I loved this book. I really liked the world building, really like the intertwining of steam punk and dragon husbandry. I will recommend it to friends. I look forward to more from this author.

I loved this book and I can't *wait* for it to be out in the world! To Shape a Dragon's Breath takes place in an alternate version of Massachusetts where 1) the Northeast was colonized by the Anglish (Norse) and 2) well, there are dragons. Anequs, a teenager from Masquapaug, is chosen by a Nampheshiwe hatchling and they bond. Kasaquas, the darling dragon babe, accidentally burns Anequs' little sister and Anequs realizes it is in everyone's best interest to head to the mainland to go to dragon school.

Although this might sound like a familiar magic school situation -- it's so not. A reader who knows anything about the colonial history of the Northeast, and the 19th century history of the U.S. will soon recognize how Anequs' experience is informed by the trauma of Native children being taken from their families and homes to be "civilized." (Although the Gen. Pratt residential institutions in the U.S. came a bit later in the 1800s than the setting for this book, boarding schools were a part of colonial history since the 1600s.) It is so satisfying to read a book from the perspective of a young woman who is navigating her modern world with agency and with the best interest of her family and people at heart. Anequs is an amazing protagonist and hero and her often-vocalized inner dialogue was perfect.

I loved the way Blackgoose emphasized Indigenous ways of knowing as valid eralore (history) and skiltakraft (science). In fact, Anequs has a revelation about her people's history with dragons that helps her advance in the skiltakraft studies she needs to protect Kasaquas that was so beautiful I had to put the book down while chills washed over me. I also loved the way Blackgoose wove Wampanoag language and storytelling into the book. I can't wait to see where this series goes!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey, and NetGalley for allowing me the chance to read this book!

I know it's early in the year, but I consider this very much one of my favorite books for 2023! It was very much a huge journey-- traveling with Anequs, and seeing how and why she needed to make the difficult decisions she did, her experiences everywhere off Masquapaug (and in, too), her connections with some of her peers, and how she had to fight for everything.

Anequs was beautiful. Anequs was stubborn, knowing herself, knowing what's right, and knowing what she had to do for much of her difficulties. She did what was best-- not simply for herself, but for others. There were so many moments I found myself with tears on my face during this book, because of what was happening: acceptance, connection, finding, reunions--

I really appreciated too, how similar the names were. For most of the Native lands, I liked being able to identify which stolen land they corresponded to in today's world, as well as noticing my own. I also liked the names for the school subjects-- anglereckoning, for one of them-- and I also loved the casual representations. Anequs is bi/pan and polyam, a friend is nonverbal, possibly on the spectrum, and might have adhd?, and there minor other queer characters. Anequs comes from an accepting society, but it's the Anglish who aren't, and simply being queer does not exempt you from holding and enacting prejudice of your own.

I also loved the storytelling aspect, and the chapter titles. I'm sure this will be excellent on audiobook.

I absolutely loved this book. I will absolutely be recommending it to as many people as I can.

In this fantasy world, the Anglish have overtaken the lands of an indigenous people, and are bent on either exterminating or civilizing them (depending on political party). Anequs is an indigenous girl who lives peacefully on her island – isolated from the Anglish. Then she sees a dragon lay, and abandon, an egg. She brings the egg back to her village, where it hatches. The hatchling chooses Anequs as its person.

Anequs is pressured into going to a school for dragoneers run by the Anglish. There, she learns to shape her dragon’s breath, but has to deal with racism and culture shock.

This was a fantastic first book. The story was typical of the school-for-magic sub-genre, but is really impactful in its depiction of how indigenous peoples were/are treated when entering “civilized” culture. Instead of being a super special someone, Anequs is just an average indigenous girl, struggling to find her way amid the politics of a foreign culture.

I felt that there were some improvements that could have been made – things that will likely correct themselves as the author becomes more seasoned. For one, she spends too many words describing the intricacies of the science/magic she has developed. It is beautifully organized and inventive, but uses a lot of words that are not English, and therefore make some heavy reading.

However, I really loved this book despite that shortfalling. It was creative, fun, and culturally sensitive / informative. I appreciated the characterization. It is also an LGBTQ+-friendly book on top of all that. I am certainly going to watch out for the next book in the series.

This was a fantastic read! The story follows a young Indigenous character named Anequs as she finds a dragon egg, trains as a dragon rider and everything that being thrown into this new world for her entails. The characters, the world building, the dragons! Yes... dragons! Add to that the Indigenous American and LGBTQ+ representation as well. I will admit that sections did seem to drag on but overall I enjoyed this one and am excited to see what else is in store for this world!

