Thank you to Ballatine and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. I have seen some of the small clips for this Netflix movie which got me intrigued and seeing the novel come out based on the screenplay made me want to read as I almost always like the book better than the movie. Since the movie has yet to come out, I cannot yet judge but I was pleasantly surprised of how much work went into the language of the dragons and the background of Elodie before she became a princess. Seeing her brain and body work together along with the additional perspectives of other princesses, the queen and people in Aurea gave great background and made me want to keep reading. It may be "woke" to have a capable princess who does not accept her fate but this is what we need in fantasy. Too many people just let it happen and a story needs a protagonist to have agency. I can only hope the movie is as good as the novel.

If you are looking for a fairly short and sweet paint by the numbers type of fantasy, then this is the book for you.

The legit twist is the plot for the book but my god you could feel it coming 800 miles away. To the point where I seriously thought that it couldn't be the twist because it was too obvious.

Do I like the fast that it was women helping women? Sure! But it was all so generic that I didn't love it.

Also -- I'm sorry, but in Arrival, it took a while to figure out languages. Granted, she didn't have the aliens yelling at her and translating, but also it was so odd that the dragon spoke "english" as well as ... uh... dragon. Like if the dragon wants her to be terrified, just speak "english" and if not, just eat her.

Also her special power? I'm sure they described it earlier on but... well.

Shucks.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Worlds for a chance to read and review.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, in exchange for an honest review!

I went into this book with high hopes, but ended up disappointed. The beginning was just ok and I found myself getting really bored and struggled to even find the motivation to pick it up. Some of the plot points were very repetitive, so I just skimmed through a lot of it. I ended up DNFing after multiple efforts to push through. It felt EXTREMELY YA, which just isn’t for me. Perhaps younger audiences will have better luck with it than I did. I have read plenty of fantasy YA books that I have enjoyed in the past, but this is unfortunately not one of them. I might watch the Netflix show to see if it was adapted better for television than a book.

Actual rating: 1.5 stars
Tropes: fantasy romance, arranged marriage
Very suspenseful had me intrigued (only in the beginning)
Too many POVs, this was way too hyped up
More excited for the Netflix adaptation tbh, even though the book seems too short?? The Netflix adaptation has Millie Bobby brown, and I’m excited to see the simulators (the movie will be better than this I’m sure)

In Damsel, our main character Elodie is equal parts socially awkward and naive. She comes from a poor country called Inophe, where her father is a Lord and she helps him take care of their people. When a prince from a rich country asks for Elodie's hand in marriage, she's excited to say yes, knowing what it would mean for her country to finally thrive.

Until the night of the wedding, when her charming prince of a husband and his queen mother throw her off a mountain as a sacrifice to a dragon. Elodie isn't the first sacrifice to the hungry beast, but she's determined to be the last.

I loved Elodie, and I loved reading her story. She might start out as a doe-eyed princess-to-be, but by the end of the book, she's every bit of a badass warrior imaginable. I loved her relationship to her family, and how determined she is to save herself for them.

I didn't see the ending coming AT ALL, and while I have some… opinions about part of it, I thought the ending was beautiful overall. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this book at first, but it absolutely blew me away. And I can't wait to see the movie!

Let me start off by saying I had some very late nights lately because of this book. I would read it until I couldn’t see straight then force myself to read just a little bit more. I thought that it was a bit different having a book that was commissioned to be based off of a screen play instead of the other way around. This book was written on the basis of the screenplay of a Netflix movie that is set to come out in 2024 staring Millie Bobby Brown of Stranger Things fame. Even knowing that I still envisioned the characters differently than what the future film had them cast. The writing is very atmospheric detailed.


Damsel starts out with our main protagonist surveying the country she loves, despite it’s hardships, with her father, when a convoy shows up from an illusive wealthy island country. It is then that the new was broken to Elodie that Lord Bayford has arranged for her to be married to the prince of this country. But she does not fret because it will benefit her country and it’s people greatly.


After a brief courtship via letters Elodie and her family set sail to Aurea. Three days after the long journey in which Elodie was lavished with beautiful gifts she wed Prince Henry. She was anointed a Princess. And she thought her life would be a beautiful fairytale. But she was dead wrong. On the night of the wedding she found that the riches and handsome prince came at a cost and the cost was her blood given to a blood thirsty dragon.


Damsel is the penultimate damsel in distress story. But the biggest twist? This damsel saves herself, her sister, and the future of Aurea effectively replacing the monarch and prospering.


This book is full of so much fear and strength. It was suspenseful to the point of my own heart pounding along with Elodie’s. I feared for her, cheered for her and rejoiced with her. The ending was 99% satisfying as a certain monarch, I feel, didn’t get what her deserved. But that is where Elodie shines. She gave them the choice to succumb to the fate of the dragon or flee. I bet you can guess which one was the weasel. But She gave them the choice and it was noble.


This book has everything a great YA fantasy should and more. It was immensely better than I thought it would be and I give it a solid 5 stars. I loved this book from beginning to end and I wouldn’t change a single thing. well maybe that one thing 😉.

I recieved a copy of Damsel via Netgally for a fair and honest review.

"A price must be paid."

ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

TW: animal death, blood, body horror, child death, claustrophobia, death, death of a loved one, fire/fire injury, grief, injury/injury detail, misogyny, stillbirth (not of a human child, but it's still unpleasant), violence, vomit.

This was such a cool concept, that unfortunately missed the mark for me.

On the one hand, I love what the author was trying to do here. She took tons of fairytale tropes and wanted to turn them on their heads, giving depth and dimension to nameless archetypes. The focus of this story primarily turns to the unity of sisterhood, whether by blood or just through the historical challenges faced together.

There were moments that this was so well-done that I wanted to applaud them.

On the other hand, this book was not my favorite. Other than the concept and the message of sisterhood, I can't think of very many aspects that I liked. I struggled with the characters, with the plausibility of the plot (I understand it's fantasy and some things were explained, but I still find it hard to believe that no one knows what this kingdom does in exchange for its prosperity if it has been doing it for centuries), and with the jarring - at times really gross - descriptions of things.

And then there was the end.... Clearly I can't say anything about it without spoiling, so I will be very brief and simply ask: why was that the decision made here? I know what the message was supposed to be, but was there no other way to do it?
I feel like I just watched a spin-off of Once Upon a Time and the reveal at the end was something only they could have come up with.

All in all, with all of my negative feelings, I see the good in this book. It definitely reads a bit on the younger side of YA - which I didn't mind - and I know there will be probably be a lot of people that love this. I'm sad it didn't work for me, but thankful I had the chance to read it anyway.

Elodie grew up in a famine-stricken realm, so she accepts a betrothal to Prince Henry of Aurea in exchange for her family getting wealth. She's taken in by the beauty of her new reclusive home as she goes through the rituals to become an Aurean princess. Odd things happen, then she discovers that Aurea sacrifices its princesses to a hungry dragon. Elodie is to be the next sacrifice, but the prior women left behind a legacy that might be the key to Elodie’s survival.

This story is being picked up by Netflix, and I can see why. Knowing what we do about the plot, we understand the glimpses of others who fear for Elodie even as she tries to be kind and learn about her new homeland. Everyone knows what will happen, and the price of Aurea's bounty; it becomes an ethical question, and even the anti-royal faction can't quite address the problem of the dragon in the kingdom. There isn't even a wedding night, so Henry doesn't get attached. Elodie was a working duchess, however. She had worked hard to protect and care for her people, so she won't go quietly into that good night. Or dragon's maw.

This is going to be an amazing series. Elodie is good at puzzles, languages, and mazes, so she's able to navigate the labyrinth that was the dragon's home inside old lava tubes. She somehow has the ability to see memories in blood when she touches it, maybe because Aurea is soaked with magic from the dragons. She wants to be free and while exploring for an escape learns what happened in the beginning, and tries to figure a way out. The solution isn't what we think it is, and I loved it. That sequence is going to be spectacular when done, it's amazing enough to read. A really fun and exciting book that I look forward to seeing, too!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced copy of Evelyn Skye's fun twist on the damsel in distress trope; which is where I assume the name itself came from! I was so excited to dive into Elodie's world-- full of other such literary staples-- the wicked stepmother, the dragon to slay, etc. However, it was clear early on that this tale was not one of a Disney princess. Instead, we find a pair of sisters who wind up being the 'love story' (though familial it may be) in a cold and judgmental world.

Elodie is the daughter of a duke in a land that has fallen into famine and drought. This Lady cares so much about the people her father presides over, and goes above and beyond for them time and time again. Though she is sheltered in her castle, that does not stop tragedy from having befallen her. She and her sister, Floria, have been neglected by their remaining parent after their mother died, and have been each other's rocks ever since. The surprise of a lifetime comes when Elodie is told that she has been betrothed to a prince in another kingdom... one that is flourishing and resplendent. Nothing is as it seems, though, and Elodie quickly realizes she is next in a long line of sacrifices to keep a dragon happy.

