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jennireadsmaybe's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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? It's complicated
To Shape a Dragon's Breath is one of the most well rounded fantasies I've read in a while. Set in a fantasy land that mirrors colonial era America. White colonizers have taken over the land and they have dragons. The worldbuilding and setting were so descriptive. Moniquill Blackgoose did a remarkable job at blending the worldbuilding aspects in, so it never felt like an info dump session. The different ways each culture views dragons and their relationship with them was so interesting.
Anequs is by and far the best fantasy character I've ever read because she knows who she is and what she stands for. You learn right alongside her. I loved her relationships with other the students and teachers and most of all her family. The way she took bits of what she'd learned in school and connected them to her own culture was very powerful!
I'm definitely looking forward to whatever comes next in the Nampeshiweisit saga!
Anequs is by and far the best fantasy character I've ever read because she knows who she is and what she stands for. You learn right alongside her. I loved her relationships with other the students and teachers and most of all her family. The way she took bits of what she'd learned in school and connected them to her own culture was very powerful!
I'm definitely looking forward to whatever comes next in the Nampeshiweisit saga!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, and War
bluenarcissus's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
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? It's complicated
5.0
Awesome book. Well-written with deep worldbuilding and fully fleshed-out characters, even minor ones. The technique of using Norse-like words took some getting used to before my mind stopped tripping over them, but I loved this book anyway. Anequs is a heroine for the ages and Sander was beautiful representation. The well-woven threads of an Indigenous worldview make this story challenging and easy to love.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism and Murder
apersonfromflorida's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, and War
dragongirl271's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicide, and Death of parent
nina_rae_131's review
challenging
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Sexism, and Lesbophobia
Minor: War
lpdx's review
adventurous
slow-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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Death, Genocide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, and War
Minor: Confinement, Transphobia, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
persephonefoxx's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.25
“All I've ever tried to do is the right thing. If that's so very different from how things have been done before, then what's done before was wrong.”
There is a lot to love about this story. A rich fantasy full of culture, politics, and dragons - sign me up! But what really took me my by surprise was the sheer amount of representation oozing out of this book.
I knew going in that this was a story of an indigenous girl flung into coloniser society, tackling issues of colonisation and racism from an incredibly important perspective. But on top of that, the story also handles queer and polyamorous identities, particularly from the viewpoint of someone from a more accepting culture.
But the representation that really caught me off guard, and the representation that meant the most to me as an autistic person, was the beautifully handled, well-crafted, autistic coded character.
The pacing was this novel’s enemy. And as a result of overall pacing issues, the climax felt lacklustre. Which is a shame for a novel with such a good foundation in world-building, characters, and a magic system that will make science lovers giddy.
Overall, this book left me very excited for the rest of the series. And more importantly, the narrative centralises around deep themes of culture, indigenous peoples, colonisation, and identity from a vital perspective. I am keen to see what else the Nampeshiweisit series has in store
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, and War
rberdan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This one took me a while to read, but I did ultimately love it and I’m looking forward to the next.
I must agree with the Mary Sue critique some of the other reviewers had, but I don’t think it bothered me as much because I did also feel that there was nuance to this. In particular, keeping in mind that this feels YA/Middle Grade, the way things came easily to Anequs were also surfacing alongside deeply colonial worldviews and anti-IIndigenous racism, so what came through at the same time was a means of surfacing Indigenous ways of knowing as equally valuable and valid relative to “Anglish” ways. I chose to appreciate that over being irked by Anequs being painted as so clever and right without consequence.
I absolutely adored Sander and appreciated how other side characters were brought to life. I think there’s even more room for some of them to grow in future books and I’m interested to see where that goes.
I’m a white settler, so I can’t speak to this from lived experience, but the way racism and colonialism played out in the book were very true to what I see in community. As such, some parts were very heavy and I needed some breaks for the sake of my spirit.
The dragons were delightful and I’m excited to see more of them.
Overall, this is a great read with a lot going on at a societal level. It’s a lot to follow, but I was never really bored. I’m definitely looking forward to the next.
I must agree with the Mary Sue critique some of the other reviewers had, but I don’t think it bothered me as much because I did also feel that there was nuance to this. In particular, keeping in mind that this feels YA/Middle Grade, the way things came easily to Anequs were also surfacing alongside deeply colonial worldviews and anti-IIndigenous racism, so what came through at the same time was a means of surfacing Indigenous ways of knowing as equally valuable and valid relative to “Anglish” ways. I chose to appreciate that over being irked by Anequs being painted as so clever and right without consequence.
