If there was anything the 1950s needed more of, it is definitely dragons. I loved this concept. It's an absolutely beautiful idea and the execution was fantastic. It showed the breaking down of societal boundaries as hundreds of thousands of perfect 50s housewives became big unruly creatures that society did not want. The idea of women, frustrated with their lots in life, turning into beautiful fire breathing creatures and destroying the homes, and often husbands, that kept them there was inspired.

Alex was a great character, she was perfect to show the way society kept things quiet. As a child who witnessed everything and was kept quiet and shushed when she asked questions, she was able to tell us everything that happened at the time of the dragoning and after. I also adored Beatrice. She was an absolute gem and the perfect way to show the pressure to keep dragons from being talked about.

I was also thrilled that the idea of trans dragons was mentioned. It was only a tiny bit and unfortunately there were no actual trans characters, but this book acknowledged and accepted that they would be involved in these events. I honestly expected the book to not mention them at all, so I was pleasantly surprised. I also felt there were parallels later in the book with transitioning and dragoning.

It's also worth mentioning that this book is Sapphic! The main character is gay and though the romance was only a small part of the book, it was there and it made me very happy.

I simply adored this book. The insights to how we push facts about our lives we don't want to confront into the recesses of our minds were so well done, not gently fed in, but thrown in our faces all at once, the way life does. My heart ached for Alex, as a child she was so emotionally bruised, and even as she grew up it didn't seem to get any better. So many of the men in the book, particularly the father, are so nasty, so damaging, they deserve all they get, and a lot of women are just as unfeeling. In contrast, the women who dragon, as per the title, are delicious. I'd like some more character in the dragons, I was disappointed that some of the dragonning wasn't emotional enough but overall I have to recommend. Love it and wish it was set up for a sequel but this is very much a standalone title.

Have you ever looked up at the skies on a bad day and felt envious of the birds with their freedom to just fly away?

Well, imagine you're a woman in 1950s America, oppressed on a daily basis, and you get the opportunity to 'dragon' and do just that. You don't just get to fly away beautifully and gracefully, but also powerfully.

I loved the premise of this book, and the way that 'dragoning' is a taboo subject, not to be spoken of in polite society, and how this progressed over the years with the dragons themselves fighting for their place in society.

The female representation was strong. Alex is smart, strong and caring, full of ambition in the face of as adversity. Her aunt Marla is a trail blazer. Alex's mum fights her urges to keep her family safe.

But my heart belongs to Beatrice! Born with fire and heat inside her, she knows who she is and what she wants to be and is unafraid to be herself. If I ever had a little girl, I would want her to be like Beatrice.

This book made me unimaginably angry at times, and very grateful that so many people in our history fought for the freedoms I take for granted. I liked the symbolism of the knots, and was saddened by the image of Alex's mum sat for hours trying to find the perfect knot, and felt this could have been explored more towards the end.

I really enjoyed this and now desperate to buy a copy for the incredibly beautiful cover!

Set in an alternative America in the 1950s, in a single day thousands of women transform into dragons- the event that becomes known as the Mass Dragoning - an event that the country is determined to forget.

When We Were Dragons alternates between the perspective of Alex, a child when the Dragoning takes place, and contemporary research on the dragons themselves. During the Dragoning, Alex’s aunt takes to the skys, leaving behind an infant daughter, who becomes Alex’s sister. Like the rest of the country her mother is determined to forget what happened, despite the turmoil it has throw her own family into.

When Women Were Dragons is hands down one of my favourite books of the year so far. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started, but this book completely blew me away. I am firmly of the opinion that all books would be better with dragons, and this has proven my point perfectly. The world building was exquisite. I adored the use of fantasy elements to express female rage. It is not an entirely unique concept, but the connection between rage and helplessness, and the appeal of the power of a dragon, vs ‘womanly concerns’, and the vulgarity of transforming into a beast was beautifully explored.

As a protagonist, Alex is very well rounded, fierce, affectionate, flawed, and ultimately incredibly likeable. Her journey as a young woman, uninterested in conforming to societies ideas of womanhood —in her sexuality, her career, and her attitudes to the world around her — choosing to confront the world in which she lives was heartening and powerful.

