Synopsis:
A damsel in distress takes on the dragon herself in this epic twist on classic fantasy—a groundbreaking collaboration between New York Times bestselling author Evelyn Skye and the team behind the Netflix film Damsel.
Elodie never dreamed of a lavish palace or a handsome prince. Growing up in the famine-stricken realm of Inophe, her deepest wish was to help her people survive each winter. So when a representative from a rich, reclusive kingdom offers her family enough wealth to save Inophe in exchange for Elodie’s hand in marriage, she accepts without hesitation. Swept away to the glistening kingdom of Aurea, Elodie is quickly taken in by the beauty of the realm—and of her betrothed, Prince Henry.
But as Elodie undertakes the rituals to become an Aurean princess, doubts prick at her mind as cracks in the kingdom’s perfect veneer begin to show: A young woman who appears and vanishes from the castle tower. A parade of torches weaving through the mountains. Markings left behind in a mysterious “V.” Too late, she discovers that Aurea’s prosperity has been purchased at a heavy cost—each harvest season, the kingdom sacrifices its princesses to a hungry dragon. And Elodie is the next sacrifice.
This ancient arrangement has persisted for centuries, leading hundreds of women to their deaths. But the women who came before Elodie did not go quietly. Their blood pulses with power and memory, and their experiences hold the key to Elodie’s survival. Forced to fight for her life, this damsel must use her wits to defeat a dragon, uncover Aurea’s past, and save not only herself, but the future of her new kingdom as well.
Synopsis:
I really enjoyed the film version of Damsel, which is why I wanted to read the book. Both versions have their merits, the lore of the book is way deeper than the film, and even though the dragon’s reasonings are slightly different, I did quite like the film’s adaptation. Obviously a film is much shorter than a book so it will never have as much world building but the book gives you more reasons to believe that Elodie could survive this ordeal. The film showed Elodie as growing up in a beautiful land as a privileged daughter of a lord. Whereas the book has her homeland as a draught-ridden desert with struggling citizens. That small change makes such a huge difference to her character.
While I can appreciate the work the author put into the dragon language, I think the flow of action scenes would have been better if, once you find out Elodie has deciphered most of the language, it was just written in English rather than showing both. The language was cool though, don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t even begin to fathom creating an entirely new language.
I really enjoyed the chapters and flashbacks to the other princesses that got thrown into the dragon pit. The blood magic flashbacks (or whatever you’d call them) were a great way of learning more about the dragon without needing Elodie to figure everything out herself. I think it would have gotten pretty boring if that was the case.
Now, I’m not saying Damsel is the best YA fantasy I’ve ever read, but I do think it was pretty good. I’m not one of those people that will read a YA book and then complain because it was ‘so YA’. Like yeah, that’s the whole point. This is quite tropey but a lot of those tropes are used with a twist. Instead of slaying a dragon, Elodie empathises with it and uses its power to get revenge. The end of the book is still a little confusing, as I think it was different to the film, but hey, it’s pretty cool. I’d recommend checking this out if you enjoyed the film.
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