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.

Damsel

kelsey

she was of the sun and from the sun. she was not a plaything of this little man.

so this is dark dark fairytale. with dragons!!! and i loved it.

tw: animal death, sexual assault,

*A 2018 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.

Sarah Sammis

He got what he deserved. 

990066 - S/M city offroad

Anna Troughton 

Wow did this book make me RAGE. I am just so confused because while I really didn't like it I couldn't put it down, although towards the end I was about ready to be done with it! It really did just killed the inner feminist inside of me to read this book and I kept waiting and hoping that something would change towards the end but the ending left me rather unsatisfied if I'm honest. While it took the direction I was hoping for it somehow fell kind of flat to me. However, I will say that the writing style and atmosphere was so good it made me want to keep reading but its not something I enjoyed reading.

Chloe Verhoeve

2.5/5⭐️

I went into this book completely in the dark, I had no clue what it was about. The plot sounded interesting enough to read it.

But after only a few pages it became very clear that this book wasn’t for me. I was not a fan of the world where women are only vessels and that’s it. 

The only reason this has 2.5 stars and not any less is because of the ending (no spoilers!). I must say I kinda saw it coming but I was still glad it turned out this way.

Ashley Wendt

DNF @ 33%
First of all, I have to say, the cover is beautiful! I love this cover. However, I tried to slug along through this and I couldn’t get through more than a few pages at a time. I couldn’t stand the writing, and I couldn’t stand how pompous and simple minded the author made the Prince/King sound. I normally try to avoid reading reviews while I’m reading a book, but I had to go back and see if I missed something about this book when I bought it. The reviews confirmed my suspicions in both the positive and negative reviews. I’m all for feminism, but using feminism to shame ALL men and society frustrates me. I won’t be finishing this piece of propaganda trash, especially when it is marketed to Young Adults and pulls in young girls with a pretty cover.

Margaret McFarlane

*4.5 

TBH not sure why this is YA. I did not have any problems with how descriptive this book was/ how heavily Arnold uses exposition. beautifully written, thinking about this book and Ama makes me ache but also I feel VERY satisfied with how it wrapped up.

Emily Gonzalez 

probably the worst book i’ve ever read. so weird.

Jana Jenkinns 

Listened to the Audio book and definitely one to add to my physical library. I loved the feel and atmosphere of this book. Stay tuned into my blog for a full review!

Carley Whitehead

“One should not make a pet out of a wild beast.”

Samantha Hamburger

After trying to read this book and struggling, multiple times, to get past page 30 I finally gave up. I can't say I'm sad about that either considering I just finished reading the reviews and spoilers.

While this book is marketed as Young Adult this book is anything but that! There are no trigger warnings anywhere to make the reader aware of what they are getting themselves into. Thank goodness I stopped because I probably would have been sick.

Trigger Warnings Include:
Beastiality
Self Harm
Rape
Animal Harm
Gaslighting

If ANY of those area a problem for you PLEASE find some reviews that include spoilers. That way you are prepared for what you will be reading.

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.

Damsel ()

Grace O'Callaghan

*4.5 ⭐️

CW: Suicide, rape/ sexual assault, animal abuse, self harm, mental and physical abuse.

I am honestly blown away by this story. I was really interested throughout, but the ending was phenomenal, even though I probably should have seen it coming.

Ama only knows what she’s been told by Prince Emory: That he saved her from a dragon and now she will be his destiny and the new queen of the land. A typical fairytale beginning, right? Well it gets a lot nastier from there as Ama tries to figure out her past and what came before she was the Damsel whilst learning that Emory is not as nice as he appears.

• Ama starts off as a Damsel but grows into something far greater. She doesn’t have much development, but it’s intentional in my opinion. You have to read the story to know what I’m on about.

• The writing felt like stepping into a fairytale. There were so many vivid descriptions and it took a long, meandering approach which fit perfectly with the tone of the story. I can’t wait to read more of the author’s work.

• If you’re looking for a complex plot, this isn’t the book for you. It’s a very typical fantasy setting, but that’s the point. It’s to put on full display the flaws of old fairytales and the misogyny in them. It’s also more of an introspective book and about Ama’s emotions than an action packed fantasy novel.

• The whole theme of this book is why I’m giving it such a high rating. The princes of the world go on a quest to defeat a dragon and bring back a damsel to become king. It’s so incredibly sexist and the way in which women were used and referred to truly made my skin crawl. They are vessels to be filled and it is the men who fill them. They are there to listen and obey, where the men are there to make and mould and be obeyed. I felt so disgusted reading this book so please don’t read this if you are easily triggered.

I also want to quickly address that many people have said this shouldn’t be in YA and I kind of agree and disagree. I am in the age range of YA and I definitely think it is for the older end of the spectrum, but I think that it is YA. I don’t think it’s about age and rather maturity and I think it’s for the reader to decide what they can and can’t handle.

All in all, a wonderful look of misogyny and darker topics in a typical fantasy setting. I can’t say that it’s reread worthy as I feel like the ending makes the story, but I’d highly recommend reading this.

Nickie Mohler

When the king dies, his son must "slay" a dragon and save the damsel. Then he becomes king and marries the damsel. That's the tradition anyway. 

This book is disturbing. The story itself was ok, but the many references to the prince's "yard" were crazy. I actually laughed at those parts although I don't think that was the intention. The women are just property or "vessels ". Like I said, disturbing. That stuff aside, it was ok.

Renee Delcourt

DNF @ Page 54. I could not get into the characters. Emory was really frustrating to me where he kept thinking about his sex life when he was essentially on a quest to "save his maiden". The style of writing in this book was kind of frustrating. It was attempting to be lyrical, but honestly fell flat. Maybe when I really need something to read I will try it again.

Heather Solov

More like 3.5 

*content warning for: rape/sexual assault, abuse, animal harm, suicide, & self harm.*

What an interesting, disturbing, yet oddly satisfying little book. It wasn't until the end that I actually started to somewhat enjoy this book....though enjoy isn't the right word. This is such an interesting take on the damsel in distress story with a weird take on feminism woven throughout. 

I think I need to let this one sit for a bit before I determine if I want to keep it on my bookshelf.

Celia Adams

THIS BOOK GAVE ME SO MUCH ANXIETY I COLD LITERALLY FEEL THE PAGES SLIPPING AWAY AND MEANWHILE I AM ABSOLUTELY DYING LIKE WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN.

So yeah, a few months ago I met some 14 year old girls buying this book in a Barnes & Noble and I warned them away based on stuff I heard and now having actually read the book, I stand by that decision. This is not a book for the young and innocent.

HOWEVER, this book is, as one review called it "exquisitely written and furiously feminist" and I am HERE FOR IT. This was not just dark twist on a fairy tale this was very, VERY dark take on a fairytale, emphasis on dark, and I was so enraged and empowered and incited by reading this book I'm not sure my heart could take a reread.

The plot twist was like, a little predictable, but that doesn't matter nearly as much as the journey, which even though could be kind slow, was absolutely gut-clenching and heart-pounding in fear and anticipation.

Natascha Dahl

** spoiler alert **
           I really liked this book but I feel like I figured it out way to fast. I am not sure if the reader is supposed to figure out directly that she was the dragon because I dot that from the moment she gets fever. For me the mystery just disappears. And there for it looses a star for me. It was not a wow feeling for me.

Damsel

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