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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
A cute fairytale with queer main characters (specifically, a wlw trans woman and her wife and an aroace cis male) about self-acecptance and community. My only complaint is that I really wanted it to be longer.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Read my full review of this delightful novella here!
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
This "inclusive fairy tale for all ages" is a delight despite its tendency, at times, to be too obvious with its learnings. With a village knight who feels the need to prove himself, a polite but witty dragon who is more friend than nemesis, and other whimsical but real characters who make up the village of Ynys, this is a funny, imaginative and heartwarming fable about acceptance, friendship and love.
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
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
This was an adorable and heartwarming story. It's a light read that can easily be finished in a single sitting, which is what I did. The cover may imply a more involved fantasy, but this is primarily character and message driven. The worldbuilding is very slim, with minimal explanations for the way magic and the society work. If you read fantasy for the epic worldbuilding, this book isn't for you. It's more like a fairy tale in that the fantasy elements are simplistic and emerge as the story needs them.
However, if you enjoy character interactions and an optimistic worldview, it's a lovely story to read. There's no true "villain" of the story; the book takes the stance that everyone is generally good and trying to do the best they can. People make mistakes and don't always communicate properly, but that can be solved through listening and understanding each other.
The message of the story is one of acceptance and diversity. Violet is aromantic and asexual, Holly and Juniper are a lesbian couple, Holly is a trans woman, and her cousin Moss has a trans daughter. The trans and ace characters face misunderstandings from cis and allo characters, but these mistakes are discussed and addressed. Juniper immediately begins prioritizing Moss's perspective on not fully supporting her trans daughter to Holly, and later realizes her error and apologizes.
It has empathy for everyone, which was refreshing. The idea of spreading empathy through storytelling is a nice way of connecting this story to the real world. Just like in the story, hearing the stories of diverse people globally can help us connect with each other.
This book is not for everyone. For some, it may come across as too simplistic or childish. But I found it quite nice to sink into a book that was like a comforting embrace, especially when the world is so anxiety-ridden. With sweet character interactions and friendships, this is a great book for all ages in need of a little optimism.
However, if you enjoy character interactions and an optimistic worldview, it's a lovely story to read. There's no true "villain" of the story; the book takes the stance that everyone is generally good and trying to do the best they can. People make mistakes and don't always communicate properly, but that can be solved through listening and understanding each other.
The message of the story is one of acceptance and diversity. Violet is aromantic and asexual, Holly and Juniper are a lesbian couple, Holly is a trans woman, and her cousin Moss has a trans daughter. The trans and ace characters face misunderstandings from cis and allo characters, but these mistakes are discussed and addressed. Juniper immediately begins prioritizing Moss's perspective on not fully supporting her trans daughter to Holly, and later realizes her error and apologizes.
It has empathy for everyone, which was refreshing. The idea of spreading empathy through storytelling is a nice way of connecting this story to the real world. Just like in the story, hearing the stories of diverse people globally can help us connect with each other.
This book is not for everyone. For some, it may come across as too simplistic or childish. But I found it quite nice to sink into a book that was like a comforting embrace, especially when the world is so anxiety-ridden. With sweet character interactions and friendships, this is a great book for all ages in need of a little optimism.
I started reading this book last night and I've already finished it, and I have so much to say about it!!!! First of all: I LOVED IT! This has definitely been one of my favorite reads of the year. Absolutely loved it.
Let me begin by giving you a little history on the book itself. The Dragon of Ynys was first published in May, 2018 by Less Than Three Press (LT3). There were two problems in the first version of the book: firstly it contained some elements which were hurtful to the trans readers and secondly there were sentences in the first edition of the book which the author could've challenged but didn't then.
Because of the above mentioned reasons and the fact that the own voice author - who identifies as asexual and somewhere on the spectrum of aromantic - paid attention to the feedback, the author decided to make the necessary corrections and bring out a second version of the book. I appreciate an author who is willing to recognize the flaws in her story and even takes the time to correct those flaws. So kudos to her for that, it's honestly quite brave of her.
