Thank you to Sea Dragon Press, Jenni Ogden and Netgalley for sharing a advance copy of this beautiful book.

4/5 ✨

I enjoyed reading this book (with probably one of the best covers ever), although it took me a while to complete it because of the way it starts. Gaia's resilience in the story after enduring so many struggles makes me think about the wonderful sea dragons she loves, those delicate and fragile creatures surviving and thriving in hostile environment for all these years. I also love the friendship she shares with people like Jarrah, Eddie, Mary and Seamus. Initially, I was little turned off with Jarrah's fascination of Gaia from a distance at the beginning, but the love they both have for each other is truly one of a kind. This book also explores topics like racism, family drama, disability. Even though the prose isn't spectacular by any means, I really loved reading the parts where Gaia and her friends were exploring the coral reefs. It felt like I was right there, next to Gaia and Jarrah, snorkeling, getting captivated by the sight of those beautiful sea dragons and other sea life. This book also reminded me of "When the Crawdads Sing", which is one of my favorite reads. I can't wait to check out the author's other works. I also noticed a historical inaccuracy with the release of the certain movie in this book which I'm not sure whether it's there because it's an ARC.

I recently read Dancing with Dragons by Jenni Ogden and it is one I would definitely recommend!

Set in the 1970s in rural Western Australia, this coming of age story juxtaposes the mesmerizing beauty of ballet with the ethereal beauty of the sea dragons who live in the coral reef. The story begins with Gaia and her brother Bron, who are homeschooled and study the art of ballet under the tutelage of their mother, a former professional dancer, followed by experiential learning about their environment by snorkeling in the reef. Everything changes with a catastrophic fire leaves Gaia with serious burns covering much of her body, no home and an orphan. Gaia is determined to get back to her land as soon as she has recovered and is old enough to return on her own. Despite being self-conscious about her scars, Gaia eventually begins to dance again and her love of the land she grew up in continues to grow as she tries to make it on her own.

I loved watching this story unfold, and learning more about Australian culture and natural physical beauty, especially the wildlife. As a former dancer myself, I of course enjoyed the dance elements of the story, and seeing it from this particular time and place in history. I also really appreciated the way that the author slowly unpacked some of the more mysterious or unexpected background information, as it felt realistic that as Gaia grew up more pieces of the story would become known to her. As a reader you are learning along with Gaia about the secrets of the past. The author started with a disclaimer about the Indigenous peoples of Australia and their connection to the land, and I thought that was so important and relevant, but I also loved that the author included some of the negative stereotypes and racism that these Indigenous people faced and still face today.

There were many moments throughout the story that reminded me of Where the Crawdads Sing, so if you liked that one, I would definitely recommend checking this one out. Dancing with Dragons is being published in July so add this one to your TBR! Thanks to @netgalley and the author for giving me the chance to read and review this breathtaking story!

A very enjoyable book that i won’t hesitate to recommend to others. Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

The imagery in this book while describing the ocean life was breathtaking. It made me feel like I was there experiencing the wonders of the ocean with these characters. I would have liked to see more growth with the characters throughout the book. I thought some aspects of the character relationships were a bit rushed. Sometimes the sentence structure was choppy feeling, but the descriptions of the wildlife/ocean life were beautifully drawn out. Those were my favorite parts. The book had a slower beginning pace, but definitely picked up more just before the halfway mark. Overall, I really liked the setting of the book, the beautiful imagery, and the plot, but wish there was more time spent on character relationships/development.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for choosing to send me an advance copy to preview. I previewed two other Jenni Ogden novels, so the advance copy was an unexpected treat.

Dancing with Dragons has a beautiful cover and the dragons of the title are marine creatures that live in the reef in a particular to southern Australia and the particular lower part of Western Australia. The preservation of their habitat and the importance of their role in the reef forms a central theme of the novel, as does love, loss and recovery.

The novel is based in Western Australia south of Perth, and the central character is Gaia a young ballet dancer must restart her life back at her homestead after losing her parents and home in a fire. Gaia is scarred physically and emotionally but through dancing, snorkeling, friendships and her love of the environment and ballet she finds new meaning and direction to her life.

The reef and the Seadragons are all brought to life through the Ogden's vivid writing and you really do find yourself routing for Gaia in defending their habitat against the faceless businessman.

Dancing with Dragons by Jenni Ogden tells the story of Gaia, a young girl growing up on a remote farm in Western Australia in the late 1970’s. Gaia is learning ballet along with her older brother, Bron, taught by their mother who was once a principal ballerina in New York. A tragic accident leaves Gaia living on the farm alone and isolated. But Gaia finds solace in nature and the ocean and ends up fighting to keep her land out of the clutches of developers. Jenni Ogden once again weaves an incredible story of triumph through tribulation with a complicated, independent, fierce heroine. I so enjoyed getting to know and rooting for Gaia.

An emotional roller coaster of a ride through mystic oceans deep. We follow our heroine as she navigates life, tragedy, deceit, hope, and adventure. I loved the unique setting and descriptions of the story. The main character is sympathetic and endearing, and her story draws you in from the first word on the page.

Thank You, NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Dancing with Dragons by Jenni Ogden was a good read with tugged at my heartstrings at times.

There was something about it that kept me hooked.

I definitely would recommend it.

