Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Damsel by Elana K. Arnold

19 reviews

kccool12255's review against another edition

This book is so nasty and it has the weirdest descriptions I’ve ever read in my life. This author is trying way too hard to be “ancient” and it comes off strange. There’s also an excerpt of another book of hers in the back with a VERY graphic description of oral s*x, and the ACTUAL book contains very graphic descriptions of the same things, including the main character getting f*ngered non-consensually. I don’t want to read books like this, I don’t get why every single author thinks they have to include spice in their books. Stop marketing this trash to young adults, or put content warnings like dark romance authors do. Not everyone wants to read that, believe it or not. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Minor: Body shaming, Grief, Death, and Death of parent

yulecogs's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Body shaming

theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal death, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Blood, and Sexual content

Minor: Sexual harassment, Confinement, Death of parent, Violence, Suicide, Sexual violence, Rape, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Pregnancy

singalana's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The first thing you need to understand about this book is that this is NOT a children’s book, and I don’t think it’s a YA book either. At least the audiobook is falsely advertised as Children and YA.

I read some reviews, and I think part of the “problem” with this book is that people start reading it with entirely wrong expectations. The book takes the classic “a prince saves a damsel from a dragon”-trope and tells it from the damsel’s perspective. So, in a way, it’s a fairytale retelling.

Prince Emory saves Ama from a dragon. Ama has no memory of her life before being rescued. As she learns more about her saviour and what is expected of her, she starts to wonder whether she has been saved after all.

The writing style is beautiful and very fitting for a story like this. I listened to this as an audiobook, and the narrator (Elizabeth Knowelden) tells the story in a lovely way, albeit her voice is barely a whisper in parts, so I could not listen to this audiobook in a noisy place.

But let’s get back to the story. It’s NOT a romantic story, and it’s NOT a happy story. If you are familiar with Robin Hobb’s books and her villains, the villain in this book is on par with them. If you like reading about how things get progressively worse for the protagonist and can stomach some heavy topics, I’d definitely recommend this book. But do not go into this thinking that this is a feminist retelling of a classic fairytale because I think you’ll be disappointed.

Spoilers!

I have two main complaints with this book. I didn’t agree with the author’s choice of the three “weapons” needed to conquer a damsel. It was weird and off-putting. My second complaint is that I had to suffer through 98 % of misery to get to the end, which was over very quickly. The ending was satisfying, and I think that the last sentence about the Queen Mother witnessing the dragon’s rise was poetic. But still, 98 % of this book is pure misery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Blood, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Suicide, Death, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Kidnapping, and Emotional abuse

allisonsmith120's review

dark tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Rape, Blood, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Minor: Self harm, Alcohol, and Suicide

theladydoor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and Body horror

lizbethandthelifeinbetween's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

This is not the book it was marketed as. I can't even say it's YA.

The writing is so good. I'm going yo get that out of the way. But everything else... I had to put this down multiple times a comb through reviews to make sure I wasn't the only one baffled by this. It has some.scenes that could have been in Game of Thrones, making the tone very inconsistent when bu all other accounts this feels like a YA book. 

I understand what the author was trying to do: make a statement on abuse cycles, and how they're perpetrated. That part was OK. It's the ending that gets me. I don't understand it. It was so weird and unnecessary. Also, I woild have liked more build-up to Ama freeing herself. It all happened so fast, especially when the author took over 10% of the book building up to lilling the dragon (and not telling us HOW u til the very end, and its so stupid. I understand Ama's relationship to the dragon and I do like it, but the other part with Emory was just a big NO). And when we do find out what happens it's so unsatisfactory. So much is said yet nothing happens. I think the ideas were there but it was poorly executed, and when dealing with this sort of subject matter you can't mess it up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Rape, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Misogyny

lisashelves's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Sexual assault, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Blood, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide

taliatalksbooks's review

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

0.25

 Damsel by Elana K. Arnold was unsettling and hard to read. It’s language was formal, uninteresting, and never showed much action, opting instead to tell the reader about some pretty horrific things. All of the characters are flat, and none of them do anything interesting during their time in the castle or journeying to it. While I don’t mind books with controversial topics, this book didn’t have many, if any, redeeming qualities to make up for this barrage of explicit and uncomfortable content…other than a cover that draws you in. This is a mislabeled YA, so I want to specify it is 100% adult fantasy content, but if you’re looking for an enjoyable read, keep searching. This book isn’t creating a thought provoking discomfort, it’s just creating a situation the reader is so disgusted by they don’t want to finish the read. I can count on a single hand the books I have not finished in my life, and I can honestly say, this just about made that list. I’m not sure who the intended audience was for this, but if you are looking for a dark twisted fantasy that will have you questioning your sanity for subjecting yourself to the boredom and disgusting antics of Emory then I guess look no further? I really wouldn’t recommend this to anyone under the circumstances, but if you want to see the monstrosity for yourself, I say go for it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Sexism

mattiedancer's review

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Writing: 5⭐️/5 

The writing is strong throughout the book. A few moments that lacked ease and clarity were outshone by the brilliance expertly demonstrated throughout the rest of the novel. The poetic nature of the work fit nicely within its prose format. Arnold also demonstrates great control over the voice throughout the story. Tremendously done. 

Characters: 5⭐️/5

The characters were both hyperbolic and realistic in the best balance between the two. Arnold does a tremendous job creating motivated characters whose stories and origins. This is most fantastically demonstrated with the Prince/King, whose perspective we begin with, whose story we understand, whose side we are almost on until the story slowly unfolds in front of us.

Plot: 5⭐️/5 

The plot is fantastically paced and thoroughly enjoyable to read. I personally love the focus on a deep and unforgiving feminine rage that is both necessary and welcomed. So much of this story is exactly what I wanted to read, while also being precisely what I needed to read. 

Post-Reading Rating:  5⭐️/5

I will be recommending this to so many people.

Who Should Read This? 

• Women looking for a feminist fairy tale
• Those who love fairy tale reconstructions
• Those who want all that plus dragons and castles

 

Final Rating: 5⭐️/5

CW: Blood, injury, suicide, sexual assault, sexual content, rape, toxic relationships, misogyny, sexism, emotional abuse, violence, domestic abuse, physical abuse, gaslighting, animal cruelty, animal death, death, death of parent, eating disorder, classism, pregnancy, kidnapping

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexism, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Classism, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Self harm, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Kidnapping