This book was well written and I enjoyed the perspective of an Indigenous character, but I struggled to finish this book because it was just a little boring. For a fantasy book with dragons, I was not often excited. And I get that this book was not about dragons; it was about racism and politics and whatnot. But the lack of page-turning-ness made me finish this book pretty slowly.

What I liked: a unique type of dragon magic, BIPOC main character(s), LGBT+ perspective, important themes, the stories within the book

What I disliked: Why does everything have to be renamed something different if it's essentially the same thing? Lindmarden is called England. Hydrogen Oxygen and other chemicals have all new names. The dialogue also didn't feel like dialogue. I get that this was written in the past, but couldn't they have talked in more distinct ways? Still didn't fully understand how the dragon magic worked, but okay. What I will say is the word "nackie" was perfectly chosen; it gave me such a negative connotation, which I think was deliberate. The themes also seemed to hit you over the head and felt extra hashed out.

Anequs both frustrated me and inspired me. If there was one thing she was going to do, it was ride for her people and say exactly how she felt. At the same time, as clever as she was, it felt like she didn't understand that her actions had consequences, fatal ones at that. But she kept doing what she was doing. Frau Kuiper was trying to insist that it's either assimilate or die, but Anequs was just like NO. I guess she got a small victory in the end and seeing how this is a continuing series, maybe Anequs will continue to see how her actions play out, for better or worse. Maybe she'll learn how to move smarter somehow without assimilating.

All in all, though I wasn't a big fan of the storytelling and writing, the author is a competent one and the book was pleasant enough for me to finish, though I wished I'd skipped some sections. I hope maybe the author can liven things up in subsequent books, though I don't know if I'll continue to read this series.

Received a Netgalley ARC in exchange for honest feedback.

Fantasy is my least read genre. I'm always a little intimidated and confused going into one, but I couldn't put this one down! The world building was great and set up where it's easy enough to follow along but still have to pay attention. The OwnVoices Native American rep was great to see as fantasy, I feel, is very behind in opening doors for marginalized authors. It's one of the straightest, whitest genres on the shelves and bringing diversity to it is both important and exciting. As a bonus, there's also dragons!

The plot moved at a good pace and the characters were well fleshed out. As a non fantasy reader I was really impressed by this one!

This book touches on so many topics - with quiet rage and grace. Discrimination. Sexism. Women pitted against women. The fear to be honest about sexuality. Classism. I could go on.
Anequs finds a dragon's egg - changing in her life along with her family and community. She feels it is an honor, a gift, rather than others at the prestigious school.
She posses such grace and strength, refusing to bend to the acceptable version of herself.
Great start to a new series.

Wow was this good. Before anything else, highly recommend!

This book is about Anequs, an Indigenous teenager who just happens to see a dragon, and be chosen when said dragon's egg hatches. Her people have not had dragons for quite some time, and they decide to report the dragon's birth, and Anequs' choosing, to a nearby Anglish school for dragoneering in order to comply with the law.

This book is in a fantasy world with fantasy countries and fantasy peoples, but they're very clearly supposed to be reflections of our own world. This is very much a book about colonialism and racism, and because of that, I would heavily suggest readers who are sensitive to those topics check trigger warnings. As a white reader, it was very difficult to read through Anequs' repeated mistreatment. However, I think this book has so many important things to say, and I would recommend it repeatedly.

This book does not hold back, and it will anger you. The Anglish are the worst (shocker, I know), but Anequs is resilient. The tone of this book is uniquely angry and proud. Anequs truly loves her people and her culture, and she was willing to stand up for them in front of anyone. My only critique is that Anequs can, at times, feel a bit overly confident for her age and situation. Regardless, I loved cheering her on, and I can't wait to see what she will do in the sequel.

Thank you to RHPG - Ballantine and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a review!

Dragons and academia aren't top of my list in reading interests but this one pulled me in and I can't wait for the next book. What a refreshing take on alternate history, colonialism, and an indigenous protagonist.

To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose is an excellent new fantasy. The world building is finely crafted and complete. The characters are well-rounded and engaging. The story follows Anequs a young woman who has grown up on an island that is the home of a native community. Native culture is what she knows and believes. When she finds a dragon's egg and bonds with the hatchling her people are excited and remember their tradition of dragons, but they are also fearful for both her and the young dragon. Now the only people who have dragons, are the Anglish, the dominant culture who conquered her people. To keep the dragon, Anequs must train it in an Anglish dragon school far removed from everyone and everything she is familiar with. The story is also about otherness in a dominant culture that wants conformity to its norms and neither values nor wants otherness. Anequs has no choice but to succeed in training her dragon to Anglish standards, but she must also stay true to her people and culture to maintain her own identity. How can she do it? This is a great read with an really good story and over-arching themes that are relevant. Strongly recommended.