Coming to the book and the story - The Dragon Of Ynys is a wonderful tale! A short and fulfilling conquest of an aro/ace knight, a trans-woman/F baker family and a dragon! It's a perfect fit of a queer fantasy troupe (which I definitely would love to be a part of) - a dragon, giant spiders, a knight, a small town and bakers!
It all starts out with the knight - Sir Violet - discovering the compulsive thief in town - Snap, the dragon. The conversations between Violet and Snap are funny, witty and sarcastic, everything you'd expect when interacting with a dragon. The sarcastic humour gets even better when Sir Violet goes straight to the dragon when the town's best baker - Juniper - goes missing.
It's the event that marks the start of the main storyline: the reason for Juniper's sudden disappearance and the conquest to find her by her wife - Holly, accompanied by Sir Violet and the dragon. The story gets even more interesting once they do find Juniper and all four embark on their subsequent mission of meeting the spiders to help them with their final conquest.
I would say that this book was probably written for the age group of 6-12 year olds and would even require guidance from a parent at some points to understand some of the issues addressed here. But in my opinion, like any well-written children's book, it would make for a great read for all age groups. Like the author said, "After all, representation is not just about seeing yourself in a story. It also, more generally, opens our minds and explains the perspectives of other people around us."
I loved that the characters in the book are flawed and are accepting of themselves too. They acknowledge the problems and work on improving them, sending out a clear message that there's always a way around most of them. The character Violet identifies as aromantic and asexual which I felt was a bit underplayed but appreciate the character's acceptance of self.
What I loved most about the book was how tight the plotline was, from start to finish. Despite how short the book is, it's completely whole, the ending didn't feel incomplete and I would certainly read this book again! I would rate this book 5 out of 5 cinnamon roll shaped bookmarks and would highly recommend you all to give it a read!
The second version of the publication comes out on 15 September, 2020 so remember to keep an eye out for this. I hope I get to read more books like this because inclusion starting from children's fiction is an exceedingly important step. It is high time we start acknowledging own voice authors who have written stories where every individual whether an adult or a kid feels represented.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and Atthis Arts for providing me with an eARC of the book to review. I'd also like to congratulate the author Minerva Cerridwen on her efforts to bring to us a corrected second edition of the book.
Let me begin by giving you a little history on the book itself. The Dragon of Ynys was first published in May, 2018 by Less Than Three Press (LT3). There were two problems in the first version of the book: firstly it contained some elements which were hurtful to the trans readers and secondly there were sentences in the first edition of the book which the author could've challenged but didn't then.
Because of the above mentioned reasons and the fact that the own voice author - who identifies as asexual and somewhere on the spectrum of aromantic - paid attention to the feedback, the author decided to make the necessary corrections and bring out a second version of the book. I appreciate an author who is willing to recognize the flaws in her story and even takes the time to correct those flaws. So kudos to her for that, it's honestly quite brave of her.
Coming to the book and the story - The Dragon Of Ynys is a wonderful tale! A short and fulfilling conquest of an aro/ace knight, a trans-woman/F baker family and a dragon! It's a perfect fit of a queer fantasy troupe (which I definitely would love to be a part of) - a dragon, giant spiders, a knight, a small town and bakers!
It all starts out with the knight - Sir Violet - discovering the compulsive thief in town - Snap, the dragon. The conversations between Violet and Snap are funny, witty and sarcastic, everything you'd expect when interacting with a dragon. The sarcastic humour gets even better when Sir Violet goes straight to the dragon when the town's best baker - Juniper - goes missing.
It's the event that marks the start of the main storyline: the reason for Juniper's sudden disappearance and the conquest to find her by her wife - Holly, accompanied by Sir Violet and the dragon. The story gets even more interesting once they do find Juniper and all four embark on their subsequent mission of meeting the spiders to help them with their final conquest.
I would say that this book was probably written for the age group of 6-12 year olds and would even require guidance from a parent at some points to understand some of the issues addressed here. But in my opinion, like any well-written children's book, it would make for a great read for all age groups. Like the author said, "After all, representation is not just about seeing yourself in a story. It also, more generally, opens our minds and explains the perspectives of other people around us."
