Fantasy books are my forte! I had been in a little bit of a slump before reading this. It took me a little bit to get into it, but I ended up finishing it and giving it 4 starts. The only thing that bothered me was it seemed like the book was too long for the story itself.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC of this work. This YA fantasy about an indigenous woman bonded to her dragon, gives an account like no other to dismantling colonialism, queerness, and more. There were parts that were particularly show that I had to skim, but overall I think this was a strong first edition to the series.

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath
By Moniquill Blackgoose
Indigenous American

First of all, I ran out of pages before I was done reading 😭 Already can’t wait for book 2!

Let’s get some buzz words out of the way at the beginning: Indigenous MC, DRAGONS, alchemical-esque magic system, alternative timeline, colonization, bi MC, major steampunk vibes.

What an amazing first book to this series! Our MC is confident, knows herself well, and wants what is best for her people. Sometimes this combination is an asset, and sometimes it is a hindrance. It’s lovely to see her remain consistent and then have to deal with the fall out of her decisions.

I feel like there could be an in-depth discussion of each character but I’ll refrain. To generalize, Blackgoose was able to insert so many stereotypical reactions to indigenous peoples both within and outside the community without making them caricatures. Evil racists, good intentioned micro aggressions, internal racism and classism. This book pretty much addresses them all in a really rounded way.

And then there are the dragons and their magic breath. Very intriguing and I fell like if I did better in chemistry I might have a better grasp of it 😬 But I was still able to follow it all and there is one plot twist in particular I really enjoyed.

There’s only one thing in worried about… and that’s a potential love triangle. It’s being set up differently than I feel is usual so I’m not crazy worried yet, but there have been so many bad love triangles done…

So basically, go get this book when it comes out in May!

Thanks to @netgalley and @randomhouse @delreybooks for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

*Received as an ARC through NetGalley

This is the exact type of YA Fantasy that I could only hope my kids pick up to read at some point. The poly, LGBTQ+, indigenous, anti-colonial, badassery of it all is enough to make me want to pick up the sequel. In addition, there's some cool world-building and character development.
The entire thing is really page-turning however the last few chapters had me devouring it all instead of tending to real world responsibilities.

Oh yeah - and dragons, academia themes, nerdy things, and coming of age type things. What's not to love?

will absolutely be picking up the sequel.

This is the story of Anequs, who discovers a dragon egg and goes to a dragon rider academy. I was initially hooked by the premise. Who doesn't want to read about dragonriders?

I liked the messaging in this book. It was continuously reinforced that oppressive treatment of indigenous people was not ok, and I admired how Anequs consistently stood up for herself in every situation. I also liked learning more about indigenous culture while reading this. A cool aspect I noticed was the chapter titles; together, they give a quick summary of the book in the table of contents.

In the beginning, a lot of the terminology was introduced without enough context, so a glossary would have been helpful. Some of the other terms were really funny though. Algebra became "al-jabr" and math became "anglereckoning".

For a book about dragons, not much happens related to the dragons, which was disappointing. I picked this up expecting a lot of action in a dragon rider academy, and instead, I got a lot of chapters on mundane classes like math, which I found boring. I initially thought I was going to be reading about classes like flying, how to train your dragon, etc., but these weren't part of the curriculum. This book was not very plot-heavy, and had a lot more dry description than necessary. The pace was very, very slow.

I will post a review to Goodreads 1 week before the publication date.

This was absolutely incredible. Characters that felt fully realistic, a nuanced exploration of colonialism and racism, fascinating world building, and a very cool (albeit jargon-filled) science-based magic system. I've never read anything quite like this--and I need more.

To Shape a Dragon's Breath is listed as part of a series, but I'm happy to say that the first installment can stand alone while leaving plenty of room for future books--no cliffhangers!

I especially loved the world Anequs lives in, which feels somewhat like if Vikings had colonized the Americas instead of the English, with has fascinating technology and steam punk vibes. The magic system, which is something of a combination of chemistry and magic, was also really, really interesting and very clever--fellow science nerds will love it.

I think it's worth noting that To Shape a Dragon's Breath does not follow a three-act structure. I am also not entirely sure whether this book falls under adult or YA--Anequs, the protagonist, is 15 but is culturally a woman, and the prose and story reads like adult to me. I couldn't find an official categorization on the publisher's website. Neither of these things diminished my enjoyment at all but may be helpful for other readers to know.

