I really enjoyed this book! I think fans of Where the Crawdads Sing would like this as well. It’s part drama part conservation awareness, but blended together perfectly. This book also incorporates relatable topics like trauma & healing, grief, found family. It’s ultimately very uplifting!

I really enjoyed this book! It was different than a lot of what I typically read, but I found the characters and the storyline compelling and vibrant.

The book Dancing with Dragons blends marine science and dance in a beautiful way. Set in Australia (somewhere I have never been) I was immersed in the descriptions of the family life of our main character, and her love of ballet but also of the reef that she has grown up with. Her loss and heartbreak caused by a traumatic event (spoilers) are told in such a way that the reader is both given context to move forward with the plot while still leaving room for more clues to be discovered throughout the rest of the story.

Dancing With Dragons by Jenni Ogden was kind of a lovely book and it is tough to identify the theme. One is protecting the earth, or at least one small part of it. Another is resilience, the resilience of a young woman partially disfigured by fire who refused further medical care, preferring to live in her small world in Western Australia where people didn’t stare. Another is a small aboriginal boy who falls in love when he sees a fairy dancing on the beach and she changes his life. Gaia had to jump out of the second story window when the fire reached her brother’s room. She had seen it start and she ran to warn him. He jumped, too, but was burned less and had made a wider jump so had not broken bones. He left Australia without ever seeing her. He felt guilty, wrongly. She was sent to a children’s home where she lived for several years as her parents had died in the fire. Then, she went home. The house was gone, but the barn was still there, with the mirrors and ballet barre her mother had installed. She had wanted them both to be dancers like she had been. Gaia covered the mirror and cleaned the barn, weeded what was left of the garden and started a life. She had friends: Mary and Eddie, a Abo couple who took care of Dave’s place. He was the neighbor who spent a lot of time drunk. It hadn’t been that way before the fire. His wife left. She’s tired of the drink.

Mary and Eddie had a great-nephew called Jarrah, who was an orphan but came to visit them on school holidays. What great characters all four of these folks turned out to be. Ogden did them justice. Jarrah watched her dance and they became friends. She showed him the weedy sea dragons after she’d taught him how to snorkel. They both vowed to keep them safe and kept that vow for their lives. Life changed for both of them. Jarrah grew older, which is a big deal for an eleven year old; Gaia did also. She lived in town for a while, taught at Jarrah’s school. Things happened for her, but eventually she came home. Eventually he did, too. What a good book. Intricate plot. Excellent characters. Wonderful descriptions of the water and life in general, in a place I’ll never see. Thanks Jenni Ogden!

I was invited to read Dancing With Dragons by Sea Dragon Press. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #SeaDragonPress #JenniOgden #DancingWithDragons

I received an eARC of this book… thank you to the author, Jenni Ogden, Netgalley and Sea Dragon Press for the advance review copy.

Dancing with Dragons is a story about living the life you want to experience even when you know many things will be thrown your way. Whether dealing with environmental based or human based experiences, there is always something to discover. There is always something that can be go and what matters is how you handled it.

We follow the FMC Gaia through the struggles of life and although sometimes it felt a little too slow paced. I definitely enjoyed. I love books that bring environmental aspects we are dealing with now to the surface. It’s documentation for later generations that we knew things weren’t going well.

A new author to me, [author:Jenni Ogden|227694] brings Australia and its wildlife in an extraordinary way. With good character development and plot, a very good read. Gaia is unforgettable, surviving her childhood burns, loss of her parents and brother, and her wonderful friendship with Jarrah. Recommended.

Stunning!

