Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

124 reviews

hannahpings's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

3.75

didn't really grip me until the third act, which was wonderful––and retrospectively enhanced the first and second, closing a loop and tying off a careful and intricate knot that barnhill began on dragons' first page. some strong craftmanship and a remarkably well-earned emotional payoff that i'm not ashamed to say made me weep.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kistasaurus's review

Go to review page

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

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bcvogel90's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I predicted that this would be a new favorite book, sadly it isn’t, but still I really liked it and it’s a 4 ⭐ for me. 

I remembered so little of the synopsis I thought this was set in a time before Christ even or in just a little town in the middle of nowhere with very few civilization, I was very surprised when I saw that this was set in the second half of the 1900’s. 

I didn’t understand at first why so many women turned into dragons, I thought it was magic, but the fact that it’s presented as part of their BIOLOGY is crazy to me, it’s such an interesting concept. I don’t blame them at all for turning into dragons and leaving because it was mostly to escape men, but there were also some cases where they turned because it just made them happy and feel free and there was no men involved. 

The way Alex’s father made my blood boil so many times in this book… he got an easy death for what he deserved. Then there’s her mother who is just… shit at communication, the only good thing she did was not abandoning her but I almost wish she did and killed her father in the process, maybe the girls would’ve been better off that way. He made me so mad I almost wanted to DNF, but this isn’t about him and I would’ve given him the power he doesn’t deserve, so he can go to hell and I’m glad I kept reading. 

As Taylor Swift once said: fuck the patriarchy!

Her aunt Marla fits so perfectly the “stereotype” I just knew she loved women, and good for her because damn men are shit in this book, they’re all either sexist or misogynist, that’s the description of the society here to be honest.
 
We almost never see any representation of menstruation in books, so I was glad to have that here. 
I can’t begin to explain what I felt reading how Alex had her friend Sonja and how they clearly liked each other, you know? Like the first innocent love as a child. And when they are together again when they grow up I was just so happy for them. 

Alex is so incredibly strong because to Beatrice she was her cousin, sister and mother. She was a child raising another child and she did such a good job on her own and still stayed a good student. I felt sorry for her by the circumstance but at the same time I was proud and just wanted the best for her. 

This is a book I would love to have in my library and recommend to every girl, I feel it’s such an important read because it shows how a sexist and misogynistic society was and is, talks about menstruation, about how lucky we are to have education for little girls and women, the importance of family, girls loving girls, having a support system, being free… there could be so many conversations around this, and I love that. 

Dragons coming back is something I didn’t expected and it was so interesting to see how people reacted to this and changed their lives and spaces so dragons could study, work, be part of society. I really liked seeing Alex learning to live with and love her new family. 

I loved the ending for the sisters and reading who they grew up to be. 

Finally, I’ll just like to say that I absolutely LOVE this narrator, I loved picking up this audiobook and hearing her voice again, it was just so comforting and soothing, I will be checking out more of her work. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

thequiltyreader's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious slow-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

3.5

I've flip flopped a lot on how to review this book.

Initially I thought this book had a lot of promise based on the blurb and positive reviews. However I have mixed feelings now I've finished it.

Overall I did enjoy the read, however the first half was very slow and incredibly repetitive.  It touched on the life of women around the 1950's / 1960's and what they were often subjected to / expected of them.
I found there was nothing around the development of women's right but there was around dragons rights
.

I would also have preferred to have learnt a bit more about the dragons, how they felt, more around what they explored and why and
also why a lot chose to return and why at that point in time and why hadn't there been anyone else return from earlier dragonings
.

I also felt there was a lot of
suggestion that the knots somehow played a role in keeping Alex from dragoning but it was never explained if that was the case.
.

So overall I enjoyed it but felt it was lacking in some areas.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

n_degeorgia's review

Go to review page

2.75

we love a story about female rage but this whole book felt a little TERF-dog-whistley, with one sentence about LGBT inclusion added in at the request of a sensitivity reader. I feel like this story could have had so much more depth exploring gender and gender roles. I understand the point of view the author was trying to portray, but for a story very explicitly set in 1950's America that attempts to tackle bigotry and discrimination, the lack of intersectionality was so palpable that it almost felt intentional. Beautiful writing, eye-twitch inducing themes.


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

revolrootion's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I was torn between 4 and 4.5 stars for this. This story was beautiful and emotional. The pace was really slow and I'd say the first third/half is quite repetitive. I get that is kind of the point but it was a little difficult to read at times.

The last few chapters though were about absolute masterclass in emotional storytelling. I cried a lot. Alex is a wonderful MC, flawed and honest.

I do wish there had been some explanation as to
whether the knots that Alex's mother gave her were one of the reasons she wasn't able to transform. It seemed to be suggested that was the case but this was never made clear.
Again, perhaps this was the point but it left me a little frustrated.

Overall this was a beautiful, feminist, queer story and I am so glad that I read it.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

romy91's review

Go to review page

funny lighthearted reflective 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

A fun and interesting concept. Addresses some interesting concepts around gender and civil rights. FMC sometimes challenging as she is a child for a good chunk of the book and is somewhat unreliable, but becomes clearer as she ages.

*minor spoiler*




Particularly enjoyed the moment when the dragon woman commented that the only reason she didn’t eat her abusive husband was because she wanted to save herself the indigestion!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mamaewalk's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Creative, unique, and utterly badass story. Reads like a memoir. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

tiernanalexandria's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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

3.25

I think everyone can find something within the struggles of Alex, the main character, that they resonate with. It all felt very real and believable. 

A couple of times the book had me staring out of a window, wishing I too could become a dragon. 
The weight of chores on my shoulders become an aching for wings, the heat of the oven feeling like dragon warmth on my skin, and just wishing that I felt like something bigger than I actually am. 

I think women who deal with the social stigma and weight of societies pressures would enjoy this book the most, but it truly is for everyone. 
The weight of generational grievances is heavy, it’s almost like you hear your ancestors calling you to join them as a dragon too….. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings