Wow! This is an unexpected and modern tale about women who turn into dragons! Bizarre and so entertaining. I loved how this tale contrasted with the confining norms and expectations of the 1950's.

This is a brilliant novel, with an absurd premise, that somehow works wonderfully. It's almost enough to make you wonder if Barnhill wrote it on a dare. Take a really pretty silly metaphor and make a passionate, angry, heartfelt, and moving novel out of it. Show don't tell the rage of a woman with ambition in the 1950s, the confusion of a pure and sweet love that is somehow made perverse and strange, and the fear and relentless drudgery of gaining adult responsibilities too quickly.

This book is what it says on the box - women turn into dragons - but it's also a lot more. Give it a shot. If you like complex characters who evolve and change, queer history, math, alternative history, or even just dragons! This is a wonderful pick - especially for anyone who has ever felt like the other.

This book. Where do I even start? It was a pull at my heart and soul and came at the perfect time. I wished several times that I held a physical copy in my hands so that I could mark pages and passages that spoke to me. We need more Dragons in this world.

I have been contemplating my feelings for this book for 4 days. Did I love it? No. Did I hate it? Also, No. Did it make me think? Make me feel? Entertain me? Yes.
I want to start with the concept of this book. I loved the idea behind the story. I mean Dragons? Sign me up! This book had so much potential. However, I felt like it was an opportunity lost: a swing and a miss. This story could have been so much MORE! The fantasy aspects of this story were downplayed and drowned in a world of misogyny. There were so many chances to elaborate on the "dragoning" and the dragons themselves that were just skimmed over. Yes, there were scientific accounts dispersed throughout that were just that; scientific accounts. Let's take a moment to discuss the science sprinkled around this story. I appreciate what the author was trying to do but it left me frustrated and confused. The back and forth between the story and the scientific anecdotes were discordant, bemusing, and disconcerting. While it did answer some questions regarding the dragons themselves, it left even deeper, more profound questions.
I would like to praise the world-building. It was fantastic! I found myself emerged in a post-war 1950's America. I felt the feelings of the oppressed sex. The rage and injustice at the inequality alone made me grateful for how far we have come. I could feel myself in the Cleaver-clean home. In the apron strings of the cloistered housewife. In the loneliness of the emotionally neglected child(ren). When you can imagine yourself in the situation and environment of your characters, the author has succeeded in building the world for their story.
Let's talk character development. Another point in favor of Barnhill's work. The character development was so seamless. So natural. I found myself liking and disliking the characters with equal emotion. I cried at the lies, and mistreatment of our main character. I cringed at the oppression of her mother yet rejoiced at the liberated attitude and addition of the Aunt. I would like to add, that there is a special place in purgatory for dad. I realize that some of his behavior was commonplace during this time period but he made me so furious and sad for our girl.
This book was hard to get into at first. Then it was hard to put down. Then hard to keep reading. Then intriguing. There were several entertaining parts but just as many drawn-out parts that I found boring and lackluster.
The book definitely had several redeeming qualities but overall, I found myself lost. Searching fo meaning. What is she trying to say? What am I missing? What is the real point? I feel like there was a definite underlying symbolism that I just couldn't quite wrap my head around. Every time I thought I had it figured out, something would take place and I was back to the drawing board. Some things seem so obscenely obvious yet others so elusive. I kept searching and struggling to find the meaning, the hidden message, the true essence of this story. Was there one? I am still not sure.

I was super excited to get an ARC of this book through NetGalley, as it was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I was on track to get it read and a review posted before publication, but then I got lifed, hard. Not quite as hard as some of the characters in this book though! That plot twist around 40% in almost had me putting this book down for good. I'm so glad I didn't though, because the second half of the book is so strong, and so good.

There were elements in this book that felt like they were quietly headed in one relatively obvious direction, but then took a big turn in the opposite direction. I did like how Dr. Gantz and other researchers were open to the idea that the science was changing and the observations and research they had collected could be and should be changed.

I'm a big fan of alternative history style books, and this one was well done. The dragoning mirrors other major moments in society and culture, and allowed the book to talk about othering of a different kind in that context. I really liked the play between Beatrice and Alex, and how their family changed and adapted throughout the book.

Overall, the book was well done, and I can't wait for more people to read it!

When Women Were Dragons is such a unique and wonderful book. It manages to be feminist, whimsical and infuriating all at the same time and is one of the best books I’ve read this year. Though this alternate history has elements of fantasy/magical realism, it still tackles heavy issues such as prejudice, women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights. While most of this story takes place in the late 1950s and 1960s, so many of this is still relevant today. And reading this during release week, days after the Supreme Court leak, just hits even harder.

