Damsel Distressed

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Pub Date 14 Oct 2014 | Archive Date 11 May 2018
Spencer Hill Contemporary | Spencer Hill Contemporary

Description

Imogen Keegen has never had a happily ever after. In fact, she doesn't even think they exist.

Ever since her mother's death seven years ago, Imogen has put herself in and out of therapy. When Imogen's new stepsister, Ella Cinder, moves in down the hall, Imogen begins losing grip on the pieces she's been trying to hold together. The only things that gave her solace—the theatre, cheese fries, and her best friend, Grant—aren't enough to save her from her pain this time.

While Imogen is enjoying her moment in the spotlight after the high school musical, the journal pages containing her darkest thoughts get put on display. Now, Imogen must give in to the ever-increasing weight of her pain, or finally accept the starring role in her own life story.

And maybe even find herself a happily ever after.

Imogen Keegen has never had a happily ever after. In fact, she doesn't even think they exist.

Ever since her mother's death seven years ago, Imogen has put herself in and out of therapy. When...


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EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781939392176
PRICE $9.95 (USD)

Average rating from 33 members


Featured Reviews

Final rating: 4.5

Kelsey Macke just slayed me with her words. I can literally feel my heart squeezing while reading Imogen's thoughts. I don't know how to go about reviewing this book. Frankly, this is a book that will linger in my mind for the rest of my life. It made an impact on me.

Imogen is overweight and depressed. She's Ella Cinder's step sister. And she hides in the audio room because she thinks that that's where she belongs. Imogen is such a real character that it scares me. She's engraved in my heart now and I'd be lying if I say that it's easy letting her go because it's not. I cried with her, laughed with her, she shared her feeling about everyone that surrounds her and she even let me know her greatest fears. And I am grateful for that. There are characters that you read, but there are characters that you read.. and stays with you.

Imogen is also Grant's best friend, the sound goddess and a precious friend to have. Grant.. Gosh, how do I even describe Grant? I want to say he's perfect. But he's not. He is absolutely flawed and beautifully made. I have a feeling that I might love him more than Imogen.

This book is stunning. It will break your heart. It made my stomach hurt as I recalled my past experiences, and made me cry at how cruel people can be to others. But this book needs to be read. Bullying and depression needs to be brought into the light.

This is not an easy book to read, but well written, capturing the truth and hardness of high school bullying and where it leads to, the damage it can do. With a cast of characters that you will love to hate, Kelsey Macke has portrayed the bullies in this book exceptionally well.

I enjoyed this book despite it's difficult message and content, a YA book that adults can read, an intelligent book talking about important matters using fiction as the messenger. What happens to Imogen? Do the bullies get the best of her in the end? Will she learn to love herself so she can finally open her heart for other people who wants to love her?

Damsel Distressed is a powerful debut. It's provocative, beautiful and creative. Kelsey Macke is an author to watch out for. I cannot wait to see what's more in store for her readers. I really hope everyone will read this book.

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Adorable. Heartfelt. Emotional. Genuine. Raw. Beautiful.

These are all words that I would use to describe this wonderful debut novel by Macke. She took a retelling, twisted it and made it absolutely her own so much so that you barely see the original story underneath.

Gen is not your average stepsister fairy tale villain and the princess of the story, is not a princess at all.

Macke tackles some pretty challenging, pretty tough emotional issues in this story and she does it with such finesse that it is all believable, all real, and all something you can't help but actually feel right along with the characters. You see their struggles and they become your own insecurities and issues. You feel their pain and you feel their heartache. Their triumphs are your triumphs and their happiness is something you want more than anything.

I loved Grant and Gen and Brice and Jonathan, how could I not feel for them all and love them all for their strength and their character? I don't think it is possible to not fall in love with this story, with their stories.

I absolutely loved every minute of this read and I can't wait to read more from this author.

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This is one amazing and powerful book. If you've ever felt sad and had any insecurities, you will feel connected with Imogen in one way or another and will feel like her pain is your pain.

I am not clinically depressed and I have not Imogen's issues but I have dealt with insecurities before and even if I'm much better know, there's always a lil something in the back of my head, and now dealing with the emotional distress of a massive heartbreak... Reading this book has meant a lot of anxiety flaring for myself too because I was connecting so much with Imogen, but has also meant a lot of warmth and happiness as I saw every little bit of improvement.

Imogen has been fighting depression since her mother's death, seven years ago, and she was spiraling down to clinical depression for a long time, but things have been getting a little better as of late, getting out of the darkest part of her dark hole, but then a new change comes into her life, only with not the best of intentions.

