To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose | Book Review

Hi, reader.

I’m not a frequent reader of young adult fiction, but I picked up and read To Shape a Dragon’s Breath recently, and I’m so glad I did. This fantasy world with steampunk elements and layered, complex characters will stay with me for a long time.

Why I read it: I think I first saw this book in a publisher email and was intrigued. I picked it up while at Moon Palace Books for my birthday and decided to get it. (The bookseller who rang up my purchases said they’d just finished it and really enjoyed it.)

Review #insixwords: Can’t stop thinking about this book.

More:

• This first line of the book description: A young Indigenous woman enters a colonizer-run dragon academy—and quickly finds herself at odds with the “approved” way of doing things—in the first book of this brilliant new fantasy series.

• The world and characters in this book are so vibrant and layered and complex that I legitimately do not know where to begin; there are so many things to love about this book that I won’t be able to capture them all here.

• Indigeneity and colonization are central to this book and series, which come with a heaping of racism, spanning from microaggressions to genocide.

• Our main character, Anequs (ahn-eh-KOOS), goes to the colonizer-run dragon academy not because she wants to leave home (she’d prefer to stay on her island) but because she realizes that with the Nampeshiwe (nahm-PESH-eh-WAY)—dragons—are gone, so too are the Nampeshiweisit (a person who’s been chosen by the dragon) and there is no one but the colonizers to teach her about dragons and how to shape their breaths.

• Shaping a dragon’s breath is not just about helping dragons when and how to use fire, but also using a dragon’s breath to transmute or change things. (There is a periodic table and chemistry-like lessons that happen at the school.)

• The people that Anequs meet expect her to conform to the Anglish (colonizer) way of living, with the assumption that she will realize that the Anglish way is so much better and more civilized.

• She makes no such realization. As Anequs befriends classmates, maids, and other characters, we learn more about what life is like on Masqaupaug (MASS-kwah-pog) island and through her interactions and beliefs, it becomes pretty obvious that the Anglish way is backward, rigid, and oppressive.

• The supporting characters in this book feel so real they could leap off the pages. The characters—who they are and how they move through life—also help show the breadth of human experience within this fantasy world.

• Blackgoose’s bio reads, “Her works often explore themes of inequality in social and political power, consent, agency, and social revolution,” and . . . nailed it. I definitely want to see where this series goes next. There’s not a cliffhanger, but it’s obvious there’s more yet to come.

• Even though the odds were often stacked against Anequs, she is resilient and determined to help her dragon—and her people—however she cacn.

• Also, DRAGONS!

Recommendation: For fans of fantasy or steampunk (I promise steampunk is part of this world, even if my review doesn’t mention it), or readers who want more dragons in their books. If you’re trying to read more books by Indigenous authors, definitely add this book to your list.

Add it to Storygraph | Buy it*

*Not an affiliate link; I make no money from your purchases. If you do feel moved to buy a book, however, I’d love if you supported Birchbark Books, an Indigenous-owned bookstore in Minneapolis, MN.

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