Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose

58 reviews

fernanda_o's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Minor: Animal death

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! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, and War

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

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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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicide, and Death of parent

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

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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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, and War

senevilla's review

adventurous

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal death and Homophobia

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!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, and War

cozyscones's review

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Death of parent, and War

mysana's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

I thought this was an excellent book. Blackgoose is definitely an author to watch. The use of language and the balance of tension and relief was really well done. The characters are a delight and I can't wait to read the next book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Colonisation

Moderate: Bullying, Violence, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Genocide, Slavery, and Death of parent