Damsel by Elana K Arnold

Damsel

by Elana K Arnold

*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 Of

The 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 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.

Reviewed by shannonmiz on

4 of 5 stars

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You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

This is quite a unique, feminist fairy tale! First- let me just put out a trigger warning for... Idk, literally everything? Perhaps I should have made more note of this as I was reading, but I didn't, so just... lots of awful junk goes down, but if you are able to read it, it does lead to a story that will make you as furious about our misogynist society as you need to be.

It poses, at first, as a quaint fairy tale, with a prince and a dragon. Though you can kind of tell that the prince is a bit of an asshat from the start, he isn't wholly awful. At first, anyway. But I think that's part of the genius- he isn't the most awful, so he thinks he's a real swell guy. (Don't worry, the story delves much deeper!) It's dark to be sure. The stuff that happens to Ama, that happens to all the women, isn't pretty, and it isn't pleasant. But of course, everyone wants Ama to accept it because that's "just the way things are". Which... who among us hasn't heard that line of B.S. before?

I really think that this is a story best experienced with knowing as little as possible going in, so I am done. The only thing I'd have liked a little more of is possibly a stronger connection with Ama, but overall I absolutely flew through reading this. It wasn't as much the story (though I did enjoy the story itself too!) as the idea that the author truly understands how it feels to be... well, not a man in a male-dominated society. It's a feeling of someone hearing you, in a sense. 

Bottom Line: Definitely dark, definitely unsettling, but absolutely worth the read if you're game. 

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 11 September, 2018: Finished reading
  • 11 September, 2018: Reviewed