When it’s too good to be true, it usually is!

Elodie is to marry the prince of Aurea. In return her country Inophe will be gifted enough wealth to help the drought stricken kingdom to survive. Of course she says yes. It helps that the prince is handsome and kind.
Wined and dined, made welcome, she truly has been welcomed by her new countrymen.
But after the wedding a different fate awaits.
A fantasy telling of Theseus and the Minotaur, with no ball of string but generations of “brides” leaving messages and signs for those who would come after, and the minotaur being replaced by a dragon. Elodie is in for the fight of her life—literally.
Captivating in some parts and decidedly clunky in others this felt more like a YA novel that resolved itself too quickly after the caves exploits, and the many twists.
There’s some commentary on justice and the actions of the actions of the Aureans, what would you do sort of thing, but all in all, I found the ending fell short of the action in the middle of the book.

A Random House - Ballantine ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

I did not like this book at all. It was almost a DNF but it was short so I finished it.
Elodie is “not like the other women.” After she is wed to a prince and taken to a dragon to be sacrificed, she uses her intelligence to combat the dragon. The ending is predictable and most of the characters are unlikable.

Elodie is from Inophe, a land that has suffered from drought and hardship. But Elodie loves her people and would do almost anything for them. So when a king from a foreign land extends a marriage proposal in exchange for much needed trade access and supplies, Elodie accepts. However, the kingdom of Aurea is not what it seems. Long ago, a dragon terrorized their lands, and to appease it, Aurean royalty struck a deal: every year they have to sacrifice three princesses…and Elodie will be next.

Though there are several different viewpoint chapters throughout the novel, Elodie makes up well over ninety-five percent. As the main character, she is a decent protagonist. Trying to escape from the dragon cave, Elodie is resourceful, using her knowledge and the tools she has found to her own advantage. Most of Elodie’s decisions were decent, particularly for a YA novel, but there were a few that were questionable, at times disrupting enjoyment of the tale.

In addition to Elodie’s ability to think herself out of any situation, her relationship with her sister Floria was a highlight. Though Lady Bayron at first seems cold and resigned, her true motivations are revealed late in the novel and she gets to become a hero in her own right.

There is much working in its favor, but it’s clear that the novel is a screenplay adaptation, which is also noted in the author’s acknowledgements. Damsel was fine, but a visual medium may be a better way to tell the story. The novel often lacked subtlety, which is something an actor would be able to show rather than explicitly state in text. This made the writing at times feel clunky and even juvenile. For example, the all caps “BURN ME BITCH” line comes to mind.

Overall, this was a quick read that was relatively enjoyable. I’ll be interested to see how the movie alters the material when it comes to Netflix later this year.

📖 Book Review: Damsel by Evelyn Skye

This is a companion book to an upcoming Netflix movie, developed from the screenplay. Sometimes that leads to really great visuals (as they’ve already been mapped out for filming) but sometimes it feels clunky.

The beginning of this book was hard to get into. It takes a while to establish the main conflict of the book, and even though there’s very heavy foreshadowing about what’s to come, I didn’t feel drawn in until about halfway through the book. Once the real action starts about 2/3 through, the book gets harder to put down.

I do like the main character Elodie a lot, and having learned that Millie Bobbie Brown is tagged to play her in the movie makes a lot of sense. She is wry and capable and very intelligent (maybe a little too intelligent to be realistic) and is just the sort of character I would’ve loved to read about as a teen.

I have seen some conflicting opinions about some of the magical conventions used in the book, but the only one that bothered me was at the end. I thought some of the other magic was used interestingly, but the end just felt like SO much of a miracle that it seemed a cop-out. I get that it’s a YA story and the ending can’t be too dark, but it just felt too easy.

This book gets a ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. Recommend for YA fantasy folks who like a strong female lead.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an e-copy of this book from NetGalley and Random House Worlds in return for an honest review. Before starting, I will say that I have read and very much enjoyed two of Skye's other first books in the series, Circle of Shadows, and The Crown's Game. I definitely plan on rereading those and finishing both. I thought this book sounded very unique. It was adapted from a screenplay for a Netflix movie, but according to Skye herself, they two have very different plots and will not be carbon copies of each other. This immediately intrigued me because how often do we get a book based off a movie instead of the other way around. Plus, I love a kickass, strong female character that is true to herself rather than one that bends to the will of those around her. That was the main character that the premise described. But, sadly, not the one we got.

