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flyingryndeer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Xenophobia and Murder
anntharai's review against another edition
- 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? No
5.0
Shades of Amelia Peabody, but with more dragons and less detective work.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Blood, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Classism, Gore, and Miscarriage
ok7a's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Xenophobia and Sexism
Minor: Miscarriage
claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexism, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
jayecard's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A delightful fantasy mystery in the style of Victorian-ish memoirs. As a biologist who loves fantasy, the concept of this series is perfect for me, and this was a promising start.
I should however clarify what this is NOT: It is not a mature How To Train Your Dragon, it is not exclusively focusing on dragons or filled to the brim with dragon lore, in fact, dragons are used fairly sparsely in this first volume. But quite effectively, so it still felt like a dragon book - just keeping them mysterious, and personally I think that's the right way to go. However, don't go into this expecting a 99% dragon story. It really feels more like a historical feminist mystery story in a reality that's mostly like ours, just with dragons.
It turns into more of a mystery with time than a classic fantasy, but I enjoyed how everything came together bit by bit. Isabella is a wonderful protagonist, I especially enjoyed how she sometimes notes things that she's grown to learn with age (since she is retelling her youth as an old woman), or says things she can now afford to say after becoming a renowned dragon naturalist. This plays especially well into the feminist aspect of the story, which it quite obviously has, and very well done so: There's no vain attempts to girlboss Isabella or make her particularly masculine or feminine, she's just her dragon crazy self, trying to carve her way in a male dominated field, and she finds enemies and allies alike. I'm super excited to read more of this series, explore more of the world building, and find out more about dragons!
Bonus points for cool illustrations
Moderate: Sexism
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Grief, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Alcohol, Colonisation, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content
paintedthree's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Miscarriage and Grief
szuum's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexism
Moderate: Miscarriage
macthekat's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Sexism
Historical sexism, internalised misogynyjenny_d's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Sexism and Miscarriage