Emily M’s Reviews > To Shape a Dragon's Breath > Status Update

OMG, Sander's mother is such an ableist bitch she doesn't even realize that berating him into a shutdown in front of his school friend and sister makes her look MUCH worse than just...allowing him the quirks that these other people obviously know about and don't mind! Thank goodness sister made mom go take a nap, LOL.

"Father. You don't understand...I have to go back to the school because at the school there are something like a hundred other dragons, including dragons that are trained fighters. If I'm here, everyone is in danger...I'd rather they came and found me at school and had to fight Frau Kuiper"

“‘It was a war, and the Nasquisit lost it. That doesn’t mean they were wrong to fight. It doesn’t make them murderers any more than the Anglish…’ ‘That’s not what happened,’ Theod said, shaking his head. ‘That’s not what I was told -‘. ‘Who told you, Theod? What do they think of you, and what do they want you to think of yourself?’”

"When the story was done, Father said how proud he was that we had a Nampeshiweisit in the family who was slyly tricking knowledge out of the Anglish. I hadn't really thought of it that way until he said it, but he wasn't wrong. I had become like Crow, venturing to dangerous and unknown lands to bring fire back to my people. I wondered, as we sat together in one another's company, what we were going to burn with it."

“‘Do your people put much faith in such stories?’ Frau Molgaard asked me. ‘Do your put much faith in the story of Enki stealing the secret of writing from Joden…?’ Frau Molgaard looked a bit startled, but recovered quickly… ‘I suppose I see your point; that which is lost to the depths of time can only be a matter of faith, I suppose.’”

“Sander thrust the notebook in her direction…Whatever she was reading made her expression soften … ‘Oh, Sander. Yes, of course, I’d be happy to dance…with you.’…Sander…laughed aloud, eyes closed, drumming his hands on his thighs…before asking ‘Would-you-take-refreshment-with-me-dear-lady’ all in a rush, as if he’d practiced it.”
❤️Adorable.

I'm liking the fact that Anequs' close social circle includes a boy she's just friends with, a girl she's just friends with, a girl she fancies, AND a boy she's starting to fancy a bit...and that all are really well-developed characters! So we get both good bisexual representation + illustration of how being attracted to some members of a gender doesn't preclude platonic bonds with others.

"You must prove yourself equal to the other students of this establishment if you wish to be regarded by them as an equal. In fact, you will have to prove yourself superior...But there are people here who are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt...And do read that book on comportment, dear. You need to know the rules of engagement before you can formulate an effective battle strategy."

Anequs’ first proper friend at the academy being the autistic boy is making me very happy. (Hate Professor Ezel for how he’s treating them both, though!)

“‘The hero Requeisksa…was a muoaianakausonat-‘ ‘A what?’ Liberty interrupted. ‘I don’t know that there’s an Anglish word for it. It LITERALLY means ‘someone who does the work of a caterpillar.’ But really it mean…someone mistaken in childhood for the sex opposite their true one?’”
Love that! (Wish I could pronounce it) 🐛🦋