The character development here is fantastic. We see Elodie as she goes from naive girl to scrappy fighter; using the strength and memories of the women who came before her to grow and change into the woman who can save herself. The magic system is also easy to grasp and unique-- just as distinctive as the language of the dragon itself. I loved seeing the author really play in the space and make this book something to remember. I am very excited for the film version, and to see how it translates. I feel like readers and watchers alike will relate to Elodie and her struggle in a world that looks down on her for her gender.

So good! Again, this was a unique book for me and it deserves more praise! I wish it hadn’t taken me so long to finish it but it was worth it! The cover is absolutely stunning as well

This one was so good. I can not wait to see what Netflix has done with it. As I think that this is just one of those stories that will do well on screen. With a lot of the descriptions etc. I think I will die hard love the show. The book was a great tale that I could not put down. I enjoyed the journey and hope to read more from this author soon. The characters were all there and well formed and the plot went along to each point and was never stagnate.

Could be an interesting read for a younger YA reader (who is able to handle mature elements - gore, sudden death, etc).

I was curious about this book for two reasons. First, it’s a “direct to Netflix” story, in that it’s a novelization of an upcoming original film. I find this process intriguing. There was a similar situation with Cursed - in that case, I didn’t read the book but I watched the show (and wow, that was a wild ride). Second, the title and synopsis seem similar to the book Damsel by Elana Arnold, a widely controversial novel that I found to be engagingly written, at least. If this book taps into any of that same vein, then it’s something I need to pick up.

Overall, it’s alright. The writing is pretty sparse - hence the recommendation for younger readers (I remember really enjoying some of the author’s other books, and I was 14 or 15 at the time) - and there’s several POV shifts / scene breaks that feel like they’d work out cinematically but feel abrupt in a book. The main plot hinges on a big, long-standing secret, and it is in no way explained how it is kept for so long or why the people who know about it haven’t acted on that knowledge.

On a positive note, the story does seem like it would make a good 2 hour film.

**Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC**

When I requested this, I didn't realize it was a tie-in for a show on Netflix. Media tie-ins aren't always bad, but it's far more likely for them to fall on the lower end of the ratings spectrum.
The setting felt generic (generally, the more unpronounceable the place name is, the less I enjoy the book). It throws every trope in the book at the book: mean stepmother, loving but doddering father, handsome prince with a secret, etc. I know tropes are big on TikTok but that doesn't mean authors must or should make their books' appeal equal the tropes it contains. Today's teens have many other more sophisticated (and more enjoyable) YA fantasies to choose from.

Damsel is a fantasy novel about a young woman sacrificed to a dragon after an arranged marriage to a prince.

Elodie is the daughter of a Duke and her family is responsible for a barren land called Inophe. The country has suffered year after year of drought and their people are hungry and barely getting by. But an intriguing offer comes from a land far away and Elodie is given the opportunity to marry the prince of the prosperous country of Aurea. But when Elodie and her family arrive there are some hints that things aren’t quite what they seem despite the lushness of the kingdom. What she doesn’t know is that the royal family has made a bargain with a dragon and for 800 years they have sacrificed one princess after another to keep their land safe. But Elodie isn’t going to go down without a fight and she uses her wits and clues left behind from the first doomed princess to save herself.

This novel was based off the screenplay of an upcoming movie of the same name. There is a lot of food for thought about sacrifice and the morality of offering up a few to save the lives of many. I appreciated Elodie’s ability to not panic and pay attention to her surroundings and the clues left behind by the first princess. But I could have done without some of the convenient abilities (reading blood) and helpful magical creatures (healing glow worms) which made the stakes seem lower and took me out of the story. The ending also went a direction I wasn’t expecting and maybe it will make sense on film but it wasn’t a satisfying conclusion to me.

Overall, this is an easy to read and entertaining Princess vs The Dragon story. There were some nice touches (a completely new dragon language was created just for the book) and a strong thread of sisterly love. I wish it had a different ending but I still look forward to seeing the movie.

Plot : 7/10
This was an interesting take on the classic story of a hero saving a damsel (haha) from a dragon. I liked how much of the story was devoted to Elodie simply surviving. The sisterhood she found in the princesses who had come before her was wonderful, and it worked really well for worldbuilding and plot development even when Elodie is trapped away from everyone.

