To Shape a Dragon’s Breath follows Anequs, an Indigenous girl who lives on a tiny island called Masquapaug. Anequs is content with her life. She will grow up, become the keeper of her home, and stay with the people she admires and loves on the island. This all changes when she is out on the water and sees a dragon lay an egg in an old worship space for dragons. This is the first Indigenous dragon that Masquapaug has seen in years, and the when the baby chooses Anequs as its companion, her entire life will change as she is pushed into a school of other dragon riders and keepers, all colonists who came to her land and changed it forever.

This book is incredibly enjoyable. The worldbuilding that Blackgoose uses is deftly done. I loved that the world has a mix of a magic that is linked to science. The dragon’s breath feels like it would be murky and ethereal, but it takes study and science (and I’m pretty sure organic chemistry?) to understand what’s going on. I hadn’t read a ton of fantasy that does this before and it was super fun.

Along with that, I enjoyed the world that Anequs gets to inhabit. I love that the book explored themes of different cultures and what is important to one and not the other. It is a pretty one-to-one contrast of early colonization of North America, so it was difficult to read in parts. But it is difficult to read because it is honest in the portrayal of things. The way the British saw themselves as Imperial was fact, and people who were “kind” often did it from a condescending place. It was good to see Anequs navigate the area while staying true to herself.

Anequs is such a strong character who defies any person’s belief that her people need to become more like the colonists around her. She sees nothing wrong with her way of life because there is nothing wrong with it. Throughout the novel Anequs is able to identify people’s true meaning, call them out on it, and not let them get away with it. She demands people see her as a human, which is honestly such a low bar. But it’s good to see a period-like piece come out showing how others likely acted in the face of colonization.

I will say the one small nit was we didn’t get to experience a lot of the conflict with Anequs’ brother and father. I thought that was interesting in the position of tradition v. development. It is discussed quite a bit, but it also felt like it was separate from the novel and didn’t fully let us get through the interesting discussion of one’s culture or belief system failing a person. There was a lot of (well deserved) discussion on the issue of British culture, but the one instance of the Indigenous culture not being as perfect as it can be didn’t feel like it was addressed.

With that said, this is an amazing book, everyone should pick it up.