When Women Were Dragons- Kelly Barnhill

This was a beautiful book, just not in the way I was expecting.

When I opened a package with When Women Were Dragons, I felt my eyes grow wide as I was dazzled by the cover. Then I saw that the author was Kelly Barnhill, who wrote a delightful magical children’s nov l The Girl Who Drank the Moon. I immediately assumed this book would be classified as magical realism but this ended up feeling like a feminist non-fiction with dragons.

Barnhill writes beautifully. Her writing is insightful and relevant to today’s world. Oh so relevant. When Women Were Dragons tells the story of a world that silences what they can’t understand. As a woman, a POC, and a woman with mental illness, I connected to the shame we are made to feel for simply being ourselves. I believe most people will see a part of themselves reflected in these pages in their own way. That’s the beauty of this story.

While I enjoyed this book, I do think that this was a little drawn out and could have been told in half the time. It was a struggle to get through some dull parts. This, however, doesn’t take away from this story’s relevance. A reflection of our real world, there is deep trauma, hatred, close-mindedness but there is also camaraderie and a sisterhood. When Women Were Dragons gives voice to a myriad of tragedies our society, unfortunately, would rather forget. Barnhill highlights the importance in not forgetting. I would call this an empowering read.

When Women Were Dragons explores what would be possible if we gave ourselves permission to stop being small. To look up at the sky and know that even that isn’t the limit.