When Dealing with Dragons coming June 30th, 2026 from St. Martin’s Press; 368 pages
Content Warning: Animal abuse, physical abuse, injury, blood, violence, death, misogyny, classism
About the Author: “Dana Swift started making up fantasy worlds when she was eleven years old and hasn’t stopped since. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned degrees in English and Advertising. While in college, Dana competed as a saber fencer and learned a thing or two about fighting, parrying and how it feels to fall in love with your sparring partner. She currently lives with said husband in Miami, Florida” (Bio from author’s Goodreads profile).
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Farren Walsh lives in a world where people are defined by what grade of metal they were born into, and the status of metal means everything. Her family, veterinarians running a sanctuary for abused and injured dragons in need of care, are humble coppercrafters—people who legally are only allowed to use magic on dragonmetal at the copper level or lower. A silvercrafter in the dragon racing industry named John Murphy has been trying to buy out the Walsh sanctuary for years, and Farren and her family have turned down every obscene offer made—not because they don’t need the money, but because the secret the Walsh family protects is too valuable to put a price on, and Farren has quietly sacrificed her own future to guard it. When Farren saves her hated rival James Murphy from a fatal fall during a race, that secret is put into the greatest danger yet.
When I saw the cover and the words “dragon veterinarian” I had to pick this book up to see what Dana Swift did with the concept. Swift’s worldbuilding didn’t disappoint, with the metal of dragonscales and human metalcrafting magic creating everything from gleaming metal cars, deadly spears, and silver tea that could treat every ailment in existence. The corruption and cruelty of the dragon industry felt believable and made Farren’s mission and the sanctuary feel all the more crucial as the last bastion protecting the possibility of a better world—both for humans trapped in a classist society, and dragons being exploited and abused for material gain. I was pleasantly surprised to discover Swift didn’t soften her allegories for the rot of classism and animal exploitation, but they may be intense for some readers. The structure of the romantic arc and the secret behind the Walsh and Murphy families were threaded together beautifully; it became a self-feeding plot engine that had me hooked by chapter nine. I loved getting to know James and watching him find friends and family that made him feel safe enough to be fully himself. Farren also made for wonderful demisexual representation I hadn’t seen before, so any reader hoping for a story with a kind but ferociously determined demi protagonist should absolutely give this book a try.
When Dealing with Dragons releases on June 30th, 2026.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Julia Smith, Pine Reads Review Writer and Editor
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