love. It is not a choice to be gay or straight, it is not taught, it is just how it is. The only downsides/detractions that I had about this book was that it spent the majority of the time in her childhood, and then when it skipped to her teenage/young adult life the plot moved blindingly fast and we didn't get nearly enough time to understand the woman who she became. I would have liked to have explored a bit more of her adult life. The characters in this book were equally loveable and hateable. An equal balance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Alcohol, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Abandonment
Minor: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Pregnancy
bookworm247's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Grief, and Cancer
black_cat_iiix's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Terminal illness, and Racism
Minor: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, and Medical content
helenferg's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Sexism, and Cancer
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Addiction, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship
chloemakesbooks's review against another edition
emotional
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
3.75
Although I do think the end of the book could have stood to get a haircut of about 50 pages or so (typical youth fiction author feels the need to play out the entire lives of her characters) the book was an interesting foray into magical realism, with some really difficult hit-too-close-to-home moments and some beautiful passages toward the end. I wish the author had spent more time with the dragons (and clearly, she wanted to, hence the drag toward the end) but what time we did get was lots of fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Cancer, Xenophobia, Grief, Homophobia, Abandonment, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders
solenekeleroux's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Abandonment, Cancer, Homophobia, Sexism, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
cgsunit's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
4.75
I felt angry while reading so much of the book, but the kind of anger that lights the fires of change. The kind of anger that comes from understanding the ignoring and the forgetting. I highly recommend the book, just be prepared to feel a lot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Sexism, Death of parent, and Misogyny
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Abandonment, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, and Emotional abuse
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
If you know me at all, then you'll know that I am currently on a quest to find good books with both dragons and queer characters, so naturally I was very excited for this one. And it definitely delivered on the sapphics + dragons front, but I'm not totally sure it delivered as a book.
When Women Were Dragons is mostly the fictional memoir of a girl named Alex who grows us just after the Mass Dragoning of the 1950s, when thousands of women spontaneously turn into dragons, many of them burning down their homes and/or eating their husbands.
Dragoning is a vehicle for female rage and for these characters to find freedom, and I thought that the actual dragon parts of the book were fascinating and compelling. Alex's story is interspersed with various news articles and studies about the dragons, and I found all of them more compelling than her actual fake memoir stuff.
It wasn't that I disliked Alex as a character. I thought that her whole arc was a fascinating study in internalized misogyny and parental abuse and gaslighting. I loved her relationship with her sister. I liked that she was a sapphic woman in STEM. If this book had been straightforward historical fiction, I probably would have liked Alex's stuff more, but I cannot express how frustrating it was to read a book about dragons where the main character doesn't believe in dragons until about 3/4 of the way through. Alex was also very Not Like Other Girls, but that was definitely the point.
I very much think the author accomplished what she set out to with this book. I just also think that it could have done a lot more.
Misc things I liked:
If you know me at all, then you'll know that I am currently on a quest to find good books with both dragons and queer characters, so naturally I was very excited for this one. And it definitely delivered on the sapphics + dragons front, but I'm not totally sure it delivered as a book.
When Women Were Dragons is mostly the fictional memoir of a girl named Alex who grows us just after the Mass Dragoning of the 1950s, when thousands of women spontaneously turn into dragons, many of them burning down their homes and/or eating their husbands.
Dragoning is a vehicle for female rage and for these characters to find freedom, and I thought that the actual dragon parts of the book were fascinating and compelling. Alex's story is interspersed with various news articles and studies about the dragons, and I found all of them more compelling than her actual fake memoir stuff.
It wasn't that I disliked Alex as a character. I thought that her whole arc was a fascinating study in internalized misogyny and parental abuse and gaslighting. I loved her relationship with her sister. I liked that she was a sapphic woman in STEM. If this book had been straightforward historical fiction, I probably would have liked Alex's stuff more, but I cannot express how frustrating it was to read a book about dragons where the main character doesn't believe in dragons until about 3/4 of the way through. Alex was also very Not Like Other Girls, but that was definitely the point.
I very much think the author accomplished what she set out to with this book. I just also think that it could have done a lot more.
Misc things I liked:
- Sapphic polyamorous dragons!
- All of the later stuff with the dragons was generally really interesting
- Fuck the dad oh my god (compliments to the author)
Misc things I did not like:
- Dragoning is a metaphor for menstruation for a LOT of this book. That's fine, but it made the later attempts at including trans women feel kind of hollow
- Are all of the dragons white? People of color are mentioned in this book, but all the dragons we meet are former white women
Anyway, just don't expect this sapphic dragon book to actually be about the dragons and instead expect it to be about a teen girl who loves math and has massive amounts of internalized misogyny.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Misogyny, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, and Cancer
_annika__'s review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Misogyny, Abandonment, Cancer, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse