Damsel
Author: Evelyn Skye
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating: 3 stars – I liked it!

Damsel is a dyed-in-the-wool fantasy – I’m talking princesses, knights, kingdoms, and dragons! It’s an action-packed, multi-layered story that delves into the questions of are the villains who we think they are and what creates and motivates such abhorrent choices. The story is mainly told from Elodie’s point of view, the poor nobleman’s daughter whisked away to a golden kingdom. She’s eager to marry the handsome prince and live in a kingdom blessed with splendor, while providing for her less-than-blessed home. However, there are inklings that not all is as it seems and on her wedding night, she discovers that her true purpose is to be sacrificed to a dragon to keep that kingdom prosperous. But Elodie doesn’t intend to go quietly, and using the tools and knowledge left behind by previously sacrificed princesses, a daring adventure of life, death, acceptance, and power begins.

It took around 100 pages before I really got invested in the book. Some setups can be slow, and I found the cookie cutter characters off-putting at the beginning. However, once the story started delving deeper and deeper, I appreciated the reveals from who the characters seemed to be to who they really were. I read them as stiff and surface deep because the rest of the story is meant to chip away at that façade until the raw core remains.

The title Damsel is a nice nod to how this book would have been written a few (maybe even not that many) decades ago – damsel in distress – to how women in literature have evolved – I dare you to call me damsel. True to that nod, the point of view’s were all women, and through those POV’s we even catch deep glimpses of how the men (father, prince, king) are affected by the events and heavy burdens. But it is the women who carry on. It is the women who fight and strive and achieve victory.

While Elodie is an obvious choice of most outstanding character, I found myself drawn to Lucinda, Elodie’s stepmother, by the end of the story. She isn’t a likeable character at first, even one I considered potential evil stepmother material. But further and further along, the reader comes to understand that Lucinda is a mother, regardless of blood or words. She’s just awkward, uncertain, and insecure. It was a nice close to the circle for her.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves being on a cliff’s edge of a character’s adventure, needs a rad, bad dragon in your life, and wants to see what defeat and victory look like from a twist ending. #IDareYouToCallMeDamsel #womanpower

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I love a good high stakes fantasy story about a princess! When I found out about the Netflix movie I was THRILLED that Netflix is doing a princess movie, and a dark one at that. Even more excited when I found out there is a book that expands on the movie. I just LOVE stories about princesses in general and I jumped at the chance to review this arc.

“On the eastern side, deep green orchards and gentle fields of grain stretched as far as the eye could see. On the western side, a majestic violet-gray mountain reigned, its head crowned by clouds and stars. A golden palace sparkled under the adoring light of the moon.”

I can only imagine how stunning this will look in the film version.

What’s interesting about this book is that the majority of it is like one giant scene instead of multiple scenes. The bulk of the book is her escaping the dragon’s lair and trying to escape the kingdom, so if you were hoping for anything additional outside of one giant escape scene, you won’t get much. This isn’t my preference at all (I need more plot than just one giant scene!) however, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and enjoyed every page. It’s not the most original plot line, but it works. It’s gripping, high stakes, and will have you flipping pages into the night to get to the end.

There is what I consider a plot hole though. Is it not suspicious to Elodie and her family that a chivalrous kingdom wants to help a poor, starving duchy and ally themselves through a marriage alliance, and get absolutely nothing in return? Logically, anyone would wonder, why would a prosperous, rich, kingdom would want to ally their prince in marriage to a poor, drought stricken duchy with no military that is a 63 day journey away by boat. The book addresses it…but doesn’t give a reason and the characters show zero suspicion. Like, come on. No one is THAT dumb to not be remotely suspicious at all about this. At least make up some reason that they claim for why they want their Prince to marry Elodie? It’s like they’re not even trying to hide the fact that she’s going to be a sacrifice because they had zero excuse in case someone asked why they’d want to give their resources in alliance to a poor duchy and get nothing in return. Not that they needed to because Elodie and her family were not even remotely suspicious. This is a massive plot hole and too convoluted to be overlooked because sorry, no one is that blindly optimistic and dumb. (No idea if the movie addresses this or not, but the book doesn’t give any explanation at all other than “they think Elodie is a well educated lady”.)

Also, 3 princesses a year is a large amount, too large to be logical for them to get away with it. It happens too frequently for word to not get out, and wouldn’t you eventually run out of kingdoms to get sacrifices from? Idk. Logistics.

