This review contains spoilers and are my raw and unfiltered thoughts while reading.

In the beginning and middle, I really enjoyed where this book was heading and the idea of healing through friendship after a traumatic event but towards the middle, my thoughts started to shift and I found myself struggling. There was extremely descriptive writing in some places primarily when it came to the nature aspects but when it comes to certain parts of the plot, descriptions are very minimal and the interactions or scenes themselves are lacking. Left me wanting more. The variation in writing styles throughout made it feel disconnected.

The middle felt like there were too many storylines crammed into it with not much detail or description. From the romance with Seamus to getting an offer to audition for a ballet internship to the concert benefitting the Home to the surgeon and the prospect of fixing her scars to the project to save the reef. Each story could have stood on its own without being crammed into the middle with little detail.

What I expected to be the big reveal of Gaia remembering what happened in the fire felt rushed and was snuck into a couple of sentences upon Bron's return. I felt that this part of the plot deserved much more time as regaining extremely traumatic memories like that is not a simple process. It's hard, and long and I wanted more of Gaia's own thoughts and more reference to it.

The nature details were beautifully written and descriptive but I was expecting that type of writing style throughout and was missing it when it wasn't there. Overall, I think the many plot points in the middle could have been refined a bit to include only a few and do them justice instead of stuffing them all in.

Had the book maintained a similar writing style throughout and the interactions been given the same detail and descriptions, I probably would have enjoyed this one more.

Dancing with Dragons’ is another fabulous story by Jenni Ogden! Thank you to NetGalley, Sea Dragon Press and the author for an e-ARC for my honest review.

We follow young Gaia, who survived a house fire where both of her parents died. After recuperating in hospital for 2 years, she returned to her parent’s property. She set up house in the barn where her mother had trained her and her brother in ballet before the tragedy. She forms a close friendship with her neighbour’s 11 year-old orphaned nephew, Jarrah. I loved learning about the seadragons on the coral reef in Western Australia that they strove to protect.
I highly recommend this book. Looking forward to reading more by Jenni Ogden.

I very much enjoyed Dancing with Dragons. Why? My heart went out to the wonderful Australian flora and fauna, the very brave Gaia and Jarrah the 11 year old orphan and nephew of the Aboriginal couple – Mary and Eddie living near by to Gaia. It is very much a story of found family, not only with humans but the creatures that find a connection to Gaia.

Gaia has had some terrible experiences that have left her scarred in body and to some extent in mind. She is courageous but shy of others because of her scars. She lives alone but builds a warm friendship with Mary and Eddie and then on to Mary’s nephew Jarrah. And mentioning Jarrah, I loved each time he took centre stage in the book. He is miles away in a children’s home but loves coming to stay with Mary and Eddie, and he forms close bonds with Gaia. He is fascinated by the world she shares with him below the water’s surface. And quite frankly so is the reader. Gaia has a passion for her environment that is so inspiring.

There is a strong theme of care for the environment in this book. Gaia also has found family with a kangaroo she has hand reared and seeing Rita Roo around was really special. Plus there is Gos a hawk that Gaia has reared as well. She also watches over the two beautiful sea dragons that come to do their mating dance in a section of the reef. I loved these aspects of the book. The beautiful sea dragon can be seen on the cover of the book. Their dance is so graceful. ( You can see this on You Tube). Gaia is also a dancer and I imagine her dancing to be as graceful as the sea dragons.

The plot moves along really well, I found myself sinking into this world each time I picked up the book. A lot happens – you have to read the book to find out. There is tension caused by big and small events. Some horrible things happen, some very heart warming things happen.

The one bit I was unhappy with was the Epilogue. This is set almost twenty years down the track from the main part of the story. I am a reader who likes the t’s crossed and the i’s dotted. The epilogue doesn’t do that. I was left wanting to know what happened in those intervening years, I could tell all was well but I was saying to myself ” but what happened to ….? That said it was still beautifully done.

1977. Gaia Christie - aspiring dancer, keen snorkeller, child of a ballerina and a market gardener - is just 14 when she loses her family and home in a devastating fire. Two years later, after rehab and grafts she returns to the property in remote Western Australia, determined to start again with whatever remains. She finds the old barn-cum-ballet-studio still intact, and with the help of her Aboriginal neighbours, Mary and Eddie, set about carving a life for herself.

