I really enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys socially conscious historical fantasy.
However, as she grows, she becomes more compelling as she develops her own identity and sense of her own desires. The narrative around the POV character, Alex, takes its time to develop, following her as she grows, receiving her education, and observing the impact of the Great Dragoning, both on a personal and mass scale. Structurally, it could easily have fallen flat, but it doesn’t. It’s quite humorous to occasionally read these “scientific” documents about the study of the Mass Dragoning phenomenon, while also reflecting on the symbolism of liberation and releasing of long-held rage. I love the balance between being a bit odd, yet reflecting the poignancy of the subject matter. And while some incarnations of “feminism” lack intersectionality, only considering the needs of white cis women, I appreciate how Barnhill fleshes out world building to make it truly inclusive. And the history of the battle for equality for women is baked into the narrative, from its poignant dedication to Christine Blasey Ford to the intense feelings of the women within the alt-1950s setting.
When Women Were Dragons comes into the world at an incredibly pivotal time, when reproductive rights are once again under threat. When Women Were Dragons exposes a world that wants to keep women small-their lives and their prospects-and examines what happens when they rise en masse and take up the space they deserve. In this timely and timeless speculative novel, award-winning author Kelly Barnhill boldly explores rage, memory, and the tyranny of forced limitations. It’s taboo to speak of.įorced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of this astonishing event: a mother more protective than ever an absentee father the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed and watching her beloved cousin Bea become dangerously obsessed with the forbidden.
Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex’s beloved aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn’t know. The first adult novel by the Newbery award-winning author of The Girl Who Drank the MoonĪlex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours, except for its most seminal event: the Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales, and talons left a trail of fiery destruction in their path and took to the skies.
ISBN-13: 978-0385548229 | $28.00 USD | 340 pages | Historical FantasyĪ rollicking feminist tale set in 1950s America where thousands of women have spontaneously transformed into dragons, exploding notions of a woman’s place in the world and expanding minds about accepting others for who they really are.
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