Unfortunately, it just took way too long to get there. It was around a third of the way through the book before Elodie is even sacrificed. I probably would've been much more involved in the building of tension if it weren't established what happens to her in the summary and on the cover. Getting through those first ~100 pages was a slog. Once I got into it, I was much more into it, but it was mostly the action. There isn't much intrigue in this book, and everything is pretty straightforward. While I definitely liked the 'twist' (you'll be able to predict it a mile off), it isn't explained enough, and the whole ending feels pretty rushed.

There's nothing wrong with simpler stories, and I think the big picture for this book is quite good. Most of my issues with the story could be fixed by allotting maybe 30 pages from the beginning to the ending, and then it'd be much better.

Characters: 8/10
Elodie is a distinct, likable character. She has a strong personality; her devotion to her people is admirable, and her loyalty comes through well. Her struggles in the cave are compelling to read, and she has complex relationships with multiple characters that go beyond just liking or disliking someone. Her connection to her younger sister, Floria, is sweet, even if it sets unrealistic expectations for sibling relationships.

Elodie's family, which consists of her sister, Floria, her father, Lord Bayford, and her stepmother, Lucinda Bayford, are interesting, particularly Lord and Lady Bayford. I do feel like Elodie's connection with her father could have been explored more, but I loved her and her stepmother. Their relationship wasn't perfect, but them coming to understand each other was great.

The villains, Prince Henry and Queen Isabelle, were potentially interesting characters but ultimately underdeveloped. I would've loved to see more about their motivations, especially Isabelle. Henry was raised in this culture, but Isabelle married in—why did she decide to let it continue?

Writing Style : 5/10
For the most part, this book is written in a way that neither stands out nor falls short. I appreciate the decision to have all the perspectives be women since this book does emphasize that it is all women who are sacrificed, despite that not being necessary. Unfortunately, the different perspectives are pretty similar in terms of voice. The characters are distinctive, but that mostly comes from their actions, not their voice. This is most egregious in Floria and Cora who, despite being much younger than the rest of the cast, speak the same way as them (no nine-year-old is speaking like that).

Meaning: 5/.10
This book touches on and has the potential to go much deeper into the issue of violence against women. Elodie is rightfully furious when she discovers the sacrifices must simply be of royal blood, not specifically princesses, but it doesn't really go much further than that. Why? Why would it have to be princesses? What does it say about this world that so many women disappear and no one notices or that people willingly sell off their daughters like they're valuable objects and nothing more? I feel like the rushed pacing contributes to this; this book just didn't have enough space to properly explore all its possibilities.

Overall 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
This book was just pretty average. The big picture of the book was quite good, I really liked Elodie as a main character, and the character relationships were interesting. However, this book falls short in a few different ways. The pacing was too slow in the beginning, and then too fast, not allowing for the characters or message to be explored enough. I must admit, my standards going in were high since I once another book called Damsel dissecting the same sort of story, so I was a little disappointed. A decent read, but really not anything special.

What if instead of rescuing the princess from the dragon, the prince feeds her to the dragon and leaves her to fend for herself?

This book has a great premise, and I was excited going into it. However, the characters are flat and unrelatable, and the writing in the first third of the book felt very juvenile and unpolished to me. As a reader I felt no connection to the characters and had a difficult time caring about their motivations, even as plainly as they were laid out. Many of the characters had opposing personality traits, such as Elodie being this wonderfully strong feminine character who can take on the world, only to follow everything she's told once she arrives in her new kingdom. Other characters were presented with only one trait, and that's all a reader ever knows about them. Floria is a bubbly young girl, her father a charismatic but foolish duke, her stepmother a strict authoritarian. They could all use a little more personality to make them enjoyable and relatable.

Overall, the story is missing something that would make it great. Whether that is in execution of the plot, the world building, character development and growth, something else entirely, or all of the above, this doesn't quite hit the mark for me. This is also going to have a hard time finding a target audience as it's not quite YA, but also not going to be a good fit for adult fantasy readers. I would say the key audience is New Adult, but with a few tweaks it would fit better as a YA book with a couple of parts removed and a change of age for the MC.

I received this title via Netgalley.