Despire her burn scars, she dances on the beach and swims across the reefs, searching for weedy sea dragons; small moments that conenct her to her life Before.

At first reclusive, Gaia's world becomes warmer and richer as she befriends Mary and Eddie's nephew Jarrah and then his friends - Seamus, Maisie, and others - and begins to open herself up to the wider world and new experiences. And through it all, she dances, and searches for sea dragons.

The one dark spot in Gaia's idyllic life is her other neighbour, Dave Mason. Drunk and lecherous, Dave is no good, and disaster strikes when he tries to pressure Gaia into selling her land to developers.

This was a captivating read. Filled with gorgeous descriptions of the West Australian reefs and an idyllic life off grid, this is a slow-moving coming of age story for Gaia with a cinematic feel. Some readers may find the writing style and speech patterns of some characters offputting, but to me it worked.

Content warning: the book does contain depictions of trauma, abuse, sexual assault, racism, death. One animal dies near the end.

~ Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ~

Dancing with Dragons is a honest, tragic and hopeful read. Jenni Ogden writes with clarity, brevity and poise.
Thank you for the ARC and the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

This book was not what I expected, but I loved it all the same. I want to preface my review with saying please strongly consider the content warnings, as a lot of heavy topics are covered.

Gaia is a young girl growing up in the 1970’s in Western Australia, spending much of her early years learning ballet from her mother. Tragedy strikes in a devastating house fire that leaves her orphaned with severe, disfiguring 3rd degree burns over much of her body. The book takes us on Gaia’s journey of struggle and survival against all odds, and her eventual path to healing, acceptance, and love. Her journey is fostered through Gaia’s passion for ballet and its connection to the dance of endangered sea dragons.

Dancing with Dragons is beautifully written, although it felt clunky at times. The imagery transported me to the coral reefs alongside Gaia, while focusing on the very real issues endangering the reefs and the species that call it home. In this way it was very educational without feeling like a college lecture, and gave me a renewed passion for the importance of environmental conservation. Through Gaia’s found family, the book also brings attention to the racism and prejudices that Aboriginal people of Australia faced, and still face, today.

Overall, this was a beautiful read that I’ll be thinking about for a while. If you’re a fan of Where the Crawdads Sing, this is a must-read!

Big thanks to NetGalley and Sea Dragon Press for the gifted ARC!

Thank you Netgalley for gifting me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. As a former dancer and nature lover I really wanted to love this book but in the end it just didn’t do it for me. We are currently in such a dragon era and I felt like having dragons in the title when the book is not a fantasy and does not have any dragons only sea dragons can be a bit misleading. Ultimately, the story just didn’t do much for me. I felt that there was too much set up and then the ending was more rushed. The thing that made me give this book a 2 rather than a 3 was the author’s choice to differentiate people of color by making them not speak properly. If there is a need to differentiate someone who is white versus someone who is of color I can think of many different ways other than one race knowing grammar and the other not.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to ready this beautiful book.
Jenni Ogden deeply captures Gaia’s journey from tragedy, grief and being alone to healing, survival and re-birth. How Life can certainly change in a moment in this story really was impressed upon my heart.
I love how the characters, each and every one, are introduced and developed in this book. Reading this story and being totally engrossed in it was like being part of a beautifully choreographed dance, sweeping me up and into the story, carrying me with it from the beginning all the way through. Hope and healing are found after tragedy and loss, and that is a message we all need to remember in this life.
It has a very "Where the Crawdads Sing" feel to it, which I truly loved. I hope this book will one day be on the big screen for all to enjoy.
In the meantime, this is a must read and a book that will be talked about through the ages!

This book was absolutely fascinating! I've learned so much about sea dragons and ballet and scarring. Gaia is dealing with the death of her parents as well as her burn scars from the fire that killed them, and her brother's disappearance. She moves to a place on the beach and befriends an Aborigine child to whom she teaches both ballet and the love of her reef.