The book is beautifully written. There is a bit of repetition in places, and the dragon metaphor is perhaps a little heavy handed at times, but ultimately incredibly satisfying. The pacing is slow — this is a coming of age story more than a fantasy adventure — but this complements the story being told. This isn’t a book to speed read in an afternoon. I found myself taking my time, rereading passages and highlighting sections— something I almost never do.

This book is a profoundly feminist look at society, the dangers of suppressing information and vilifying science, sisterhood and womanhood as a whole. It made me angry, it made me cry, it made me smile but most of all it was a profoundly thought provoking book, one I will be recommending to everyone who will listen!


Huge thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Books UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Struggled to get into this, it's very well written and I love the subject matter and the mass dragoning but I'm going to come back to this at a later date and review properly.

A coming- of age story about a girl growing up in a time when women were expected to behave ‘appropriately’, in small-town America, at the height of the Cold War and McCarthy paranoia. Her family is extremely dis functional, and nobody thinks of explaining anything to children, ever.
Then one day over a hundred thousand women turn into dragons, literally.
The impact of this on Alex, the main protagonist, her family, and America is told from Alex’s point of view. There’s a good balance of pathos and humour, interesting and irritating characters, and social insight. I enjoyed the book, though it didn’t ‘wow’ me, and I found the pace a bit slow at times; it took me a while to get into it.

I will be honest and say that I expected quite a lot from this book just based on its synopsis - and it gave me all that and more.

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill follows a young girl through to adulthood as she navigates a 1950s USA much like our own but with one major change - the dragoning. A mass change of wives and sisters and daughters suddenly turning into dragons, leaving their lives behind.
It has a mix of multi-media and histories that underline the naturally of this change and I thought the world was well built and incredibly well tied to our own.

Honestly I loved every second of this book and cannot wait to read it again.
Barnhill's writing is easy and well paced, and yet the words linger when you stop reading.
I felt incredibly connected connected to the main character as a young queer woman myself, and even more so as one who has been furious in the same way. I also loved the effortless way Barnhill drew in questions of gender as well as trans-ness and queerness.

A solid five stars from me, I cannot wait to see what else Barnhill has in store.

Imagine an alternate 1950s America, where hundreds of women suddenly turn into dragons and fly away. Imagine that some 15 years later these dragons start returning and reintegrating into society, attending university, doing the shopping, the childcare ... It sounds a bit mad. And in reality it perhaps is a bit of a bonkers idea, but surprisingly, the more I read, the more I thought that the book really worked. Yes this book is about what was wrong and is still wrong with aspects of American society (and Western society more generally) but it isn't a preachy read. It also tells a story of a young girl, who by the end of the book is an old woman, and I quite simply enjoyed that story. I am grateful to NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy to read

'I had never said her name out loud before. Her name was only "Mother". What else had been taken away from her, I wondered, besides her name?'

Rating: 4🌟

I was so intrigued by the title, cover, and concept of this book - women who turn into dragons and eat their husbands? Hell yeah.

I'd recommend everyone to read Barnhills introduction before starting this book, she discusses her influences for the book and process of writing which is really interesting.

This story follows a girl called Alex from childhood to teenage hood living in the 50's when women were given little respect or independence. This book explores how unspoken trauma can affect peoples lives and the misogyny towards women in this era, and also how being LGBTQ+ was considered shameful

This story heavily lays on the misogyny that women experienced in all areas of life -particularly education and in the home- and I spent most of this book being mad 😂 Women who got frustrated with a system that suppressed them were called crazy for having their own desires and ambitions and ostracised from society. This is most visible in Alex's aunt Marla who was a pilot in the navy then a mechanic, and who turns into a dragon. In the book, whenever women turned into dragons society moved on as if they'd never existed which reflect how "difficult women" or women who were perceived to bring shame to the family or women who wanted to contribute more to society were simply erased. 'They were dangerous women, after all, who had succumbed to dangerous things.'

There were also nods to how society coddled men while raising high standards for women. Intelligent women were often told to succeed less so their male counterparts could rise up and that they should feel bad for "getting in the way" of mens pursuits and degrees. Somehow women always got the blame for male failings. It also discusses the societal expectations of women to sacrifice everything for the family while men got to pursue whatever they want.

