A review by kyleahs_bookshelf
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This was an unusual pick for me, but that’s the whole point of book club. I didn’t exactly like or dislike the book—mostly due to the pacing rather than the story itself. That said, it had a strong emotional impact on me and drew a lot of connections to today’s society and the treatment of self-identifying women.

It was set in the 1950s, near Madison, Wisconsin, which was a delight since I recognized many of the towns and cities mentioned.

The book also left a lot of open questions for me as a reader. Rather than feeling thought-provoking, it made the book seem a bit unfinished.

“Perhaps this is how we learn silence-an absence of words, an absence of context, a hole in the universe where the truth should be.”