Date Published: March 14, 2023
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating: ★★★☆☆
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.
SYNOPSIS
"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."
MY THOUGHTS
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.
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