Thank you NetGalley for the readers' copy.

You had me at Dragons.
But Indigenous woman with a Dragon? I’m IN.
While the other dragon riding academy book (that shall not be named) reads like a YA book, this is a YA fantasy that doesn’t read as such.
I know we shouldn’t be comparing but I can’t help it.
While this book forsakes the huge battles to save the world stereotype, its strength is the characters and world building. The social and political commentary hit hard and it doesn’t shy away from the cultural appropriation and blatant racism taking place within the story.

Like what Melissa Blair did with Broken Blade, the amalgamation of colonialism, race and culture with fantasy is unparalleled and what I want to see more of in the genre.

To Shape a Dragon's breath is a beautifully written YA fantasy that focuses on indigenous voices, race, along with finding and keeping yourself in a world where your culture is seen as backwards and needing civilisation. It's simply told, with a writing style that sometimes felt too simplistic but also ended up being strangely compelling. But it excels with strong characterisations and a plot made out of the day to day conflicts Anequs finds herself facing throughout her time at the school. It's most often a small stakes narrative, yet it's compelling and had me invested from the opening chapters.

I really liked how this novel came together, the world-building growing as Anequs becomes more familiar with the Anglish culture and people surrounding her at the school yet never denying her indigenous roots. The reader learns along with Anequs and so it feels intrinsic to the story rather than dropping random plates of information on you without context. I liked how the importance of the indigenous cultures was pushed, although the message was a little heavy handed at points which is perhaps just a mark of the genre and age this is aimed at. Anequs' refusal to go gently into Anglish culture and her standing firm on her own beliefs and traditions was welcome though, highlighting just how grave an injustice our own history is.

I liked the characterisations as well. Anequs isn't a perfect character; she makes mistakes, she has to grow and learn and develop. And as she grows, so do the group of misfits she surrounds herself with. There are things she learns quickly and other aspects that she struggles to get her head around. Her place in the society is tenuous and uncomfortable and she has to come to terms with how to balance new customs with her own and not lose an important part of herself. It's a strong message and well told through many 'slice of life' dilemmas rather than life and death heroism.

All in all, this is a strong debut novel and one I thoroughly enjoyed. I'll be interested in a sequel and anything else the author publishes for that matter.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my free review copy of this title.

Did not finish at 13%. The story had a lot of potential and I can see why people will love it, but something just wasn't holding my attention. Interesting premise and good writing.

To Shape a Dragon's Breath is the first book in a series. I would classify this book as historical fantasy. It draws on legitimate historical aspects and sentiments and creates a world with lands once inhabited by indigenous peoples but whose customs and cultures have been lost to colonization. This book reflects racism and classism in its nuanced world building. The detail the author takes to create the world is marvelous. However, sometimes I felt like I was reading a George R. R. Martin book where there are the long winded side tangents that distract me to the point that I've almost forgotten what the main story line was when we finically return to it. I really like the indigenous viewpoint, and the way the emotions and feelings are communicated. It didn't feel forced or like it was some sort of diversity publication.

With that said, I could only bring myself to rate it three stars. The detached feeling of the characters is what kept me from rating it higher. I didn't connect with the characters as much as I felt I could. While Anequs is obviously the main character, I felt like I wasn't vested in her much more than I was the other characters.

I cannot wait for the remainder of this YA series. The world-building was fascinating and I enjoyed how the dragons were incorporated into the overall mythos of the story. I think this was a time where the world building did not hurt the overall plot. Anequs is a fascinating character. The only downside was the amount of detail about coursework. While I enjoyed it as an educator, it dragged out a bit at some point. I cannot wait for the next one.

This story concerns Anequs, a young indigenous woman from the island of Masquapaug. After discovering a dragon’s egg from a revered indigenous breed long thought to be extinct, Anequs bonds with the newly hatched Kasaqua, a Nampeshiwe dragon. Unfortunately, the Masquapaug and other indigenous tribes are not answerable to their will alone; the Anglish colonialists of their land have their own opinions about how dragons should be raised. To protect Kasaqua and her people, Anequs agrees to attend an Anglish school for dragoneers, but not everyone approves of her presence at a school for traditionally colonial dragons and students. Anequs must learn everything she can to prove she can control her dragon and show the Anglish that her people are not inferior.

The contrasting storytelling/creation myths of the different cultures were a highlight, as well as the inclusion of a neurodivergent character and Anequs herself being bisexual. I really did enjoy the story overall, but there were a couple things that made it less enjoyable in the end. When I first read the synopsis, it gave Eragon meets dark academia vibes. While there are dragons and steampunk elements, that’s about where the similarities end. It would have been nice to involve the dragons in the story more; while Anequs spends quite a bit of time looking down on the Anglish for treating their dragons like dogs...that’s pretty much what she does in the end. Also, a good part of the plot centers around Anequs being generally disliked and even hated by a good number of people who want to kill her dragon because she isn’t “worthy” of it. For all that animosity, there didn’t ever seem to be any true difficulties for Anequs. At least give her some obstacles to overcome—she’s the main character, that’s what she’s here for!