In this story, "dragoning" is something society hides from and tries to ignore. The censorship of this event represents how media, governments and society try to suprsess issues affecting women - abuse, misogyny, the mother and baby homes scandal, protests for equality - and would prefer those issues to be ignored and swept under the rug - until they grow too big to be contained

Early in her life, Alex kisses her best friend Sonja but because of the suppression of LGBTQ+ identities, it is not until they meet again later in life that she realises she's drawn to women romantically. This story touches briefly on how it was considered shameful to be LGBTQ+ and highlights how just because history erased LGBTQ+ identities, it doesn't mean they were never there

One of my favourite scenes in this book was watching how the school system tried and failed to teach sex ed. It highlights how puberty in girls was a taboo subject and how it was skirted around through uncorrelated metaphors, leaving girls not understanding what was happening to them. Sex education system never told girls the information in a forthright manner or told them what they needed to know as womens changes were considered (and still are) embarrassing and something to be ashamed of

While theres a lot of injustice in this book, we also get to see communities of women following their dreams and breaking free, and communities accepting of everyone regardless of gender and age

The reason I only gave this book 4🌟 is because I felt like the second half of the book got a bit slow and dull for me and I didnt enjoy it as much as I had the first. I'd also have loved an explanation as to why the dragoning happened (my guess is high emotions and destiny), because at some point in the book they don't believe it was restricted to gender (unless this was a nod to transgender people).

'I claimed a life that was bigger than I was, a presence in the world that was larger than the one I was told that I could have.'

This book was truly beautiful. It elicited a wide range of fierce emotions - rage, hatred, disgust, as well as overwhelming joy and love. It takes you through a beautiful journey of a young woman's life, as she navigates growing up in a world that tries to keep her tame and quiet, where femininity is taboo. The hook with this story is the ability for woman to turn into dragons, and how this is viewed by society as so embarrassing and awful that's it's completely ignored, and any mentions of dragons is shamed. It shows how the world tries to tie women down, and the struggle for freedom through difficult life choices.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Cancer

An absolutely wonderful story about a world in which women have the ability to change into dragons, but where it is not talked about and to talk about it is forbidden.
We focus on one girl's story of how this phenomenon has affected her life, on how some women make difficult choices because they are the "right" choices and how much power women really have.
This is a fabulous piece of feminist literature that has so many metaphors and fragments of myth and legend threaded throughout, it's a joy to read.

Review When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

When Women Were Dragons is a beautiful and powerful read. Starting in Wisconsin 1955 in a world where girls and women are taught to be quiet, the dragons inside them are about to be set free and nothing will ever by the same again.

The story tells a fictionalized history of America during the 50s and beyond. Told from the point of view of Alex Green, who is initially eight-years-old when hundreds of thousands of ordinary women sprout wings, scales and talons and take to the skies in blaze of fire and fury. We learn how Alex had several burning questions left unanswered until much later in life.

Why did Alex’s aunt Marla transform when Alex’s mother didn’t? Why are the family insistent that her cousin Beatrice is now her sister? Alex never gets answers to her questions. Such things are too embarrassing and feminine and should not be discussed. Easier to pretend it didn’t happen and forget entirely but Alex won’t forget and she doesn’t want to.

Alex’s fire and desire for answers never dies and only intensifies as she grows into a fiercely independent teenager in the era of the Mass Dragoning. Society turning in on itself, a mother more protective than ever; the upsetting and confusing insistence that Marla never even existed and watching her beloved Beatrice becoming dangerously obsessed with the forbidden.

I want to start by saying that from the first page I was hooked and was incredibly surprised this was Kelly Barnhill’s first adult novel. At the very core this is about the repressed finding a voice that was always there and embracing it and how the world deals with such things. The setting is believable and fits perfectly with the time. Although it is somewhat upsetting that certain parraels can be drawn to todays society as well.

