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sagali's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
tessofthetales's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
secanno's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
nicollem's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Very long and kind of repetitive. I feel like it could have been half the length and still accomplished what it wanted to.
hmodi1609's review against another edition
4.25
The book started off slow but the story is beautiful.
sverville's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bi_ka's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
porcupinesnuggles's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
3.75
I didn't really look at the plot for the book before starting, just saw the title and said "sign me up for dragons!" It was less dragon focused than I had expected, with society considering dragons to be "unmentionable." Definitely made me think and feel a lot more than I had expected when picking up a book about dragons. More about my thoughts and feelings, with potential spoilers below.
It starts out appearing that the spontaneous dragoning is driven by feminine rage, but later in book, it's revealed that it's more unique and individual to each woman. It could be rage, it could be joy, it could be just a "call" or a feeling that they are bigger and the life they want is bigger. And this path to being your authentic self is definitely a theme I can get behind.
On the downside, the path to acceptance that Alex goes on, that society (or at least much of society) goes on, seems largely restricted to women. Some of that may be the narrow focus on Alex and Beatrice, but I was disappointed that even as things shifted, the men in the book continued to be terrible humans. Dr Gantz, who shares narration through research documents throughout the book and has two conversations with Alex, is good. But the father is terrible, the high school classmates hate dragons, the college classmates mansplain and have no other appearances. It just felt lopsided, particularly as her social circle grows and her views expand, to have zero growth in that direction.
Most of the book was dealing with the complicated feelings of being fascinated by dragons, believing the stories about them and feeling betrayed by her aunt's dragoning. It made me think about a lot of current society- what we talk about and what we ignore, women's roles and levels of acceptance- and my own relationships. The happy ending felt like a very sudden acceleration into "and then everything was great". I felt thrilled for Beatrice to be the best thing ever and also rolled my eyes at how SERIOUSLY THE BEST THING EVER AND EVERYTHING IS GREAT NOW the ending was. I think I would have been happier if the ending was a little more like the earlier part of the book, feeling like an average life. Like, still have Beatrice be an activist, still have the two of them working together to better their world but stop short of virtually ending all war and winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but since how something ends weighs disproportionately on how positively/negatively we feel about that thing, feeling iffy on the ending is pulling my assessment down. I'd say 3.5 stars, maybe a little more, but not quite 4.
It starts out appearing that the spontaneous dragoning is driven by feminine rage, but later in book, it's revealed that it's more unique and individual to each woman. It could be rage, it could be joy, it could be just a "call" or a feeling that they are bigger and the life they want is bigger. And this path to being your authentic self is definitely a theme I can get behind.
On the downside, the path to acceptance that Alex goes on, that society (or at least much of society) goes on, seems largely restricted to women. Some of that may be the narrow focus on Alex and Beatrice, but I was disappointed that even as things shifted, the men in the book continued to be terrible humans. Dr Gantz, who shares narration through research documents throughout the book and has two conversations with Alex, is good. But the father is terrible, the high school classmates hate dragons, the college classmates mansplain and have no other appearances. It just felt lopsided, particularly as her social circle grows and her views expand, to have zero growth in that direction.
Most of the book was dealing with the complicated feelings of being fascinated by dragons, believing the stories about them and feeling betrayed by her aunt's dragoning. It made me think about a lot of current society- what we talk about and what we ignore, women's roles and levels of acceptance- and my own relationships. The happy ending felt like a very sudden acceleration into "and then everything was great". I felt thrilled for Beatrice to be the best thing ever and also rolled my eyes at how SERIOUSLY THE BEST THING EVER AND EVERYTHING IS GREAT NOW the ending was. I think I would have been happier if the ending was a little more like the earlier part of the book, feeling like an average life. Like, still have Beatrice be an activist, still have the two of them working together to better their world but stop short of virtually ending all war and winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but since how something ends weighs disproportionately on how positively/negatively we feel about that thing, feeling iffy on the ending is pulling my assessment down. I'd say 3.5 stars, maybe a little more, but not quite 4.
atsumeri's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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? Yes
3.5
alexiswiththefreckles's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5