There's a lot to love about To Shape a Dragon's Breath! Moniquill Blackgoose gives us an academic setting, dragons, and an indigenous main character who has to put up with a lot of white people BS and colonialism. The writing feels like an excellent piece of classic literature, with a slower pace and more social focus than action, but Blackgoose perfectly injects humor and irony into the story as well. I loved Anequs and the queer rep in this book! I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next in this series.

Enjoyable.

Overall, this is a fantastic start to a series, but I really hope to see Blackgoose's writing progress for book 2. There are some parts that drag a bit, and it made me very tempted to skim. This is not to say that it wasn't interesting or relevant information, but rather that the presentation of this information could've been done differently so that the reader could better take in the story.

I really enjoyed this book! It’s a great first entry for a new series. I enjoyed the world building a lot though I thought that at some points there were too many details. There’s a fine line between informing the reading and overwhelming them, and I felt a bit overwhelmed at times.

I thought that the main character was well written and seeing her growth though the book had me rooting her on from start to finish.

I did think that the book ran a little too long and a good amount could have been cut out. But I will definitely be reading the second one because I can’t wait to see what happens next.

After many attempts, I need to give up on this book and say I read 100 pages, and I tried my best, but it is not for me. I enjoyed the setting greatly, but the depth I was hoping for, just seemed to be lacking.

Thank you so much, NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for the chance to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

Fifteen-year-old Anequs lives in a remote island of Masquapaug and it has not seen a dragon in generations, until she finds a dragon's egg and bounds with its hatchling. Remembering the old stories, when dragons kept the storms away and helped the people thrive, Anequs is revered as Nampeshiweisit, those who have a unique bond with a dragon. Unfortunately for them, the Anglish conquerors have their own ideas about how the dragon has to be raised and educated and she doesn't meet their ideas. They are convinced to let Anequs enroll into a dragon school, but if she cannot succeed there, her dragon will be killed. In a world so different from her own, with non-Anglish upbringing, Anequs struggles at first, but she's stubborn and smart and very determined into learning what she could do for her dragon, even teaching things to herself. She has no intention to become what they want her to be and by growing up together, her and her dragon start to become more and more stronger. The world needs changing and they are ready to do it.

2023 is the year of dragons and I'm so here for it! To shape a dragon's breath is funny, intriguing and so well written. I love the relationship between Anequs and her dragon, how they bond and grow together and how they are ready to fight against the Anglish imposed traditions and rules. Anequs is a magnificent main characters, very determined and stubborn and ready to do anything in her power not to become the meek woman the Anglish wants her to be and to help her dragon herself. I loved the contrast between her island, their thoughts and traditions and how they clash with their conquerors and how ready she is not to be like one of them. Also I loved the school setting and this intricate worldbuilding. Really, really recommended!

I fell in love with this book — this novel had everything I’ve wanted in a fantasy novel that I haven’t had in a long time. Everything about this novel, from the lore, the characters, the messages, the build up, was perfect.

I think Anequs was a perfect character for this story — she was steadfast in her beliefs and in her goals. Not once did she ever waver in them and while, at the beginning, it felt like she might just be a flat character, but she turned out to be the best character. It felt like several characters got to grow because of her character. It also felt like she’s where she needs to be to grow into an even stronger character as the series continues.

The world building was my favorite. It was so well-written and fleshed out, it felt familiar and new all at the same time.

I can’t wait for the rest of the series and especially can’t wait for the series to continue.

I loved this book and look forward to the next one! Alternate history with a Nordic culture base, a schi for dragons, and a feisty, independent main character. It's also an eye-opening look at how indigenous cultures are oppressed and judged, and I think it's an excellent diverse addition to our school library.

To Shape a Dragon's Breath is subtitled "The First Book of Nampeshiweisit" and as that subtitle might lead you to expect, it's the first book in a new Indigenous American-inspired fantasy series.* The story features a 15 year old indigenous young woman** named Anequs who lives on the island of Masquapaug, an island populated by her indigenous people who live otherwise unmolested by the colonizing Anglish as long as they pay their taxes on time and don't come into anything of value to the Anglish. But when Anequs finds a dragon egg, a Nampeshiwe dragon rather than a colonizer dragon, she finds that she has no choice but to go to the Anglish world with her dragon Kasaqua in order to learn about how to properly train and handle the dragon...for her own people's dragons had been lost long ago, together with their own knowledge of how to handle them. Naturally this results in conflict, for the colonizers do not view Anequs and her people as civilized at best, want to exterminate them at worst, and nearly all have little interest in them having a dragon....