So many wonderful characters wind through the story. I wish there were a sequel. And come to think of it, that's my only problem with the book--there;s not a wholly satisfying ending. Gaia was offered all these interesting possibilities near the end, so...did she take the dance internship? Or study marine biology? And did she really reject having her scars removed (who would do that in real life)? What became of Seamus? Did Bron get a happy ending?

Please expand the epilogue at least!

This was a good read. I am not one for fantasy usually, but I am glad I read this one. During the beginning of the book, it felt like forever to get the plot going. however, once the plot was hit, it moved along so fast. My favorite part was the ending, i loved it.

Dancing with Dragons is a beautiful and beautifully written story about trauma, grief, resilience, and the healing power of friendship and dance. This is a story of love - first love, love of home, and love of other creatures. Set in Australia, the descriptions of the land and especially the ocean, the reefs, the fish, and, of course, the sea dragons are vivid and stunning. The characters, and there are many, are all well-drawn with distinct personalities and compelling backstories making it easy to care for them. It is the kind of story, easy to pick up and hard to put down but, at the same time, one you want to read slowly, to capture the beauty of the prose and to spend more time with the characters.

Thanks to Netgalley and Sea Dragon Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

Dancing With Dragons, by Jenni Ogden, is not what I anticipated just from looking at the colorful cover. There is much more depth to this novel than the cover art implies.  Though it is a book of tragedy and heartbreak, it is also a lesson in hope. It is worth your time reading it. Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

Dancing With Dragons by Jenny Ogden is about Jaea, she lives off the grid and in the bush with her brother and her parents. They are homeschooled and all their life their mother has taught them ballet with dreams of them eventually going off to ballet school and possibly having a dancing career. On the night the tragedy happened it was the same day she saw the Seadragons a kind of seahorse that is colorful and is thin as a weed and she couldn’t have been more excited but when she woke to hear her parents arguing with the neighbor Dave and was there to watch the tragedy unfold something she would luckaly not remember. she also didn’t remember being burned on the right side of her body nor how she a scape the fire. Once she is released from the hospital she goes back to goshawk farm Her brother has left on a containership and she wonders if she’ll ever see him again. With the help of the indigenous caretakers of her neighbors farm Mary and Eddie she starts to carve a life for herself and doesn’t wander far from her home especially since everyone stares at her.
When Mary’s 11-year-old nephew Jera comes to visit she will find a soulmate and a dance partner but he will also be the key to her life expanding. Through him she meets shamus a 22-year-old Irish boy in the middle of a jaunt around Australia but meeting her stops him in his tracks and they slowly start a tentative romance. Through it all Jaea wonders if she’ll see her brother again and most importantly what happened the night of the fire. The neighbor Dave says he saved her but is that the truth? This book was OK for the most part but throughout reading the book I noticed if I thought oh if that happens that would be so great and that would be exactly what happened. Having said that about 60% in the book really starts revving up secrets or exposed as well as her not so nice neighbor Dave’s real personality something she only previously glances at but now gets a full on look,He is racist a drunk with many other not so endearing qualities. The book did hold my attention as I am an optimist and love a happy ending in speaking of the ending I was kind of let down with this epilogue. The book also left me with lots of questions but because asking them would’ve just ruined the plot for me I just let it go. I do believe though if you’re also an optimist in love happy endings with great happy developments you’ll definitely mostly enjoyed this book I certainly did it was certainly better than I thought it was going to be it is also a book I absolutely recommend. Please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.#SeadragonPress, #NetGalley, #JennieOgden, #DancingWithDragons,

In the past few days, I've enjoyed swimming with seahorses living in the Australian coral reef while following the life struggles of the young protagonist of this novel.

"Dancing with Dragons" is a well-crafted novel that tells the story of a girl whose family (mother, father, and brother) is torn away by a fire that devastates their home, leaving her with deep scars as a painful reminder. The passion for dancing that Gaia's mother instilled in her since childhood now seems overshadowed by the prejudices she faces due to the marks that mar her body. People can be particularly cruel when confronted with someone who appears "different."
During that initial period where life proves its harshness by forcing her to live in a barn and sell vegetables to survive, Gaia realizes that her existence cannot be reduced to mere survival. Everything changes when the eleven-year-old son of neighboring Aboriginals starts laying the first stones of their friendship. The result is a true rebirth.

