Damsel

Locations
Call Number: R Printz Honor 2019, Teen Fiction / Arnold, Elana
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Kids Reference 0-week checkout	R Printz Honor 2019	0-week checkout	Library Use Only
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Teen Fiction / Arnold, Elana	4-week checkout	On Shelf

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.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Probably shouldn't be marked as YA... submitted by cekandera on June 14, 2019, 1:59pm While this story follows the very traditional fairy tale format, it is so much more. This is more of a commentary on society and how women were and are treated by those in charge. Content warnings for pretty much everything: sexual assault, rape, physical abuse, emotional abuse/manipulation, suicide/self-harm, animal abuse, violence and gore.

Feminist Fairy Tale submitted by bll1010 on June 16, 2019, 9:15pm I really enjoyed this novel. I picked it up because it was a Printz Award finalist and I have never even heard of it. I can see why it got the attention of the committee, though I suspect that it was a controversial decision to put it on the honor list. It follows a fairy tale format with a prince who rescues a damsel from a dragon as the prince does generation after generation. But the story is really a feminist look at these fairy tale tropes, taking the perspective of the princess who cannot understand where she came from or why she feels an increasing desire to be free of the prince and his kingdom. There are some mature moments, but I disagree with the previous review. I think this book absolutely should be classified as YA. I hope that many teens will pick it up, read it and think a lot harder about the tales and legends that they've heard as they grew up, and whose perspective they usually represent.