Despite what I think is an annoyingly convenient plot hole, the writing is super pretty.

“The anthodite flowers filled the room with a heavenly floral scent, and the moonlight glittered prettily off the crystal-like petals, casting pale prismatic rainbows on the gold walls.”

This fantasy novel is dark, violent, and high stakes enough to leave you feeling unsettled in the best way. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

As a YA novel, this hit the perfect notes. While simplistic in it's plot, there are interesting things to note about the world and the magic in the world.

I did find it odd that she just abandoned her country that she cared so much about.

This was a movie tie-in and I am definitely looking forward to watching the movie, however, it does kind of start in the middle of everything for me and I wish we got a bit of background on the characters before we jumped straight into the action scenes. Overall, a fun movie tie-in, and it definitely got me interested in seeing the movie, but that was about it.

This hits the ground running but not in a good way. The first half of this really needed more time devoted to the characters and relationships present. I love when a book has a lot of non-stop action but I would also like to understand the characters more than just "This Elodie, moving on". I thought that the pacing (because of the weirdly fast start, slower 2/3 in, and then rushed ending) was kind of jarring with it's inconsistencies. I can appreciate that in this instance, in this world, the adaptation was planned out before the novel was, which is probably why it feels like it would do better on screen than on the page. Overall, not terrible but not great.

The first 1/3 of this book was extremely shaky with almost no time given to character development. The action begins immediately and it feels like lots of opportunities to understand the characters and the world are lost, particularly Elodie's family dynamics and Inophe's challenges (social, political, and economic). Of course, the readers know a key aspect of the plot that Elodie does not, but the big twist for her is introduced with no subtlety and the devastating reality feels muted as we experience it with her. From a suspension of disbelief point of view, there are several inconsistencies in the continuity of the story that just do not make sense. However, once the action gets going, the story takes on a compelling, almost addictive quality. Given how I felt about the first third, I was surprised at how completely invested I quickly became. The last 2/3 has interesting elements and some characters do become more three dimensional. The ending was satisfying and wrapped everything up nicely (except some of the continuity holes). I know that with this universe, the adaptation was planned before the novel. I almost feel like the book would be more successful if it had been written on its own and then chosen for adaptation. Although the beginning was rough, this book has several solid, unforgettable moments. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a good adventure with lots of action (and who doesn't mind losing out on a good bit of exposition).

Content Warning: self harm, injuries, violence

I love this book cover and I was intrigued with the synopsis and the fact that this is going to be a Netflix movie. This is what I thought:

+ I like how the story starts off as a fairy-tale, Elodie is about to marry a prince and their union would help her drought, water-starved country and people. Her prince is the gorgeous and everything seems to be going perfect…until it’s not!

+ Elodie is a very strong character and she has to be since she is thrown into a horrible situation. She perseveres and survives because she loves her sister. There is a very big theme about sisterhood and feminism in this story. And Elodie is the one to change the tide for females in this story.

+ I love all the action because it was unexpected. There is a sense of doom the more the story carries on and there is a lot of action! Because of the action, this will make a good movie.

~ This story was not what I was expecting. There is no romance, but I think that was okay. The bulk of this story is Elodie struggling to survive. It’s a very quick read, with the action moving the story at a fast pace but I just felt like I wanted more from the writing. I felt like this is for younger YA readers.

~ The ending was interesting and surprising but I felt like it was rushed.

Tropes: girl saves herself

Why you should read it:
*you love a survival story in where the girl, who is supposed to marry a prince, saves herself
*lots of action – would translate well into the movie

Why you might not want to read it:
*wait for the movie instead

My Thoughts:

This one was an interesting read full of action, which I enjoyed and a character trying to survive for her sister. I wasn’t really engaged in the writing, and I have read The Crown’s Game series from this author and I feel like Damsel but the way it’s written makes it definitely apparent it’s going to be a movie. And I think it will be an entertaining movie!

I enjoyed this way fantasy! It had a fast paced plot, exciting action and satisfying ending. It was a little different than what I was expecting but I’ve heard it was almost written in the form of a screen play. So overall I enjoyed it and I think it will definitely make a good movie.