Anequs (ah-neh-KOOS) and her family live happy lives on Masquapaug Island, far away from the Anglish settlers who have caused so much strife among their people. Anequs has no desire to ever leave home; her eldest brother Niquiat works at an Anglish cannery across the bay and while she is not upset with his leaving she doesn't envy him either.

hunting along the coastline for mussels one morning, Anequs sees a wild dragon. a Nampeshiwe dragon, presumed extinct in this region, killed alongside their human companions in the period that is referred to as the great dying (basically white dude plague) and never seen there since. Anequs watches the dragon go and runs home to tell everyone what she saw. it's suggested to her that she return the next day and leave offerings and when she clambers up into the old temple ruins the following morning she finds a dragon's egg.

her people gather around the egg in their meeting hall like in all of their ancestral stories and sing and dance and speak to it. when the egg finally hatches, the little dragon chooses Anequs, and Anequs in turn tells everyone that her name is Kasaqua. when dragons bond to people a sort of empathic bond is created, and Anequs knows in her heart that this is the dragon's true name. there's a great celebration and Anequs is lauded as a Nampeshiweisit (one who was chosen by a Nampeshiwe dragon).

among Anglish people it is law that dragons and their companions (called dragoneers, over there) must be registered with the Ministry of Dragon Affairs and attend a dragon academy for further training. Niquiat returns to his family to tell Anequs that this is something she must do; if they attempt to hide Kasaqua she will inevitably be found and the consequences will be terrible for the entire island.

so Anequs and Kasaqua reluctantly send a telegram to the Ministry and are accepted into Kuiper's Academy of Natural Philosophy and Skiltakraft in the largely Anglish town of Varmarden. dragon school is unfortunately something Anequs and Kasaqua both need; dragon's breath is dangerous and destructive if it is not controlled and since their people haven't had dragons in generations there is no one else whom Anequs might learn from.

the topics at the academy include anglereckoning, minglinglore, and most importantly, skiltrakraft. the latter is the actual shaping of dragon's breath, though there's also courses on dragon husbandry and many other subjects. Anequs rooms with a white girl named Marta Hagan, the only other girl at the academy.

some of her classmates are absolutely unbearable, as the majority of them are from one of the white conquering peoples and thus look down on Anequs. but she makes some friends; Marta and Sander and Theod, eventually. Anequs faces an endless supply of racist commentary and stereotypes and shoulders forward nonetheless, frequently reminding everyone that her goal here is not to become Anglish; it is simply to learn how to shape her dragon's breath, and to return home as soon as possible.


this book slowed down substantially in the middle chunk, bogged down with all the schoolwork and the academy lessons. admittedly a lot of it was super interesting and well thought out, but it felt a little like I was attending school myself and it was a bit hard to get through. the author's description of how the sewing machine worked was genuinely mind boggling tho. and the latter half of the novel is honestly superb, as the people around Anequs begin recognizing that she's a force of nature and that she will change the world with her own two hands if no one else is able to help.

overall I really enjoyed this book and I'll definitely be on the lookout for the rest of the series. I'm very excited to see where Anequs goes from here! I'm hoping we'll see more of her peoples on the other side of the continent in the next books, and I'm also hoping there's gonna be a map involved in the published version (bc good god I really would've loved one lmao).

I think this is a YA book that has a lot of adult crossover appeal and I'm excited to rec it to people. it's great to see another indigenous author on the main publishing scene! also can I just spare a second to talk about the cover because it is so eye-catching and gorgeous. this is gonna look amazing on a display stand lol.



"You're not at all what I expected, Miss Anequs," he said after a long moment. "Of someone brought up on the islands, I mean."
"Dare I ask what you expected of someone raised on the islands?" I asked with a chuckle. Theod wasn't laughing.
"I'm afraid that I've been unfair to you," he said, looking over the field.
"Well," I said, bending down to pick up Kasaqua because she'd started pawing at the hem of my skirt, "it's not too late to start being fairer."



queer rep - bi/queer poly mc, sapphic love interest, bg queer characters

thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc ✨

In a grim world damaged by dragon wars, colonization, and industrialization, To Shape a Dragon’s Breath follows the story of a young Indigenous girl who becomes the hope of her people. Instead of Dragon rider, her people call her Nampeshiweisit. Throughout the book, Blackgoose digs up the older roots of fantasy and plants new life with original ideas, growing this novel into a stronger, more thoughtful story. In a whaling village, a girl watches as a rare dragon leaves its egg. It hatches in front of Anequs, who finds herself in a bond with a baby dragon. Anequs is led into the horrid, complicated politics between her people and the colonial government, which requires that she train in dragoneering at a dragon academy, far away from her people.