Gen has a stepmother that has very good intentions and tries to help, but it's still an awkward situation for Imogen since she feels like she's a burden for someone without a real obligation towards her, a father that has written a book about living with grief (about Gen's mother) and is more out of the house than in because of promotion and the new addition, Carmella or Ella, the stepsister.

Seems like the stepsisters situation will be once again like the usual ones in the fairy tales, the beautiful one gets the prince and the ugly stepsister gets nothing. And Gen feels like the ugly and worthless stepsister way too often without Ella helping pushing her down with a vengeance. But Gen is not alone, she has friends and she has Grant, her best friend since childhood, the one that has seen all the worst and the best that she has, and the one that keeps on trying to help her out her dark places.

Gen's journey is a very slow and dark one and with her anxiety and her sadness and self-deprecation and self-doubts. She's her worst enemy and her journey to discovering that and to finally see some light at the end of the tunnel is a tough one to read, but it is never without hope and that's a wonderful message to take from this book, mental illness is a real illness, it's not something you can simply "snap out of it" but with time and the right help and people around you that love you, you can find hope again and you try and go towards the light at the end of that dark tunnel.

Very well deserved 4.5 stars to this one, a wonderful and powerful debut. The ARC didn't have all the enhanced artwork and music that the final book will have, and I am very much looking forward to get my hands on a finished copy!

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Damsel Distressed left me speechless. The book is so beautifully sad, yet amazingly inspiring; it's really the only way I can describe how the book left me feeling. There are happy, joyful moments, but there are intense, heartbreaking scenes as well, and each works just as well as the next.

Part of what made Damsel Distressed the book that it is is Imogen herself. Her voice, her thoughts, her emotions, her actions--oh gosh, it was just so...right. I don't know if I've ever connected to a character as much as I connect to Imogen. We both have different issues, but I think that beyond the surface, our separate issues (some of which do overlap) cause us to think in similar ways. And while there are many ways in which Imogen is much more extreme than I have ever been, at the heart, I understood everything or almost everything Imogen felt. There are times you'll be frustrated by her. There are times you won't necessarily understand why she did or didn't do something. But trust me. I've been there. Yes, it's frustrating; yes, it's sad; yes, it's everything you might be thinking. But when you're in that situation, when you're the one that's stuck, you truly understand. And that's the power of Macke's story. She truly gets it. I don't care if you complain about Imogen being whiny or whatnot because trust me when I say that it's almost exactly how I felt. And there have been books and characters that have scratched the surface or have even made a tiny hole, but Damsel Distressed is just something else; it understood it all.

That being said, I feel as if I've been on both Grant and Imogen's side of the issue, and once you read the book I think you'll understand what I mean when I say side. I've been the person in the situation, in that deep, dark hole, but I've also been on the opposite end. I've been the friend that just doesn't know what to do or say. And it's so painful. On both ends. And I hope that if you've never experienced one or both before, you won't ever have to, but I'm so grateful there's a book out there now that addresses both sides. Because as painful as it is, sometimes, at least for me, just knowing that someone else out there understands means the world to me. This book understands me.

Moving on from the sad, dark parts, I'm so glad that there was enough time in the book for the conflict to develop, occur, and then be resolved. I love the pacing of the book, and I'm so glad the effects of the conflicts could really be addressed and explored because oftentimes, books don't leave enough space and time to really resolve a conflict in a reasonable amount of time. The number of times I've commented that a book's conflict was resolved too quickly was not an issue with Damsel Distressed.

And one of the most powerful parts of the novel is the friendship and various other developing relationships found in this novel. I'm jealous that Imogen has Grant by her side (as horrible as it is to say that I'm jealous of her) because I wish I had had that kind of friend when I was at my lowest point. Grant is such an amazing character, and I love every bit of him as a character. I really admire how he sticks by Imogen's side throughout everything in her life. What an amazing friend, and what an amazing friendship. Grant, and all of the other characters in the book, are so well-developed and explored. I loved seeing Imogen's relationships change as she changed and grew throughout the book. I loved seeing how everything had an impact on her thoughts and/or actions later on. I love Jonathan, and I really love Brice and his perspective. I especially love, love, love Antonique. I love how she looks like the type of girl that Imogen hates because she can't be--pretty, skinny, etc--but she's so much more, and she's not the girl Imogen originally took her to be. Just yes! And everyone's flawed in the book, but that's also the beauty of each person, and I LOVE that. Now, I do wish Jonathan's OCD had been explored more, but I understand why it wasn't. I would have liked to see what happened between Imogen and Andrew because I felt like the book was building up to something, and it didn't necessarily deliver. I wish Grant's financial background/difficulties and his own family life had been explored a bit more because we almost never got to read about his personal life at all, but I guess it's not the most important aspect (or perhaps it wasn't what was most important to Imogen). And I do believe there were times when Jonathan and Brice were overly stereotypically gay; I'm sure it was realistic most of the time, but there were scenes when it just felt over the top. I would have loved to learn more about Imogen's stepmother (whose name escapes me at this moment). But let me just say, these flaws were small in the grand scheme of the book. It's not perfect, but then again, nothing's perfect.