CONTENT WARNING: blood, gore, death, death of a parent, grief

I read this as a buddy read with Julie @ One Book More, and I’m so glad that I did. To be honest, I would have struggled more with this one if I didn’t have someone to discuss it with as I read through it, and Julie was the perfect person to talk about this book with, since she noticed a lot of the same things that I did, and she kept me laughing with a flood of hilarious gifs in our discussion thread.

I really enjoyed some parts of this book. My favorite thing about it was the relationship between Elodie and her sister Floria. They are two smart young women who are very close and devoted to each other, and I love the way that they interacted together. These two sisters rely on each other for support and comfort and guidance, especially without a mother, a father who is present but doesn’t quite show up for their emotional needs, and a stepmother that they haven’t really bonded with. Elodie is also really devoted to the people of her lands, and consistently goes above and beyond to do anything that she can to help them in any way that she possibly can.

The book is going to be a movie, and the way it’s written comes across as being better for the screen than as a book. The writing is really on the young end of YA with a fairytale feel, although there is some emphasis on Elodie’s prior sexual experience and her desire to get some action with the prince, so it felt a bit strange. I would have liked to see more depth in the story and the characters, and I guess because it’s written more for the screen, there’s a lot of telling rather than showing, for much of the story. We’re told that Elodie is smart for so much of the book, but it isn’t until really close to the end that we actually get to see Elodie being smart in action.

While the world-building was intriguing, the book felt overly full of tropes to me. And it didn’t quite disguise the fact that there were some major plot holes in the story. I was hoping that they’d be fixed by the time the book ended, but alas, they were not. However, the story was fast-paced and I wanted to find out how it ended. Ultimately the ending felt like everything wrapped up a bit too neatly, and although I was fairly happy with how things worked out, there was one thing that left me out of sorts and upset. In the end, this book wasn’t quite a good fit for me, but I do think that the movie has some good potential, and I’ll be looking forward to it!

There are certain aspects of Damsel that I really liked. The writing is immersive, and the protagonist is compelling. I love the relationship between Elodie and her sister Floria. They have such a beautiful connection, and that never wavered. I also like how Elodie and Floria’s relationship with their stepmother Lucinda grew and changed. They all have big realizations about their bond once thrust into a life-or-death situation.

There are also some great messages about strength, sisterhood, and forgiveness throughout the story, and the plot is very fast-paced and suspenseful. It’s engrossing and high-stakes, and I was really interested in seeing how Elodie would be able to save herself from the dragon because it was pretty clear no one was going to help her.

Elodie does receive help in places where she least expects it. The story includes many chapters from the points of view of princesses who came before her. These chapters reveal what happened to them after they were sacrificed to the same dragon, and they offer a bit more detail into the history of the kingdom. I love how Elodie uses their knowledge and stories to survive.

However, the story very much reads like a screenplay, which makes sense since it started as a screenplay. There were A LOT of plot holes, and I found myself having more questions than answers when I finished the story. I also felt like the story lacked development. I think that’s why I had so many questions. Everything felt very surface level, and I wanted more – more character and relationship development, more world-building, more…everything. That being said, I appreciate how the opulence and good cheer in the kingdom contrasts the depravity and moral bankruptcy of its leaders and the complicity of its citizens. It’s an interesting juxtaposition.

The story feels like it was written for a younger audience, minus the scenes that brought up Elodie’s sexual experience and excitement to be intimate with the prince. Those scenes felt out of place contextually in comparison to the rest of the story and made me wonder who the story was geared toward.

On a bright note, I do think this will transition well to film, and I read the Millie Bobbie Brown is starring in it alongside Angela Bassett and Robin Wright (Yay Princess Buttercup!). I’m intrigued! Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

Fighting for her life is not what Elodie imagined when she agreed to marry the Prince of Aurea. Wooed by his kind letters, she agrees to the arrangement as it will help her poverty stricken country with wealth and resources they could only dream of. When Elodie is taken to the top of the mountain as part of the wedding ritual, and dropped into the vast cavern, she suddenly realizes the betrayal and and horror of her situation. She becomes the hunted prey of the dragon that lives in the mountain. Her fight for survival is nothing but miraculous as she is assisted by past princesses, through their blood on the walls that share memories with Elodie. Memories of where she can safely hide from the dragon and find edible mushrooms and clean water.
In her fight for survival, she learns that the kingdom of Aurea bargained with the dragon to provide 3 sacrifices a year in exchange for peace and prosperity and that this has been going on for generations. The betrayal of her father, knowing what was to happen was a harrowing and heartbreaking realization. Discovering the surprising outcome will keep readers engaged until the end (if they like this sort of novel).
A grim story of survival with a strong and resilient female character makes for an interesting story. Probably not everybody's "cup of tea".