At Kuiper’s Academy of Natural Philosophy and Skiltakraft, students learn all about dragon academics. The sciences, philosophies, and engineering of the nineteenth century become the basis for this empirical dragon school, where tweedy teachers make the average black-gowned fantasy professor look like an angel. But where the typical fantasy makes boarding schools seem like a cozy academic fairytale, Blackgoose makes this academic colonial horror into reclaiming power.

Anequs and her dragon, Kasaqua, leave their whaling village for the steam trains of the Anglish world. I imagined this world as an epic industrial society if the Vikings lived in the Victorian age. Following the requirements of the Ministry of Dragon Affairs, Anequs studies anglereckoning and other magical academia to graduate in dragoneering. Blackgoose puts industrious thought into how the magic works. This is an intensely nerdy book—full of theories, mathematics, devices, and the wacky scientists who make them. Add that up with dragons and oral storytelling, To Shape A Dragon’s Breath made for a fun, smart read. Blackgoose brings a daring, entirely hot, take on dragonriders and worldbuilding that outshine what I’ve previously read. I love a fantasy author that pokes, prods, and questions the genre. That storytelling puts a different perspective, embracing what fantasy is truly about. It encourages growth over stagnation.

Characters in To Shape a Dragon’s Breath command the story. Blackgoose makes every character with even the smallest scenes captivating with intriguing, interesting details about them. Existing in this grunge civilization, Anequs experiences a world where everything is unkind and brutal compared to the softness of her home. While the Anglish see progress through their rose-tinted glasses, she sees atrocity, broken laws, and prejudice. Fantasy and dragons give her perspective another layer in a frightening fantasy world that truly feels like a cultural shock. Tight corsets, anthropologists treating her existence at the academy as an experiment, spending time with her lady amour in private, and restrictive rules for women and queer people all frustrate Anequs. Truly, you can feel the fire within in a world like that.

Not only does the world feel real, but the characters have personalities beyond their dragons. Anequs is both a clever protagonist and a delightfully rageful one in equal measure. I am charmed by her unfiltered tongue, like her confusion about expressing love in public or her grumblings about women having to wear such restrictive clothing. I like that she does not conform or feel sorry for refusing to conform to their culture’s expectations of her. She’s so wonderfully dry-humored in a dark world, which is exactly the balance I look for in a great dark fantasy novel. There’s a genuine feeling that she wants to follow in the footsteps of her ancestors, and points out that there is nothing wrong or backward about that. But as a student she is confronted with the poisonous attitudes the Anglish have about her people, making her increasingly invested in her people’s liberation.

Every character in To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is fully realized—some have quirks, oddities, family obligations, dislikes, tempers, and money to earn. I enjoyed seeing that the author wrote such nuanced, complicated queer and disabled characters, including a teacher who fought in a dragon war. And all of them are imperfect and flawed. The relationships are richly written too, be it father and daughter or grumpy classmates to good friends. My favorite is Theod, who when first introduced to Anequs says “I am the offspring of murderers.” His prickly relationship with her turns into something very deep and full of heartache, which readers will particularly be
pulled towards. I am used to Fantasy novels that portray a dark world where sensitive feelings are portrayed as unimportant and weak. I love that Blackgoose shows characters feelings towards courtship or towards family as something to appreciate. The development of everyone in To Shape a Dragon’s Breath felt visible as clear glass.

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is one blazing epic gulp of a fantastic tale. Queer, anticolonialist, and full of dragons. Moniquill Blackgoose’s writing is easy to love: cutthroat, smooth, and reminds me of a story being told over an open fire.

The pacing wasn't entirely ideal, in that the last 10% of the book contained most of the action...though there was enough political/social machinations going on throughout the novel to keep me interested. This book was a great start to a new fantasy series. The storytelling was amazing and I cannot wait for the next installment. A great start to a new fantasy series.

Really loved this amazing YA fantasy by author Moniquill Blackgoose!!

This novel tackles colonialism and racism within an epic dragon lore world. I really enjoyed learning about the different types of dragons, and the bonding system between dragons and their chosen person. Seeing Anequs face prejudice and ignorance was a dose of reality for what people had to go through throughout history. I also loved the casual bisexual and polyamory rep!

The format of short chapters took some getting used to, and the ending seemed a tad abrupt, but I was really impressed with this novel and look forward to the sequel.

4 1/2 stars rounded up to 5 stars.

This books reads like the sort of fanfiction I used to stay up until four to read (and I actually did stay up that late reading it), and that’s the highest form of compliment I can pay any book.

It has so many things I absolutely love and crave in fantasy—indigenous people, anti-colonial themes, dark academia where the darkness is white people behaving like white people. It’s excellent. It’s quite possibly my new personality.