*Some places online, like goodreads, list this book as Young Adult, presumably because the story is in some sense a "coming of age" story, features a teen protagonist, and features as a major plot point the protagonist going to a special school. However, neither the publisher website nor Amazon list the book as such and it does deal with adult themes, and I know one reviewer I trust for YA has rejected the distinction for this book. So I will be treating this as adult fiction.*

**Anequs' culture treats adulthood as coming at 13, so despite her age I will be referring to her as a "woman" and not a "girl" in this review.**

The result is a fascinating story, which features a rigid prejudiced, sexist, and classist colonizer society like that of Victorian England (with a Norse-like religion mind you) being constantly interrogated and run up against by the far more liberal and flexible Anequs. Anequs encounters not only colonial power and the aforementioned prejudices, but also has to deal with the Anglish society's rules against queerness (Anequs is Bi and would like to date two different people at once) and its misogynist and ableist teaching in society that lead another friend of hers, an Anglish boy who is clearly autistic, to be constantly bullied and punished. And how Anequs struggles through it all as she tries to learn how to handle Kasaqua and to help her people survive and get use out of the dragon (including trying to figure out the setting's really interesting alchemical/chemistry based dragon magic) is really interesting to read. That said, the book sometimes feels like it makes Anequs too perfect, as if she has the answer to everything such that she can never truly go wrong, which kind of is a personal issue of mine with certain books, even if the book never goes quite too far in this direction to the point of being really annoying....

More specifics after the jump:




Plot Summary:
It had been ages since dragons had been seen on Masquapaug. But when 15 year old Anequs was gathering mussels one day on Slipstone Island, she saw a dragon - one who belonged there, a true Nampeshiwe dragon. That dragon flew off into the sea, never to be seen again, but when Anequs returned to make an offering, she finds an even bigger supply: the dragon had left an egg. And days later the egg hatches and reveals a baby Nampeshiwe dragon, named Kasaqua, who bonds immediately with Anequs.

This is a special moment, one for the whole tribe, but it also presents a few problems. First, there's the fact that the Anglish colonizers, who normally leave Masquapaug alone if the people there duly pay their taxes, are certainly not going to do nothing when they find out the people there have acquired a dragon. And Second there's the fact that the Nampeshiwe have been gone so long that Anequs' people no longer know how to handle such a dragon, especially when it becomes old enough to unleash its powerful breath...a breath that the Anglish and other colonizers are able to use to perform powerful alchemical reactions.

And so the only way Anequs can handle either problem is to do what she never wanted: to temporarily leave the islands to go to an Anglish school for those chosen by dragons so that she can learn to shape her dragon's breath. But the Anglish are a rigid and strict society of a kind Anequs has never dealt with before and many of them would prefer to destroy her people than ever to let them have a dragon, nevertheless to train it, and Anequs will find learning what she needs may not be the most difficult part of her journey, rather than just surviving Anglish prejudice and evil.....
To Shape a Dragon's Breath takes place in a world that's different than ours, but is still very recognizable, with cultures, attitudes, and histories that are inspired by combinations of real Earth cultures...except with dragons. The colonizing nation of Angland is basically a combination of English Colonizers with a Victorian Noble Culture to go along with a religion that is basically Norse with the names of gods filed off. And the Anglish relation to the natives of the continent is just as the American Colonists is and was - disdainful, treating them as uncivilized and peoples who can at best be elevated to "civilized" society and at worst must be eliminated for the good of "civilized" society. Add in the way that black citizens tend to be indentured by Anglish society - and were formerly enslaved - and well, what you get here is a setting that feels very much like early 20th century America (with automobiles just coming into fashion in the hands of the very rich).

Of course this setting also does include dragons of various types, even if the indigenous people have largely lost their own dragons due to plague and war (although indigenous peoples who are still fighting the colonizers out West are said to still have them). And in a really creative touch, the dragons' breath is known to be usable, in combination with certain formulas and symbols, to create well chemical reactions. It's a magic-like system that resembles real world chemistry, just powered by dragon's breath, and it's really fascinating...especially when the reveal happens about how the indigenous people had come up with their own effective version of the same thing.

