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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
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
readswithcocktails's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny
Moderate: Abandonment, Cancer, Misogyny, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
crownoflaurel's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting and Abandonment
Moderate: Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Sexism
Minor: Lesbophobia
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
melchncookies's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
Moderate: Terminal illness, Abandonment, Cancer, and Death of parent
bookishkale's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
What a book! I was pleasantly surprised by this, and I know that it was fairly popular on booktok and the like, but I don't feel like anyone truly did it justice.
The story is set up in an exciting way, where you are not fully sure what is happening until it starts, and then you want to devour it, or at least I did! The story is structured almost like a memoir, but not fully, intermixed there are academic excerpts. It's very creative, and one of the first books that attempted to do something like that, and did it well! The book is set from the 1950s to the '60s. I think this is the best period of time to set this in, because any later or early, the Author wouldn't have succeeded in curating this particular feeling around Dragoning.
The story is told from the point of view of Alex Green, who we 'see' grow up. I personally liked Alex's character, though, I did find her to be frustrating at times. However, she is a product of the people around her, and the people around her did not care for her the way she should have. I love Beatrice and her spunk, and their Aunt Marla. I loved Sonja and the Librarian whose name I can't remember. Their importance in the story was palpable, without any of them, Alex wouldn't be Alex. Overall, I would say the characters all meshed well together, their reactions to the happens of the book make sense, and they are enjoyable. However, I don't know how I feel about Alex's character development by the end of the book, however, I understand the choices that were made and it does not sour the book for me.
The only thing keeping me from rating this higher was the lack of intersectional feminism. There are virtually none, or very, very few, people of color in this book at all. I understand that this book isn't about that, and it's written in a specific time period, but you have fucking dragons in your book... I think you can add a person of color without it being out of place. It would have been so interesting to see someone from any other background talk about their experience with Dragoning with Alex. I do appreciate that there is sapphic love in this story, I don't think it could be the same without it, and I find that wonderful! I wish more exploration could have gone into transwomen and their dragoning. I just love the dragoning experience that the author portrays and I want more and more and more.
Overall, a great read, I did enjoy it and I think it only could have been better. Please check out the content warnings for this book, it can get a bit heavy at times. I buddy read this with my friend Coletta, who also enjoyed this book a lot!
The story is set up in an exciting way, where you are not fully sure what is happening until it starts, and then you want to devour it, or at least I did! The story is structured almost like a memoir, but not fully, intermixed there are academic excerpts. It's very creative, and one of the first books that attempted to do something like that, and did it well! The book is set from the 1950s to the '60s. I think this is the best period of time to set this in, because any later or early, the Author wouldn't have succeeded in curating this particular feeling around Dragoning.
The story is told from the point of view of Alex Green, who we 'see' grow up. I personally liked Alex's character, though, I did find her to be frustrating at times. However, she is a product of the people around her, and the people around her did not care for her the way she should have. I love Beatrice and her spunk, and their Aunt Marla. I loved Sonja and the Librarian whose name I can't remember. Their importance in the story was palpable, without any of them, Alex wouldn't be Alex. Overall, I would say the characters all meshed well together, their reactions to the happens of the book make sense, and they are enjoyable. However, I don't know how I feel about Alex's character development by the end of the book, however, I understand the choices that were made and it does not sour the book for me.
The only thing keeping me from rating this higher was the lack of intersectional feminism. There are virtually none, or very, very few, people of color in this book at all. I understand that this book isn't about that, and it's written in a specific time period, but you have fucking dragons in your book... I think you can add a person of color without it being out of place. It would have been so interesting to see someone from any other background talk about their experience with Dragoning with Alex. I do appreciate that there is sapphic love in this story, I don't think it could be the same without it, and I find that wonderful! I wish more exploration could have gone into transwomen and their dragoning. I just love the dragoning experience that the author portrays and I want more and more and more.
Overall, a great read, I did enjoy it and I think it only could have been better. Please check out the content warnings for this book, it can get a bit heavy at times. I buddy read this with my friend Coletta, who also enjoyed this book a lot!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Cancer, Chronic illness, Grief, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Bullying and Infidelity
The book is very in-depth with sexism and misogyny, it's kind of the whole premise of the book, if you don't feel like you can handle any amount, I would avoid it. However, from what I remember, there is no violence toward women, from what I remember. Mainly just through comments and the social structures at the time.spaceseagull321's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Terminal illness
Moderate: Chronic illness, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Child abuse and Lesbophobia
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Abandonment, Cancer, Grief, Misogyny, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Death of parent, and Sexism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Physical abuse, War, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, and Dysphoria
Further warning for descriptions of menstruation.kelseyr713's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-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
5.0
"He looked at the window, toward the sky. In a brief, wild moment, I imagined it filled with dragons. Burning houses. Burning buildings. Swallowing men whole. I imagined the entire Mass Dragoning happening again, but bigger this time—every city, every town, every block, dark wings and sharp jaws and bright scales crowding the sky. I imagined myself unleashed, unhooked, unraveled, an explosion of heat and rage and frustration. My bones felt hot. My skin felt tight. The air in my lungs seemed to sizzle."
This alternate history fiction is a love letter to women, libraries, and science. Under the surface, it’s also challenging notions of what should be considered "normal" and encouraging not ignorance and fear, but love and acceptance. I loved and devoured it.
Content warnings: homophobia, parental emotional abuse, death of parents, cancer, body horror (although I personally found the dragoning described beautifully, this may not be true for all readers).
This alternate history fiction is a love letter to women, libraries, and science. Under the surface, it’s also challenging notions of what should be considered "normal" and encouraging not ignorance and fear, but love and acceptance. I loved and devoured it.
Content warnings: homophobia, parental emotional abuse, death of parents, cancer, body horror (although I personally found the dragoning described beautifully, this may not be true for all readers).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Cancer, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Sexism
Moderate: Grief, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Body horror, and Dysphoria
Minor: Murder, Physical abuse, Infidelity, and Pregnancy