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euphemiajo's review
4.0
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Gun violence, Murder, Sexism, Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Violence
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Alcohol
latenightnormie's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Violence, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, and Murder
Minor: Blood, Sexual assault, and Misogyny
In general, I enjoyed the pacing of the book. It read like a autobiography but with Lady Trent's reflective musings throughout the telling of the story. The world building is solid though not terribly in-depth when not in use for the plot. All in all, I'll be reading the next book in the because series.annasusan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
But on a more serious note, just very dull, it is clearly inspired by Margaret Fountaine's adapted diaries, 'Love Among the Butterflies', and I would recommend you read that. Weirdly, Fountaine has a way more feminist start - she became independently wealthy when her father died so didn't need a husband to tag along - trying to avoid the class issue isn't a valid excuse because she was still upper class.
Structurally, this divides a memoir into a series format with an adventure per book, versus an adventure per chapter, and that just doesn't work.
There's about as much examination of natural history's colonialism as in Fountaine's work, that is to say none. I think the choice to set it in fantasy-Siberia was an attempt to avoid it at least in this first book (I cannot comment on the sequels), despite the fact the Indigenous peoples of Siberia have similar histories of colonial oppression. I think the author intended the locals to be poor white Russians, as there would certainly be some, undertones, if one were to read them as Indigenous people.
If you liked the setting and want a cool old timey lady who acknowledges colonialism, Ethel Lindgren's story is pretty cool; she was an anthropologist and refused to publish her PhD thesis on Indigenous Siberian religion due to the Soviet crackdowns on religion at the time.
Graphic: Animal death and Xenophobia
Moderate: Murder and Death
lunep's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Violence, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Death, Misogyny, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Animal death, and Classism
Minor: Cannibalism, Body horror, Death of parent, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Violence, Death, Rape, Colonisation, Cursing, and Alcohol
asipofcozy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
One would think with a title like that, we would get tons of dragon information, world building, and interesting insight into dragons. We maybe get a discussion on dragons every 100 pages or so and it is glossed over. There isn't any description as to why there are dragons, where they came from, why they do what they do. And granted we are learning with our main character Isabella it's still glossed over to get to the "interesting" parts. There are conversations that are had but we aren't privy to, which would have made this book interesting.
Our characters were dreadfully boring. I thought I would like Isabella, our main character, she sets herself apart from society, breaks the social chains and strives to be herself. However, she is at times was naive, aloof, and just unlikeable. This book takes place in the equivalence of our 19th century and one would think she would act sophisticated, she acts like a 19 year old from the 21st century (not a bad thing, just quite immature).
The plot is also less on dragons, learning about dragons, or dragons in general and more of the mystery of why are dragons attacking (still very little on this) and why is x,y,z person missing. At times I felt like Isabella was recounting her adventures as a detective rather than a scientist.
I think some people may like this book, and there were interesting aspects; however, the title and description is quite deceiving when we aren't given the depth of dragons as one would think. Also, I at times just didn't care, I skimmed multiple pages and chapters and still knew what was taking place because so little happened.
Moderate: Trafficking, Murder, and Death
kbz_22's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
This book was like a nostalgia trip for me. It reached into my childhood dreams/fantasies and brought them to life. It's magical in that way.
The characters, especially Lady Trent, just got me right in the feels. Through her, I got to live this life of adventure, curiosity, and pure intellectual passion. She's witty, determined, and her thirst for knowledge is something I really admired.
But here's the coolest part - the format of the book. It's like reading a personal journal mixed with a textbook, and it even has these charming illustrations and chapter overviews. You feel like you're right there with Lady Trent on her scientific quests.
Marie Brennan's storytelling is top-notch. I couldn't put it down, seriously. It's not just a book; it's this incredible journey into a world of wonder and discovery. If you ever want to rekindle that sense of awe and adventure, this one's a must-read.
Minor: Death, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Gore, and Miscarriage
readandfindout's review against another edition
4.0
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Worldbuilding: 4 stars
Graphic: Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Death, Animal death, Blood, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Classism, and Miscarriage
Minor: Pregnancy
madzie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
However, Brennan creates a nicely written plot with a good twist at the end. Throughout, I got bored with the lack of details. Although seemingly purposeful due to attempting to draw in scientific writing, it leaves me again wanting more and never really feeling like part of the story. Perhaps more of a success is her incorporation of Victorian writing, which echoes history while still being accessible to modern audiences, as well as less pretentious. Occasionally, I felt the sentence variety was lacking, especially in action scenes. Lady Trent herself is an intriguing character, who did leave me feeling for her by the end of the novel. Overall, I felt like the book stayed in the middle ground, perhaps rising above for other readers, especially those more interested in scientific explanations and writings over story flow and details.
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Xenophobia, Animal death, and Misogyny
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Classism, Grief, and Miscarriage
ophycore's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Animal cruelty, Death, Blood, Gun violence, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Classism, Grief, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Death of parent
kalira's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Death, Grief, Violence, Colonisation, Classism, Murder, Sexism, Animal death, Blood, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Racism and Religious bigotry