Did I wish it went a bit harder on the anti-colonialism? Yes. I also wish the tension was sustained a bit better, all the way to the end. I felt like, at times, the book refused to let Anequs have messy feelings. For example, her estranged brother finds out about her dragon and is the one to persuade her that she needs to go a white school in order to keep it, but he never prepares his sheltered sister, who has rarely dealt with white people, for the completely unsafe situation he wanted to put herself in. And they never have a conversation about it, she’s never angry or even frustrated that she wasn’t warned, and she never realizes he seems to be more concerned with his own dreams and how she can help him, than with hers. That felt frustrating to me. In one hand, if it’s the author’s vision, so be it. But on the other, it does feel like almost no flaws were tolerated when it comes to the indigenous characters, and that wasn’t needed to prove that there were not two sides here. All the white characters are incredibly racist and more often than not, pretty cruel. So I’ll definitively read any of the other books coming from this series, but I do hope the next few have a little more conflict and grant these characters a little more space to be human and have negative feelings sometimes.

4.5 stars

Anequs found an dragon egg on an island near her home on Maskquapaug. Dragons had not been seen in her area for a very long time. She took the egg back to her village and everyone waited for it to hatch. When a dragon was born, it chose a person to raise it. The dragon chose Anequs and her name was Kawaqua. Those in her village with the knowledge on how to raise and train a dragon were long dead and their knowledge had not been passed down. Anequs learned of a school in Varmarden, a ferry and train ride away, that could teach Anequs what she needed to know. The school was in the part of the region settled mainly by the Anglish, who also ruled the area including where Anequs lived. They were responsible for colonizing the area and killed many indigenous people during that time. The Anglish were not trusted by those on Maskquapaug. Although many of her family was against it, Anequs applied to the school so she could learn what she needed for Kawaqua. Kiuper's Academy of Natural Philosophy and Skiltakraft offered her a scholarship to attend. She would be one of two female students at the school and one of two students who were indigenous. Anequs's people did not have formal schools. They learned from any elder who wanted to share knowledge with them. The other students had formal schooling as was their custom. Anequs was at a disadvantage from the start. In addition to needing to know how to properly train Kawaqua, Anequs needed to learn how to function in Anglish society. The rules of Anglish society made little sense to Anequs and she often made missteps. It would be a long and trying year ahead for Anequs.

I loved this story. Anequs was a brave and intelligent main character. She did her best to adhere to the Anglish rules and those set set by her school, but she was not afraid to stand up for herself or her dragon. There were so many who did not want her to have Kawaqua or have the knowledge she was trying to learn. She was bullied by the other students, but was able to make a few good friends. The descriptions of how Kawaqua was changing as she grew were excellent. I could picture how she looked and moved. I look forward to the next book to see how Anequs grows in knowledge and in life. This was a wonderful debut by Moniquill Blackgoose.

I received an e-ARC for To Shape a Dragon's Breath and want to thank Moniquill Blackgoose, Del Ray Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to voluntarily read and give an honest review of this book. I plan to post my review to my Goodreads, Instagram, StoryGraph, and BookJournal.app accounts the week of April 30, 2023.

This has everything I want in a novel. It's a YA fantasy that doesn't really read as such. You know I've been having trouble with those. It's historical. There's own voices representation, which is so important. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to read about Native Americans, or another minority group, only to find the book has been written by a white author. No, thank you. I don't want that. And do we have a hint of poly in the future?

Anequs is a Nampeshiweisit, having bonded with a dragon. Her people used to bond with dragons, but it has been a long time since they have had one. She is sent to an Anglish school to learn their ways, and more importantly, to learn to shape a dragon's breath. I'm almost always wary of beautiful covers, but this story is beautiful as well. Parts of it I skimmed, but I'm interested enough to pick up the sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Indigenous dragons in an alt history steampunk New England? Heck yes. I enjoyed this a lot, although it is more of a magical school novel of manners than anything else - sometimes the dragons did feel like a bit of an afterthought. I especially liked the focus on storytelling, oral tradition and how different cultures understand the world, and will absolutely be looking out for the sequels.

I am curious how this is going to be marketed, since while the storyline feels very YA (not meant in a bad way at all) it doesn't seem to be advertised as such. I've also been trying to parse why some of the worldbuilding felt off to me and I think it's how weird it is that despite the setting having a seeming absence of Christianity - the colonizing force in this setting's northern North America is Viking/Norse - the social norms especially about gender and sexuality feel straight out of regency England (women in high society must be chaperoned; monogamous, often arranged, marriages only between men and women, etc). Obviously we can't know for sure how Nordic societies would have developed if the Christianization of Scandinavia hadn't happened, but it feels weird for the social mores, and even fashion, to be so close to real-world history when so much else has changed. At points it ends up feeling like the names for things have just been swapped to make it feel cool and steampunk, but certain aspects aren't really thought through.