I loved that the characters in the book are flawed and are accepting of themselves too. They acknowledge the problems and work on improving them, sending out a clear message that there's always a way around most of them. The character Violet identifies as aromantic and asexual which I felt was a bit underplayed but appreciate the character's acceptance of self.
What I loved most about the book was how tight the plotline was, from start to finish. Despite how short the book is, it's completely whole, the ending didn't feel incomplete and I would certainly read this book again! I would rate this book 5 out of 5 cinnamon roll shaped bookmarks and would highly recommend you all to give it a read!
The second version of the publication comes out on 15 September, 2020 so remember to keep an eye out for this. I hope I get to read more books like this because inclusion starting from children's fiction is an exceedingly important step. It is high time we start acknowledging own voice authors who have written stories where every individual whether an adult or a kid feels represented.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and Atthis Arts for providing me with an eARC of the book to review. I'd also like to congratulate the author Minerva Cerridwen on her efforts to bring to us a corrected second edition of the book.
First of all thank you NetGalley and Atthis Arts for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
I thought the writing was absolutely amazing, the author really fit in so much connection between characters in only a few pages. The book also read very smoothly to me.
The only thing I disliked was the forced representation. I absolutely think lgbt+ characters being normalised in literature is important, but this was often just a bit overkill to me. Not the amount of lgbt+ characters bothered me but how they were treated like they were oh so soft and special babies. They can just exist and be normalised without making it a big deal in my opinion.
That being said, I did enjoy the reading experience and when I noticed the author was Belgian I needed to check it out.
I thought the writing was absolutely amazing, the author really fit in so much connection between characters in only a few pages. The book also read very smoothly to me.
The only thing I disliked was the forced representation. I absolutely think lgbt+ characters being normalised in literature is important, but this was often just a bit overkill to me. Not the amount of lgbt+ characters bothered me but how they were treated like they were oh so soft and special babies. They can just exist and be normalised without making it a big deal in my opinion.
That being said, I did enjoy the reading experience and when I noticed the author was Belgian I needed to check it out.
*Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review *
This was a fantastic short story about a knight and a dragon on a quest to find a missing person. It's a beautiful atmospheric world that reads just like a fairy tale, but all the characters are queer. This is a perfect book for kids with easy to understand descriptions of different identities and with dragons, because who doesn't love dragons?
This was a fantastic short story about a knight and a dragon on a quest to find a missing person. It's a beautiful atmospheric world that reads just like a fairy tale, but all the characters are queer. This is a perfect book for kids with easy to understand descriptions of different identities and with dragons, because who doesn't love dragons?
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy in return for an honest review.
While not a particularly bad book, this is not one that will hold up for older readers. It's a cute story and it is a wonderful book for kids, particularly ones interested in learning about LGBTQ+ people and those learning to develop good communication skills. However, for older teens and adults this book, pure and simple, reads like an after school special. The writing is too direct and overly simplistic much of the time as the characters all communicate incredibly openly and directly with everyone they meet, in a way that feels unnatural and unrealistic much of the time. Further, all of the characters have the exact same voice, so it is difficult to become invested in anyone in particular, making the perfectly okay story to be somewhat forgettable.
I would recommend this book all day long for readers ages 8-12, but not really for anyone past that.
While not a particularly bad book, this is not one that will hold up for older readers. It's a cute story and it is a wonderful book for kids, particularly ones interested in learning about LGBTQ+ people and those learning to develop good communication skills. However, for older teens and adults this book, pure and simple, reads like an after school special. The writing is too direct and overly simplistic much of the time as the characters all communicate incredibly openly and directly with everyone they meet, in a way that feels unnatural and unrealistic much of the time. Further, all of the characters have the exact same voice, so it is difficult to become invested in anyone in particular, making the perfectly okay story to be somewhat forgettable.
I would recommend this book all day long for readers ages 8-12, but not really for anyone past that.