I quite liked the first part of Damsel. It opens in the setting that we don't spend very much time in, but Skye does a fantastic job of setting up who Elodie is. Her goals are very well explained and we get to understand the character and the world that this book is set in. That is one thing that is consistent in her books. She has always established the characters quickly and in a way that feels natural rather than info-dumpy. However, once the plot moves into the other kingdom of Aurea, it's almost as if everything that made Elodie feel unique was thrown out of the window. Elodie, in a way, became the standard YA trope of a heroine.

What I did very much enjoy was the sister bond. A lot of YA fantasy books have a strong romantic subplot (or main plot), and I applaud the author that she chose to go a different way. The strongest relationship was between Elodie and her sister Floria. I have a sister that I am very close with, so I can always appreciate a good storyline of two sisters saving each other, in a way.

The main portion that dragged the rating down for me was the focus on linguistics. So much of the story was spent with Elodie discussing the dragons language and interpreting what it was saying to her, that it took me out of the story. I wished there was more focus on the memory reading, because it never felt fully explained to me. How was it that she could see memories by touching blood? Could all the princesses do it after the marriage ceremony? Maybe I missed a big explanatory moment in the book, but where the linguistics was very drawn out, that portion seemed very rushed.

Overall, it was a good book, but I just had issues that kept making me put down the book. It wasn't easy to read in the flowing way that I like my YA books to be.

Damsel is a tale of survival and determination. Elodie is from a desolate duchy with very little resources. She is however happy. Then her father betroths her to the prince of Aurea. With the hopes of bringing much needed resources to her people, Elodie travels with her family to Aurea for the wedding. Everything seems too good to be true and it is! There is a hidden agenda that reveals itself after wedding. Elodie is put to the test with survival instincts. She is bound and determined to escape the trap. What is the trap and will she escape? Check it out to see what happens. Or watch the Netflix show to find out more.

I enjoyed this book as it was very empowering. It helped that the plot and pace was fast. What lacked a little was progress with the characters as I wished I was able to see more of that while everything was going on.

Damsel by Evelyn Skye is a fast paced fantasy adventure I can't wait to see on screen.
What I liked
1.Fast Paced writing
2. Very Similar vibes to my experience reading Iron Widow.
What I didn't Like
1.Non main characters have little to no development
Who I would recommend this novel for
Fans of Survival focused plots in fantasy looking for their next dose of bookish fun will find themselves at home in the pages of Damsel.

I will definitely be watching this movie when it comes out on Netflix. That said, I dont think this worked very well as a book. Instead of following a typical story format, this felt like 10% introduction then 90% climax. I think this would have been a good ending to a fantasy novel but it felt like we were missing the whole first half of the story. I would have liked this better if we has seen some world building or if the timeline was slowed down. If Elodie lived in the caves for weeks/months things could have been better described. Having everything happen within three days made it all feel rushed. Usually the benefit of having a book and movie is that the book gives you more. But it did not feel like we were getting anything more here.

All that said, I enjoy the idea behind this story. I really enjoyed the linguistics elements and I think that could have been build out even more. I also enjoyed getting the POV of several women, and we see how differently they respond to the issue.

Thank you Random House and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book.

Thank you to random house publishing group for this opportunity to read rate and review this arc which is out April 18,2023

This was fun girl power romp. Pacing was fast. The action never stopped. Characters were like able. Princesses can save themselves! There is mystery, a princess eating dragon, bloody bargains for prosperity and a teenage princess ready to end it all to save her new kingdom and those who come after her.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Netgalley)

Overall feelings? Meh. It was easy to breeze though but it didn't feel like much happened. Not a whole lot of character growth and the world building just like.. stopped after the beginning.