To Shape A Dragon's Breath? You mean one of the best books I've ever read?

I could comp this book to greats like Babel, The Hunger Games, Iron Widow, etc, but this book is something I hope joins these incredible titles. Drawing parallels between TSADB and actual history is just continuous kicks to the gut over how we treated the indigenous people for centuries. There's not much I can say as a white person that has already been said, but ugh this is just a master class in character, plot, and all aspects of storytelling. I need more Anequs now!

this would be an excellent 300 page book that for some reason the author decided to make over 500 pages. i simply don’t need a multi page exclusively dialogue lecture about fantasy geometry. the first chunk ruled to hell and then it fell apart sorry to say.

This book felt like it was written for me. It clearly wasn't, of course; for one thing it's a YA novel, and I am 36 years old. But it did a bunch of things I absolutely love in fiction and very rarely see. It's my first time getting to read an ARC but I'm very happy this book happened to catch my eye just after I set up my Netgalley account!

Anyway, I requested this book because 1. DRAGONS and 2. I enjoy familiar fantasy tropes juxtaposed with worldbuilding that I haven't seen five hundred times, and "telepathically bonded dragon rider" is something I've enjoyed a lot of, but "alt-history fantasy North America from an Indigenous perspective" is not something I've seen much. I will admit that I didn't notice the "magical boarding school" aspect of the blurb when I requested this ARC (I was very excited by the dragons!) but it's also a trope I've enjoyed; that said, I know enough history to be aware that "magical boarding school" has an extremely different tenor when you add "Indigenous protagonist," and I was a little apprehensive that it would be very dark. (It was not. There was certainly darkness, and Anequs' boarding school experience is a troublesome requirement of the society that's colonizing her people's land rather than a welcome escape, but this is also not a book about the realities of child abuse and cultural genocide at residential schools for Indigenous children. There's certainly discussion of both cultural and literal genocide, but Anequs is always able to find her way out of harrowing situations eventually.)

Anyway, I loved the dragons immediately, of course, and the alternate history + boarding school elements were really interesting, but the trope absolutely nothing prepared me for was the particular focus on how magic interacts with *chemistry.* Instead of a map in the front, the book has an in-universe periodic table of elements, or "aethers" -- with some super intriguing (to me, anyway) gaps and layout changes from the one I'm familiar with, and a completely different set of names and abbreviations for substances I recognize. (It was very jarring at first to realize their abbreviation for carbon was K, but fortunately I was not, as I first feared, in danger of confusing kolfni with potassium.) This is the part where "this book feels like it was written *for me*" comes in, and it is not necessarily a selling point for other people, because I don't know how many people have thought "if only Uncleftish Beholding was longer, and maybe more about chemistry," BUT! If you do like that kind of thing, you will like this book a *lot.* I should also say that the Uncleftish Beholding comparison is a bit unfair, because this author is trying to tell a story, not showcase how many commonplace science words come from Latin and Greek sources, so it's less of a vocabulary puzzle and was pretty easy to follow along. That said, I am a little apprehensive about how my less-STEM-focused friends will enjoy this aspect of the book; my main Discord hangout now has a thread filled with me shouting at my friends about biology/chemistry/physics-related worldbuilding implications I discovered along the way, and I'm aware that people who didn't like chemistry won't find this aspect of the book as enchanting as I did. So that is potentially a selling point if you, like me, are into aspects of real science mixed in with your magical worldbuilding, but potentially also a stumbling block if that's not your jam.

Although maybe if you're nerdy about something else mixed in with your magical worldbuilding, you'll find it here, because this book has so much Explaining in it. It rarely gets to the point of feeling like an unnecessary infodump, but sometimes it does feel odd for people to be so patient with Anequs for a couple paragraphs when they are often so impatient with her elsewhere. She certainly deserves their patience, as someone faced with having to navigate an unfamiliar culture that is hostile to her existence, but as a fictional character, I do sometimes wish she'd distribute the knowledge gained from these explanations throughout the text when *we* need it a little more often, rather than slowing the action down to digest it all at once. The world the author has built is *very different* from our own, particularly in terms of technology, the dominant cultures/religions, and vocabulary, and I understand why so many explanations are needed, but it does get kind of frustrating unless the explanation is about something you happen to be really into, like, for example, if you are me and the explanation is about chemistry.