Thank you to NetGalley for proving me with this ARC. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Elodie is the daughter of a duke in a country ravished by droughts and poverty. She would do anything to save her people, including an arranged marriage to Prince Henry of Aurea. In exchange, Aurea provided food to Elodie’s people. Over the course of a few months, Elodie and Henry exchange letters and Elodie starts to fall in love with him and is excited to start a life with him.

Once Elodie and her family arrive in Aurea, Elodie is spoiled with the riches of the kingdom, a complete 180 from what she was used to. On her wedding night, the queen takes Elodie to perform traditional Aurean wedding rituals, which, unfortunately for Elodie, are not what they seem. She finds herself being thrown into a dragon‘s den where she fights for her life. She doesn’t wait to be saved, she saves herself because “my destiny belongs to me, and I I will decide what that

The story is targeted towards a YA audience and contains themes typical of the genre. You see Elodie come into herself and grow while trying to survive and you see her save herself rather than waiting to be saved. If you can not move past not being able to completely relate to these themes, then don’t read the book. Not being able to relate to the themes didn’t bother me because I absolutely loved the story and characters.

Overall, the plot flowed nicely, but some small parts did feel out of place when compared to the story as a whole. I didn’t feel like it dragged to the point where I had to stop reading and pick it up later. The characters were very well developed and relatable, which is a large part of novels. Poorly written characters drag a book down but this is not one of those. You can really connect with Elodie and feel what she feels throughout the story.

I absolutely loved the relationship between Elodie and her sister Floria. Elodie would do anything for her sister, regardless of how it affected herself. Their relationship also shows how Elodie is passionate about protecting those she loves and can be seen in her actions to save her people.

I thoroughly enjoyed the amount of time and effort the author dedicated to the world building. The grammar, syntax, and phonology dragon language was a nice touch and it was very interesting to see how much the author put into it. World building is a huge part of novels and this one was done beautifully.

I loved this story and the characters. I can’t wait to watch the movie when it comes out to see their portrayal of Elodie and how they do certain scenes from the book.

Most movies are adaptations of books. Damsel by Evelyn Skye is the rare occurrence where they wrote the screenplay for the movie and then got the idea to write a book based on the movie. Because I don't pay as close attention as I should, I didn't know this when I started reading it, but that in no way impeded my enjoyment of the story. If the book is even remotely close to the movie, the movie is going to be very entertaining.

Because it is a movie adaptation instead of the other way around, Damsel is not a complicated story. At its core, it is a simple young adult action story. The damsel in distress saves herself and the kingdom while discovering the big bad dragon is not as bad as misunderstood. It is a basic story formula that always works when done well.

What I particularly enjoy about Damsel is that it tackles the trolley problem, albeit with dragons and princesses instead of trolley cars and pedestrians. It is a difficult conundrum that most adults struggle to answer. I like that it is part of the story, but I am not certain Ms. Skye truly answers the question. Instead, she finds a clever workaround to obtain the required happily-ever-after ending. Rarely does real life have such options, but then again, it is a story that involves dragons. We left real life a long time ago.

If Ms. Skye's version of Damsel is true to the movie, I look forward to watching the movie. Elodie is fierce, unrelenting, and loyal, and I know Millie Bobby Brown excels at those roles. I'm excited to see how they depict the dragon and its warren of caves. Even with its twist on the trolley problem, Damsel is pure entertainment that should work well on the screen.

Damsel had a cool premise. I am always up for a book in which the damsel is the strong one in the fight against the dragon. It had some nice twists too, I especially liked the ending, which I did not expect but felt was nicely satisfying. The Aurean royalty is despicable for their practices! The story was a bit awkward at times and had a few plot holes (like how it was not a secret about the sacrifices but still no other kingdoms knew or talked about it?) and seemed to me to range from children's story to young adult (with the violence). Elodie was too self sacrificing in the beginning with trying to save her people but I am glad she came to her senses and deciding being eaten by the dragon was not the way to go. I liked her relationship with he sister and eventual one with her stepmother. And once I got to the halfway mark or so (when Elodie was learning about the other princesses and trying to get out of the caves) it was hard to stop reading.

So, yes it is a book with some faults but it made for an entertaining read and I think the movie will be fun to watch too!

⭐️⭐️.5

This story had good bones:

•kickass leading lady
•different magic system, but not one that's so complicated I need to be caffeinated to understand
•fashion
•betrayal
•parents who aren't infallible
•a dragon

But it went sideways. The characters & the story unfortunately were incredibly 2 dimensional. There wasn't a lot of humor, just some cringey moments. I'm hoping the show is much better!