On Starships and Dragonwings

My friends and I were having a discussion about audiobook recommendations and one of them brought out Dealing with Dragons. She didn’t have the audiobook version, but apparently it is very good. She instead had a text-copy, which I immediately started eye-balling because it was a. short (so I wouldn’t feel guilty taking a break to read it) and b. had dragons in the title and the cover! (no brainer :D). She is pretty much always trying to lend me more books, and only resists because she’s knows that my TBR pile is on the verge of crushing me continually as it is, so she not only lent me a copy of Dealing with Dragons, but also a bookmark to match :D. She might be a little crazy that she tries to have bookmarks to match as many of her favorite books as possible (and she has many), but I think it’s cute :3.

 Goodreads | Amazon

Title: Dealing with Dragons
Author: Patricia Wrede
Length: 212 pages
Genre-ish: YA (old) fantasy
Rating: ★★★★☆- light-hearted fun, no romance

Cimorene is everything a princess is not supposed to be: headstrong, tomboyish, smart – and bored. So bored that she runs away to live with a dragon – and finds the family and excitement she’s been looking for. – Goodreads

Strengths:

• Dealing with Dragons has some REALLY fun characters! Between the witty dragon, headstrong princess, mischievous witch, and scheming wizards, what’s not to love??
• This whole book is one entertaining fairytale re-telling after the next all tied up with a bow. I should have kept a list of all the references, but I didn’t want to distract myself from laughing, hehe!
• There is not just one, not just two kick-butt princesses, but also a kick-butt dragon :D. So awesome!!
• I just had to pull out this quote for all you cat lovers out there. This is from when Cimorene (the princess) and Kazul (the dragon) go to visit their witch friend who happens to have a lot of cats and Kazul asks one of them to get the witch for them:
  “He doesn’t seem very impressed,” Cimorene commented in some amusement.
  “Why should he be?” Kazul said.
  “Well, you’re a dragon,” Cimorene answered, a little taken aback.
  “What difference does that make to a cat?”
  Hehe, cats aren’t afraid of dragons either apparently!

Weaknesses:

• While Dealing with Dragons is juvenile fiction, it is an older book, so don’t expect it to have the same pumped up plot style that has become a trend in YA recently. This plot was much more fun and leisurely.
• There is literally no romance in Dealing with Dragons, none at all, sorry :(. Some would consider this a strength, but I know many wouldn’t, so I’m just warning you :).
• Because Dealing with Dragons is pretty dang short, there isn’t really room for any character development. There are several more books, so perhaps Cimorene grows up a bit in those, but she’s still just as headstrong and rowdy at the end of Dealing with Dragons as at the beginning, hehe.

Summary:

Dealing with Dragons was the perfect distraction, light-hearted and fun plus dragons! While it isn’t what we are used to with YA anymore, it is what juvenile fiction used to be, so if you are up for a break from all the angsty, romance-filled novels of today (or just want some fun, I’m not judging!) you should definitely try out Dealing with Dragons. There is just something alluring about running off to live with dragons isn’t there??