The book is just so well-crafted and paced, and it's written in such a hauntingly beautiful way. It's so balanced, and I can't get over how well it understands so much of what I've felt, thought, and been through. I highly, highly recommend this book. It addresses mental illness, self-harm, body image, divorce, friendship, jealousy, and SO much more without being overwhelming. Damsel Distressed is without a doubt one of my favorite books not only of 2014 but ever. The book deserves all the love it can get and then some. Please check this one out! And thank you, Kelsey, for writing this book.

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THIS BOOK.

Can I just leave the review like that? Just read this book. Trust me. The end.

No? Okay… I will say more, even though I don’t think it’s truly necessary. ;)

*Sigh*

Imogen is an extremely fragile teenager. She’s battling emotional issues (including depression, panic attacks, low self-esteem, etc.) that have left her with a less-than-stellar label at school of “emotionally disturbed”. With only her one friend, Grant, she is struggling to keep her head above water and not lose it completely. This year is starting off better though, as she meets new friends, is succeeding in therapy, and is keeping herself busy with theater at school. But this happiness doesn’t last long when she finds out that her father’s new wife and daughter, Imogen’s stepsiter Ella, will be coming to live with her.

Imogen is a character you can’t help but route for. She’s a total mess, and all I wanted to do was be her #1 cheerleader. I have a small understanding of emotional issues, but not to the extent that Imogen was facing them. Her inner demons were mind-blowing, and I just wanted her to find it within herself to stay strong and beat this thing. The secondary characters were equally impacting. Grant was one of the best friends I’ve ever seen in a story. If I had the choice of any book BFF I’ve read so far in my entire life, he would be in my top 5 for sure. I also appreciated the significance of all of the other characters, all playing such an important role in this story. From Brice and Jonathan all the way down to Ella, they each had such an important role in Imogen life; good or bad, happy or sad.

I’m having a difficult time expressing my love for this book without including spoilers. Anyone who knows me knows my hatred of spoilery reviews when it’s not stated. I love going into a book completely blind, and the fact that I did that exact thing for this book made it so important to me. So now I’m going to write a small spoilery paragraph or two just because there are things I want to express my love of, without ruining it for anyone that plans to read this book. (Which should be everyone because this book is THAT good!)
One of my very favorite aspects of this book was the strong family bond, despite the difficulties they faced. Imogen’s father was completely non-existent in Imogen’s physical life, but not by choice. He was working out of town, and thus wasn’t around when she needed him. But man, when she hit rock bottom he was right there for her. Also the fact that it was so important for Imogen’s stepmother and stepsister to come live with her was nice too. At first I really didn’t like Imogen’s stepmother, which I think was the idea. But when times got tough, I couldn’t believe the support she showed Imogen. It was exactly how it “should” be, though so often isn’t.

My only complaint, if you can even call it that, was that I wish I got to know Ella a bit more. Honestly, I would absolutely love it if Kelsey decided to write a companion novel about Ella. We do get to find out a tiny bit about her in a general sense toward the end, but I’d love to know what her life was like before this. She was so cruel and evil to Imogen, yet it was all just a cry for attention. She was suffering herself from so many inner struggles, and the only way she knew how to handle it was to aim all of her hatred and frustration toward Imogen. I felt so bad for her. Yes, I disliked her immensely as well, but really I felt like she just needed some help. The poor thing was suffering herself, and was crying out for someone to save her. Inner emotional demons are really paralyzing.

I’m all for HEA endings, and this one was perfect. I really liked how it all came together. I was routing for Imogen and Grant the entire book, though I would have been happy if they simply remained BFF’s as well. I wasn’t sure which way it was going to go, but I really liked the ending Kelsey chose. I didn’t like that Ella was simply relocating. I felt like they had to work out their issues and get to the bottom of it… but I’m okay with it. These few “complaints” I had don’t change my rating one bit. This book was perfect just the way it was. « Hide Spoiler Damsel Distressed is simply amazing. It’s extremely difficult to read at times, but well worth it. I had to put it down a few times and compose myself because I was a complete mess, but I always went back to it with an open mind and open heart. I honestly learned quite a bit from this book, more than I ever thought possible. I can’t stress enough what a gem this book is. If it wasn’t for the cover that won my heart, I don’t know if I would have read this book. I tend to shy away from emotional disorder books like this, as they tear my heart apart. I’m so thankful that for whatever reason (totally the cover, seriously.) I chose to pick this one up. Before even finishing it I ordered myself a keeper copy. I knew I just HAD to have this beauty on my shelf.

