In the village of Chartsend, in the far reaches of Drakkoia, fifteen-year-old, red-haired Becca is drowning in the responsibility of being the oldest of four with neglectful parents. When “fever brain” sweeps the village, talk of the Great Wars and deadly Dragon Plague returning abound. But the people of Chartsend have faith in the Healer who delivered them from pestilence before and all the dragons were “exterminated”—the world’s magic dying with them. In fact, little makes them madder than talk of dragons being good, intelligent creatures—as in the stories Becca loves hearing from her grandfather.

Many miles away, in the depths of “the source of magic for the entire world,” a dragon wakes from a 150-year sleep, reeling from a vision of a young red-haired girl. Gregor is his coven’s youngest member—and most troublesome—whose rare magical power is that of smell: “[m]agical scents warned him of danger, and other times they led him to safety.” Why would it point him to a human girl to help his coven?

Shortly after the dragons awake, Becca inexplicably begins to sense the emotions of people around her. Already ridiculed as a “dragon girl” and now an involuntary empath, her awful luck continues when she catches the eye of her bully. When her narcissistic mother endorses their betrothal for its social cachet, Becca plans to flee Chartsend for good. Before she does, her beloved grandfather is murdered. Chartsend is all too pleased to wash its hands of the troublemaking old man, easily accepting a convenient lie rather than speaking the truth of his death. But when the dragons’ continued existence is revealed, the past humanity sought to whitewash starts to break down and magic floods back into the world.

With all the emotional turmoil, self-exploration, and adventure one expects from YA fantasy, DREAMS OF A DRAGON GIRL paints a picture of a young woman trying to save dragonkind—while finding her agency, mastering her magic,  and contending with parental abuse and neglect. Penned from alternating human and dragon points of view, the novel is strongly character-driven, but with a detailed setup of rewritten histories, societal turmoil, and fear of plague. These larger elements play out with nuance and tact, alongside the main impetus of Gregor’s and Becca’s safety and interconnectedness.

In addition to exploring how history is written by those in power, DREAMS OF A DRAGON GIRL gives voice to a young woman’s experiences that are all too often erased, including assault, parental emotional abuse, parental death, and men’s entitlement to women’s time and bodies in the patriarchy. Jacoby goes beyond this to contrast for readers instances of informed consent, emotional intelligence and compassion, and healthy boundary setting.

As for the text itself, the copyediting was excellent, the pacing fair, and the story arc encompassing. The narrative is self-consistent, minus a few discontinuities regarding environment and physicality. While there are many highlights to expound upon, one standout is the world-building and lore. From dragon biology and social structure to the magic system and the vivid if spare secondary characters, Jacoby puts her stamp on the dragon rider-type fantasy that will have even genre zealots looking for more.

With a distinct take on dragons, lush world-building, and great characterization, DREAMS OF A DRAGON GIRL enthralls with adventure, emotionally adept prose, and a vivid ensemble cast.

~Remy Poore for IndieReader