Back to the good stuff, though! I rated this book five stars despite the slowness of some of the conversations about the worldbuilding, and that's because it's absolutely *fantastic* at other things.

In terms of pure writing/tropes, I enjoyed the dragon descriptions greatly, from the worldbuilding about dragons' breath (not a breath of flame, exactly, but of chemical reaction!) to the way Anequs and Kasaqua's connection is written. (Also, I would extremely like to pet Kasaqua; I am sure she wouldn't rearrange my molecules unless I really deserved it.) I loved Anequs as a protagonist who is determined not to lose herself and to do what's right by those she loves, but is also prickly and impatient and sometimes unwise; I love that this book turns the trope of "opulent magic boarding school" on its head and turns it into "these gifts come with so many strings attached, and an insufficient performance of gratitude will get you in trouble."

One thing that I know other reviewers will be talking lots about is the ethnic diversity of the cast, so I won't spend a ton of time blathering on about this. The thing that strikes me here is that that diversity felt as natural as it ought to, despite being set in a highly stratified, very segregated world. A lot of authors write this kind of thing very awkwardly, and one gets the impression they've never been on a city bus before, but in this book no one ever feels like a tokenistic Representative of Their Race, even though Anequs is constantly being forced into that mold in-universe along with the other Native characters who have the misfortune to capture the attention of the public.

Another thing that felt true to life was the way in which people kept pressuring Anequs to do all their holidays, and how annoyed they were when her culture had its own holidays which she wanted to observe with her family. I'm white, but I'm Jewish, and while people are aware I might not celebrate Christmas I've still gotten the weird reactions to not doing Easter that Anequs gets about several of the holidays in the book, and while that's moderately annoying, some friends of mine have much, much worse stories about not being allowed to observe holidays in peace. The "well it can't be THAT important a holiday, I haven't heard of it, anyway you should come do Jule with us!" attitude that Anequs' Anglish classmates and the school administration has is familiar and infuriating. The narrative also perfectly captures the absolutely suffocating feeling of telling people over and over -- people in authority, who ought to be standing up for you, and maybe even think they *are* standing up for you -- that there's just no point in being civil to powerful people who think your entire ethnic group needs to be eliminated, and that nice manners won't win them over; that this might be a fun thought experiment for them but recent history suggests that for your family it could be life and death.

And one last, smaller "diversity!" note: I adored Sander, Anequs' best friend in the book. He's kind and helpful, enthusiastic about geometry, and really loves pennik novels. He also is mostly nonverbal (when he speaks, it's often not quite what he means to say) and communicates primarily through a wax tablet which magically erases itself when he runs out of space. I can't speak to Authenticity Of Experience, because I'm not autistic, but I have a lot of good friends who are, and Sander immediately bonding with Marta over pennik novels was delightful and relatable, and a lot of his struggles with getting people (especially his family) to take him seriously sounded familiar too.

Finally, I want to talk about the romance plot -- which is yet another thing that I have been wanting but didn't know I was ever going to find, especially not in a YA novel. See, the thing is, I like a lot of YA tropes, but I dislike YA love triangles enormously. I especially dislike love triangles where a girl must choose between a sexy bad boy and a sexier, worse boy, and neither of them treat her very well and it's a big important symbol of her choices in the plot, but the bad boy and the worse boy act so similar I sometimes forget which one is which.

*None* of that fucking happens in this book and I love that. I adore that. I was delighted for that not to happen. You may think, "well, yes, I've read other reviews, this book is apparently queer and poly," and those things help, but it goes beyond that.

In *this* book, a girl meets another girl who is kind to her at a time where it really matters, and she also meets a boy who's initially hostile but also clearly terrified for completely understandable reasons, and as she gets closer to these people they become important to her -- and most importantly, to me, they genuinely feel like people she cares for and not a symbolic binary choice she must make to further the narrative. And because Anequs herself is from a culture where polyamory is fine and normal and so is queerness, there is no time wasted on BUT WHICH OF THESE NEARLY IDENTICAL CHOICES WILL I CHOOSE??? The dramatic tension instead comes from everyone's ongoing character development, and how that bumps up against the world that they live in, and that feels so much more *authentic.* I don't know that this book series is necessarily *going* to end with polyamory -- I do hope so! -- but I do know that it's not setting up a "Team Bad Boy" vs "Team Worse Boy" dynamic, and I am so glad of that. The romance aspect in this book is pretty low-key, but I generally like how this author has been writing interpersonal relationships and I don't think the romance subplots will feel forced no matter how they shake out.

