Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

14 reviews

euphemiajo's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

lisavandonselaar's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Grief, Miscarriage, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pregnancy

mothmania's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Animal death

Moderate: Violence, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Colonisation, Gore, and Death

Minor: Kidnapping, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Classism, Drug use, and Pregnancy

judassilver's review against another edition

This book did a couple things I didn't enjoy: the retrospective interjection of the narrator recalling past events (the "I may be old now..." or "though I didn't know it then" type) and the fantasy names for what is very clearly our modern world. Call an England an England, please, not "Scirland". Also please note that the memoir part of the title weighs much more heavily than the dragon part, this is very much the story of an upper class woman struggling to foster science minded interests in a world of Victorian sensibilities. Set your expectations accordingly. (Most of the dragons featured are dead, suffering captivity, or being hunted. The MC also has some very classist and colonialist beliefs). This book (and series) is well written and definitely has an audience, I just bounced hard off it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Colonisation, Misogyny, Xenophobia, and Sexism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Miscarriage

lunep's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

By now the whole world knows about Lady Trent, the famous dragon naturalist. For the first time ever we get the story with her own words, from her being a bookish young woman with a passion for natural history - dragons in particular - to her first expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana. 

"You, dear reader, continue at your own risk. It is not for the faint of heart - no more so than the study of dragons itself. But such study offers rewards beyond compare: to stand in a dragon's presence, even for the briefest of moments - even at the risk of one's life - is a delight that, once experienced, can never be forgotten..."

I've been wanting to read this series for a long time, and the first book did not disappoint! The only thing I really knew was that it was about the study of dragons, and I was pleasantly surprised that the main character Isabella (later known as Lady Trent) was a stubborn, brave and - for her time - unconventional woman. The book takes place in a fantasy world, but remains faithful to the Victorian Age, with all the restrictions women faced at that time. That Isabella despite this manages to get her way with her purpose of studying dragons is quite impressive. Luckily she's got an extraordinarily supportive husband, who understands her passion and determination (we do love those, don't we?!).

The narrator is really good and perfect for the story. To be able to keep all the men's names apart I probably should have read instead of listening, but I believe that Kate Reading brings something extra with her narration so I'll keep listening!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Death

Minor: Miscarriage

ophycore's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

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

jackiepreston's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, and Sexism

squinnittowinit's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? No

3.5

I love any world that has dragons in it, but I didn't enjoy how Victorian all the main characters were. I know, that's how it was meant to be, but I found all the misogyny and xenophobia left a bad taste in my mouth. 

It's written as a memoir, so the fictional author as the narrator is writing about a time in the far past, and she does say that she finds some of the sexism to be ridiculous now, but she still makes weird "men vs women" statements that just reinforce harmful gender stereotypes. 

She also read as very Victorian British, in that she was a noble from a colonizing nation

on a journey to a colonized nation, full of privilege and perceived superiority. She freely insults the local people and culture and looks down on them for having less than her, and in the end, has barely any more appreciation for them when she leaves.

This book felt written from the perspective of a colonizer with the assumption that colonizer cultures are better than others and everyone should aspire to be like them.

She's also very callous about killing dragons for science, which I didn't appreciate, as someone who respects nature and living things.

Still, I enjoyed the dragons and I enjoyed the mystery plot. I just wish it had more modern values.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Classism, Violence, Mental illness, Blood, Gun violence, Xenophobia, and Death

Minor: Colonisation, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Medical content, Grief, and Murder

sevensableyes's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Love, love, love.

I knew when I first heard the premise of this series, that I would adore it. And I do. Isabella is fast becoming one of my favourite protagonists, along side Keladry (Protector of the Small series). This book made me feel very nostalgic for my dragon/dinosaurs phase. Isabella's passion is infectious.

The worldbuilding feels very natural, and is fairly easy to keep up with. I think it's because the world will slowly unravel throughout the books, following Isabella's adventures into different parts of the world. I really like how there is no magic system; it's just dragons. It makes them feel like real and vulnerable animals. I'm looking forward to seeing more species.

I loved all of the characters. I liked that

Jacob was a good husband; it would have been very easy to write him as dismissive of Isabella's passions, but he was truly lovely

. I'm fairly certain

Isabella and Mr Wilker will become closer in the future (not romantically)

.

This book ticked all the boxes for me, and hopefully the rest of the series does too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Death, Grief, Animal death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Pregnancy

Regarding the kidnapping,

Isabella wonders if she should try to use her body to escape and also decides she won't struggle, in order to protect herself. There is no sexual assault, but she is preparing for it.