Reviews

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

emilyfedewa's review against another edition

4.0

this was a truly beautiful book. such a heartfelt and emotional exploration of womanhood: the righteous anger, the tender care, the thirst for knowledge, and the love and connections between other women. I think Alex was a fantastic protagonist. I loved her voice and she had such an interesting mind that I loved being inside of!

Beatrice's dragoning made me all teary eyed lol it was such a a beautiful culmination of everything that she was.

I did have a few qualms about some things tho.

like when the dragons returned for the first time, they all immediately took on caretaker or manual labor roles that were kinda traditional for women at the time and I was like,..,., wasn't the whole point to break away from that?? idk it got resolved sorta near the end but that confuses me for a while. also, I don't think the thing with Alex's mom's knots was ever resolved. I originally thought the knots were to keep her and her kids from dragoning and that's why she had all the mathematical equations and theories and stuff. but I'm not sure if that was actually the case? idk I'd like to think I was right lmao but I'm not sure.

overall this was a great read and one I'll be thinking about for a long time! (also loved that it was set in Wisconsin lol cheesehead girlies rise up)

sidrar's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

shiverowl's review against another edition

hopeful reflective

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

oscarwildein's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was so uniquely told and so uniquely wonderful. I loved the way it was told in a narrative nonfiction style, like a memoir with different articles or quotes or facts spliced in between this powerful coming of age story. I loved how the character came Into herself and how she shed the indoctrination of society to grow into herself, and to realize it's okay that somethings are bigger than her, and to realize she can do things that still make impact on the state of the world. I appreciate that she wasn't necessarily a reliable narrator all of the time, but that further Ingrained in the reader how much people suppressed their emotions back 

I love the themes and the exploration of womanhood and how so much of it is deemed inappropriate. While some of the themes aren't conveyed subtly, it makes sense to me that they wouldn't be. That someone who grew up in the 50s wouldn't want to convey her ideals subtly. It makes sense for Alex's character to want to shout her realizations as loud as possible so everyone can hear and listen to what she's saying. 

I loved the relationships and the characters in this book. This story felt so close and personal, while also being so all-encompassing of the world around them. The characters were written so well, capturing the voices of children, teens, and adults so accurately and so seamlessly, from depicting the world from a child's understanding, all the way to an old woman's point of view it just felt so natural. 

I loved the writing and how beautiful and enchanting it was. Everything was described so vividly, so beautifully, I could see everything, and it all felt so real. 

I also adored how the author explored the world and how all the history fit into this universe, how it all fit in with the narrative so seamlessly, it almost felt like I could go outside and see a dragon fly past me. It was ao interesting how Barnhill worked this alternate history into real history and how she made reading about this history so engaging. 

I just truly loved everything about this book. I feel like it fundamentally changed me as a person, and I know it will live in my head rent-free for as long as i am breathing. I never wanted to put this book down, and It feels criminal how little this book is talked about, I hope that more people will pick this book up and see what I see in it, a story that's full of love and loss and relationships and beautiful dragons who are sometimes very gay. 

matism's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

1.25

I and high hopes for this one. There was so much buildup throughout the entire book just for it to lead nowhere. So much repetition, so many random and inexplicable changes in character dynamics, little to no explanation or reasoning, and lots of random story times / anecdotes. However, this would have been a phenomenal movie. I liked the idea of the plot but the execution was simply not there. 

juliabittorf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

abriggs07's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

juliaehill's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This book will stick with me for awhile. Alex Green slogs through her childhood in spite of abandonment after abandonment, and her sharp sense of morality proves her wise beyond her years. Fantastic commentary on how fear of the unknown drives discrimination, with the author drawing parallels between McCarthyism and investigations into women becoming dragons. Almost a 5-star read, but the ending felt like a bit of a diversion from the main story.

fae269's review against another edition

inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

rainmisoa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

This is such an incredible book. I am in awe of how well written, thoughtful, infuriating, and inclusive this book is. I have no complaints about this book. Even when the main character, Alex, is being annoyingly obtuse, you can understand why she is being that way. You can sympathize with many of the characters and what they are going through. There will be moments that are absolutely infuriating, especially if you are a femme-presenting person. I love that this book is for women. Queer women, transwomen, masc-women, ALL women. It's such an unjust world we live in and so seeing this book tackle and call out the abuse all women experience is just fantastically done. This books makes me angry because I see how the world could be so much better if only those with all the power and money would allow it. I think every single person should read this boo. Everyone! It's such an important book. Highly recommend.