Anyway, look: if one or two of the nerdy topics in this book sounds interesting, I really highly recommend it. I recommend it even more if one of those topics is chemistry and/or alternative history! But I also recommend it if you'd just like some YA fantasy adventure that has (at least, I think) a good, readable mix of dragon-y gaslamp escapism and emotionally real scenes of a protagonist navigating (and often defying) a hostile and uncaring dominant culture that's trying to remake her.

5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fantasy, magic, dragons, Indigenous fantasy, magic schools, LGBTQ+ characters, autistic characters.

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 10/26, my book blog as of 11/1, and Instagram as of 11/9.

This might be my favorite book of the year! I really like the take on dragons shown here and that there's such a big variety between the different kinds. I also liked the worldbuilding and enjoyed learning about the two main cultures of the book (Anequs' culture is one indigenous to this alternate-North America, and the settler culture is a German-Nordic mix). I also enjoyed how there were stories within the story and how these were used to bring more history and lore into it.

The dragons and the lore were clearly well thought out. I can't remember all the species of dragons, but Anequs comes into contact with a lot of different species that each seem to have their own appearance, temperament, and activities/uses. Some of them come across as being more of the traditional Western kind of dragon while others have feathers, fur, and/or antlers. We also get to see some of the lore of the world, with some of the stories being completely unique and others being repeats of the same myth/story but from a different angle. I thought this was a fun way to include information about the different cultures and beliefs while still fitting them within the frame and style of the story.

I liked learning about Anequs' culture and their beliefs. There's clearly a greater appreciation for nature and animals than in the Anglish culture, and Anequs gets quite the culture shock. Likewise, the Masquisit and Naquisit are much more LGBT+ friendly and same-sex relationships, transgender/gender fluid people, and poly relationships are all casually accepted. There are several LGBTQ characters in the book, including Anequs, who are out to varying degrees. I also enjoyed learning about the oral history traditions and the dances, and the role they play in the story is very interesting.

I thought Anglish culture was mostly stuffy, which I think is the point, but there were also some interesting aspects to it as well. As a German speaker, I'm always delighted to see it show up in English books. While the language used in this book isn't exactly German, my take on it is that this is an 'alternate' earth anyway, so the German language just underwent a different history than the one on this earth, one that involves a lot more Dutch and Nordic influence. Some words are changed, so, pfennig = pennik, but others remain the same, Versuch = try/attempt. The compound words were a little difficult to get a hold of, I think another reviewer mentioned that they aren't compounded morphologically correctly, but it wasn't too troublesome and I don't think any non-German speakers would notice.

This is a very character-driven story, with each of the major characters having at least some learning and growth to do. There's a couple of scenes that have action in them, but a lot of the book is an exploration. I enjoyed the slower pace and getting to know the characters and the world they're in. It felt slice-of-life at times, which I feel is often missing from fantasy stories, especially ones that are more action driven.

Anequs is someone who is very solid in who she is. She may have doubts about things at times, but she never doubts who she is as a person and what she wants out of life. This leads to her very matter-of-factly pushing back against the expectations people have of her as a result of her race and/or gender. I very much enjoyed seeing her go head-to-head with others' expectations and prejudices because she was never one to backdown to keep the peace, but rather forced people to consider their prejudices, even if it didn't always lead to them reconsidering them. Anequs is also someone who seems to make friends easily, and she has a friendly and welcoming demeanor and is considerate of others' needs.

The story is, obviously, mainly about Anequs and her dragon, Kasaqua, but there are some major side characters in the book as well. Marta is Anequs' roommate at the school and the only other female dragoneer (or really, only since Anequs distinguishes between dragoneer and Nampeshiweisit). She can be a bit annoying at times because she is so invested and interested in the workings of society, and thus likes to discuss dresses and the who's who gossip. Marta is from high Anglish society and brings those prejudices and rules of civility with her, resulting in some clashes between her and Anequs. Marta is an interesting character because she's clearly interested in being friends with Anequs but also thinks that the way things are done in Anglish high society is the correct way to do them and that Anequs breaking those rules makes her backward. She does get the chance to learn over the course of the story, but doesn't fully break free of her prejudices even by the end of the book, though she does improve. As much as I would've liked to see Marta learn and completely change her ways, I think the way it's written is probably more realistic.

Theod is another interesting case. He's a Naquisit who was raised in Anglish society after his parents were killed and hasn't had any contact with his own culture. Like Marta, he has prejudices against the Indigenous cultures of the region and thinks that Anglish high society is improvement/progress. He and Anequs butt heads as well, but Anequs is able to get through to Theod more than Marta by commiserating with him and sharing information from her/their culture. He's a bit difficult to like at first since he's quite abrupt and grumpy, but over the course of the book he warms a lot and seems happy in the friend group.