This is the story of Anequs, an Indigenous teenager living on a remote island who forms a unique bond with a dragon hatchling. Those who have been chosen to share this bond with a dragon hold a particular kind of power, and the colonizers from the mainland are outraged to learn that an Indigenous girl is one of those chosen. To mollify the colonizers and to protect her dragon companion, Anequs agrees to attend the dragon training school on the mainland. This book follows Anequs’ journey through her first year at the school.

Here are some of my thoughts, starting with the positive.

First, the representation: our main character is a young Indigenous, queer woman. Throughout, we also get to know various POC, neurodivergent, and LGBTQ+ characters. Most of these characters felt richly developed and thoughtfully drawn.

This being said, I personally found this book somewhat difficult to get through. The pace was slow. Of course this isn’t by itself a criticism, but in my opinion the slow pace didn’t suit the premise, nor were we told enough about what was going on internally to the characters to justify it. This meant that after putting the book down, I would often find I had little motivation to pick it up again.

On world-building: while the book clearly strives to build a rich and authentic world, I felt that the method of world-building was somewhat uninspired. In particular, world-building typically seemed to be done as follows: 1. It becomes apparent that one character does not know or understand something about the nature of the world. 2. Another character says “oh wow, I can’t believe you don’t know this. Let me tell you!”. 3. We receive pages (sometimes entire chapters) of exposition in the form of a monologue about that particular feature of the world. Often, it seemed as though the precise details of this in-depth exposition failed to be relevant to anything later in the book, which made me think it could have easily been cut.

This book is the beginning of a series, and maybe the author needed to get all of this detailed set-up out of the way early before getting to the really meaty stuff. With this in mind, I’ll conclude with this: while I wasn’t personally totally blown away by this book, I was impressed by both the representation and the book's message and I'd be interested to see where the series goes.

(I will post this review to instagram on or after the publication date. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC)

This book has a great concept and interesting characters! I will be recommending this book to patrons interested in dragon books.

This was incredible. I didn't know too much about it besides the basic premise before I started reading. But wow, this was fantastic. First of all, anything with dragons in it is automatically on my TBR, but this was so much more. I really loved Anequs and her journey, the atmospheres were immersive and sucked you right in. Such a good read.

Rating: 4.5

Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
TW: Racism, sexism, colonialism, homophobia

A huge thank you Del Rey and Penguin Random House! E-ARC was provided via Netgalley in exchange for a review.

Plot -
To Shape a Dragon's Breath follows a young indigenous woman named Anequs who comes into possession of a dragon egg. When the dragon hatches, Anequs and the hatchling, Kasaqua are bonded. There hasn't been a dragon amongst Anequs' people for generations and the ways of becoming a dragon rider have been lost to time and colonization. To keep the peace between Anequs' people and their colonizers, the Anglish, Anequs agrees to go to an Anglish dragon rider academy. Upon entering the academy Anequs faces racism and colonialization as she struggles to find her place in this new world. And what a story it turns out to be. With a beautiful mix between fantasy and historical fiction, Blackgoose has delivered a compelling story of a young woman trying to survive in a society that will never accept her. This book is a hard read since Anequs faces so much racism and colonialism in each chapter, but it is unapologetically indigenous. The book is more character driven than plot, as the main focus of the story is Anequs and Blackgoose showing the reader the effects of colonization on indigenous peoples. Overall, this book is a beautiful addition to the fantasy genre and is a captivating read.


Characters -
As mentioned above, Anequs is the main character of the book. She is a headstrong, female protagonist who refuses to appease to Anglish sensibility. She befriends a younger boy at the academy named Sanders, who is on the autism spectrum. Their friendship displays the cruelties to the patriarchal Anglish society and the toxic masculinity of the fellow male students at the academy. Theod, the other indigenous student at the academy, was taken from his homeland at birth and raised in Anglish society. Anequs is often at odds with Theod who is considered, the "model minority" of the story. Lastly, Marta, Anequs' roommate is the only other female student at the Academy. Her obsession with social advancement leaves her at odds with Anequs. Each of these characters are compelling and complex. They are all fleshed out and provide an essential part to the story. Even smaller, side characters help to bolster the story. The characters are well thought out and intriguing.

Writing -
The prose of this book was stoic and defiant. While there were slow moments in the book, I felt that the writing was good. Most of the world building was added in when it felt necessary; there was no info dump at any point in the book. Sometimes it felt that there were societal clues the reader was expected to know or off-handed references to random things that felt out of place. But overall, a wonderfully crafted novel that will leave an impact on you.