Starkly beautiful story set on the Western Australian coastline, four hours drive north of Perth.
It’s 1977 and Gaia and her brother Bron are having dance lessons with their mother in the studio.
Gaia’s mother Margot had been a famous ballet dancer with the American Ballet Theatre company in New York. She’d married an Australian and they’d settled back here at Goshawk Gardens.
Gaia and Bron had been trained by their mother in dance from a young age. Their mother’s long term vision was that eventually Gaia and Bron would go back to the States to take up dancing careers.
Theirs was an idyllic life spent off grid, on a pristine bay, growing enough food for themselves and to sell. Their nearest neighbours were on an adjoining plot of land.
Gaia had been out snorkelling when she’d spotted two sea dragons involved in their courtship dance. It was stunning. Gaia was overcome by the beauty of it.
That all faded when tragedy struck, Gaia was badly burned, her parents dead and her brother Bron disappeared
Then came the hard part. At sixteen Gaia returns from Perth to survive on their land, living in the old barn.
Her journey will encompass struggling to be with people, fighting to save the reef from developers, and fighting to save herself.
Ogden has crafted a beautiful novel, poetic in voice, and anguished in the injustices.
I adore the cover, bright yet serene, almost mystical.

A Sea Dragon Press ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

I stopped to read the synopsis of this book because the cover was so alluring! Then, I stayed for the story if friendship and what creates devotion. I am also enamored by the Australian landscape, waterways and people! I was moved, touched and utterly motivated to be a better human, I am so happy I read “Dancing with Dragons” by Jenni Ogden. I loved the beauty it moved in me:
Thank you #NetGalley #JennyOgden #SeaDragonPress for allowing me to read an advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

EXCERPT: His throat pulsing so hard he could hardly breathe through his snorkel, he led Gaia through the glowing sea, past the big brain coral, around the hard coral bommie where the pink and blue and green parrot fish chomped noisily at the algae stuck to it, past the clumps of orange anemones where the clown fish darted out, trying to frighten him off, over the heart-shaped white sandy oasis decorated by a single blue starfish, just like the very first one he'd seen before he could even float, and over a garden of seagrass. A turtle swam past and Jarrah didn't veer from his path. In two seconds more he saw the patch of browny-red seaweeds waving him over. Please let them still be there.
His eyes aching with looking he saw the bright yellow circle first, vibrating like a live thing, the sea-dragon's haughty head with its long nose sticking out of it. He twisted his head back towards Gaia, his hand fluttering the sign to stop in the water, then his finger pointing down. She was beside him, hanging in the dapples where the sun kissed the sea, her hair floating against his cheek, her hand finding his and gripping it so hard it made him want to cry and laugh and sing. And then there were two, circling and bowing and dancing together, their seaweedy fronds weaving intime to the music that was playing in his head.

ABOUT 'DANCING WITH DRAGONS': It is the late 1970s and teenagers Gaia and her brother Bron live with their parents on their isolated property on Western Australia’s Coral Coast. Intensively trained for a career as a professional ballet dancer by her mother, once a Principal Dancer in the American Ballet Theatre, Gaia also loves snorkeling over the coral reef that borders their small market garden. Then comes a day that changes her life forever: she discovers a rare pair of dramatically colored seadragons, their courtship dance over the coral spellbinding, and that night she loses her entire family and her dancing dream. Two years later she returns to the abandoned property, determined to live off the land. For years her only friends are the wild animals of the bush and reef, and Mary and Eddie, an Aboriginal couple who work for the racist farmer on the neighboring property — until one morning Jarrah, Mary’s 11-year-old orphaned nephew, is entranced when he sees Gaia dancing on the beach. As an unlikely friendship between these two lonely and scarred people deepens, they discover that when you lose everything the only way to survive is to open your heart.

MY THOUGHTS: Beautiful, lyrical and evocative writing with a heartfelt ecological message.

Set in the late 1970s, Dancing with Dragons extols the healing power of both friendship and nature in conjunction with a story of overcoming personal tragedy and fighting a big development corporation to save an ecological treasure. There is an astounding emotional depth to Ogden's writing that kept me enthralled and entranced.

Gaia's journey from a traumatised teenager through to confident young woman who gives back to society is not an easy one, but her determination to help a young aboriginal boy with a physical deformity achieve his full potential and his love for her is a saving grace for both of them.

