A review by sparksbooks
To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose

5.0

This book has some of the best fantasy world building I have ever read. The “what if…” that spawned this world is truly genius. Essentially what if the nordic people had populated North America and how their society would have developed over time and interacted with the native people. As a indigenous person, the author brings such a strong and often rightfully angry voice to her people and their treatment by the white European civilizations that took their land. If you want to read a book that will evoke anger over how a people are treated, this one will certainly do it.

I really enjoyed the characters and loved that Sander brought in some autism-coded rep and Anequs being bi and poly and coming from a civilization that normalized these relationships and how she handled a lot of things was brilliant writing. It really showed the different levels of her people versus the nordic peoples and how hers may be a lot more “civilized” in that regard.

Anequs was a bit of a “perfect” character in terms of being super smart and capable, but it was so necessary to see as otherwise she would have just been called a savage and she would not have been able to change anyone’s opinions. I am super excited to read more in this world.