Quotes that left an impact:
"In fact, you will have to prove yourself superior in all the ways they expect you to be inferior, just to be regarded as equal"

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is a refreshing mix of a novel of manners and YA fantasy. We follow Anequs, a young indigenous woman by her society’s understanding and an uncivilized “nackie” girl by white Anglish reckoning, as she finds a dragon egg and becomes bonded to the dragon inside. Their pairing causes an uproar among the Anglish, and in attempts to soothe their fears and her own, Anequs must face Anglish society and attended Dragoneer schooling, making new friends and challenging social expectations along the way!

I thoroughly enjoyed To Shape a Dragon’s Breath. Anequs is smart, opinionated, and unfair of ruffling the feathers of white society. While the pacing is a bit slow, it’s call backs to a novel of manners is unique among fantasy. This is the second book I’ve read lately that offers a fantastical explanation for the Industrial Revolution—in this case a dragon’s breath. The fictional science is cleverly done while still being recognizable as something from our own world in a way. The author does an excellent job showing the arrogance of white settler colonialism in contrast with a society more socially progressive and caring than its own. I cannot wait for the second book to come out and will absolutely be continuing this series!

A fun read for teens and adults who enjoy fantasy and some Jane Austen!

To Shape a Dragon's Breath follows Anequs as she finds a dragon egg on her island Masaqupuag. This was one of the most unique fantasy novels I have ever read. I have never read anything that integrated dragons and magic into the indigenous culture. It was a brand new take on fantasy that I'd love to see more of.

At first, I felt that the novel was very long and not a lot was happening. After finishing it, I realized that yes it may have been long, but Moniquill Blackgoose did not waste a single page. They cover every pressing issue that we face in society today through the lens of an indigenous person. They challenge colonialism, classism, colorism, religious extremism, sexuality, stigmas against autism and polyamory, and many more. Anequs was a fantastic vessel to deliver how white settlers have stolen their culture and labeled it as their own discoveries. She knows her peoples history and isn't afraid to educate the Anglish who think they are above her simply because she is an islander. The irony is that the Anglish call her a savage, yet the way they treat each other is horrendous. It is a period novel and Anequs has to learn all of the contradictions that come with being a "polite woman of society" and challenges them in her own way.

The part of the story that I loved the most was the aspects of steampunk and chemistry that the author seamlessly wove throughout. Being a scientist it was interesting to read how they described the natural elements and how they joined together to create other substances. The integration of magic and machines to create vehicles and technology was very interesting. I won't give up the best part because it would be a massive spoiler, but I screamed when Anequs discovered how her people have learned to do the diagrams required for shaping dragon's breath. It was so freaking awesome.

My recommendation is not get bogged down with all of the terminology that the author uses. They do a fantastic job of world building. Every single detail has been included to adhere to the Scandanavian theme. It is very thorough. Focus less on the terminology and more on immersing yourself into the world and I guarantee you will enjoy it. Anyone who grew up loving Harry Potter, but want to support a BIPOC and truly inclusive author will absolutely love this one. Anequs gives of Hermione vibes. She's a genius, she stands up for what is right, and in a sassy way that you just can't help but love her. It is much more real than the way Harry Potter romanticized and white washed the treatment of other races (ie. mudbloods). I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Although the book itself was really good, and reading about how imperialism and the education system are connected, along with the imperialist superiority complex, with the addition of dragons, I had one major problem that made this book a four star novel. The names of the Anglish honorifics, buildings, types of people, cultural holidays, etc. were a strange combination of English, German and Scandinavian names, and although the book was written like the fictional countries should have an obvious basis, I had difficulty understanding which places were which, and the European names then being further changed to appear more fantasy confused me further.

To Shape a Dragon's Breath;The First Book of Nampeshiweisit by Moniquill Blackgoose is absolutely genius fantasy! I'm not a huge fan of fantasy but this book enticed me right away and drew me in. A must read!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

Indigenous MC, magic school, dragon riding, Viking-meets-Regency era society, poly romance....WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG!?!

Not a lot, is the answer. Anequs is a breath of fresh air as a female YA protagonist. She had a solid voice, a firm resolve, and a level head. She was easy to root for and never once made me feel the need to slap some sense into her. She--GET THIS--communicates with the people around her clearly and effectively. I loved it.

This book doesn't shy away from facing social injustice head-on. It focused on the complexities of meshing cultures in which one views itself as "cultured" and the other as "savage." Very fascinating and real-world applicable.

The only reason I knocked a half-ish star off this book was because of the pacing. This was a really cool world and there was a lot for the reader to wrap their head around...but there was a LOT of exposition and while it was often conveyed within dialogue between characters, it occasionally got tiresome. I scanned through a few long-winded info dumps, not going to lie. It wasn't a world so utterly unfamiliar that it required huge bouts of information.

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.

All this to say that if the opening line of this review caught your attention, you should most definitely grab a copy of this book when it comes out this spring. I look forward to seeing other people read this, and very much look forward to seeing what goes down in book two of this series!

