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amandadevoursbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
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? It's complicated
3.0
Ugh đ« the first half of this book was delightful. The middle was a challenge, and the end complicated.
The premise is unique. In the 50s, a bunch of women turned into dragons, and they left. Alex, the primary's story, is one of remembering and forgetting as her culture remembers and forgets.
If you read it as a memoir, the story flows like water.
It centers rage, trauma, and healing, and it leans into an idea that if women had more power the world would be better. I find this challenging since colonialism and white supermacy wield white feminism as both a shield and a knife.
It's a book I'm going to be thinking about for a long time. It is both tragic and hopeful, sad and sweet, and creative and destructive.
I can't get over the how it centers white people in stories of black and brown people though. If recommend it to a specific type of reader.
The premise is unique. In the 50s, a bunch of women turned into dragons, and they left. Alex, the primary's story, is one of remembering and forgetting as her culture remembers and forgets.
If you read it as a memoir, the story flows like water.
It centers rage, trauma, and healing, and it leans into an idea that if women had more power the world would be better. I find this challenging since colonialism and white supermacy wield white feminism as both a shield and a knife.
It's a book I'm going to be thinking about for a long time. It is both tragic and hopeful, sad and sweet, and creative and destructive.
I can't get over the how it centers white people in stories of black and brown people though. If recommend it to a specific type of reader.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Xenophobia
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.mkhertzenberg's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Good story with great meaning but did not live up to expectations, much more sad and dark than I had anticipated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Homophobia
caidyn's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
4.75
A gorgeous book that absolutely envelopes you in the world. Alternative history where women become dragons and the reactions of people in the 1950s and 1960s. Such a great read that pulled at my heart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Sexism, Cancer, and Death of parent
Moderate: Domestic abuse
bubbadina's review
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Homophobia, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity
sameenj's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
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? It's complicated
4.75
This book can really only be described as beautiful. As in the story was written in a way that felt perfect, especially toward the end. It confronted some really hard truths about the world in the US as it stood in the 50s (and of course as it is today by default), but felt much more hopeful. It was flawlessly a book about women and feminine people and how we all relate to each other - as mothers, sisters, aunts, friends, soâs, etc. and it felt like all about coming into our own power. Women are magic and it was absolutely magical
Content Warnings
Minor: Domestic abuse
kaitisbooknook's review against another edition
medium-paced
- 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
2.5
Alex is a young girl growing up in the 1960s in a world much like our own, except for one key difference: in 1955 thousands of women simultaneously became dragons and flew from society to never be seen again. Her aunt was one of these women, but her family refuses to acknowledge her existence, much in the same way the government and the rest of the world refuse to discuss the event at all, or that women are still dragoning, and no one seems to know why.
This was one of my personally most anticipated releases of the summer, but Iâm ultimately disappointed in the result. For me, one of the biggest failings of the novel was choosing to market this as adult fantasy, when the narrator is under the age of 18 for the vast majority of the story. Her age and limited world view gives the reader and incredibly narrow scope of the events of the time period, and a childlike outlook on all topics broached in the tale, including things like menstruation, spousal abuse, workersâ rights, sexual assault, gender identity and segregation â the final of these being the biggest failing of all.
Barnhill sets up the fight for âdragonsâ rightsâ seemingly as a metaphor for the feminist movement (dragoning itself as a product of both feminine joy and female rage,) but events in this protest mimic exact occurrence of the civil rights movement, specifically segregation in the workplace and in school. This is hardly fleshed out at all, and race is only briefly mentioned, which would suggest that Barnhill is saying all women have faced an equal amount of oppression throughout history. This isnât even a matter of opinion, itâs just factually incorrect. This is set in a fantastical world, but the mythology behind dragons is also never fully realized, so we have no choice but to treat this as if we are looking at American history, and ultimately it just does not work. I do believe Barnhill had good intentions, but it reads like someone who was only recently introduced to intersectional feminism and is not in a position to be educating others.
If you are looking for a sapphic fantasy romance as this novel seemed to be marketed across the internet, this is not the book for you. However, if you have little experience reading about female rage and feminist concepts as a whole, I do believe this is a good introduction to the topic, especially in a young adult framing.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, and Sexism
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