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A review by singalana
Damsel by Elana K. Arnold
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!
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