3/5 stars

All Anequs wants to do is live in peace with her tribe, content to be ignored by the Anglish conquerers who've taken over most of the continent. However, when she bonds with the first dragon to hatch on their island in generations, she must attend their academy and adapt to their ways if she hopes to keep her dragon.

This is a quite recently published book, and one can tell so in the diversity of the characters and the unapologetic way it grapples with the thorny issues of colonialism. However, as I read I felt a strong sense of nostalgia too, because the world-building and the main character Anequs reminded me of well-beloved YA fantasy novels of the kind published decades ago.

This is a good thing - sometimes you want to read an earnest, old-fashioned and adventurous fantasy novel, and this is definitely that, except with themes that I didn't think so much about back then. I loved Anequs's strong sense of identity and her insistence on doing things on her own terms, no matter the pressure upon her. I also really enjoyed how the author made good use of the distance that fantasy provides to place a magnifying glass on how Indigenous and colonizing cultures can coexist, clash, and sometimes cross-pollinate each other, which all the complications that entails.

However, this book does fall into some of the pitfalls of those old fantasy adventure novels. The characters sometimes felt thinly sketched, and while I enjoyed the romance between Anequs and Theod, I felt that the romance with Liberty was less developed, especially since we don't see Liberty interact with many other characters in the book. The magic system gets clunky sometimes, especially where it is clearly transmuted from science in our world. I don't need chemical bonds to be rehashed in so much detail - I did well at it in school!

To Shape a Dragon's Breath is going to become my go to dragon recommendation book. It's a story about discrimination and the colonizers who have created this society of 'education'. Their prejudices, underestimations, and racism. To Shape a Dragon's Breath doesn't hold back. It's a fantasy that resembles our own world minus the dragons. We have it all from their definitions of 'civilization' all the way to their greetings and misnaming. And the book examines this conflict in a few different characters. Do we assimilate to their ways? Try to blend in and change from within? Learn what we can from them? Or ignore them - if we can?

ONE OF YHE BEST BOOKS IVE READ! This is how you write a book about dragons! This book was mythical, but also immersive both culturally and historically. I think this book js great read for both adults and young adults. It highlights sacrifice, hope, love and resilience.

"I was going to make sure that the Anglish understood that we had never gone anywhere. That despite their best efforts, we were still living among them on the lands where we'd always lived. I was going to show them just how many of us there were" Page 420 - To Shape A Dragon's Breath

This is a novel that I never knew I needed to read. It is remarkable in its rich and complex storytelling, without overly complicating or holding your hand through the story. It's such a unique take on fantasy that takes on large topics and executed them in such a refreshing way.

For one, Ill start with the nuances and complexities of all the characters throughout the story. Each character, especially Anequs all felt extremely three-dimensional, and though out. And What I appreciated was that the characters didn't just feel like roles in a story but read like we are seeing a part of their own story. They all had unique motivations for their action and emotions, and they all were written with the ability to be understood even if you disagreed with their actions, but most of all, they all felt so real.

In a book that tackles large topics like colonialism and institutional racism. Blackgoose makes it clear how important it is to tackle all sides of the conversation throughout her story, and that added a layer of nuance to an already strong premise. We are allowed to see not just one perspective about this issue, but many from very different races and background of people, and I believe that allows for the message of the story to be understood in a way that greatly differentiates itself from other novels. The variety of Indigenous perspective when it comes to colonialism, world progress, and racism and traditionalism allows the reader to understand that their more than one way to believe, and that the goal was not trying to convince the reader who is right and who is wrong but that racism can influence people in many different ways, which I thought was incredibly thought-provoking.

I appreciate that Blackgoose takes the time explaining things that often an author may skip over due to seeing it as lacking of importance, but to me almost every detail in the story only added to the brilliance, and I was honestly shocked this was a debut novel.

I loved the way magic is connected to indigenous culture, it's something that deeply connected with me and made the book extremely memorable, while creating a sense of everything coming together and fallen into place.

This novel is strongly character driven with Anequs leading the story and interactions, but since Anequs is such a strong female lead, her story never felt devoid of action or depth.
The representation of bisexuality and polyamory are very well handled and structured, allowing the potline to flow nicely into the story and the message the book is trying to tell when it comes to stereotypes and racism, without it feeling like a gimmick.

Overall, this book is breathtaking in every way, and I couldn't recommend it more for readers that what something that wants a fantasy that isn't afraid to be different and to take risks when it comes to storytelling.