1.75/5 stars. I didn't even realize when I started reading this that it's being produced as an upcoming Netflix film. I'm struggling with how I feel about this book. On the one hand, I love a well-done damsel in distress fights her way to freedom story. But on the other hand, there is little to know worthwhile world-building here. The origin of the story seems sound but I feel like the author wasn't sure how to get to her ending so she just started throwing things at the wall and seeing what stuck. I have enjoyed other books by this author so I'm not sure what happened here. Some reviewers are saying 'well its YA so...' but I disagree with that argument. I have read some YA fantasy novels that were highly complex and ornately designed. This is much more juvenile than the majority of those. May young young readers, (3rd-4th grade) could enjoy this perhaps. I'm nervous to see if Netflix allows this flat of a story on screen or if their graphics teams are going to make the backdrop and world-building so much more magnificent so the story can try to match it.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Elodie is a duke’s daughter from a very poor, drought-stricken duchy. While her father just seems to be a friendly, good-natured man, Elodie is the one who watches over the people and the land. And she loves her people. When a prince from a far-off land wants to marry her, in exchange for food and water, it seems to be a blessing for the duchy. The written correspondence with the prince seems to form a good bond before they even meet.

When Elodie and her family arrive at the Aurean Kingdom they are treated to feasts and Elodie is given expensive gifts. But soon there are hints of a darker side to this marriage. I thought it a bit extreme to place Elodie alone in a tall tower, but that was just the beginning of her odd treatment.

I liked the beginning, but then the story seemed to drag a bit towards the middle and was just a simple YA story. By the end, there were enough surprises that I couldn’t stop reading, wondering how Elodie was going to survive and what would the future be for this kingdom. And since there is no surprise that a dragon is involved, I looked forward to her interaction with the dragon. It wasn’t until Elodie was dropped off at the dragon’s door that I really became interested in the story, and then I couldn’t stop reading until the end of the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the arc of Damsel. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wow, what a journey! The summary of the book was interesting enough, but also lead to the question, if I know of the ending, why should I read this? It's easy to say that if a princess is sacrificed to the dragon, and you are reading about it, you will get a HEA or not. Simple. Many might be interested, just because it is marketed as a new Netflix hit with a famous actress. I was interested because of that. Being a fan of other YA dystopian and fantasy fictions, such as Hunger Games series, many readers will also find themselves engrossed with the journey of Elodie, and cheering for her until the very end.

I can see that this is a YA directed book of fans of Game of Thrones, clear as day. I was honestly surprised with the amount of detail put into the gore and distress in a YA read, bravo! The novel has many unexpected twist, turns, and redemptions for characters as well which were unexpected in both a good and cheesy HEA way. Keeping in mind, this is directed at YA, I have no complaints. Yes, the ending might be over the top, and a bunch of bologna to some older readers, but remember, Aurea is a land of magic.

Something that I don't see often is language lessons in books. Towards the back is the language used and lessons on how to speak it. Many times I DNF a book that has a complex grammatical language(s) in a world building fantasy novel that is just too much when I am expecting a light read. This book checks the boxes for a slow build into the magic world as well. Perfect for a light fantasy escape.

The story plot sounded really good. I do think maybe they shouldn't have mentioned the dragon in the description. It lead me to knowing what was awaiting her and just waiting for the shoe to drop. Elodie seemed like a selfless and smart leader.

I'm not sure how to accurately state the pacing. Chapters were not overly long. Then we would get flashback chapters that would be a page or two long. During most of the book the pacing was a tad slow but then something would happen leading into a lot of action.

The main character is Elodie. She is the daughter to the duke of Inophe. This is a draught ridden kingdom that has caused the country to be more on a bartering system than that of money. The people are used to a harsh climate and hard life. Elodie has been training since her mother died ten years ago to take over the dutchy. She cares for her people, tries to make sure that they can receive all that she can give for them to survive. We will also see chapters from her younger sister Floria, step mother Lucinda and Queen Isabella. Also there will be chapters from other ladies that paved the way for Elodie's story to end.