I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t my favorite book. It felt like the chapters were rushed. The dialogue at times was very cheesy. It felt like it was narrated by a child younger than 13, and as a 34 year old I could not enjoy this or identify with a lot of the goings on in this book.

I’ll definitely check out the Netflix show, but this wasn’t for me.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the arc for my honest review.

Damsel is about a young dutchess who is arranged married with a prince in order to save her kingdom. She believe he’s going to be her Prince Charming but as soon as she marries him she realizes she has been married just to he sacrificed to a dragon.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a little long and slow in some places but I finished the book in one sitting. I loved the ending and how the MC saves herself and shows so much empathy for others.

I will be posting my review on Instagram and goodreads early March.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Netgalley for the eARC!

I really did not like this book. It felt tropey in all the wrong ways. There were moments that I think we're supposed to be inspiring and empowering but just kind of failed.

A thrilling, captivating adventure with a strong heroine that I really enjoyed reading about. It's a perfect read for Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon fans. If you, like me, think that the Targaryen women deserve an entire book dedicated to their rule on the Iron Throne then this book is for you! I love the new trend of having more dragons as characters in fantasy books. Honestly this book was a refreshing take on the same old fantasy romance stories.

This is going to get popular, very fast.

I quite liked the general storyline and learning about Eloide and her character development throughout the story. I understand that sisterhood was a large part of this story and I quite liked how that interconnected with the dragon and the Aurean 'tradition'. The writing style was good and the plot moved fast and there was always something being uncovered which I loved.

For the dragon part, I have to say I was quite hesitant about how that would turn out and it's safe to say I think the ending needs some polishing. There was a crucial part regarding a change in alliances and a transformation for lack of a better word (this part is so hard not to spoil) and I felt like that needed some more fleshing out because I still have whiplash from how quickly everything seemed to change.

The magic needs some more fleshing out, for example, how does Henry's blood fuse with Eloide's?? How does that work?? Could one of the other princesses help explain this?? That blood fusion thing was the only question I felt was left unanswered.

Overall it was a good read that was fast moving which I love. You can already tell this is going to gain popularity quickly in YA audiences as its writing is of better quality than most in that category.

Recommend for ages 14-15+ as there are strong themes of blood, gore and death.

*I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. It's interesting that this book is based off a movie screenplay. Last time I read a book based off a screenplay, I hated it, but I don't hate this. This was quite good. I loved the invented language for the dragon. I loved the writing and the world building. I enjoyed the story and I am hoping the movie is as good as this novel.

This book was immensely enjoyable and a great way to warm up for the Netflix show. I am so excited to see MBB bring this incredible lead to life.

2.5 stars. It took me a while to get into this story because of the time it took to get to the action. The set up seemed a little obvious (princess being shipped to a country with little known about it and lots of hints/warnings that something was not right) and didn't seem to fit the character of Elodie whose intelligence and go-get-em attitude I would think would not so quickly fall for a pretty princely face and ignore the obvious warning signs surrounding her. But, once the action happens and she is sacrificed, I was pulled to the adventure and magic. Elodie is such a strong character with compassion and intelligence who is easy to root for while she battles through her new kingdom's ritual. The ending of this story was unexpected and a bit strange, but not unsatisfying. Ultimately there were some elements I struggled with in this book, a lot left unexplained in regards to the magic, but it was a fun read that has me excited and curious for the Netflix version with Millie Bobbie Brown playing Elodie!

Elodie is the daughter of the Duke of Inophe, a harsh land of poverty. Henry is the prince of a far away land of magic, beauty and plenty. When Elodie finds out she is betrothed to Henry as an arranged marriage she sees this as a way to serve both her own land and the new land. Her sense of duty and her compassion lead her to hope for the best. But what she does not realize is that the beauty and perfection of Aurea hides a much darker and more sinister secret. In the hopes of saving both kingdoms Elodie faces betrayal and heartache and finds that the one painted to be a villian is as heartbroken as she has become. The hunter and the hunted must become one for a future to be forged.

This book will have you from the first few pages and will not let you go until the very last page is turned over. At just under 300 pages the book is a quick read, but quick read does not mean it is loosely written. The characters are complex and the action is constant.

I have to say I loved this book!