I find Jenni Ogden's novel captivating, filled with magic, and carrying an important message confined within its pages. The writing style is fluid and enchanting, allowing readers to immerse themselves page after page in a world of personal redemption (where Gaia's tragedy dominates and her subsequent need to react) and the necessity of preserving the coral reef's nature (here, allowing those small marine creatures to survive despite severe threats). This blend of personal and environmental storylines ensures the narrative remains engaging and never predictable or dull, holding the reader's attention throughout.
However, I must note a minor critique: in a couple of instances, the narration became clumsy and the events predictable, although everything resolved for the better and the story delivered numerous positive emotions, making the reading slightly less captivating for a few pages.
At the same time, I initially believed I had a young adult story in my hands, but some themes are treated in ways not entirely suitable for that audience, although it cannot be considered a story strictly for adults either. This left me somewhat perplexed by the end of the book.

Having said that, I still recommend reading this story, both for its exploration of the protagonist's tragic experience and its advocacy for preserving the local biodiversity—a theme I deeply care about and recognize as increasingly relevant.
A detailed review will be posted on my blog (https://medium.com/@inabookhole) on July 18, 2024. Additionally, at least a couple of posts will appear on my Instagram profile (@inabookhole) during July. The review is already available on my Goodreads profile.

3.5/4

Dancing With Dragons has a nice story with an environmental edge to it.

Gaia and her family live off-grid on the Coral Coast of Western Australia. Her father runs a market garden business and her mother is a retired ballet dancer - which is what she wants for both Gaia and brother Bron. Gaia loves the dancing but she also loves the creatures of the coast being particularly fascinated with a pair of rare weedy seadragons who have taken up residence where she snorkels.

However tragedy strikes and Gaia is left to deal with the consequences alone. With help from Aboriginal neighbours Mary and Eddie she rebuilds her life and makes friends with Jarrah, Mary's 11 year old relative. But is further heartache round the corner and where is her brother? Can Gaia make a good life for herself while following her passions?

This is a nice story, a little predictable at times but it definitely draws the plight of the aboriginal population along with the environmental factors that endanger the corals and coasts to the fore. It does also deal with quite a lot of difficult personal issues - sexual and physical abuse, recovery from burns and alcohol abuse.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Sea Dragon Press for the advance review copy.

This book was positively magical. It was raw, tender, loving and had beautiful emotion dancing through it's pages. A story of overcoming trauma, facing adversity and pure love in friends and family. I adored Gaia, she is one strong amazing individual so full of life who leaves you with a smile on your face. And the setting was gorgeous. The author described it so well that I could feel the sand in between my toes. I loved everything a out this book.

It is on sale July 16, 2024, make sure you visit your local bookstore for a copy!

Thank you to the author Jenni Ogden, the publisher Sea Dragon Press and NetGalley for letting me enjoy the delight of this ARC.

This book was so beautifully written. Thank you NetGalley and Sea Dragon Press for allowing me to read this book. What an amazing story connecting nature and people. I loved the friendships in this book. I also really enjoyed Gaia’s journey as she overcomes tragedy and finds herself and her place in the world. I adore the friendships she makes and Jarrah holds a special place in my head for his beautiful connection to Gaia. It was a slow easy going read that I very much enjoyed and would recommend to others.

🌅Beautiful sea life imagery🐠

I think this Jennie Ogden novel of a solitary Australian teen and her love for nature and dance is geared to a YA readership; nevertheless, the story of young Gaia and her independent spirit in the face of so much hurt, loss and adversity was good and it passed along some useful knowledge about the rare creatures inhabiting the Western Australia coast and affected by human and climate impact on the planet's ecosystem.