Barnhill creates a fierce and likable protagonist in Alex who we share her frustration and growing irritation with the society she is part of. As we learn more with Alex and Alex recalls her life and how it was affected by the Mass Dragoning we also have our believe in this event reinforced by Barnhill’s amazing use to mulit-media inserts. We get to see how the world deals and examines the dragons who were once women. How the media and professionals view the events and it helps reinforce a true sense of realism.

I never like to spoil books in my reviews be it ARC or already published but I will say the last 10% of the book really got me, in the best possible way. The idea of blending a pseudo -magical event that causes mass societal change and positioning and firmly putting this in an historical setting further reinforced by the mulit-media telling makes this a wonderful read. The ending is perfect in this sense, it takes a long time but finally we see the story come full cycle.

I will say that the characters are all likable, even those who try to follow ‘societal norms’ and ignore the Mass Dragoning. I also adored the sapphic relationship within but more importantly I loved that while this is a fiercely feminist tale at it’s core and heart it focuses on family, be it by blood or found, on the idea of striving for answers and keeping your true to your own self and path. I honestly adored this.

As always thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an E-ARC of this title for review.

“I am here to point you to the fact that once upon a time, humanity worshipped the Divine Feminine, and that in that time all of humanity was in thrall of her power and strength, both procreative and destructive, both fecund and barren, both joy and terror, all at once.” – Kelly Barnhill.
When Women Were Dragons is a fierce, unapologetically feminist, novel that I read (almost in it’s entirety) in one sitting. Despite knowing essentially nothing about it apart from the fact I loved the cover, the blurb was intriguing, and Dragons I am so very glad this book exists.
Set in an alternate 1950/60’s America, where on a single day in 1955, thousands upon thousands of women spontaneously transform into Dragons, it’s such a shock to the patriarchy that it’s forbidden to talk about.

Alex, our main character – bright, academically inclined and with zero plans to marry in a time when keeping house and raising babies was all women were good for - was a child when the day known as The Mass Dragoning took place and her aunt sprouted wings and took to the skies. As per the blurb, Alex is forced into silence and now must live with the consequences; a mother more protective than ever, a father growing increasingly distant, a dragon obsessed cousin she must now call sister and an aunt she must forget ever existed.

The pacing can seem a little slow in the start, but throughout it worked well, adding in to Alex’s narrative, historical accounts, newspaper articles and snippets from the wonderful Dr. Gantz’s findings from his study of Dragoning, and added depth and richness to the world building. The one thing I would love a bit more of background/information on, is the knots. I know about using knots in spell casting and magic, and as they appear throughout the story - they have history, and lore, - and I would have loved for them to be more fully explained, but I can’t say much without spoiling it.

There are other truly wonderful characters that I adored, in particular the local librarian, Mrs. Gyzinska, who was Alex’s biggest supporter and whose own story I would love to read as a companion novel.
For me, I think one of the most striking features of this novel is the relevance. We like to think we have come a long way societally (which in many regards we have) but we are still fighting the same fight. In one later scene, during a protest, a Dragoned protestor is holding a sign that reads “My Body, My Choice” and **** if that didn’t feel familiar. This book is important.
I read a quick review (I avoid anything long until I’ve read it myself) a couple of days before I started it, that said When Women Were Dragons is ‘a wonderful ode to the strength and resilience of women, who have been transforming into dragons for centuries. Women who have been put down by men, humiliated, held back, told “no”, abused, ignored. They feel the power inside then and emerge anew. For all women and female-identifying people are full of magic.’ And if that doesn’t make you want to read this, I’m not sure what will!
4.5 stars, deservedly rounded up not down.

