DNF @ 40-some%

I genuinely forgot I was reading this book...

The descriptions of the snorkeling excursions were nice... I guess.

Listen, I'm trying to throw the author a bone here. There is nothing wrong with this story, structurally. Prosaically, it's not for me.

Next!

Dancing with Dragons is set in Australia, opening with a sister and brother who live off-grid with their parents in a lush, beautiful , untouched oceanside setting called Goshawk Gardens. The two teens, Gaia and Bron, aspire to perform in a ballet company someday, and practice daily under the supervision of their mother. Each day after practice, they scramble for the beach where they snorkel in the shallow waters, marveling at the warm warm, the coral reefs, colorful fish, and especially a pair of sea dragons, whose mating ritual is beautiful to watch.
The entire family is respectful of their environment and protective of all the creatures with whom they co-exist.

A fire of suspicious cause destroys their home, and almost, their family. As Gaia recovers, she returns to Goshawk Gardens and lives in the barn alone, assisted by the Aboriginal caretakers of a nearby property, Mary and Eddie. Their nephew, Jarrah, who visits from an orphanage, watches Gaia dance alone on the beach, and wishes for that freedom of expression, since his activity is limited by a club foot. Gaia teaches Jarrah to snorkel and marvel at underwater life, and teaches him to dance, and teaches dancing to the children at his orphanage as well.

Gaia’s idyllic, but lonely life, is disrupted by a series of distractions - a handsome Irishman, Seamus, who also dances, a drunken neighbor, Dave, who threatens Gaia’s safety, and developers who want to buy Gaia’s land and build a vacation settlement that Gaia knows will threaten the ecosystem.

The author beautifully described the southern Australian coastline, and the reader can visualize the peaceful blue waves lapping the shore, and the carefree teens snorkeling and marveling at the colorful underwater life. The reader also senses the need to preserve such natural beauty. The character development is done well; as a reader, I could visualize the delicate beauty, but also the inner strength of Gaia, and the persistence of the Aboriginal boy, Jarrah, as he broke through racial and personal barriers by becoming Gaia’s friend. Dave Mason, the alcoholic neighbor, sweet Mary and Eddie trying to make a life despite racial discrimination, and carefree Seamus, were all descriptively brought to life.

Of course from the title, the sea dragons, and saving them, and their environment is the key point of the book. We only have one world. It’s full of natural beauty - delicate creatures, beautiful plants, oceans, forests, and all of us are interdependent species. Destroying one thing destroys so much more. The author did a beautiful job of pointing out the need to protect our oceans, and forests and wildlife in order to save us all. And she did so by telling a very readable story of joy, loss, fear, determination, acceptance, and love.

As disclosure, I was sent an ARC of Jenni Ogden’s Dancing with Dragons by Netgalley. . I enjoyed the read. It made me think more seriously about preserving the environment. The opinions and review are my unbiased thoughts. I would definitely recommend this book.

A well written story telling of one girls journey, after a family tragedy, how she became whole again, with the help of her local environment, nature and it's all encompassing healing benefits. Wonderful descriptive writing, about weedy sea dragons, as well as beautiful description of coral reefs, and all it holds, on the coast of WA. How one persons perseverance can preserve, what would have been lost, to all. How our indigenous know the land, sea and all those who live, work. A great story, well worth reading. Especially as one can imagine being in the water, or on the sand. Loved it makes me want to go there and experience the serenity, and nature at its best, especially whale sharks .

I could see what the author was trying to do with this book, but it felt as a reader that I was either innundated with stress and trauma events that were happening or just waiting for the story to move beyond descriptions of Gaia's home and days on the farm.

While the theme of ocean and reef conversation carried throughout it was frequently lost in a convoluted story.

Despite the sometimes long-winded (half page sentences) descriptions of nature, the story itself kept me interested in the characters and what was going to happen.

The premise for this book was intriguing, and the ocean and wilderness imagery described is breathtaking. It’s very descriptive and the author did a beautiful job with it.

However, the story itself was disappointing. The writing was clunky; a lot of the main storyline happened in the first part of the book, and the pace slowed down a lot after that. I found that we didn’t get to see a lot of depth in the characters, so as a result I struggled to connect with them.

I thought that I would love this one, but was unfortunately left wanting a lot more.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I want a sequel. I fell in love with Gaia and Jarrah, and I need to know the rest of their story.

I truly appreciate when I come across a story that is just a simple, yet deep, story of life. Oh, I love me some thrillers or stories with heartbreaking angst. However, when I just need to recharge, I need a story like this one about people just trying to make it through life, honoring their true selves, while trying to inflict as little damage on the world and others as they do. This was truly beautiful. And I learned about Seadragons and reef life which is not usually something I would be drawn to. I'd say this one is a resounding success all around.

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.