The bulk of the story takes place just after the Mass Dragoning of 1955 and shows what happens when thousands of women turn into dragons on the same day. The women who dragon are the ones who want more from this world, they are the curious and questioning, with their faces to the sky and longing to escape this man’s world. I was constantly enraged reading this book, by the abandonment and every other obstacle Alex had to face to make her way in the world. She was such an easy character to root for and I loved her relationship with Bea. The ending had me tearing up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for the advanced copy of this book. I can’t wait to check out more from this author.

Thank you to Doubleday Books, the author, and NetGalley for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was released on May 3, 2022.

"So what should a town do when the mother who once escaped into the sky in a scream of rage and fire, decides to return? What should this nation do if they all come home?"

In 1955, America experienced a Mass Dragoning, where hundreds of thousands of women gave into the compulsion or joy they felt and left their small lives behind to take to the skies. Alex, whose aunt dragoned and whose mother didn’t and is now deceased, is left with an increasingly distant father and a “sister” it falls upon her to raise, all while grappling with society’s refusal to acknowledge the dragons and her feelings about the phenomenon itself—as well as about the people it removed from her life.

What a week to be reading this book. Or finally reviewing it on the heels of last week, rather. As much as WWWD focuses on a world that is all too recognizable in its denial, it also builds towards something beautiful: the kind of community we could have, if we were not so concerned with regulating other peoples’ private lives, if we allowed others to grow into their power. The first half of the book made me rage. The second half made me hope.

On a craft-related note, I loved that this was a fictional memoir in addition to a gorgeously written fantasy, interspersed with excerpts from other in-universe documents such as pamphlets and congressional records. I feel that often scrapbook stories are difficult to do well, but because this book didn’t lean too heavily on that format, that concern was almost negligible, and I appreciated its use because it allowed me to learn a little more about the fantasy elements of the world from a character who wasn’t in the least reluctant to openly acknowledge dragons—and I do agree with other reviewers in that I wish there had been more dragons, period, and that this hadn’t been just a metaphor from the point of view of someone on the outside of the phenomenon, but that we had gotten a bit from someone within it.

Although—slight spoiler here—I’m of the opinion that Alex did transform, just not in the way that the other women did. I mean, I was there. I watched it happen with my own two eyes.

Overall, an unfortunately timely (aren’t they always?) and exceedingly powerful novel.

When Women Were Dragons takes place in the 1950s, where women's things were not talked about. They were forbidden. When hundreds of thousands of women turn into dragons, everyone tries to sweep it under the rug. It is a tragedy that they refer to as The Day of Missing Mothers, but they refuse to acknowledge what happened to cause this Mass Dragoning. Anyone who dares to discuss, or even study, dragons and dragoning, are quickly silenced, or even shunned from the community. It is just not what we talk about.

We soon learn that the Mass Dragoning of 1956 was not the first time any woman transformed into a dragon. There are stories dotting history, if you look in the right places, dating all the way back to ancient times. These transformations were passed down through history as folklore, but as soon as it became a common occurrence, those stories were no longer appropriate. Even drawing a dragon could get you sent to the principal's office for possible expulsion.

This book is a lot more than simply women turning into dragons, but I prefer to leave that up to the reader to discover. It was beautifully written, and contained so much more between the lines. I really recommend this to any woman, any femme, any marginalized person.

To those worried about possible TERF terminology, I assure you it is not a TERF piece. Trans women and non-binary folks are mentioned with care.

This one really pulls you in from the beginning. I liked the women throughout, how powerful they are and how they fight for what they deserve.
I think this book is a reflection of many things that are relatively happening in the world right now.
Women may never be able to give up the fight of fighting for their rights.
The writing is wonderful in this book too and the tidbits throughout were interesting.
A great read for book clubs, lots to discuss.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

I loved the premise in this book and that it’s a feminist book set in the 50s and incorporating magical realism. To me this book started strong but then started to lose steam and became a very slow read. I unfortunately DNF’d it at 30%. I’ve seen some amazing reviews and think maybe I just wasn’t in the right mindset for this book at this time. I will refrain from reviewing on Goodreads, but hopefully will come back to it down the road.

This alternate history/fantasy/speculative fiction was interesting, compelling. Starting with the first known instance of "dragoning" and moving onwards, this is definitely a worthwhile read.