The title of this book grabbed my attention as well as the gorgeous cover. As a lover of all things draconic and historical fiction, this book seemed to tick all of the boxes.
The story is set in an alternative 1950s America where women have to know their place. However not all women can live like that and some of those women become dragons in a process known as dragoning. This event happens fairly frequently although it is never talked about but, in 1953, there was a mass dragoning where thousands of women transformed into dragons, sometimes with fatal consequences for their husbands or employers.
I loved the feminist viewpoint in this novel and the fact that it was born out of the author’s rage at events that are still happening today. However, the novel itself felt very uneven to me with the first half being much slower and harder to read than the second. The story is interspersed with extracts from newspaper reports and Scientific journals which although interesting, do break up the flow of the narrative.
The story is narrated by Alex who like her mother, is a mathematical genius in a time when this is not a suitable career choice for a woman. The mass dragoning of 1953 had a huge impact on her life when her aunt Marla became a dragon and her baby cousin Beatrice came to live with them. I did find Alex slightly irritating at times and there was a great deal of repetition in her reactions and thoughts. The character of Beatrice was delightful and I loved the relationship between her and Alex. I also loved the librarian, Mrs Gyzinska, who quietly watched over Alex and helped her achieve her aims.
This wasn’t the story that I expected as it isn’t really about dragons at all or not until the very end. Howeve, I mostly did enjoy reading it despite the very uneven pacing.
Thank you to Net Galley and Bonnier Books UK for my advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Ok, so I will admit the title of this book really called to me when I saw it. When Women Were Dragons is a reimagining with a definite fantasy thread, the dragons kind of give it away really!

Set in the 1950s this is a brilliant book that mixes historical with fantasy. Women through the years have transformed into dragons, they are never seen, mentioned or talked about ever again. In 1955 when 1,000s of women worldwide changed were still covered up. No one is allowed to mention the word dragon or anything to do with this event.

The thing is, the women have very little control over this change, some could hold it back and others just went with it.

This is a brilliant story that is about women empowering themselves and making the choice as to how they live their own lives. This is a time when women stay home, cook meals, look after the house, raise the children and have a meal ready on the table for when their husband walks in the door. It is very much a patriarchal society and while this story is set in a small area in the US, it was something that was a worldwide thing.

The focus is on Alex, a young girl who is confused by events that are happening, not just to family and neighbours who have changed, but also the changes in her own body. As a young girl, there are expectations of her and what she is to do with her future. Alex however has other ideas, she wants to go on with her education and go to university. Others think that a piece of paper to say you are clever isn't much use when you are a mother and wife.

This story is very much about discrimination and there are times I got so angry with the attitudes of some of the characters, this is all credit to the author. I do love a story that makes me go through various emotions and this one definitely did that. Anger, euphoria, happiness, sadness and a sense of justice are just some of them. The way the author portrayed Alex and other women was just so good, the way they carried themselves with eyes down at the ground while all the time wanting to look up and to the future made it quite a powerful read.

This was a brilliant book to read, at times I admit it did get a bit far-fetched, but it still kept up the flow and feel of the story. I think at times I actually forgot some of the characters were dragons!

I adored this book and I did like the mix of fantasy with historical fiction. The concept is such a good one and it really appealed to me. This is a story about empowerment as well as a coming of age story. It does carry a powerful message and it is one I would definitely recommend.

When We Were Dragons is the wonderful feminist story of the dragooning, a process where women (and girls) transform into dragons, and I absolutely loved it, honestly I found it so empowering and delightful to read.

The main story follows Alex (not Alexandra, to be clear), a young girl who one day sees an old lady become a dragon. No one talks about, no one is allowed to report on it, but there is a phenomena where women transform into dragons, in particular the Mass Dragoning of 1955 where 300,000 women transformed, flying away and even punishing the men who hurt them in the process. But this isn’t a one time thing, it keeps happening but it’s just not talked about, the people left behind without lovers, mothers, sisters and so on, the girls feeling the urge to fly away, the girls feeling chained down … and throughout Alex’s journey, and her role as a daughter, a sister, a student and a partner, you follow her find her freedom her own way.

Just thinking about this book makes me smile, I love the message to it, I love how this book makes me feel, how clever it is, this book is a celebration of and a love letter to women. The pains and struggles of women are not glided over in this book but women are not made victims either. The writing style is easy to get your teeth into (no dragon pun), the characters likeable and good (mostly) but not perfect which makes them feel like someone you know.

My criticisms are very minor and easily resolved in that this book doesn’t cover dragons in much detail. But here’s the thing, this isn’t a book about dragons, it’s a book about women, the wildness, the liberation, the truth of women in a world that wants to tame and restrain us. So while yes, there would be more I’d love to know, and details like their life cycle, diet etc are only briefly explored by the scientist character Gantz, what i knew was enough to be wonderful because this was a book about Alex, Bea, Aunt Marla and every woman on the page and every woman it made me think about.

