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A review by rereader33
Damsel by Elana K. Arnold
1.0
Trigger warnings for: sexual assault, attempted sexual assault, sexual harassment, violence against animals, animal abuse, suicide, self-harm.
So, let me start off by saying there were two constants during this reading experience. One was laughing my ass off over how horribly unsubtle this novel is, and the other was wanting to bang my tablet against a hard surface because this novel was so infuriatingly unsubtle. Yes, I bounced between those two experiences frequently and was emotionally drained by the time I was done.
Quick PSA before we dive in to the review! I want to address what has been the central point of contention with this novel from readers: whether this should be labeled YA or adult because of it's content. And to be honest, I don't see why it can't be under YA. Yes, it deals with some dark and serious topics that can be triggering to people, and I am thoroughly pissed that trigger warnings were not present in the beginning because I definitely think they should, but frankly this isn't any darker than other YA novels that have tackled similar subject matter. Granted, this simply my opinion I would NEVER ask anyone to take my opinion over their intuition over this kind of subject matter, but I think it's fine being in YA. Again, take what I say with a grain of salt. What works for me may not work for you, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Right, with that out of the way, on to the rant!
People may be offended that I found portions of this book hilarious enough to laugh out loud while I read, but I want to make it clear that the SCENES where not what made me laugh; it was the hilariously bad subtlety that made me laugh. No, I don't find rape, misogyny, and animal abuse funny, but I do find horribly stereotyped male characters and forced feminism HILARIOUS.
I straight up can't tell whether Arnold thinks her audience is a bunch of ignorant dumbasses or will forget what the major themes/messages are if she doesn't beat you over the head with them in every chapter or, in some instances, every paragraph. It's almost like Arnold's saying, "hey, guys! Did you know men can be misogynistic?! You didn't?! In that case, here's a scene where Emory is being a misogynistic asshole! What's that? You didn't catch that the first time? No worries, here's him AND his best friend being misogynistic! Do ya see it?! DO YA SEE IT NOW?!" and that is pretty much the ENTIRE STORY. Wow, riveting.
That was the hilarious part of it, but the infuriating part came when it became clear that that WAS the entire story. Which was heartbreaking because I actually loved the idea of the story, it was just so horribly executed because Arnold had to jam in as much sexism, misogyny, and sexual assault to drill home the point that men are sexual deviants that only crave control, dominance, and sex. You know, how EVERY MALE IS PORTRAYED IN A FEMINIST STORY. And I feel the need to make that clear because I have seen so many people defend this story and its characters because, "it's meant to be a commentary on fairy tales because fairy tales are sexist/misogynistic!" to which my response is:
NO. FUCKING. SHIT.
Anyone who has done ANY analysis on fairy tales, or has a functioning brain for that matter, knows that fairy tales are inherently sexist and have misogynistic undertones. That's WHY there's been such a big push in the last few years to create new fairy tales or fairy tale retellings that give girls/women more agency AND call out the sexism in said stories. What I'm trying to say is THIS ISN'T FUCKING NEWS. This has been going on way before Damsel came out, it's not like Arnold created this idea, and simply pointing out the inherent sexism and misogyny in most fairy tales doesn't excuse how terribly cliche and poorly written this book is.
How are the men poorly written? As I mentioned earlier, all of the men are either sexist, misogynistic, predatory, or rapists. Emory seriously has no personality outside of craving dominance/wanting to conquer everything (physically and sexually), desiring sex, and being the walking embodiment of toxic masculinity. Pawlin, his best friend, is such an over-the-top predator-type that his character's damn near impossible to take seriously, and the rest of the men either condescend Ama (which is a fucking ATROCIOUS name) or is trying to sexually harass/rape her. I kid you not, I have seen these character types in a LOT of novels that tote themselves as feminist, yet oddly enough all seem incapable of telling a female empowerment story without painting every male character as a rapist or sexist douchebag.
Not that the women are too much better. Tillie's just a servant, Fabiana's an absolute shit human being, and the queenly mother (I think that's what she's called?) is supposed to be the one to push Ama to return to her original form, but she's obnoxious too. Oh, and Ama was NOT interesting AT ALL for most of the book. While I get why Arnold made it so Ama wouldn't have any memories to support the narrative, it made her character unbearably naive and annoying until the end. By the way, I will say that as rushed as the ending was, I did like it. That and the descriptions of the dragon's lair were the only two things I liked in this novel. Take with that what you will.
For my final thoughts, I want to make it clear that if you liked this novel, awesome. If you found it empowering, awesome. If you thought it was feminist, awesome. I didn't and I'm allowed to feel that way. Please don't bombard me with comments telling me that, "I just didn't get it," because trust me, I did, Arnold made it fucking impossible to miss what this was about. I simply didn't like it and am explaining why. Let's all try to be civil, folks.
