When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill Review

Title: When Women Were Dragons

Author: Kelly Barnhill

Genre: LGBTQ+/Historical Fantasy

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Pages: 352

Release Date: 3 May 2022

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Today I’m sharing my review for Kelly Barnhill’s When Women Were Dragons—A fabulously fierce, utterly original and unapologetically feminist novel that explores centuries of female rage, due to subjugation, violence and misogyny—leading women to spontaneously transform into DRAGONS. It’s a relevant and timeless coming of age story that everyone should read, especially if you enjoy heartfelt, complex and thoroughly addictive historical fantasy.

Synopsis

Alex Green is four years old when she first sees a dragon. In her next-door neighbour's garden, in the spot where the old lady usually sits, is a huge dragon, an astonished expression on its face before it opens its wings and soars away across the rooftops.

And Alex doesn't see the little old lady after that. No one mentions her. It's as if she's never existed.

Then Alex's mother disappears, and reappears a week later, one quiet Tuesday, with no explanation whatsoever as to where she has been. But she is a ghostly shadow of her former self, and with scars across her body - wide, deep burns, as though she had been attacked by a monster who breathed fire.

Alex, growing from young girl to fiercely independent teenager, is desperate for answers, but doesn't get any.

Whether anyone likes it or not, the Mass Dragoning is coming. And nothing will be the same after that. Everything is about to change, forever.

And when it does, this, too, will be unmentionable...

Review

This was absolutely phenomenal! I was completely captivated by the lush and atmospheric prose and exquisitely detailed world building. I loved the originality in using dragons as a metaphor for women expressing themselves, freeing themselves from having to conform to limiting or stereotypical gender roles. The choice to also use them as a euphemism for anything “feminine” that makes people (mostly men) uncomfortable, was also really well crafted and perfectly captures the stigma that still surrounds certain “womens issues” in society today.

The pacing was a little slow but I felt it worked well with the atmospheric and detailed storytelling—particularly the historical accounts, newspaper clippings, diary entries and other “classified” dragon related items that are scattered throughout the narrative which added a depth and richness to the world building.

I really liked Alex, our protagonist/main POV character and loved that the plot acts as a sort of memoir to Alex who tells us her story—from her childhood, her experience of the mass dragoning and how such an event affected the lives of those left behind.

Her story, as a bright and academically inclined woman, with no plans to marry or have kids-in a time where society expected all women to exactly that-is far from easy. But, her resilience pays off despite the rampant sexism she faces, though I have to admit several scenes had me literally wanting to go full dragon whilst reading, as the injustice all the female characters faced made me really angry.

There were several other characters that I absolutely loved as well ; Marla (Alex’s aunt), Dr. Gantz (a scientist trying to research and help the women who’ve ‘dragoned’), Mrs. Gyzinska (the local librarian and a fierce supporter of Alex) and of course Beatrice, my absolute favourite-her personality and fearlessness literally bursts of the page.

I also loved the inclusion of LGBTQ+ rep with both Marla and Alex being lesbian and a mention (during a study) of trans women transforming into dragons, though I would’ve liked to have explored more of their stories alongside Marla and Alex’s.

Overall, this was a powerfully moving, feminist and wonderfully queer coming of age story that I absolutely LOVED!

Also, a huge thank you to Hot Key Books and Netgalley for the e-arc.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

About The Author

Kelly Barnhill is an author and teacher. She won the World Fantasy Award for her novella The Unlicensed Magician, a Parents Choice Gold Award for Iron Hearted Violet, the Charlotte Huck Honor for The Girl Who Drank the Moon, and has been a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award, the Andre Norton award, and the PEN/USA literary prize.

She was also a McKnight Artist's Fellowship recipient in Children's Literature. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her three children and husband.

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