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boba_nbooks 's review for:
To Shape a Dragon's Breath
by Moniquill Blackgoose
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
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
Spice Rating: 🫑 / 5 🌶️
This was a debut novel?! Moniquill Blackgoose, I'm going to need more of this, please and thank you. :)
To Shape a Dragon's Breath is a young adult fantasy novel set in a world that is similar to our own but not quite identical. The main character, Anequs, is a young Indigenous woman who happens upon a dragon egg, and when it hatches, it's clear the dragon chooses her. Unfortunately, Anequs lives in a world where her colonizers, the Anglish, believe that dragons must be registered and their human counterparts must be trained in a certain way. Though they are reluctant, the Anglish allow Anequs to come train at their dragon school on the mainland. Anequs is reasonably hesitant as she hasn't left her home island of Masquapaug in her 16 years of life. When she gets to the mainland, she finds many challenges she could never have expected, including many customs she is expected to know without any education of them. The unexplained rules of the dragon school are even more complex, and Anequs finds that some of the people who are supposed to educate her and help her succeed are purposefully setting her up for failure. Despite all of the challenges Anequs faces, she is determined to learn what she can from the Anglish in order to help her dragon and in turn help her home island.
I am completely blown away that this is a debut novel. Moniquill Blackgoose effortlessly combines a multitude of difficult and controversial topics--colonization, ableism, queerness, homophobia, cultural appropriation, racism--in a way that is easily consumable and highly empathetic.
In some ways, this novel reminds me of Babel by RF Kuang. Both authors emphasize issues of colonization and racism that have been prevalent in our past, and present, in a historical setting. Though these novels are fictional, they have so many similarities to our own history and are written in ways that allow readers of all backgrounds and identities to understand how deeply rooted racism, cultural appropriation, and unrealistic expectations are in our systems and societies.
I highly recommend this novel to readers looking for a book to challenge their views on society and expectations as well as readers looking for a unique story about a young Indigenous woman going to a dragon school. To Shape a Dragon's Breath is simultaneously revealing and entertaining.
To Shape a Dragon's Breath hit home for me in so many ways. I haven't seen news of a second book, but I am highly anticipating what Moniquill Blackgoose has in store for Anequs and her friends and family in the next installment of the Nampeshiweisit series.
This was a debut novel?! Moniquill Blackgoose, I'm going to need more of this, please and thank you. :)
To Shape a Dragon's Breath is a young adult fantasy novel set in a world that is similar to our own but not quite identical. The main character, Anequs, is a young Indigenous woman who happens upon a dragon egg, and when it hatches, it's clear the dragon chooses her. Unfortunately, Anequs lives in a world where her colonizers, the Anglish, believe that dragons must be registered and their human counterparts must be trained in a certain way. Though they are reluctant, the Anglish allow Anequs to come train at their dragon school on the mainland. Anequs is reasonably hesitant as she hasn't left her home island of Masquapaug in her 16 years of life. When she gets to the mainland, she finds many challenges she could never have expected, including many customs she is expected to know without any education of them. The unexplained rules of the dragon school are even more complex, and Anequs finds that some of the people who are supposed to educate her and help her succeed are purposefully setting her up for failure. Despite all of the challenges Anequs faces, she is determined to learn what she can from the Anglish in order to help her dragon and in turn help her home island.
I am completely blown away that this is a debut novel. Moniquill Blackgoose effortlessly combines a multitude of difficult and controversial topics--colonization, ableism, queerness, homophobia, cultural appropriation, racism--in a way that is easily consumable and highly empathetic.
In some ways, this novel reminds me of Babel by RF Kuang. Both authors emphasize issues of colonization and racism that have been prevalent in our past, and present, in a historical setting. Though these novels are fictional, they have so many similarities to our own history and are written in ways that allow readers of all backgrounds and identities to understand how deeply rooted racism, cultural appropriation, and unrealistic expectations are in our systems and societies.
I highly recommend this novel to readers looking for a book to challenge their views on society and expectations as well as readers looking for a unique story about a young Indigenous woman going to a dragon school. To Shape a Dragon's Breath is simultaneously revealing and entertaining.
To Shape a Dragon's Breath hit home for me in so many ways. I haven't seen news of a second book, but I am highly anticipating what Moniquill Blackgoose has in store for Anequs and her friends and family in the next installment of the Nampeshiweisit series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Racism, Colonisation
Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, Violence, Cultural appropriation
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, War