To Shape a Dragon's Breath, by Moniquill Blackgoose, is the first in a new series that I am looking forward to reading. Anequs is a wonderful YA character, smart, confident, brave, and Kasaqua is now my favourite dragon (sorry Abraxos). As an adult reading this book, I considered it to be a 4.5 rounding up to 5, but had I read this book as a teenager, it would have been a 5 star. I can’t wait for the next book in this series. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars. I enjoyed this even though, at it's core, it may not have been the right book for me. It is the first book in a series, so I am practicing patience and reviewing it with that in mind. This is a YA story and it reads as YA, but I absolutely think it could be enjoyed by any age reader.

What I liked:
- Dragons, duh. In this book, most of our star dragons are still just babies but I feel like their role in the next books is going to be much bigger.
- Indigenous main character and rich descriptions of her culture laced throughout the story
- I found the magic system, or rather the way that a dragon's breath can be "shaped" by their rider, to be different than a lot of dragon novels and really interesting
- The prose was unique and refreshing
- I love the dragon's bond with their rider, and how they communicate with each other. I actually kind of hate when the dragons can talk to their rider, so I feel like the description of the mental bond is this story is much preferred for me.

What I didn't love as much:
- Anequs seemed really... perfect idk. She was always rational, and outspoken but it always worked out for her. She was incredibly well-spoken in Anglish way and was extremely socially perceptive. It felt robotic and stale to me at times. Her culture was idealistic, accepting of everyone and just overall superior. I liked her well enough, but I feel like she would have felt more real to me if she was more well-rounded and flawed as a character. I don't feel she has enough dimension at this time for me to enjoy a character-driven series about her.
- This book felt a little too long for me given the amount of plot there was. It's very possible that this book is just been setting the foundation for the coming books, which hopefully will be more plot forward. In that case, I am here for it.

I would absolutely be open to continuing this series, but my feelings could go either way at this point. I do feel like this story is beautifully put together and deserving of recognition, but I feel like I need a lot more from the next book if I was going to continue in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for sending me a copy of this book! All opinions are my own!

If you've been looking for a new dragon book series to become obsessed with, then look no further! This will certainly become one of the best and biggest names in the game! I love how unique the world is despite the familiar and recently very popular setting of dragon-riding boarding schools. It feels fresh and new, and there is so much to learn and discover in this world. I loved unfolding every corner of it!

My only complaint was that it felt a bit slow at times and did take a bit for me to truly get into and invested in. But I did love the fact that it takes a lot of time to help you get to know the characters and their motivations. Anequs is such a down to earth and relatable character, and getting to know her is the highlight of the book because of the ways she changes and strengthens. She is forced upon such journeys of both self discovery and world discovery, and she takes everything in stride but also allows herself to be changed, only to the point that she finds the strength to stand up for herself and her culture, to push back against the colonization and appropriation.

This is definitely a book that will make you think and make you uncomfortable at times, and that is the beauty of it. To get insight into things we learn about in school but don't often think of on a personal level is a blessing and an opportunity for growth for ourselves.

I can't wait to see where this series goes and were Anequs takes us next!

This is a delightful alternate history involving resistance to colonialism, chemistry, and dragons. It's my favorite discovery from 2020 Hugo voting. The nuances of power and the self-centeredness associated to power are very well observed. In particular, though he's only a minor character--the story belongs to a young woman named Anequs from the island of Masquapaug and her dragon--I was fascinated by the jarl. One of the prices of doing a lot of historical re-creation is spending a lot of time around men who are pretending to be Viking kings, and I very much appreciated the precision with which Blackgoose renders a man who is genuinely (by his own standards) a wise and effective ruler, and yet is incapable of creating justice.

I have not read this, I actually don't know how it ended up on my shelves, but as I don't have the time for a book of this length now I will not be reading it. Please don't take this as a commentary on the book as I have not read it. The 3 stars is only there because I am obligated to give it a star rating so I've decided to just use the standard average of 3.

