Damsel

3/31/2019

Damsel by Elana K. Arnold

Blurb:

The rite has existed for as long as anyone can remember: when the prince-who-will-be-king comes of age, he must venture out into the gray lands, slay a fierce dragon, and rescue a damsel to be his bride. This is the way things have always been.

When Ama wakes in the arms of Prince Emory, however, she knows none of this. She has no memory of what came before she was captured by the dragon, or what horrors she has faces in its lair. She knows only this handsome prince, the story he tells of her rescue, and her destiny to sit on the throne beside him. Ama comes with Emory back to the kingdom of Harding, hailed as the new princess, welcomed to the court.

However, as soon as her first night falls, she begins to realize that not all is as it seems, that there is more to the legends of the dragons and the damsels than anyone knows–and that the greatest threat to her life may not be behind her, but here, in front of her.

Review:

"I am new to everything. I have no knowledge of who I was before I woke in the king's arms. I have no idea how this world of yours works, or how I fit into it. I have only the nagging fear that I do not fit here, not really, and I am unsure which parts of myself I must carve away in order to fit the was I am supposed to."

This book was absolutely amazing. The only thing I can 'criticize' is that it was fairly easy to call the "major plot-twists" (or whatever you want to call it) but even that was in no way able to spoil the book even slightly for me. Because it wasn't so much about the hidden story behind the things that were going on as it was about the processes which allowed this story to take place in the first place. And, wow, this book really packed a punch in that regard. I was fascinated and disgusted, I fell in love and in hate, and I really, really, really just want everyone to read this.

One thing I've been telling people about this book is: "it's this fantastic feminist fairy-tale sort of book which explores power structures and stuff anD IT HAS DRAGONS! AND A LYNX!" and then I continue telling them about how awesome dragons and lynx are. You might think that I'm sounding quite shallow but, honestly, I just want people to go into this book without thinking too much about the plot and just experience it.

Moreover, I find it really hard to summarize the book in any sort of satisfying manner. There are just some things that I'm so excited about but every time I try to put them into words I hear myself saying stupid things about this excellent thing that make said excellent thing sound very-very-very not-excellent. I swear, the sheer amazingness of a thing sometimes overwhelms me so much that I am absolutely not able to convey any sort of coherent positive aspects about said thing. In this case the "thing" is Damsel (me is, sadly, still me otherwise you'd be reading an actually good review). So, frankly, all I can really say is: read Damsel because it's great! Just, you know, trust me on this.