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A review by aehmyers
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
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
1.5
When Women Were Dragons speaks of silence around women’s issues. That pseudo-peace that people are terrified of breaking. The white wash that keeps people trapped in their own pain. The space where shame flourishes. This book was fairly triggering for me because I lived in a similar silence, drowning in my own self-hatred, for years, and I'm sick of it. Reading this book didn't help me process that trauma, I did not find catharsis in these pages.
Barnhill is partly right. This peace that we cling to is a mirage, a white wash, a falsity. Who among us is experiencing peace? Post pandemic, when finances are hell and mental health issues are rising, when the world is on fire around us, when we are witnessing a genocide live streamed to our phones, when exhaustion seeps out of every pore. Where is the peace? It’s time to talk about difficult things. It’s time to acknowledge them, name them, voice them. How else can we ever parse through the sins of our past, heal, and build something better?
The thing is, this isn't news. And I found the representation of the repressed to be incredibly narrow with no concept for intersectionality. I was not endeared to the dragons who returned and tried to fit in, because their version of improving the world is not the improvement I want. It is still a whitewash. So you elevated the dragons, what about everyone else?
For my part, I want no more time in the silence. I’d rather read about the dragons who broke free from it, because I want to know what we do after the silence. I want to read the stories of those who ripped the silence away with their claws, those who are building something beyond the shame. I want dragons with a broader view, who have listened to the people who have been telling us this for centuries. This fight is not knew. It's been going on longer than any of us have been alive. And there is a wealth of knowledge from communities who have been fighting it, if we would just shut up and listen. If we win the battle for only one group, that isn't enough. We're not free until all of us are.