Thank you NetGalley for this copy in exchange for my review. With books you can be anything, the possibilities are infinite, and I am so glad Kelly Barnhill chose to make us dragons.

When I saw this on Netgalley, I thought, given my job teaching so-called 'Women's fiction', that I ought to at least give it a look. This, however, is more than that, it's a particularly ambitious 'feminist/fantasy/rage against the patriarchy' novel. You have to produce a particularly good novel to convey that without falling into parody, or worse, the pit of despair, and to do that, you have to be able to write. So, this novel was a pleasant surprise. There will be lots for students of fiction to analyse and discuss here - and I think this is possibly one of the points of this novel, the inevitability of that. Forget that there is, in places, a slowing down of the narrative to pretty much a stop (which is hard going) and concentrate on the themes here, the metaphors, the downright brass-neck, and what you have is a very good example of 21st century protest fiction, really. Definitely worth a read.

My thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Ah I absolutely loved the concept of this book and found myself enjoying bits, being a bit bored, then enjoying bits again. It has interesting parallels to history in terms of women being allowed to certain things.

My favourite parts of the book were the sisterly love between Alex and Beatrice and their desire to stick together. I also loved that Alex was a huge maths nerd throughout.

The concept is absolutely wild, like there's some weird metaphorical stuff going on I feel. The pacing is a bit strange as a fair chunk of time passes throughout the book.

Anyway, I don't think I'll ever read another book like this one!

DNF @ 20%

I have mixed feelings about this book. The final nail in the coffin for me was the book repeating the same exact description two paragraphs apart in a way that didn't feel like it was done for effect but just repetitive. That's kind of my problem with the whole book. As a novella or a short story, I would love this. I loved Aunt Marla, Alex and Beatrice and this idea of this huge known fact being repeatedly erased by those in charge. I liked the combined faux-academic texts and memoir writing. Unfortunately, already by 20%, I was bored of it. Every academic text section was telling me the same thing over and over again, and even in the memoirs there was nothing new happening. It felt a little patronising to have the same information told to me again and again, and very much like I was being told how to feel - you can only belabour a point so far. The writing itself is decent, if a little repetitive, but this ultimately couldn't drive me to keep picking it up.

Note > It hasn't affected my choice to DNF this novel, but the formatting of the eARC is very difficult to read. On kindle it has formatted in a very strange way, with the letters capitalising at random and breaks in the middle of sentences. On the Netgalley app, the font is so small I'd have given myself a migraine reading it.

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill is a story of the Mass Dragoning of 1955 in which 300,000 women transformed into dragons and changed the world. Alex Green is a young girl impacted by this Mass Dragoning where wives and mothers gained wings and talons and took to the skies, leaving behind a fiery destruction in some cases. What did this happen? Was there a choice? Why did Alex’s Aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? It is declared taboo to mention any indication of this but Alex is left alone with these consequences in a world ruled with a raging patriarchy and an ignorant male insistence.

The concept of this story was incredibly attractive. There is an analogy to be made for women “freeing” themselves from the confines of a misogynistic society that Kelly Barnhill has wrapped up in a nicely wound Dragon-looking bow. The consequences of these transformations were treated as dirty and intolerable to the point that cover-ups were being made. The sheer mention of menstruation has been silenced and the status quo feels incomparably relevant to modern day importance. Protestors are holding “My Body, My Choice” signs and it's through loss, rage and connection that this is still tightly oppressive. Kelly Barnhill has wound up a fantasy story that feels magically relevant that asserts the importance of stories like these.

The allegory of women transforming into dragons is truly a testament to the scope of women’s hardships. This coming-of-age-esque tale could have leaned into the fantastical elements more and that would have really elevated its status to the signal it was trying to send. The end felt wrapped up quickly and perhaps too nicely and honestly left me feeling like there was more that could have been offered. We spend so many pages being shown how freeing it is for females to become dragons but hardly spend any time with the lore of this choice.

This was a unique piece of art about the importance of feminism that drafted discussion around the changes that have to be made.