In this episode, I found it hard to explain my emotional reaction to a story…

Friends, friends, friends.
Welcome back to Teatime Reading where there are books in progress.
Have you ever misremembered something? Dates of memorable events in your life, titles of songs and their respective albums? Things like that?
When I sat down to write this review for Moniquill Blackgoose’s exceptional novel To Shape A Dragon’s Breath, I was convinced that because I got this review copy from the good folks at NetGalley, that I was reading something early.
Obviously, it doesn’t matter to me in a snobby, exclusivity sort of way, but I was convinced that this book hadn’t been released yet and that made me even more excited to talk about it.
Instead, I realized that the January 2024 release date was for a different advance copy and this book had been released more than a year ago.
Put simply, To Shape A Dragon’s Breath was an intense exploration of indigenous peoples and their relationship with colonizers. In this book, dragons offered us the entry point and even though it took me a little while to get pulled into the story, I was left absolutely awed at the sheer beauty and ugliness of the worlds where our main protagonist Anequs found herself.
For a second, you might be tempted to compare this book with other middle-grade/YA magical boarding school experiences, but the truth was far more interesting: Anequs never felt out of place in her island. She never wanted to leave, but the hatching of her dragon and her new position in the community as Nampeshiweisit—a person in a unique relationship with a dragon put her in a tricky position.
Anequs was a refreshing character and the friends she made were much more imperfect and flawed than in other books in this type of archetypal story. Sander, Theod, Marta, and Liberty, each were vibrant characters, but the nature of the quote “civilized” society and their reaction to the indigenous people felt very timely, especially with all of the conflicts going on in our world today.
Author Moniquill Blackgoose wrote a deeply intense novel of trauma, colonization, indigenous experience, and personal growth with true skill. It wasn’t a fast-paced story (at least for me), and yet I cannot wait to learn when the sequel will come out.
That is a real testament to the caliber of novel that is To Shape A Dragon’s Breath.
I cannot recommend it highly enough!
Until next time, keep your bookmarks close.
Peace, Love, Pages.

The book was fine, but unfortunately the writing style was not for me. It felt very detached and it was hard to get invested into the plot.
I liked reading about Anequs' culture and how she presented it to people who were prejudiced toward it or ignorant. However, I felt that she as a character didn't have flaws and there were no consequences to some of her actions, and so there was not much character development.
I also feel like the relationship between Anequs and her dragon, Kasaqua, was not explored as much throughout the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me with the eARC of To Shape A Dragon’s Breath in exchange of an honest review. This review will be posted on September 3rd on Goodreads.

To Shape A Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose follows a young indigenous girl – Anequs – on her journey as she finds a Dragon’s egg, gets chosen by the hatchling – Kasaqua – and leaves her home – Masquapaug – to attend an Academy, run and attended by colonizers, in order to better learn to train her dragon. She braves the undeniable discrimination and hatred of the people around her but her strong will also attracts the attention of very dangerous people.

I absolutely loved this book and am at the edge of my seat in anticipation of the next instalment. This is easily one of my favourite books I’ve read in the past couple years!

Anequs is a strong-willed, morally righteous character and her personality is the driving force of the plot. She does not change, and I can see a flat character arc like this not being interesting to everyone, but I adore characters that can stand on business. A lot of her actions come across as calculated and rational, (one of the other characters even comment on her being always logical and seemingly having an answer to everything) but I would argue that her underlying emotions are what make her so uniquely intriguing because that is what motivates her to “rebel”. She acts on what makes sense to her and what she feels is right. I cannot help but love her.

I also enjoyed the other characters a lot and I think they are all very distinct and loveable in their own way. I really enjoyed reading about Anequs’ family dynamics – especially regarding Aponakwe and Niquiat, who I felt like I could relate to quite a bit. I am also very curious to see how the relationship between Anequs and Marta will evolve because I see many possibilities there. The romances were a bit less interesting to me, but I thought they were done beautifully. I’m obviously very excited that Anequs is queer and poly!

I saw other reviewers mention that the writing was too sterile or that the pacing was off. The first point is fair. I do think the writing style is not for everyone; it is very matter of fact which does create a distance between the reader and Anequs. You do not see into her head in a way that immerses the reader into the character, but this didn’t bother me as I had complete understanding of her character since the beginning which, in my opinion, is a sign of excellent writing. The critique on pacing being off, I must disagree with. The story is slow and detailed but it was deliberate and exactly right for this book. I believe it had the intended effect but understand that this also might not be to everyone’s tastes.

Overall, I believe this is an incredibly well-crafted debut novel and I will certainly be reading the next book in the Nampeshiweisit series.

To Shape a Dragon's Breath is a solid YA fantasy with important social commentary and representation. I loved how it tackled important themes such as racism. Moniquill Blackgoose has done an great job incorporating history and culture into this world she has built. I loved the relationship Anequs (MC) had with her dragon, Kasaqua. I definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys books revolving around dragons and/or enjoys YA fantasy novels with a diverse cast of characters.

For me personally, I will probably not continue on with the series. But I can definitely see an audience really enjoying this.

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath” by Moniquill Blackgoose is one blazing epic gulp of a fantastic tale. Queer, anticolonialist, and full of dragons, it’s a captivating YA fantasy that doesn’t read like typical YA. The world-building is exceptional, immersing readers in the remote island of Masquapaug where dragons have long been absent. Fifteen-year-old Anequs, a Nampeshiweisit bonded to a dragon, faces challenges at an Anglish dragon school. The novel’s strength lies in its rich representation, historical context, and the joyous sense of community. However, some readers might find the pacing slightly uneven.