The author paints beautiful pictures with her descriptions of the reef and Gaia's beloved sea creatures. I found the early parts of the novel the most compelling as Gaia suffers so and only begins healing when she is able to return to the family homestead. The thought of a teenager taking on the running of the family farm and a campaign to save her local pristine reef from developers almost single-handed and with little in the way of finances or experience of the wider world was inspiring. Her small cohort of friends, both human and animal, gave this a bit of a Snow White vibe with neighbor Dave acting as the proverbial wicked queen. I especially like her friend Jarrah and how Ogden worked him into Gaia's life. I did think, though, that the way all of the obstacles and problems in Gaia's life were so tidily resolved in the course of the story seemed a bit too fortuitous and unrealistic.

Thanks to Sea Dragon Press and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

Thank you for allowing me to review this excellent book. I found the story very moving as it explores loss, trauma, friendships and new beginnings. It was an emotional read. The characters are very well written and their experiences feel completely honest in their portrayal, especially Gaia. Jarrah, is such a lovely boy, who I wanted to give a big hug to and offer a home.
I am impressed by Jenni Ogden and will definitely read more of her work.

I enjoyed <i>A Drop in the Ocean</i> when I read it years ago and was excited to get immersed in nature writing and marine life again. However, this book is written at a much younger level and focuses more on romance and human-centric family drama than nature and has my all time hated trope (refusal to communicate and lying as a plot device). I really didn’t enjoy this.

The beginning has some of the nature writing that I loved from <i>Ocean</i> but it’s a flash in the pan. Once Gaia gets to the hospital, it becomes bog standard “women’s fiction”. The reader knows the truth of the fire from go so watching all these stupid humans refuse to communicate or tell the truth was pure agony. While there is an environmental theme, it’s more to create drama and, as an enthusiastic eco-fiction reader, doesn’t feel authentic to me. It’s certainly not enough of the focus to call this book ‘marine, environment, and conversation’ themed.

<b>Content Warning: Graphic descriptions of burns. I suffered third degree burns in my early twenties and didn’t enjoy reliving that! </b>

I don’t want to belabour how much I disliked this but I do want to share some of the things that I didn’t get on with, just in case it helps other readers manage their expectations going in. 

<b>Characters:</b> I didn’t like any of the characters: they were all pretty boring and one-dimensional. Gaia was “traumatized young woman”, Jarrah was “precocious child who’s wise beyond their years”, Seamus was “simpering male who falls in insta-love and wants to protect traumatized young woman”. Everyone was either Good™️ or Bad™️ with no complexities or dimensions.
The Gaia/Jarrah story made me uncomfortable… especially when the 11 yo boy fancied himself in love with her and she made some comment about “when he’s 20 and I’m 27”. 🥴
The Gaia/Seamus thing was ridiculous and I grew so weary of his schoolboy obsession with her and his threatening to beat people up on her behalf. Gaia isn’t much better feeling threatened every time Seamus mentions a woman and moping around when he’s not around. Gross.
Gaia’s character is all over the place in general: she’s too scared to go to the local market but ends up going to a city four hours away for days at a time? She’s sheltered with arrested development yet knows what takeaways and dates are? She doesn’t speak to people for days on end for most of her life and she’s suddenly negotiating with lawyers, threatening surveyors, and charming everyone she meets?

<b>The writing style</b> was very simplistic and the plot formulaic. I found the book moved at a slow pace but that could be because I found the characters boring and wasn’t invested in a story where everything was telegraphed miles in advance. The pacing was wonky with everything going a mile a minute but then when it switches gears to focus on the romance, slows down to a crawl; then, at the end, it speeds back to again. There were a <I>lot</I> of spelling and grammar issues that’ll hopefully be corrected before publication too.

<b>I would <I>strongly</I> recommend that dialect and characterizations of the Black and Indigenous characters be examined by a focus group or sensitivity reader. It feels insensitive and almost mocking that a white woman wrote Black and Indigenous characters as illiterate country folk and with some of the dialogue and word choices she did. It made me, as a reader, deeply uncomfortable. </b>

A swing and a miss for me as a reader. Folks who enjoy writers like Mary Alice Monroe or Delia Owens might enjoy this more than I did.

Thank you for the opportunity to read the ARC, Sea Dragon Press.
Even though I’m new to NetGalley, I want to shout out that the formatting of the eARC was the best I’ve seen so far. The table of contents was filled in which made navigation a dream and the font was a readable type and size. Thanks for putting so much care into the config of this proof!