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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
3.5 *
What a sweet and pleasant surprise this novella was!
There is so much to like about the story, the characters, and the overarching themes and morals that you expect of a children’s fairytale. This story was truly about acceptance, inclusivity, and covered topics having to do with both gender and sexuality. Our MC is aro/ace (as is the author) and a lesbian couple, one of the women being trans, played a major supporting role. Pronouns were spoken about candidly.
While the book is listed for all ages, and I believe on Goodreads for adults, I would definitely put this in the children’s section as I found the tone and writing style, and approach of subject matter more on the juvenile side. I believe this book could make a huge difference in a child’s life due to this wonderful representation from an own voices author.
The dragon Snap was definitely my favorite character, though I did grow very fond of our knight Sir Violet, you really just couldn’t beat all of Snap's witty remarks and one-liners. It really made for a joyful read.
My reasons for lowering my rating has to do with technical errors such as an overly large amount of ellipses use (about once per page and on one page I found *four*), and quite a few awkward dialogue moments that I had to take note of as I feel at times it distracted from the story. (Characters making oddball remarks that didn’t make sense with the moment, or an overly large exposition, etc).
I would like to make note that I am reading the 2020 edition of this book and that a rewrite was written after sensitivity beta readers found the book not up to an acceptable standard. I’m happy to report I feel the story was much improved based on the reviews I had previously read and I would happily put this on my shelves.
I received this ARC via net galley in exchange for an honest review.
What a sweet and pleasant surprise this novella was!
There is so much to like about the story, the characters, and the overarching themes and morals that you expect of a children’s fairytale. This story was truly about acceptance, inclusivity, and covered topics having to do with both gender and sexuality. Our MC is aro/ace (as is the author) and a lesbian couple, one of the women being trans, played a major supporting role. Pronouns were spoken about candidly.
While the book is listed for all ages, and I believe on Goodreads for adults, I would definitely put this in the children’s section as I found the tone and writing style, and approach of subject matter more on the juvenile side. I believe this book could make a huge difference in a child’s life due to this wonderful representation from an own voices author.
The dragon Snap was definitely my favorite character, though I did grow very fond of our knight Sir Violet, you really just couldn’t beat all of Snap's witty remarks and one-liners. It really made for a joyful read.
My reasons for lowering my rating has to do with technical errors such as an overly large amount of ellipses use (about once per page and on one page I found *four*), and quite a few awkward dialogue moments that I had to take note of as I feel at times it distracted from the story. (Characters making oddball remarks that didn’t make sense with the moment, or an overly large exposition, etc).
I would like to make note that I am reading the 2020 edition of this book and that a rewrite was written after sensitivity beta readers found the book not up to an acceptable standard. I’m happy to report I feel the story was much improved based on the reviews I had previously read and I would happily put this on my shelves.
I received this ARC via net galley in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
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
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I got an ARC of this book.
I am not a fantasy person, but I am a queer person (are my puns getting funnier yet?). So I thought I would give this a chance. My book nerd partner found it and told me there was trans and aroace, which of course sold it. So I was ready. I couldn’t sleep last night, so I read the entire book while grumpy that I was not going to have a good day today.
The book itself is short. The cover doesn’t really match the feel of the book. Yes, there is a dragon, but this cover is more fantasy than the book really delivers on. There are dragons and some talking spiders, that is pretty much the extent of the fantasy. Except for the constant need to travel and over explain everything in dialogue. This is one of the reasons I don’t like fantasy.
This book wasn’t the greatest thing out there. I can see why it can appeal, but it just felt like Cerridwen tried too hard to make something inclusive and that be a part of the plot. This is an issue I have with a lot of queer plots. The trans character should just be allowed to exist without their plot being they are trans. The aroace character should be allowed to exist without having to explain their sexuality all the time. I am really annoyed at the plot being the aroace character was hit on. Great. The character was already pretty annoying, but then his identity being reduced to not wanting to be hit on just felt shallow and disappointing. Add in the tone kept me from actually getting to know any character. There was such a fairy tale feel, that I didn’t get to know any characters. I just read the book a few hours ago and I couldn’t tell you the names of the main characters.
I read some reviews of the first edition and read the afterword by the author. I am really glad there was an effort to fix things and figure out where things went wrong. The trans plots read much more about the trans character being supported and there was a lot less transphobia from what I can tell from reviews. That being said, I am still let down by this book. It has improved from awful to cute I guess. It was just a miss for me.
I know others who will really enjoy it, but it wasn’t for me.
I got an ARC of this book.
I am not a fantasy person, but I am a queer person (are my puns getting funnier yet?). So I thought I would give this a chance. My book nerd partner found it and told me there was trans and aroace, which of course sold it. So I was ready. I couldn’t sleep last night, so I read the entire book while grumpy that I was not going to have a good day today.
The book itself is short. The cover doesn’t really match the feel of the book. Yes, there is a dragon, but this cover is more fantasy than the book really delivers on. There are dragons and some talking spiders, that is pretty much the extent of the fantasy. Except for the constant need to travel and over explain everything in dialogue. This is one of the reasons I don’t like fantasy.
This book wasn’t the greatest thing out there. I can see why it can appeal, but it just felt like Cerridwen tried too hard to make something inclusive and that be a part of the plot. This is an issue I have with a lot of queer plots. The trans character should just be allowed to exist without their plot being they are trans. The aroace character should be allowed to exist without having to explain their sexuality all the time. I am really annoyed at the plot being the aroace character was hit on. Great. The character was already pretty annoying, but then his identity being reduced to not wanting to be hit on just felt shallow and disappointing. Add in the tone kept me from actually getting to know any character. There was such a fairy tale feel, that I didn’t get to know any characters. I just read the book a few hours ago and I couldn’t tell you the names of the main characters.
I read some reviews of the first edition and read the afterword by the author. I am really glad there was an effort to fix things and figure out where things went wrong. The trans plots read much more about the trans character being supported and there was a lot less transphobia from what I can tell from reviews. That being said, I am still let down by this book. It has improved from awful to cute I guess. It was just a miss for me.
I know others who will really enjoy it, but it wasn’t for me.
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A cute little queer story. I think I’m just not the right person to read it, especially in terms of age.
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A good palate-cleanser between heavier books. Sweet and filled with fuzzy feelings.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No