In Damsel Elodie's father the duke has arranged for her to marry Prince Henry of Aurea. She agrees to this match as Aurea has agreed to send grain and other foods to Inophe to help their people. Elodie is willing to possibly sacrifice her happiness to be able to provide for the people. She is also willing to learn and do whatever is needed for the people of Aurea. On her wedding night she learns exactly what that price is. Now in mortal peril Elodie refuses to give into the fear and danger. She vows to be the princess that survives. Through the paths left by other princesses before her, Elodie fights with everything she has to get back to Floria.

Elodie was told to us as such a smart character, a creator of mazes, someone who was athletic and strong. However after arriving at Aurea and the way everyone was acting so very sketchy but she didn't catch on. I get being awkward, thinking what you said might have been uncouth but there were several times when it was obviously something else.

I did enjoy the way the story ended. If only those actions could have happened originally the kingdom of Aurea could have been far less bloody. There are some questions I have with how some items came to pass though. Other parts were a bit of a stretch to believe even with magic but we will let them go. The story came to a joyful conclusion for all the females involved. While I didn't love the book I liked what the author was trying to do with the story. As this was a movie story line first she did have to stay within certain plot parameters. I think if this hadn't been a movie things could have been changed that would have made the story make more sense.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars. Rounded up to 3 stars. This book was written from a screenplay of a Netflix series, and that was apparent. I think this will be good on film, but it seemed like there was too much going on and not enough development or backstory.

I found the first bit of the book to be slow, and I had trouble getting into the book until Elodie is thrown into the pit and meets the dragon, probably because that part of the book is all action, and more in line with a screenplay. I found several parallels between Damsel and other books, namely Amarantha’s trials in ACOTAR, and I found the concept of bringing new sacrifices into a seemingly charming family to continue the bloodline and feed a monster reminiscent of Mexican Gothic.

That said, the ending was surprising, but if I’m being honest, I’m a tad confused about how shapeshifting came into play. Using blood to view others’ memories I could get behind since it was explained as magic and introduced multiple times, but physical transformation was abrupt and undeveloped.

All in all, I probably would have enjoyed this as a teen and I think it will make an entertaining show, but it didn’t knock my socks off.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC!

Full transparency: I DNF'd at 25% or so. I couldn't get into the story, I didn't really like any of the characters, the writing wasn't that great. I really wanted to like it but it just wasn't good. It definitely is face paced and I think it might have been too fast for my taste.

Damsel is a fast-moving and compelling story of Elodie, a gutsy and capable princess from a parched land who considers herself lucky to marry Harry, prince of Aurea, a rich, lush, fertile island...until she learns that her marriage is a sham and really, she is to be thrown to a dragon as part of a sacrifice.

And so, without any debate about why we are still producing books in which princesses are tossed as sacrifices to cranky dragons, Elodie is plunged into a chase to the death, in which she uses her intellect and athletic ability to attempt to outsmart the dragon. But when she finally breaks loose, her would-be husband, intent on competing his deal with the dragon, kidnaps her sister and tosses her to the dragon as bait. Elodie does figure out a way to deal with a dragon AND with Henry, but it's a twist you wouldn't expect, in which everyone gets what they had coming.

This book is a fun ride while you're reading it, but I do prefer books in which the dragons are multifaceted partners rather than rather flat evil predators.

I wanted to enjoy this but found it to be not what I was expecting. I couldn't get into the story or the characters and found the writing a bit off.

*Received as an ARC from NetGalley*

As a lover of YA fantasy, unfortunately overall this one was not for me. I could see young teens responding more to this book, and I think I'm a bit aged out of this one.

My positives: the book starts out solid, and our lead character Elodie's relationship with her sister Floria is quite endearing.

My negatives:
• The book reads like a script - there is a lot of "showing", and not a lot of internal development or subtext. After learning that this was indeed a script for the show first, and then developed into a novel, it now makes sense.
• LOTS of tropes. Felt like they were all thrown in without being properly developed.
• Glaring plot holes.
• I was a bit troubled by the way Elodie was presented in certain instances. It felt like in order to make her seem unique and strong, it was at the (negative) expense of how other women typically behaved. Especially if this book is to be targeted toward's young women, I feel there are more positive and constructive ways to make your main character seem "unique" and different.

All in all, I think there are other books of this genre and age range that make for a more impactful and nuanced read.