For that's a large part of this story. Yes there's a story here about Anequs dealing with school as an oppressed minority full of colonizing students and professors amidst prejudice, and how she helps an autistic student who struggles with crowds and verbal communication and prefers communicating with writing as he deals with bullying and becomes a very good friend. And how she deals with a romance she wants to have with a young black servant girl, despite Anglish prejudices against queerness and societal ranks; and how she deals with a potential romance as well as potential friendship with a fellow indigenous boy with a dragon, the only other one at the school, who was orphaned by fighting and has been raised by the Anglish...and how that boy doesn't know anything about his culture and wishes he could be Anglish even as he knows he never will be treated as such. There's a lot of such things here, and those aspects of the story are done well, but to me they aren't the main focus or what makes this book special.

Instead what makes this book special is how much it shows how indigenous culture has already developed the answers for what problems plague colonizer society...if only colonizer society was willing to listen to them and understand what they consider as "uncivilized" was better. Issues of class and social need are not an issue for Anequs' people, nor are issues of queerness and gender - by contrast the Anglish are so obsessed with social status and gender/sex that those who fit in find themselves either having to hide their true selves and/or twisted into knots. The toxic masculinity that plagues Anglish society, where boys are raised in all boy schools to prioritize dominance instead of helping others, is not a thing in Anequs' culture, and she is shocked to see how the adults of Anglish Society are so willing to let such horrible acts - like bullying an autistic boy who is shy and introverted and won't fight back - go on because they don't know any other way and think that such things are just natural signs of being boys. And well, even the better people in Anglish Culture, the ones who are willing to teach Anequs and have her at the school, find themselves just resigned to this being natural and insisting that Anequs and her people's thinking otherwise is "uncivilized" and something to be changed, even when Anequs' people clearly show a better way if anyone would bother to look at it through neutral eyes.

Indeed, Anequs seemingly has the answers to everything, which to be honest, gets a little bit ridiculous at a point. This is even called out by another character in story, which shows that the author recognizes that, and well, the way Anequs' actions almost always work out as being better is a little beyond belief. But there are countless books about colonizer peoples having all the answers for the indigenous peoples they conquer, so honestly, it's not as much of a problem as it would be in other books for me - and it helps that Anequs and her other side characters are very good and interesting to read about. There's a likable cast here and a story that occasionally defies conventions, which keeps things interesting and less frustrating for me than it could be otherwise. Also this is only book 1 of a series, and while the conclusion to this book is a little bit unsatisfying - there's no clear climax or anything, it just kind of ends - it does lead me to believe that struggles that you'd expect will be coming in future books.

All in all, To Shape a Dragon's Breath is a fascinating novel, and I've barely touched on the characters, some of the themes, and the plot in this review. But I don't like to write too much more, so just take it from me: this book is very very good and well worth your time.

DNF @ 51%.

I love this books for its representations of neurodivergence, bisexuality, and native voices. The main character, Anequs, is both indigenous and bisexual. She is strong and independent. She is constantly scolded for not being up to Anglish standards and treated like an outsider by many of her schoolmates and teachers. But she doesn’t let that bring her down or distract her from her main goals.

This story has an amazing premise and a lot of potential due to it’s many elements that lends to its strong world-building—dragons, steampunk, commentary of racism and xenophobia, LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent representations.

Unfortunately, I DNFed this book at 51%. I took a break from the book and then never found the motivation to pick it back up. Then a month had passed and I just knew I would struggle with getting back into that world. So, I figure that it would be best to DNF.

The writing felt too clinical. It reads like an academic textbook, which is fair since this story is mostly set in a school setting. However, even the way they characters talk is like they’re reading straight from a textbook. They talk to each other in winding paragraph forms, which isn’t how people talk normal in real life setting. The writing really kept me from relating to the characters more as it was bogged down by info dumping, extensive fantastical chemistry classes, constant bigotry and racism, and uneventful day-to-day storytelling.

And for a book about dragons, there isn’t a whole lot of interacting with the dragons.

So, ultimately, this book was not for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Going into this, I was expecting something intense and action packed. Instead it set a leisurely pace, focusing on the the friendships and character development. It’s slow, but never boring. It has the perfect cozy setting of a school, and the cutest baby dragons! Despite being on the low-key side, this book still excels at covering racism and colonization in a meaningful way.

It has alternate history nineteenth century setting, accompanied by a steampunk magic system. The magic system is one the most unique I’m seen in a while, essentially magical chemistry dictated by a dragon breathing on it. The rest of the world building was incredibly thoughtful, there are several holidays and they are all explained by folklore. I really felt immersed in the culture.