This is not the first book I have read set on Western Australia's beautiful Coral Coast, but it is the one that has given me the best sense and descriptions of the area and the amazing marine and wildlife. Before reading Dancing with Dragons, I had never heard of seadragons. After watching videos of them, I want to see them in their natural habitat and am now more determined than ever to spend some time in this area.

Ogden vividly and lyrically described the natural beauty and the ecological dangers it faces. She writes of Gaia's traumas with a raw brutality that is tempered by the beauty of dance, the setting and the friends Gaia makes along the way.

Dancing with Dragons is a rewarding story of grief, friendship, resilience and hope.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

#DancingwithDragonsJenniOgden #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Reading and writing fiction is my passion, along with walking, swimming, reading and sleeping on beaches. Husband John and I live off-grid on spectacular Great Barrier Island, 100 kms off the coast of New Zealand, a perfect place to write, and we often spend time in Australia, preferably close to a coral reef.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Sea Dragon Press via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Dancing with Dragons by Jenni Ogden for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

This coming of age story about a young girl, Gaia, is also a desperate call to conserve our planet. Dancing With Dragons also explores several other themes and poses a host of difficult choices for young Gaia, which add to the tension. I found myself being pulled in different directions – as is she.
Central to the conservation story are the magical seadragons—colourful, shy, rare coral reef inhabitants.
Gaia and her family live a secluded life on the coast of Western Australia in an area untouched by development or pollution. A pair of seadragons live in the seaweed of the coral reef, right on their doorstep. This is Gaia’s and her brother Bron’s happy place – until tragedy strikes.
A couple of years later, Gaia is drawn back to this place of her birth. Living a lonely life, with only an older aboriginal couple and their young nephew as friends, Gaia immerses herself in her garden, the coral reef and ballet, a legacy of her famous ballerina mother. She lives in tune with her environment. When it is threatened, Gaia is determined to protect it.
This is a quick, interesting read. I hadn’t heard about seadragons, and found them fascinating; so much so that I googled these magical creatures to watch their dances. I was also drawn into Gaia’s story. Young Gaia has a wonderful sense of what is right. She uses her talents – gardening and dancing – to help others, and better their lives. She’s then faced with the chance for external self-improvement, fame and fortune – which way will she go? Will she choose to protect her little piece of paradise, or realise her mother’s dream of dancing on the world’s stages? Will she turn down her first chance at love? Will she carry on helping others, or focus on herself?
All in all, I found this quite an emotional read.

I LOVED this book. I felt that Gaia was a strong female main character. Conservation and the environment are so important to me and I also loved Gaia's coming of age story. She was such a likeable character. I am a little torn about the ending being so open, but that is real life. Bravo!

Reviewed on Instagram and Goodreads also.

Arc Reader. With thanks to the author, sea dragon press and net galley for the opportunity to read this novel.

We start in the 1970’s, on the coast of Western Australia, where we meet our main character Gaia, a teenage girl living off grid with her parents and older brother Oberon. She spends most of her days training as a ballet dancer with her ex professional dancer mother Margot and enjoying the beaches and ocean life and all that it and the land offers with her brother and father. Within a few chapters her family is struck with tragedy, and she is left alone to fend for herself. This story covers a range of topics such as: environmental protection, trauma, healing, friendship, love and many more.

Whilst the characters are all quite likeable and some of the written description of place is beautiful, the writing is inconsistent and at times disconnected.

The structure of the book is written in two parts with the first half of the book, despite the tragedy that unfolds, tending to read in a very warm and inviting way. Gaia is learning to live for herself and survive after the loss her family, the idyllic days of swimming, dancing and living within her own bubble. She learns to place her trust in others, her newfound friend in eleven-year-old Jarrah and neighbours Mary and Eddie. It serves as an enjoyable preamble to what might happen later in the book, and whilst you do start thinking about where this story might lead, you enjoy the comfort that the first half provides.

The second half is where the pacing and plot are odd, we are thrown with what feels like a 1000 different plot points, most unbelievable, especially in how everything seems to continually fall into place for our main character Gaia. The contrast provided with the character of the neighbour ‘Mason’ to the otherwise happy and meandering existence of Gaia and her friends feels poorly written. Whilst his part in the book is important as a general thread, it needed more careful weaving.

