This isn't the usual book I would read - but the title and synopsis sounded intriguing so I decided to give it a go and I'm so glad I did.
It's a really important insight into oppression and misogyny in the 50's and follows the main character Alex as she tries to find her own path whilst everything is against her - including losing her aunt to dragoning and having to become a parent very early on in life. But it also shows how she succeeds and how the times change throughout time as it does in the real world too.
It was an interesting and beautiful book about feminism in a way you've never seen it written about before!

Wisconsin, 1955. Alex is a curious child and aged 4 sees a dragon. But these things are not to be spoken about. She spends her childhood looking down, ignoring what was going on. But grows up to be fiercely determined to learn everything she can, about everything.

I loved the premise of this book, about women changing into dragons & feeling a fierce joy and wonder. It’s set in an era when men were the dominant sex and girls were just waiting to grow up to find a husband. This seems strange now when women can do anything they put their mind to. This is about feminism taking root and growing, but this book, in the telling, it feels as though it lets itself down slightly. I felt that the story lost itself, and this reader, in the middle. I loved the beginning and the end, but felt frustrated with the middle. At times it felt a bit pointless. I would have loved to hear more about the dragons lived. However, it had enough that I needed to read it to the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Such a profound and beautiful look at what it is to be a woman and exist in a world that doesn't cater to women.
Although a bit slow at times, the writing is so impactful and pushes you into a tale of motherhood, resilience and found family.
The cycle of being a child to becoming a mother is explored so thoughtfully and was a pleasure to experience.
I loved reading this book (and would probably enjoy a print copy of it even more due to its length 😅) and overall gave it 4/5 stars.
Thank you for allowing me to read this work of art.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this. It was wonderfully feminist and brimming with fury, the story of an alternative America, where, in 1955, thousands of women spontaneously turned into dragons. The story is told from the point of view of a young girl, Alex, as she grows up in the wake of the so-called mass dragoning.

The story discusses the attempts of men to cover it up, the embarrassment of the women left behind at the behaviour of the other women, the struggle to reconcile the two worlds. Alex is at the centre of this, forced to raise her cousin, Beatrice, following mother’s death and her aunt’s dragoning, and live in a world with fixed ideas of womanhood that she doesn’t fit.

It’s also about Alex’s attempts to come to terms with her grief, and her own position in the world. A world in which she is told she should marry a man, and be a housewife, not go to college to study mathematics.

The book is wonderfully queer and inclusive. Alex is a lesbian, as is her aunt and there are a scattering of references throughout the book to transwomen spontaneously dragoning, proving that it isn’t caused by biology but just simply being a woman.

A striking flame of feminist power is lit when you open this richly woven story. When Women Were Dragons pulls you into a deeply magical and stunning story you can lose yourself inside.
This is beautifully written, deftly crafted and a stunning all round read.

Alex has been cared for by her Aunt, Marla, since her mother got sick. She has loved her while her father remained disinterested. Marla is Alex’s touchstone, the ground her world is build on. When Alex’s mother comes home, Marla’s role changes, no longer mother but more than aunt. The two adult sisters bristle off each other as they adjusted to each other’s presence and boundaries, the personal history between them. All of the women are restless, seeking something more. Suddenly it happens, the mass dragoning and Marla is gone and Alex’s cousin, Beatrice, is now her sister. When her own mother dies, Alex has no choice but to reckon with herself and with Beatrice ever closer to turning, she has less time than she thinks to make her choice.

Set in the America of the 1950’s, “When Women Were Dragons” is an insightful look at how limiting the options of women can have long lasting consequences. Barnhill has captured the toxic masculinity of the era perfectly, as well as how stifling the lives women had were. It also offers a clever examination into the bonds between women, be they family, platonic or lovers and how dangerous women with any power were viewed to be (and still are viewed to be).

Definitely a solid read for the younger side of Y.A., fourteen year old me would have loved this book. My only bugbear with it, is that at times I found when the voice moved from Alex’s I didn’t enjoy it as much. I found them to be a touch stuffy over insightful.

For me, a solid 3/5. I enjoyed it and would happily recommend it to the younger side of Y.A. It tackles a lot of harder topics with a deft and graceful hand.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars rounded to 4

This was a really interesting historical re-imagining with well thought-out fantasy/sci-fi elements, and it deals with the issues of misogyny, sexism and oppression that women faced in the 1950s (and let's face it, it's still very relevant today) but with the added inclusion of DRAGONS!

This is a great piece of feminist fiction and was quite out of my comfort zone in terms of what I've recently been reading, but I'm really glad I gave it a go. The pacing was at times a little slow for me, and I guess I expected more drama and adventure when I heard dragons were involved, but overall it was an engaging read and I'd recommend to anyone: interested in the time period, wanting some LGBTQ+ rep or in the mood for some feminist literature.

I thought this book had a really interesting concept, it was well written with a goody storyline and relatable, likeable and well developed charcaters. The pacing was good and the storyline was engaging and kept my attention the whole way through. I f I had one criticism, and it would be very small is that a large portion of the book didn't have the dragons in it, and I had come to love them and wanted more of them, however, this didnt stop me enjoyiung the book.

As a fan of Barnhill's middle grade books, I had incredibly high hopes for her YA debut but unfortunately, at least for me, this fell short. I was completely invested in the idea until the dragon's abruptly left and didn't return for several years. After this the story went into Limbo until much later, the dragons returned. This was such a good idea and I adore the 'dragoning' concept - I particularly loved the inclusion of ALL women(including non-binary too!), I only feel that this may have been better told as a short story rather than a full length novel.