I loved the added queerness- a bisexual and polyamorous main character! Another aspect that stood out was the main character has friend who is autistic coded, who almost exclusively communicates through text and uses fidgets. The main character never thinks this is weird, and doesn’t treat him any differently. The friendships and relationships in general were wonderful. The main character has a great relationship with her family, and there is some adorable romantic scenes!

Overall I had fantastic time reading this, and look forward to the rest of the series. Thank you NetGalley for the review copy.

Definitely recommend to fantasy book readers. To Shape a Dragon's Breath is the first book in a series.

I LOVED this book and I could not think of a single thing that I would change about it either – hence the 5-star rating. That is the question that I ultimately ask myself when I fall in love with a book. There’s a host of LGBTQ+ representation in the book as well as a neurodivergent character and it was al so well done. The world-building and characters in this book were top notch, it’s always a bonus when the side characters are just as engaging as the main character. The school setting & the curriculum were interesting as well, I do wish a little more history was given but I believe those will be integral pieces later on.

Anequs didn’t set out to be a badass but that’s exactly what she’s becoming – she is not content with the way things are, so she is pushing back – with class and all the tools they’ll give her. She is the sort of character that I would love to have as a friend – because when she extends her friendship, it’s like family. You could also classify this book as a coming-of-age but Anequs’ background has definitely matured her beyond the scope of her peers.

I’ll be honest – this book deserves far more spotlight than I’ve seen on social media. It was unfortunately overshadowed by the behemoth of Fourth Wing. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Fourth Wing for what it is too but if this book sounds at all appealing to you – please consider reading it. I would like to thank Del Rey, Moniquill Blackgoose & NetGalley for the opportunity to read this beautiful book. I enjoyed every minute & I’ll definitely be checking out book two. All opinions are my own.

WE NEED MORE *Traditionally published* INDIEGENOUS VOICES IN FANTASY. This was a dragon book, with a dragoneer academy, rolled into the colonial discourse akin to Babel by R.F. Kuang. All told in the style oral tradition of storytelling??????? I've never questioned the societal choices of English/Colonial powers so much. Where R.F. Kuang really shined a light on linguistic colonization (among others) Moniquill Blackgoose took a hammer to indoctrination - which makes sense considering the horrors that have been inflicted on America's Indigenous peoples. THIS WAS SO GOOD. It is honestly light fantasy because you really just have to accept the presence of dragons and a scientific study of what the dragon's breath (fire) can be used for so this is arguably very approachable for someone who doesn't read a lot of fantasy - somewhat unlike Babel that still retains a feeling of High Fantasy. The was this book is written is immaculate. Every word has a purpose and there's a beautiful use of repetition that you find in the oral tradition. The plot is....slow? But in a good way? Things happen but there is no extreme climax of events and we aren't left with a cliffhanger at the end. Instead Blackgoose leaves us with a promise of what is to come and intrigue alone is enough to have me waiting, with bated breath, for the next installment. I'm also hoping to do a re-read of this prior to the next release (please Del Ray, GIVE US A DATE) with the audiobook simply because it will enhance my knowledge of the pronunciation guide - though Blackgoose has done a great job with the guide at the beginning. On this note of language I think it's also important to note that the author chooses to spell some things differently and uses different "new" words for things that as a reader we would fully have a word and concept for in this year of 2023...and that is masterful. It forces the reader to understand that while the words are foreign to us the concepts themselves are foreign to the main character so it starts to put the reader at a similar level of discomfort and unfamiliarity as the main character. I don't think I've ever read a book that does this or at least does it so well.

While, for many, this wont be the perfect read to follow up the Fourth Wing hangover I do believe this book is underrated and under exposed. On goodreads, as of July 6th 2023 there are only 824 ratings and 349 reviews. This isn't flashy, or full of romantic spice and tension, but the dragons are well portrayed (but don't speak...), the characterization is amazing and really inclusive and diverse in unexpected ways, and the magic system has a interesting tension between the colonial and indigenous interpretations. This world that Moniquill Blackgoose is building has a lot of promise and I can't wait for more.

Honestly if you love dragon fantasy and you loved Babel by R.F. Kuang you really need to read this. If you don't mind a slower plot, and often a more literary approach to fantasy, and you too struggle with ideas of colonialism, please read this book. I love this book. I want everyone to read this book.

Another great dragon book! I’m really loving anything dragon related at the moment so this was such a good read. There is so much depth and intrigue in this book, I will definitely be picking up something else by this author in the future!