I absolutely adored Sander and appreciated how other side characters were brought to life. I think there’s even more room for some of them to grow in future books and I’m interested to see where that goes.
I’m a white settler, so I can’t speak to this from lived experience, but the way racism and colonialism played out in the book were very true to what I see in community. As such, some parts were very heavy and I needed some breaks for the sake of my spirit.
The dragons were delightful and I’m excited to see more of them.
Overall, this is a great read with a lot going on at a societal level. It’s a lot to follow, but I was never really bored. I’m definitely looking forward to the next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Genocide, Racism, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
readingwithtemperance's review
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
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? No
5.0
I really loved the representation in this book. There were bisexual/lesbian and neurodivergent/mute characters. As well as polyamory; which is something I haven't really seen in YA.
Anequs was such a wonderful lead. She was constantly advocating for herself/her people. While simultaneously proving the Anglish wrong about their prejudices regarding her capabilities. I especially enjoyed when Professor Ezel had no choice but to pass her and Theod. I also loved that our love triangle was solved via polyamory. And I'm looking forward to that being explored in the sequel! A double marriage would be incredible.
I loved her friendships with Sander and Liberty in particular. And I'm hoping Marta improves in book two because honestly I just found her very annoying.
At times this book was so incredibly heavy. To Shape a Dragon's Breath shone a light on atrocities that happened throughout history to native peoples. Colonization is an ugly beast. The Anglish want nothing more than to strip Anequs and her people of their land and culture.
I thought that the magic system was so interesting. And I'm very eager to see more skiltakraft in book two.
My favorite aspect of this book aside from Anequs' bond with her dragon was the time we spent among her people. I loved learning about her culture and hearing their stories. All of the food sounded incredible!
This was something truly remarkable. I'm so impressed that this was a debut! I cant wait for more feom this world and this author. Sequel NOW!
Anequs was such a wonderful lead. She was constantly advocating for herself/her people. While simultaneously proving the Anglish wrong about their prejudices regarding her capabilities.
I loved her friendships with Sander and Liberty in particular. And I'm hoping Marta improves in book two because honestly I just found her very annoying.
At times this book was so incredibly heavy. To Shape a Dragon's Breath shone a light on atrocities that happened throughout history to native peoples. Colonization is an ugly beast. The Anglish want nothing more than to strip Anequs and her people of their land and culture.
I thought that the magic system was so interesting. And I'm very eager to see more skiltakraft in book two.
My favorite aspect of this book aside from Anequs' bond with her dragon was the time we spent among her people. I loved learning about her culture and hearing their stories. All of the food sounded incredible!
This was something truly remarkable. I'm so impressed that this was a debut! I cant wait for more feom this world and this author. Sequel NOW!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, and War
vermithraxrose's review against another edition
sad
medium-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
I wanted to like this book, I really did. I was excited to read fantasy not only from a female author but also a Native American one. I feel this book would have been so much more interesting and compelling if it had solely been set within native culture and had focused on the main character and her family navigating the uncertainties of raising a dragon after they had been gone for so long. Instead, they are juxtaposed against stereotypical white European culture where racism and misogyny run rampant, and after seeing that in real life so often, I was thoroughly tired of many of the auxiliary characters before I was even a quarter of a way through the book. For that reason, I will not be continuing the series, I just do not have the energy for a book like this. One small grace other than at least getting to see some snippets of native culture was there was a character that I presume is autistic, and I felt he was well portrayed.
A second note, I think you're meant to think of the main character as a natural leader, and someone who is practical and has a good head on her shoulders, but she comes across as a clearly morally superior character to everyone else and seems to be on a one woman crusade to right all the wrongs of the world and there's very little resistance or drama that seems to prevent her from doing that. She does not have any clear flaws other than the stereotypical "not afraid to speak her mind" flaw that you tend to find in "strong female characters" in other books. And this almost always seems to work in her favor, she gets very few consequences or true resistance in doing this. It just made her...kind of flat.
A second note, I think you're meant to think of the main character as a natural leader, and someone who is practical and has a good head on her shoulders, but she comes across as a clearly morally superior character to everyone else and seems to be on a one woman crusade to right all the wrongs of the world and there's very little resistance or drama that seems to prevent her from doing that. She does not have any clear flaws other than the stereotypical "not afraid to speak her mind" flaw that you tend to find in "strong female characters" in other books. And this almost always seems to work in her favor, she gets very few consequences or true resistance in doing this. It just made her...kind of flat.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Misogyny, and Racism