Sander is the other really 'main' side character. He's also Anglish, like Marta, but unlike her he's far more open and less prejudiced. He's autistic and largely nonverbal, preferring to write instead. He has an AAC device that allows him to write something in wax using a stylus and then use magnets to erase it so he never runs out of room. You don't really see AAC devices a lot in fiction (I don't think I've ever seen one), even when characters are completely nonverbal, so I was both surprised and excited by it's inclusion here. I liked Sander a lot and thought he was a good friend to Anequs from the beginning. A lot of his story is about gaining confidence in himself and getting free from his mother, who's a truly terrible person. I liked Sander's sister, Lisbet, as well and hope we see her in future books.

Liberty is another side character, I wouldn't say she's a major character since I don't think she gets enough scenes, but she impacts Anequs a lot and I suspect she'll be a bigger character in the sequel. Liberty is an indentured servant at the school and is the first person Anequs befriends when she gets there. The two of them develop a close relationship, and are supportive of one another's goals. I look forward to seeing more of her in the future.

Niquiat is Anequs' brother also plays a role in the book. He left their island a few years prior to Anequs and lives in Vastergot, the closest city to the school. Niquiat has a bit more conflict with the family than Anequs does, though this improves over the course of the book as Anequs, then their father gain a better understanding of Niquiat's interests and goals.

This book really dives deep into into discussions of colonialism and all its violences and injustices. It tackles both the overt instances of it (i.e., racism and ethnocentrism) as well as more subtle instances (i.e., the erasing of Indigenous knowledge and silencing of Indigenous people), and the well-known assumptions that 'of course you want to be part of settler society, it's a vast improvement from your own.' There's a really great juxtaposition between the two main cultures of the book, with the settler culture claiming civility but reflecting a stark lack of care and community, while the Indigenous cultures embody that care and community and show that the so-called 'uncivilized' are actually far more welcoming and accepting. There's also a clash in the book between tradition and progress, deciding what exactly progress looks like, and whether and how foreign technologies can be adapted to the culture so the advantages of it are there without also seeing any erasure.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and think it'll probably be one of my favorite reads for the year, if not my favorite. I can't wait for the sequel and am so bummed I'll have to wait until 2024 to get it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Okay, this is one of my favorite books of the year, so far! I know it's just January but I adored this book and am already excited to read the rest of the series. As soon as I read the blurb, I knew this was one I would cherish. A indigenous fantasy about a dragon riding school? That is queer and has poly rep?! Anti-colonialism?? YES YES YES.

Aneques spots a dragon on her island when sightings have not occurred there for over 200 years. She ends up finding a dragon egg shortly after and once it cracks her life changes forever. The dragon choses her to be its rider. She is soon informed that she must go to a colonizer run dragon training school and register her dragon. Once she arrives at school she faces a lot of racism and BS. And takes none of it!

I absolutely loved Aneques and getting to know her friends as well. So much growth and development in this book. It provided everything I would want out of the first book in the series. Beautifully written, a solid base of world building that left me wanting more, character/plot arcs that I am deeply invested, all of it!

This book comes out May 9th and is so so worth a pre-order!

Not sure if this is a 4 or a 3.5 for me. Conceptually, I thought it was amazeballs. But it fell apart for me a bit in execution for one reason...too much exposition/not enough dragon action.

First the pluses. The exploration of indigenous culture and how Anequs is forced to adapt to life among the "Anglish" was excellent. Loved all of the sections when Anglish faculty talk about schooling her to "save" her from her lowly status, while she keeps reminding them that her culture is likely, in fact, superior.

I liked that, not only was this an indigenous lead character, but also a queer one. Though, to be honest, I was only really buying into the relationship with Liberty. I thought her relationship with Theod was very cool, and loved the juxtaposition of his experience at the school with that of Anequs, but I never really felt like there was deep love there.

Now the downsides...which to me seem entirely a function of poor EDITING, rather than poor writing. While I get that this is planned to be a series, there is too much clunky exposition in this book in the service of world-building, which often comes at the expense of action and character development.

The book has moments when it is humming along and then....just...stops momentum while one character gives Anequs a long history lesson on Anglish holidays, government structure, history, etc. I get that in a series, all of this is important information that helps us understand this world. But it felt like entirely TOO MUCH for the first outing in the series. I don't care about how districts elect politicians, I CAME FOR THE DRAGONS! All of this extra world building means the book is probably a little longer than it needs to be too.

So, overall I dug it. But I was frustrated by it too because it could have been a slam dunk if it was edited make it leaner and more focused and action-oriented. Thank you the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.