Pros:
- At times, the environment of the ‘gardens’ are so beautifully written and described that you have a very strong sense of place.
Cons:
- Sense of time – despite being set in the 70’s-80’s there is no real sense of time provided in the novel other than the use of a tape player.

- Threads and topics within the story feel forgotten and are not fleshed out, when dealing with such heavy themes as trauma and sexual abuse, this lacks rawness and depth as we just slide over the important topics, including Gaia’s own journey to ‘find herself’. It feels as though themes that are meant to be major components of this story are treated as incidental moments and not with the care and detail required. E.g. Gaia’s finding out about what happened in the fire, Gaia’s decision to not get surgery.

- The writing is overly detailed in some areas and overly simplified in others, whilst it was easy enough to read, it did feel like there were multiple people writing this novel.

- The use of language to depict Mary and Eddie create caricatures of indigenous Australians, this could have been handled more sensitively. With questions at the end of the novel to consider and discuss at book clubs regarding our first nations people, a question I would be asking at my own, would be about how the author has tended to these characters.

- The epilogue seemed to be an interesting place to finish, with again, carefully detailed writing but leaves the reader wanting. After haphazardly trapsing through this coming of age of Gaia, it would have been more appropriate to give a definitive finish to the novel and the connection between her and Jarrah.

Overall, it’s a nice little story that has gotten lost in clunky writing and poor structure. Whilst listed as general fiction (adult) and literary fiction, this book reads much more like a YA novel where serious topics are glossed over and iterated in much more simple ways.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sea Dragon Press and the author for an e-ARC for my honest review.

Gaia and her brother, Bron, lives off the grid with their parents on the Coral Coast of Western Australia. They spend their days helping out in their father’s garden, dancing ballet in the barn with their mother and snorkeling together over the reef - watching the sea dragons dance.

On the very first day we meet 14 year old Gaia, she loses her parents in a horrible house fire and she spends months in recovery while her brother takes off, thinking he’s the reason for the fire. Gaia ends up with massive scarrings, gives up on her dancing career and just want to be on her own where no one can see her. When she turns 16, she goes back to her family’s property and starts a new beginning far away from other people. Her only friends are her neighbors, a lovely Aboriginal couple, and the cute animals around her. One day the neighbor’s nephew, Jarrah, comes to visit and that turns out to be life changing for both of them 🤍

Dancing with Dragons is a slow-paced coming of age about a young girl who loses everything, fights to survive and finds the courage to trust, love and live again. It touches upon found family and how this love and friendship can change your life completely. It follows the journey of a young girl turning into a young woman who finds herself, stands up for herself and her beliefs and sees herself in another perspective.

The book is also about family secrets, dancing, first love, forgiveness, acceptance, hope, racism, joy and fear, but mostly it’s about friendship and love 🤍 There’s a few episodes that might trigger some individuals and it could be an idea to put in trigger warnings at the very beginning.

The book is a tribute to our reefs and wildlife and a main part of it centers around marine conservation which has never been more important than now 🌱

I will be honest. This book didn’t even come close to what I pictured it would be about from when I read the blurb, but I really enjoyed it 😊 I especially liked how it let me be a part of Gaia’s thoughts and feelings on her journey towards finding her place in the world, and how her beautiful friendship with Jarrah unfolded 🫶🏼

I think it will be great for book clubs due to the many themes, different personas and the story itself.

I will definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories about living off the grid, marine and wildlife conservation and coming of age 🤍

Thank you NetGalley and Sea Dragon Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love the cover of Dancing with Dragons and was excited to read a book set in the Australian Coral Reef. That is a unique setting in comparison to other books I have read.

Unfortunately, I could not get through this book. The descriptions of the nature in the Australian Coral Reef were beautiful but the plot seemed lacking. I think the dialogue intentionally had some slang and I could get through those parts. The poor writing structure was difficult for me to digest. I couldn’t find the plot or point of what I was reading.

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.