About the Book
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Author:
- Moniquill Blackgoose
Cover Story: Our Dragons Are Different
BFF Charm: Heck Yes
Talky Talk: Worldbuilding Support
Bonus Factors: Diversity, Magic Systems, Dragons
Anti-Bonus Factor: Bigotry
Relationship Status: Bonded
Cover Story: Our Dragons Are Different
I heard from an artist once that the great thing about dragons is no one can tell you what they should look like. The creature staring at you on this cover doesn’t look like the European or Chinese idea of a dragon. It doesn’t need to. Like this story, it’s fierce and beautiful and unapologetically itself.
The Deal:
When fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragon egg and the hatchling chooses her as a companion, her people, the Masquisit, are both proud and concerned. Dragons were once revered by the community, but since the Anglish settlers hunted them (dragons and people) nearly to extinction, no one in Anequs’ hometown can teach her how to take care of the fire-breathing baby. Her only option is to enroll in Kuiper’s Academy of Natural Philosophy, a dragon training school in the city, run by Anglish upper-class bigots who are determined to “civilize” her. If she doesn’t conform to their rules, her dragon could be killed. How much of herself is she willing to give up?
BFF Charm: Heck Yes
Anequs may be the most mature fifteen-year-old I’ve ever read about. No wonder, since she’s already an adult by Masquisit custom. She knows exactly who she is and what she wants out of life, and she’s going to need every bit of that confidence as Anglish society tries to undermine her. She also has the warmth and open-mindedness to make friends wherever she goes; growing up in a society where survival depends on sharing resources, class differences mean nothing to her.
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Anequs falls in love with two people at once: Liberty, a Black laundry maid and seamstress, and Theod Knecht, the only other Indigenous student at the Academy. In Masquisit culture, queer and poly relationships are accepted, so Anequs is upfront about her intentions to court them both. Liberty is afraid to lose her job, and Theod has his own issues about his identity, so for now, they’re keeping things platonic … but when Liberty measures Anequs for a ball gown and Theod dances with her at the same ball, the chemistry is undeniable.
Talky Talk: Worldbuilding Support
The language in this book makes perfect sense as it relates to the worldbuilding. When history is called “erelore”, geometry “anglereckoning” and energy “tatkraft”, you know without being told that Northern Europe, rather than Greece and Rome, is considered the birthplace of science. To Anequs, it all sounds equally foreign; the professors’ infodumps and her roommate’s lectures on etiquette contrast sharply against her straightforward narrative style. There are also folktales told between the chapters, showing Anequs’ respect for the traditions of others as well as informing us about their different worldviews.
Bonus Factor: Diversity
Anequs and Theod are both Indigenous, but with very different perspectives on what that means. Liberty’s family escaped slavery in Berri Vaskos (South America). Anequs’ older brother’s colleagues include a Kindah (Arab) woman engineer. Anequs’ classmate Sander is neurodivergent-coded. One of their professors uses a steampunk-style mobility aid, a chair that walks instead of rolling on wheels. Race, class, gender, sexuality and ability make a tangled web in this story, just as they do in real life.
Bonus Factor: Magic Systems
This book has a hard magic system. Dragon breath creates chemical reactions that can be controlled by drawing certain patterns. The Masquisit express this differently – “The shapeless medicine of a dragon’s breath is change” – but they mean the same thing, and Anequs understands that her own people’s way of learning is every bit as valid as her teachers’.
Bonus Factor: Dragons
Anequs’ dragon, Kasaqua, is as adorable as she is dangerous. They share an empathic bond from the moment she hatches. This can be a problem when one of them gets angry or scared, but it also lets them soothe and share each other’s joy.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Bigotry
For every kind of person I mentioned under “Diversity,” there are others trying to control, banish or kill them. I found Anequs’ relationship with Frau Kuiper, the headmistress, especially painful. As the first female dragoneer in living memory, Kuiper should, and sometimes does, support and protect her student … only to turn around and remind Anequs how grateful she should be to “escape” her “savage” background.
Relationship Status: Bonded
Book, I knew you were special from the moment you hatched. I can’t wait for the sequel, so I can see you fly.
Literary Matchmaking
Try Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing if you want to spend more time at dragon school.
Try Angeline Boulley’s Firekeeper’s Daughter if you want to read about an Indigenous heroine in a more contemporary setting.
Try Patricia Clark Smith’s Weetamo to learn more about the Wampanoag Tribe, of which author Moniquill Blackgoose is a member.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received no compensation for this review. To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is available now.
