*A 2019 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book*A dark, twisted, unforgettable fairy tale from Elana K. Arnold, author of the National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made OfThe rite has existed for as long as anyone can remember: When the king dies, his son the prince 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 … a damsel to be his bride. This is the way things have always been.
When Ama wakes in the arms of Prince Emory, she knows none of this. She has no memory of what came before she was captured by the dragon or what horrors she faced in its lair. She knows only this handsome young man, the story he tells of her rescue, and her destiny of sitting on a throne beside him. It’s all like a dream, like something from a fairy tale.
As Ama follows Emory to the kingdom of Harding, however, she discovers that not all is as it seems. There is more to the legends of the dragons and the damsels than anyone knows, and the greatest threats may not be behind her, but around her, now, and closing in.
more
Brutal and unflinching, Damsel is a gorgeously twisted fairy tale that lures you in with pretty words and then shows you its thorns.
Exquisitely written and unflinchingly, furiously feminist, Damsel is a gorgeous inferno of a fairy tale and my new obsession. Searing and audacious, with an ending that will leave you howling at the moon. A must for every collection.
I got this ARC at ALA Annual in NOLA a few years ago. I even got the author to autograph it. But sadly, at that time I wasn’t being as good as I have started being with scheduling ARCs. So I added it to my list of books to try to get through off my Backlist challenge this year. It took me a bit to get into it. However as the story went on, I really did want to see where the author would take this very interesting take on Sleeping Beauty. It is YA, but has a touch of mature themes in it, but that is the point the author was trying to make, and she does it very well. Towards the end all I could think was how Ama couldn’t do anything without getting in trouble. There was nothing she could do for her own enjoyment that didn’t soon get taken away. But wow, the twist at the end, that was one I didn’t see coming, and made up for the slowness of the beginning.
What a fascinating dark and twisted take on the traditional fairy tale. This novel starts as many traditional fairy tales do; the prince is on his way to slay the dragon. However, once Ama wakes up, the entire concept of what it means to be a damsel in distress and flips it on its head.
The novel takes Ama to the kingdom of Harding, and this kingdom is incredibly sexist and misogynistic. Ama does not understand it, this new world she has been brought into. Ama questions her role of wife and future queen, and she has little love of her “prince” and “hero.” However, she learns quick, learns how to make herself small to make the men feel like they have the power, to play the part of the defenseless woman to stay alive, to keep the things she loves alive and safe. She seeks little freedoms, little things she can do in order to survive this new world that would cage her like a bird. Ama hates it, and slowly, the reader sees that this new world order is killing her. The sexism is rampant, and all the women are complicit in it. This is the world they all know. Ama knows nothing of this world, and in the confines of her memory, there is a fire that burns, a fire that seeks to flourish and be free.
It is a thought-provoking novel, that is for sure, a quick and strongly feministic read because through Ama, the novel challenges the rampant sexism. There should be some warning for this book however because there are instances of sexual assault, abuse, both emotional and physical, and self-harm vividly portrayed in this novel. For some that may not bother many, especially if one thinks about the original fairy tales (prince charming did rape sleeping beauty in the original tale, and the grim fairy tales are nothing if, well, grim). Damsel, much like original fairy tales, is an allegory at its core, and it is a very clever, albeit dark, one. It has strong language and scene structures, and the evolution of the story will take readers by surprise. It is a mature read, more for New Adult audiences than young adult, audiences because of the graphicness of such topics, but it is all written with a purpose to show and teach the reader something important about the harm of sexism and misogyny. That makes the story so powerful because Arnold is a magnificent writer. She is gritty, honest, and has a message she wants people to be able to see and understand, a point of view that is important for others to see.
As the story progresses, it comes to a satisfying end for the reader. It is a fantastic story, but readers beware, it is dark and at times graphic. Nonetheless, the message is important and resonates with the reader, lingering on even when the reader is finished.
I was not sure what to think about this book by the time I was done. It was a nice twist on the damsel-saving but… I don’t even know how to put it in words… I read the whole thing though I felt like giving up several times partway through.
DAMSEL IS INCREDIBLE. The writing is gorgeous and haunting. It builds at a perfect pace. It tricks you into thinking you know where it’s going, then does an about-face. It does that thing where you think you’re reading this fairy tale thing in a fantasy world but then BOOP it’s commentary on our world.
I CACKLED at the end, it was so damn good. I give it all the stars. ALL OF THEM.
You should know that there is a lot of dark stuff, graphic scenes, violence, a straightforward telling of awful things. Check for trigger warnings to make sure you’d be okay reading it. Definitely an upper-YA. True young adult.
If you think you can handle it, go get a copy. Go! Now! RUN.
In short, a prince must defeat a dragon, save a damsel, and bring her back to earn the crown to his kingdom. We get inside his head, then hers. They are two very interesting places to be. Then when it’s over and we get to reflect on what we read at the start vs what we read at the end? THE FUN BEGINS ALL OVER AGAIN.
Not unlike the original fairy tales, Damsel isn’t meant for the faint of heart. This unflinchingly feminist story is beautiful in its gruesomeness.
Arnold is a master of writing the struggles of young women and the violence they endure. In Damsel, she gives us a suitably masterful, darkly gorgeous modern fairy tale of a young woman passing through fire to protect what is hers. You will not be able to look away.
A meditation on the smothering uselessness of weaponized kindness, Damsel will have you reaching for the narrative with scale and claw and tooth.
This is a book that keeps you guessing no matter how quickly you figure out what it is that’s going on, because you still don’t know the how or why.
It’s clever, weird, gripping, and intense. This book is much, much more adult than YA in every way, which really surprised me. I loved that about it, but I honestly feel like being marketed as YA is completely wrong for this book.
There are some very adult themes, the protagonists are adults as far as I could tell, and it overall reminded me a lot more of an adult fantasy than YA.