#When Women were Dragons

[doubledaybooks]

"There's very little we can control in this life. All we can do is accept whatever comes, learn what we can, and hang onto what we love. And that's it. In the end, the only thing you can hope to control is yourself. In this moment. Which is both a relief and a huge responsibility." -When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

[gwen-tolios]

[tinynavajoreads]

*with the choice to veto at least once. I do tend to be a mood reader, so the choice needs to vibe to a point

[nighttimepatrons]

I NEED to draw dragons from When Women Were Dragons

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[godzilla-reads]

“I was four years old when I first met a dragon. I never told my mother. I didn’t think she’d understand.”

—When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

[themelodyofspring]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge

March 21 - Favourite Title

[saltwaterandstars]

JOMP BPC - 28th March - This Month's Favourite

I loved this so much. The whole idea of a mass dragoning in the 1950s is so compelling: hundreds of thousands of women, mostly put-upon wives and mothers, turning into huge, powerful dragons and just flying away. And then the story of how the US deals (or doesn't deal) with the aftermath of this event, and this being told alternately from the pov of a young girl and through suppressed scientific reports. So inventive and emotionally stirring.

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fantasy Books Bracket: Round 2

Book summaries below:

The Dark Artifices series (Lady Midnight, Lord of Shadows, Queen of Air and Darkness) by Cassandra Clare

It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses. Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions… Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark—who was captured by the faeries five years ago—has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind—and they need the Shadowhunters’ help to do it. But time works differently in faerie, so Mark has barely aged and doesn’t recognize his family. Can he ever truly return to them? Will the faeries really allow it? Glitz, glamours, and Shadowhunters abound in this heartrending opening to Cassandra Clare’s Dark Artifices series. Fantasy, young adult, paranormal, urban fantasy, series

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

Alex 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. 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. It’s taboo to speak of. Forced 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. In this timely and timeless speculative novel, award-winning author Kelly Barnhill boldly explores rage, memory, and the tyranny of forced limitations. 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. Fantasy, historical fiction, alternate history, 1950s

[forestbookishwitch]

“Our wings carried us beyond the realms of ordinary existence, to realms only dragons could venture.” - When Women Were Dragons

(Pictures from Pinterest)

[doubledaybooks]

“Anger is a funny thing. And it does funny things to us if we keep it inside. I encourage you to consider a question: Who benefits, my dear, when you forced yourself to not feel angry?" She tilted her head and looked at me so hard I thought she could see right into my bones. She raised her eyebrows. "Clearly not you.” -WHEN WOMEN WERE DRAGONS by Kelly Barnhill

[sapphic-book-tournament]

She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan-

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu uses the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness.

Whe Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill-

Alex 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. 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. It’s taboo to speak of.

Forced 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.

In this timely and timeless speculative novel, award-winning author Kelly Barnhill boldly explores rage, memory, and the tyranny of forced limitations. 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.

[the-final-sentence]

And now I will teach it to you.

Kelly Barnhill, from When Women Were Dragons

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote YES if you have finished the entire book.

vote NO if you have not finished the entire book.

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[xensilverquill]

"Who benefits, my dear, when you force yourself to not feel angry?"

[apencilandpen]

when women were dragons by kelly barnhill is insane. its about dragons. its about feminism. its about covid. its about believing scientists. its about mcarthyism. its about rage. its about trauma. its about gender. its about taboos. its about a culture of silence. its about propriety. its about coming of age. its about “think of the children” politics. its about magic. its about being othered and othering yourself. its about outgrowing your old self. its about abandonment. its about retribution. its about reconciliation. its about forgiveness and not forgiving. its about change. its about history. its about aging. its about who benefits when you pretend not to be angry. its about community. its about the importance of libraries. its about names. its abo-