Thanks.

Beautifully written book! This book will enchant you from the first page to the last. The story is set on the coast of Australia. The writer captures the beauty of the coast and ocean with such vitality. The story begins with a tragedy but evolves to emboldening growth, bravery and forgiveness. The characters are written with such complexity. As well as the education of the coral reef and the beautiful weedy sea dragons. This a must read that comes out July 16th. Thank you to Net Galley for this advance read!

This was a really sweet story .I loved reading the descriptions of Australia, the reef and the wildlife and Jarrah is the best character I've read in a long time.

3.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy.

Gorgeous cover and a beautiful story. This relatively short book packs a lot of weight. It covers bigotry, violence, family drama, and disability…all wrapped up in a setting you can practically see, hear, smell and taste. Without becoming wordy or slowing the plot, the author has made the reef setting so vivid and lush that it becomes another main character. Despite the seriousness of the subject matter, this is a lovely story of hope and joy.

⭐4.5

'𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨''

For the first, approximately, 40% of this book I thought this was just a book with a sad start but just a nice story. Nothing special just a nice story, but, I am very pleased to say, how wrong I was.
Gaia was in a house fire when she was fourteen, which killed her parents, herself and brother, Bron, we're able to escape but Gaia suffered horrific burns. She moves back to the family land and builds a life for herself.
She befriends the Aboriginal neighbours eleven year old nephew and teaches him how to dance and snorkel to see the beautiful reef and all the sea life, including the seadragons who dance before mating.
The story covers some hard topics such as disability, racism and abandonment but is done in a beautiful way.
I will definitely be thinking about this story for a while and definitely recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Sea Dragon Press for the ARC of this book

“She could never quite decide which she loved best; swimming over the reef flats in the late afternoon light or in that perfect hour after dawn.”

Dancing with Dragons is a well written, beautiful story! The story starts off with Gaia and her family living in Australia on a farm by the sea. Gaia’s mother, a professional ballet dancer, teaches Gaia ballet. A tragic event uproots Gaia’s life.
The imagery in this book describing the ocean life was amazing. I felt like I was right there snorkeling with Gaia. A story about tragedy, friendship, and forgiveness. I highly recommend putting this book on your TBR list!
Thank you to NetGalley and Sea Dragon Press for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a beautiful story! I love both dance and marine life being part of this story as these are two things I really enjoy in my own life. I really enjoyed the characters and the friendship in this story. So beautifully written!

I loved Dancing with Dragons. This was the first book I've read by Jenni Ogden, and I will be reading more of her books. From the title I thought the book would be about fantasy and dragons, but when I saw the sea dragon on the cover I was all in. I have always had an affinity for seahorses and sea dragons. I scuba dive and snorkel and have observed many Caribbean seahorses, but never an Australian sea dragon. The descriptive prose made the shore and the sea dragons come to life for me. I loved the intersecting themes of conservation, family, personal loss, and romance. I thought the character development, especially of Gaia and Jarrah, was well done. I feel that any romance was incidental and was not a main theme. I loved the book and give it 5 stars.

I thought the imagery was gorgeous. There were some parts where I thought the story dragged a little. I also would have like more development with the female lead and love interest. Overall a good read but a little slow to progress.

Dancing with Dragons by Jenni Ogden captures the magic of the coral reefs of Australia and the emotional journey of a young woman overcoming a trauma. Gaia undergoes years of recovery and uses her training as a ballet dancer as therapy. She is able to persevere with the help of neighbors, an unlikely friendship with a young boy, and Rita Roo, a baby kangaroo.

I recommend this novel for readers who loved Where the Crawdads Sing. Gaia is alone in the world, secluded along the Australian coast, and overcomes loneliness, trauma, and many obstacles along her journey to finding who she is. It’s a beautiful novel about friendship, love, and courage.

Thank you Sea Dragon Press and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

1.5 ⭐

There are many sections of this book with colorful, beautiful imagery. The overall plot and where I could tell the author was wanting to go was charming. The scenery and the myriad critters had me reminded of The Isle Of Blue Dolphins in a lovely way.

However, the pacing was very odd. The first few chapters shoved so much plot into a small portion that it lost most, if not all, emotional impact and the rest of the book fell flat for me because I didn't find myself invested without that initial work. Also, there were many editing and grammar errors throughout, which I can typically overlook if not so glaring. I felt they took away even more when matched with the pacing and plot issues. To me, this felt like a book that was built around the scenery, with the plot floating along in a very shallow way, much like Gaia snorkeling in the shallow coral. I personally would have suggested this book go through at least another pass with an editor. Truly, the heart of the story is in the right place, the writing just held it back for me.

I thought I was alone in the way I felt slightly let down by the pacing , and the writing. The cover and the blurb sounded so promising and I just felt like it felt a bit flat for me.

Which is a shame as I really wanted to give it more stars than I did. I’ve read a few other Jenni Ogden’s books before . . But this wasn’t it for me.

It was neither a story nor a non fiction and kind of paced far too slowly for my liking

DNF @ 3%

I wanted to love this one so bad because it’s set in Australia in the 70s, about family, friends, and marine life. But, the writing style was not for me. Unfortunately, even 3% in this one missed the mark for me.

The cover is absolutely stunning so I’m giving it a 10/10.