So, let me start off by saying there were two constants during this reading experience. One was laughing my ass off over how horribly unsubtle this novel is, and the other was wanting to bang my tablet against a hard surface because this novel was so infuriatingly unsubtle. Yes, I bounced between those two experiences frequently and was emotionally drained by the time I was done.
Quick PSA before we dive in to the review! I want to address what has been the central point of contention with this novel from readers: whether this should be labeled YA or adult because of it's content. And to be honest, I don't see why it can't be under YA. Yes, it deals with some dark and serious topics that can be triggering to people, and I am thoroughly pissed that trigger warnings were not present in the beginning because I definitely think they should, but frankly this isn't any darker than other YA novels that have tackled similar subject matter. Granted, this simply my opinion I would NEVER ask anyone to take my opinion over their intuition over this kind of subject matter, but I think it's fine being in YA. Again, take what I say with a grain of salt. What works for me may not work for you, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Right, with that out of the way, on to the rant!
People may be offended that I found portions of this book hilarious enough to laugh out loud while I read, but I want to make it clear that the SCENES where not what made me laugh; it was the hilariously bad subtlety that made me laugh. No, I don't find rape, misogyny, and animal abuse funny, but I do find horribly stereotyped male characters and forced feminism HILARIOUS.
I straight up can't tell whether Arnold thinks her audience is a bunch of ignorant dumbasses or will forget what the major themes/messages are if she doesn't beat you over the head with them in every chapter or, in some instances, every paragraph. It's almost like Arnold's saying, "hey, guys! Did you know men can be misogynistic?! You didn't?! In that case, here's a scene where Emory is being a misogynistic asshole! What's that? You didn't catch that the first time? No worries, here's him AND his best friend being misogynistic! Do ya see it?! DO YA SEE IT NOW?!" and that is pretty much the ENTIRE STORY. Wow, riveting.
That was the hilarious part of it, but the infuriating part came when it became clear that that WAS the entire story. Which was heartbreaking because I actually loved the idea of the story, it was just so horribly executed because Arnold had to jam in as much sexism, misogyny, and sexual assault to drill home the point that men are sexual deviants that only crave control, dominance, and sex. You know, how EVERY MALE IS PORTRAYED IN A FEMINIST STORY. And I feel the need to make that clear because I have seen so many people defend this story and its characters because, "it's meant to be a commentary on fairy tales because fairy tales are sexist/misogynistic!" to which my response is:
NO. FUCKING. SHIT.
Anyone who has done ANY analysis on fairy tales, or has a functioning brain for that matter, knows that fairy tales are inherently sexist and have misogynistic undertones. That's WHY there's been such a big push in the last few years to create new fairy tales or fairy tale retellings that give girls/women more agency AND call out the sexism in said stories. What I'm trying to say is THIS ISN'T FUCKING NEWS. This has been going on way before Damsel came out, it's not like Arnold created this idea, and simply pointing out the inherent sexism and misogyny in most fairy tales doesn't excuse how terribly cliche and poorly written this book is.
How are the men poorly written? As I mentioned earlier, all of the men are either sexist, misogynistic, predatory, or rapists. Emory seriously has no personality outside of craving dominance/wanting to conquer everything (physically and sexually), desiring sex, and being the walking embodiment of toxic masculinity. Pawlin, his best friend, is such an over-the-top predator-type that his character's damn near impossible to take seriously, and the rest of the men either condescend Ama (which is a fucking ATROCIOUS name) or is trying to sexually harass/rape her. I kid you not, I have seen these character types in a LOT of novels that tote themselves as feminist, yet oddly enough all seem incapable of telling a female empowerment story without painting every male character as a rapist or sexist douchebag.
Not that the women are too much better. Tillie's just a servant, Fabiana's an absolute shit human being, and the queenly mother (I think that's what she's called?) is supposed to be the one to push Ama to return to her original form, but she's obnoxious too. Oh, and Ama was NOT interesting AT ALL for most of the book. While I get why Arnold made it so Ama wouldn't have any memories to support the narrative, it made her character unbearably naive and annoying until the end. By the way, I will say that as rushed as the ending was, I did like it. That and the descriptions of the dragon's lair were the only two things I liked in this novel. Take with that what you will.
For my final thoughts, I want to make it clear that if you liked this novel, awesome. If you found it empowering, awesome. If you thought it was feminist, awesome. I didn't and I'm allowed to feel that way. Please don't bombard me with comments telling me that, "I just didn't get it," because trust me, I did, Arnold made it fucking impossible to miss what this was about. I simply didn't like it and am explaining why. Let's all try to be civil, folks.