This is definitely one of my favorite reads this year. No, this book isn’t for everyone. If you’re not a fan of contemporaries with quite a few emotional elements, pass on this one. But if you want to be touched deeply, while learning a thing or two in the process, I would say pick up this book immediately. I think it will always have a special spot in my heart.

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I loved this book SO VERY HARD. I was intrigued by the idea of it from the very first minute I saw the cover and read the synopsis. Initially I thought it would be a simple retelling of Cinderella, but it's not. Sure the basics are there, but this book is so much more.

Everyone wants to see a little bit of themselves in the characters in the books they read. While I can't say I completely related to Imogen, I definitely felt like I understood her and, at times, she reminded me of myself. Imogen is insecure in the way that only girls who have struggled with their weight will understand. Her insecurity and issues have reached an extreme though. Most of the time it feels like the only person on her side is her best friend Grant. Grant, who she is in love with and believes will never see her as more than a friend.

All of Imogen's insecurities are magnified when her father remarries and her evil stepsister, Ella, moves in. You wanna talk about a seriously unlikable character? Ella is that. It's been a long time since I wanted to bitch-slap a character like I wanted to Ella. She was manipulative and bullied Imogen. She tried to steal the one person who means more to Imogen than anyone else in her life. It's here I have to give HUGE props to Kelsey for not taking the story down the road I feared it would go. I think had Grant fallen for Ella's charms and this turned into THAT book, I would have thrown it aside because that story has been done to death. Grant was too smart to fall for Ella's manipulations and that just made me love him even more. Grant really is the swooniest of all swoony book boys. Anyone know where I can find a guy like this (albeit quite a bit older) for myself?

Even with the bullying Imogen was suffering at Ella's hands, there were so many beautiful and wonderful moments in this book. They're mostly between Grant and Imogen and, if I'm completely honest, I was all kinds of emotional reading several of these scenes. There are times when my heart felt like it was being ripped from my chest, and others when it swelled so much I feared it would explode. I loved reading along as Imogen found her place and way in the world. I finished the book with a giant smile on my face and a tear in my eye.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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I had to take a step back and ponder a little after reading this book, but I mean that only in the best of ways. I think I felt every emotion ever felt by a reader while reading this book, and I wanted to bask in the beauty of such a well crafted and singularly touching novel. Now that I’ve had a chance to sit with my feelings (and oh- there were so many!) I’m ready to put together a more coherent review.

First off, I cannot imagine a single more endearing and heartfelt character than Imogen Keegen. She’s absolutely everything you could possibly ask for in a protagonist. She’s wounded and emotional, yet snarky and smart. She’s a good friend and a dutiful cast mate. She’s the kind of character that you want to be friends with in real life! She’s that girl you just want to wrap your arms around and tell her everything is going to be okay, even when all signs point to the idea that they might not be. The author takes Imogen on a complete journey, and although she falters along the way, she comes out on the other side a more complete and well-rounded person. I cried for Imogen. I cheered for Imogen. I hated for Imogen. In short, I absolutely adored Imogen. She’s unlike any character I’ve ever read in YA, and I loved her.

The secondary characters in this novel are every bit as complex and well developed as Imogen, and I found myself identifying with each one of them. Grant is swoon-worthy and geeky, all at the same time, and I dare you not to crush on him. Even Ella Cinder- the by-all-means evil stepsister, has more dimension that meets the eye. I fell in love with the extremely likable cast of characters and friends that surround Imogen at school and in the production of Once Upon a Mattress and my heart broke when unforeseen circumstances come between them. Every character has a purpose in this novel, and you’ll fall in love with every one of them.

Damsel Distressed handles some very important topics, including depression and self-harm, but it does so with extreme care and tact. There are greater lessons about fitting in and loving yourself evident in the text, but it never once feels didactic. It is simply an honest portrayal of one girl’s struggle with very real problems.

I highly recommend this novel. It is exemplary contemporary young adult with a compelling voice and well-crafted characters. I was taken on the full emotional journey in reading Imogen’s story, and I think that readers everywhere will love her as much as I do.

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