Reviews tagging 'Grief'

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

69 reviews

hannahpings's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Misogyny, Cancer, Grief, Abandonment, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: War and Violence

kistasaurus's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, and Grief

Moderate: Terminal illness, Abandonment, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Cancer, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Physical abuse and Alcoholism

val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Sexism, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Cancer

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

Minor: Alcoholism

I’ll make a list of the trigger warnings and how they appear in the book.

- Death of parent / Grief: A bit of an spoiler, but if you wanna know,

both of her parents die.

- Abandonment: When women transform into dragons they leave to the abandonment issues these kids grow up with is crazy. And her father can go to hell.

- Sexism / Misogyny: This whole society.

- Cancer: I think her mother has breast cancer.

- Death: Sometimes dragons killed their husbands.

- Gaslighting: The way adults in society collectively agreed in silence to never speak about dragons and make children believe they didn’t exist.

- Fire injury: Obviously, there’s dragons lol

- Homophobia / Lesbophobia: Once again, her father can go to hell.

- Alcoholism: Aunt Marla married and alcoholic.

n_degeorgia's review

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Cancer, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Death

revolrootion's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Cancer, Grief, and Misogyny

mamaewalk's review against another edition

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. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Misogyny

Minor: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Panic attacks/disorders

ephermeyal's review

hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Infidelity, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Cancer, Grief, Death of parent, and Homophobia

Minor: War and Sexual violence

gabbishy's review

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death of parent, Child abuse, Cancer, Abandonment, Grief, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Death, Body horror, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders

lady_valhella's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

The societal challenges women face are  so briliantly and ridiculously exposed in this book. Well maybe not exposed. But the analogy of how we don’t talk about all of the issues that affect us because it is indicent or inappropriate to talk about our reproductive health or our desires or our pain. How the society we built prefers to pretend those things don’t exist and yet we persist and defy and thrive. Thank you for writing this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Chronic illness

corabookworm's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

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

5.0

In 1955, in an event called the Mass Dragoning, thousands of women transformed into dragons and disappeared into the sky, leaving fire and destruction in their wake. Alex’s aunt was one of them. Shamed into silence, the girl struggles within the dynamics of her family and the oppressive world they live in.

When I read this book back in January, I expected exactly what the blurb pitched: a fiery feminist historical fantasy focused on female rage. Which I got. But (at least the first half of) this book was so much more. It covered complex themes of grief and motherhood and sisterhood and loss and love and shame and guilt and I devoured every single word. (And cried. Parts of this book struck close to home and OUCH.)

The concept itself is intriguing, and Barnhill’s execution is brilliant, packed with gorgeous prose and raw emotion. Parts of the story remain almost a mystery, unraveling through the passages between chapters and little clues scattered throughout the pages. 

This book definitely has its flaws, as well. A few other reviewers have pointed out that this book views feminism through a very white and middle-class lens, which is a fair criticism and something to think about while reading. There’s some events that stretch reality a little (not including the whole turning-into-dragons thing) and it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea–it’s slow-paced, with lots of focus on characters and concepts. 

However, if you enjoy literary fiction and historical fantasy, with a focus on the complexities of girlhood and female relationships, I’d check this one out! (Also there’s women. And dragons. <3)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Misogyny, Abandonment, Cancer, Death of parent, and Sexism

Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Panic attacks/disorders