It’s funny how one day a book is relevant, and then the very next day, that same book becomes an anthem call.

Rage. Forced to fit into a mold and drowning in societal expectations. Have you ever wondered what could happen when the pressure gets too much?

In Barnhill’s reimagining, the perfect blend of magic and anger allows an untold number of women to spontaneously transform into dragons rather than live under increasing patriarchal demands. Our narrator, Alex, is young when the Mass Dragoning takes place, setting her on a path to discovery, of both society and herself.

Barnhill dedicated this book to Christine Blasey Ford, “whose testimony triggered this narrative.” And as I read about women breaking free (and sometimes devouring their abusers), I understood. It vividly reminded me of the immense frustration I felt listening to Blasey-Ford, yet another victim, testify only to be ignored.

Yet in the end, the novel moves from rage to joy… rather than dragoning to overcome, women dragon out of beauty and joy. And while I agree that there is great beauty in the boldness and bravery in my fellow womankind, I do not think we have arrived in a place where rage is not the primary motivator. Maybe that is to come. I hope that is our future.

Until it is… much like the early dragons, we continue to fight against a patriarchy that continues to push us down.

Many thanks to Doubleday Books for this #gifted copy.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the book. In the current climate, it will most probably be banned in Florida which speaks to the greatness of
the storyline.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC! This is a unique book taking place in the 1950's where women are able to transform into dragons and the world ignores that this happens and no one is really allowed to talk about it.

It's an interesting take on feminism and culture, with the idea of repression and mysogny throughout. Alex is a child when her Aunt dragons and abandons the family, including her cousin Beatrice. Her family pretends like everything is fine and normal, but her mom isn't healthy, she returned once upon a time with burns and is obsessed with knots. Neither of these things are ever answered.

Her father sucks, he abandons Beatrice and Alex after her mom dies and he gets with his new mistress. He moves the girls into a tiny, shitty apartment and tells them to lie to people because he doesn't want people to know that he sucks.

Beatrice is too much and wants to be a dragon. The Aunt returns with other dragons and reconnects with Alex and Beatrice, ultimately helping to raise the girls. This portion of the book is honestly super sweet.

The biggest issue with this book is that there are too many unanswered questions. Why do women dragon? How? Does Sonja ever find her mom? Does Sonja ever return to Alex? Why does Alex never read her Aunt's letters? What happened to Alex's mom? What do the knots mean? We get hints at some answers, but it's very evasive.

The main plotline is disrupted frequently too by bits of history regarding dragons and even testimony in front of congress that slows the story down. While these pieces are sometimes interesting, much of them are unnecessary and could have been told through the OG plotline and Alex.

A new wave feminist story, yes please!

It’s 1955 and Alex and the women around her through the years turn into dragons. These ordinary wives and mothers sprout wings and talons and scales, with it a fiery trail of destruction. What’s behind these changes and what will happen to Alex? Her mother didn’t turn but her Aunt Marla did. Is there a cure? Her mother forces her into behaving respectfully in fear that Alex will turn herself.

I loved this book and how society places women. How we aren’t meek and obedient as men makes us. The magical realism was unique, but the pacing to start was very slow for me to get into. But once it picked up I started to enjoy the story as a whole. I really liked listening to Alex tell her story and experiencing what she went through during a time where women didn’t have a voice. The dragons were women showing their power and that we are just as equally strong as our male counterparts.

All in all, I loved the fantasy idea of this book, being a woman and raising girls who I fear for in todays society. How are voices are just as strong!

When Women Were Dragons is an intriguing book that will leave you thinking about women and empowerment. I love the details of the story and how rich and vibrant the world is. I love the personal journey of Alex as she discovers who she is and who she can become. This is a beautiful book.

Dragons. Dragons. Everywhere.

I’m here to tell you my thoughts about this highly anticipated new adult novel from a favorite middle grade author.

But first I’m going to preface this review with a rather unnecessary commentary about just how much easier it is to write about books you either love with all your being or books that had a negative effect on your reading life.

This review is not easy to write.

The premise of this book is fierce. It tells of an alternate history where feminist rage is synonymous with a transformation so profound, so unrealistic, it’s revolutionary and tantalizing…women becoming dragons. What a fantastic way to explore the societal issues of the mid-1950s! I was expecting rage with an berserky urge to grow talons and scales, but instead I kind of grew exhausted…of the word dragon.