This is such a stunning book in so many ways. Despite its length, it held my attention from beginning to end, and I cannot wait to see where Anequs and Kasaquah's story takes them.

I love Anequs. She is bold and strong and honest, and she can't imagine being anyone that she's not. Her affection and respect for her family, her people, and the land is beautiful and builds the foundation of her character. Blackgoose crafted her with such thoughfulness, and I loved seeing her navigate her sudden and confusing change of circumstance.

The world Blackgoose sets us in is a sort of magical alternate version of our world in the 1800's, but I would have preferred if it was either set fully in our world or in a different one instead of what felt like an oddly constructed inbetween. The spelling changes felt especially awkward. For instance, Africa becomes Aprika, algebra becomes al-jabr, and English becomes Anglish.

The magic system is very interesting and complex, and I am seriously looking forward to seeing more of how it works and seeing more impactful applications of it. I'm especially looking forward to more dragon badassery. Kasaquah is so precious and fierce, and I cannot wait to see her grow into an even more formidable partner to Anequs.

I was a little disappointed by the romantic chemistry between Anequs and Theod. At this point, it kind of feels like their otherness is the only thing they have in common, and very little insight is offered into why Anequs is interested in him aside from being handsome.

I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel that this is clearly building toward. I look forward to seeing where Anequs's romantic feelings take her, the result of the developing political unrest, and the blossoming of Anequs and Kasaquah's power.

This book is an indigenous historical fantasy. The main character is a young indigenous woman in a world greatly affected by colonization. She lives on an island off the mainland and her people have little interaction with the colonizing people, but their community has still been greatly affected by it. This is a world in which dragons exist and choose a human partner when they hatch. Anequs finds a dragon egg and the dragon that hatches is an indigenous dragon that has not been seen in generations. When she is chosen she is compelled to attend an Anglish school to teach her to shape her dragons breath.

This book is obviously fantastical, full of many different, well thought out breeds of dragons with different characteristics. But it also touches on so many real life themes in what I thought was a very accessible way. This book is full of representation. There is indigenous, black, queer, and autistic representation. There are some very difficult and uncomfortable themes in this story, but it all felt natural to the story and not forced.

I’ll admit that I almost DNFed this book in the beginning because there were so many strange terms for things and confusing descriptions that had me feeling very confused. The colonizing people of this world seem to be a mix of Norse and German and some of the words felt just a little off and others were completely unintelligible to me. But eventually I realized that this was probably done intentionally to show the reader the way Anequs and other indigenous people must feel when being thrust into an unknown society and being expected to assimilate and understand the strange world around them. Besides that there were some times when the story dragged at a slow pace and took a while to get through, and the main character seemed almost too perfect and always completely confident in herself and her choices, and her only struggles or flaws are just cultural differences.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and am curious to see what the author does with the rest of the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a great start to a new fantasy series. The storytelling was amazing and I cannot wait for the next installment.

TW/CW: Danger, racism, violence, mild sexuality, gun violence, state violence, sexism

REVIEW: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and Del Rey and am voluntarily writing an honest review.

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is the story of Anequs, a young indigenous woman who finds and hatches a dragon’s egg, becoming bonded to the young dragon. She is forced by the white colonizers of her land to attend a school for young dragoneers, and finds herself stuck in a world that she has no interest in becoming a part of, with people who constantly insult her for who she is.

This is, no doubt, a great story. It has all the elements that I love – dragons, a steampunk fantasy world, interesting characters, an underdog succeeding, fighting against racism and xenophobia, LGBTQIA+ representation – all of these things are fantastic.

Unfortunately, there were two things that affected my enjoyment of this book. First, it was WAY too long at 528 pages. A lot of that was repetition of the same sort of social get-togethers that just seemed unnecessary. Secondly was the writing itself. It’s not that the writing was bad, but it kept me feeling like I was detatched from the story. I found it hard to feel connected because the writing was so dry and lacked emotion. In a lot of ways, it felt more like reading a history book than what should have been an engaging and exciting fantasy novel.

In all, I would recommend this book, simply because of the things that are so good about it. It drags at times because of the things I’ve stated above, but I think it’s worth getting through.

Really interesting and well built world with character relationships I only wanted to know more about.

I am genuinely sad I finished this book because that means I have to wait for it to be published AND for its sequel to be published!! I absolutely loved this book. The main friend group and ESPECIALLY Anqus are positively wonderful, and the theory and working of this magic system was not only engaging, but was unraveled and unveiled in such a way that I felt I was learning it with them. I could not put this down. 5 stars isn’t enough; I give this eight billion. What a way to start 2023, eh?