When Women Were Dragons is a coming of age story wrapped in a hazily explained unprecedented moment of time, the Mass Dragoning of 1955, 300,000 women transform into dragons, changing a world that is similar to our own. Alex Green, the young protagonist, is left wondering why her Aunt Marla made the change, but her mother did not (but we’re not supposed to talk about that). Woven within her storyline as she transitions from teen to adult, Kelly Barnhill inserts official documents about a government that is trying to keep the silence about dragons and science documents from an outspoken dragon scientist.

There were certain moments that I was emotionally invested in Alex and her “sister”, but then I was quickly stymied by the inserted documents with alternated between chapters. Just changing up the flow could make for a better reading experience.

This would have made for a very impactful novella if certain aspects were highlighted; the feminist rage and dragons. Dragons represent strength and fierceness, but with the overwrought addition of the narrative about Alex Green and the awkwardness of being a teen, it just made the whole story slightly confusing. I could sort of see where Barnhill was trying to go with this story. It just wasn’t one that I could sink my teeth into.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

✨ Review ✨ When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

Wow! What a book to finish right as the recent SCOTUS news was released. This book is a hard one to review so I'm going to divide it in two halves.

The first 50-70% of this book creates such a powerful depiction of female rage. Set in the 1950s, women subjected to the patriarchy become fueled by SO MUCH rage that they turn into dragons, culminating in a Mass Dragoning in 1955. The book's dedicated to Christine Blasey Ford, which felt so appropriate. The first part of the book echoed all the rage I felt as I sat in my office crying, listening to Dr. Blasey Ford's testimony. In so many ways, this first part of the book felt like a positive recognition of that female rage so many of us know so intimately.

The book shows how in a 1950s nation so afraid of otherness rejected this Dragoning, sweeping it under the carpet, refusing and rejecting scientific inquiry. It so perfectly invokes that 1950s moment of HUAC and fear of communism, of racism and discrimination; but also resonates so deeply with the present moment (even more today than several days ago). I found myself highlighting long passages of this book because it was just so damn powerful.

This book was on pace to be a 5 star read...but the ending of this book felt like a totally different book. It shifted to thinking about dragoning as a way to celebrate great joy, dropping the rage piece entirely. I was okay with this if it could juggle and balance these contradicting emotions, but it didn't really. And, there were just many pieces that remained untied (quite literally - the meaning of knots in the story). I also think it could have done a bit more to be intersectional in its view of feminism.

Do I recommend this? Yes, no, maybe. 🤷‍♀️ There's so much that resonates here, but the ending was disappointing. It's left me feeling a bit confused about what happened.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: magical realism in a 1950s US setting.
Pub Date: Out now

Thanks to Doubleday Books and #netgalley for an e-copy of this book!

A beautifully written book that feels very poignant with current events regarding rights, womanhood, and being able to be your truest self by using this unique allegory to talk about these issues.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing the ARC for my honest review because this book did not disappoint. It fully deserves all the hype it has been getting.
I have been searching for another book like The Grace Year by Kim Liggett, and When Women were Dragons felt like I was reading it’s soul sister. I would advocate for both these books to be added to any woman studies class because they beautifully give us an insight on the struggles of being a woman when the patriarchy is trying to shove you into a small box. Also how experiences or things about our gender are taboo and should not be talked about. However, when little girls are reprimanded for asking questions and left without answers, mythology emerges in the gaps. Whether it be that girls have to spend a year out in the woods to release their pent up magic before marrying or that certain women spontaneously leave their lives and become dragons.
This was a thought provoking story that felt like it hit home with struggles women face today, even though the book takes place in the 1950s-1960s.
I also loved, periodically scattered between chapters, the “academic articles” on dragons and possible occurrences of mass dragoning through out history.
This is a bit long winded, but I highly recommend reading this book. It should be added to every required reading lists. Be read by every book club. It is a book meant to open conversations. And with the recent events in the news (cough, cough, the Supreme Court), it fueled that feminist fire already burning in me. Read it. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Wow- this book was a stretch read for me, as the description was so different from my normal books of choice. I’m so glad I took a chance and trusted the amazing reviews.

This book was incredible, powerful, and exquisitely written. This was a read that had me feeling like I was a part of the story, more than simply reading about it. The writing was so strong that the images in my mind were so much clearer than normal when I read.

The focus on the history of women, coupled with a powerful focus on embracing ourselves and each other as we truly are, made for an incredible book. I’m glad I took a chance on a “dragon book,” - this is not a book you want to miss!

Thank you to Doubleday Books for my gifted review copy.