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I saw the near 600 page count and thought, "There is no way this isn't just unedited bloat. I've seen enough bad booktok bait books to know this." Then again, those books aren't The Damsel.

The Damsel is a combination slice-of-life action-adventure heroine story, Spider Gwen meets The Truman Show. Our leading lady is Sara, a blonde and powerless person in a version of our world that caters to what is basically Kryptonians if they were all transplanted from Krypton before their star went supernova (speed, flight, laser eyes). As an underpowered person with unique blonde locks, she is destined to be fought over and viciously coveted, because anyone who protects a Damsel is considered the height of moralism, virtue, and power. But also, a spectacle that must be filmed; a position thrust that Sara utterly resents. She has always aspired to be a hero, powers or not, as she believes people should do more with the abilities they are given.

The Damsel is ultimately a story about proving ones worth and defying expectation regardless of circumstance and disability. As noted, Sara's considered to have a rare disability that leaves her underpowered, of which others find whimperingly fascinating. What isn't explicitly outlined but clearly hinted at, Sara also is level 1 on the autism spectrum as well as a lesbian. Author Jun covers inclusivity organically and without preaching. The novel has Sara of the future telling a story to her show's director, mostly starting when she's forced into the public eye by going to high school in her late teens. Being singled out as different leads to relentless and relatable levels of bullying, and I can't help but contemplate how much of the author's experiences influenced some of the encounters. To say the least, it was gripping, organic, and made me want to cling on to this story for the finale to see if the Damsel will achieve her goals of being more than just a precious object stored in a tower and become the hero she always wanted to be.

There's very little to remark about when it comes to flaws in this story. Author Jun excels at unreliable narrator, and while the reader might be able to read through the lines, it is intended to be narrated this way to give it a personal feel. As a YA novel, this isn't exactly YA for the current teenager demographic. Many of the references are targeted towards Millennials (but since the majority of people reading YA fiction are for some odd reason 30+ year old white ladies (I'm guilty, and yes, this is a stat. Look it up), then this might not be a problem.) The climax feels fast, almost rushed, and this is only because the general length and building of a proper training montage and so on is being used to develop Sara as a wannabe hero.

This is an amazing read. I've always loved Emma Jun's work, and is a stellar example of her work. I emphatically recommend it.

I saw the near 600 page count and thought, "There is no way this isn't just unedited bloat. I've seen enough bad booktok bait books to know this." Then again, those books aren't The Damsel.

The Damsel is a combination slice-of-life action-adventure heroine story, Spider Gwen meets The Truman Show. Our leading lady is Sara, a blonde and powerless person in a version of our world that caters to what is basically Kryptonians if they were all transplanted from Krypton before their star went supernova (speed, flight, laser eyes). As an underpowered person with unique blonde locks, she is destined to be fought over and viciously coveted, because anyone who protects a Damsel is considered the height of moralism, virtue, and power. But also, a spectacle that must be filmed; a position thrust that Sara utterly resents. She has always aspired to be a hero, powers or not, as she believes people should do more with the abilities they are given.

The Damsel is ultimately a story about proving ones worth and defying expectation regardless of circumstance and disability. As noted, Sara's considered to have a rare disability that leaves her underpowered, of which others find whimperingly fascinating. What isn't explicitly outlined but clearly hinted at, Sara also is level 1 on the autism spectrum as well as a lesbian. Author Jun covers inclusivity organically and without preaching. The novel has Sara of the future telling a story to her show's director, mostly starting when she's forced into the public eye by going to high school in her late teens. Being singled out as different leads to relentless and relatable levels of bullying, and I can't help but contemplate how much of the author's experiences influenced some of the encounters. To say the least, it was gripping, organic, and made me want to cling on to this story for the finale to see if the Damsel will achieve her goals of being more than just a precious object stored in a tower and become the hero she always wanted to be.

There's very little to remark about when it comes to flaws in this story. Author Jun excels at unreliable narrator, and while the reader might be able to read through the lines, it is intended to be narrated this way to give it a personal feel. As a YA novel, this isn't exactly YA for the current teenager demographic. Many of the references are targeted towards Millennials (but since the majority of people reading YA fiction are for some odd reason 30+ year old white ladies (I'm guilty, and yes, this is a stat. Look it up), then this might not be a problem.) The climax feels fast, almost rushed, and this is only because the general length and building of a proper training montage and so on is being used to develop Sara as a wannabe hero.

This is an amazing read. I've always loved Emma Jun's work, and is a stellar example of her work. I emphatically recommend it.

Halfway through the book it went the way of Dune, where obvious bad guy who already sold off one of the good guy's sisters into servitude is also a gay rapist with a penchant for pretty faces and younger men. It's bad enough the one female representative up to that point is a one-note woman who only exists to be the acquisition of the main character and also only wishes to be the main character's acquisition. (There is Joanna, but she shows up for 5 minutes and serves only as the "Mom" role.)

Because of the above noted, this isn't a YA novel. Hiero grabs and tries to cut off one of the character's penises in an attempt to demasculate him (first sign of this not being a LGBT-friendly work (and the first clue that this author is anti-LGBT. Wish I'd known earlier before buying it.)). And as I've only gotten halfway... It was clearly noted that a boy was in sexual service of a lord. That in turn said slightly older version of that same character included noted groping. Later, more rape of another character, and then the explicit detail of that character's hands being forced onto the noted "hard" penis of the antagonizing villain and stroking. There's probably more. I was done. Age range on Amazon is recommended as 13-18. NO! Absolutely not.

Rep here is just bad. The age range is misadvertized. Had to put it down.

*After this post, the book was removed from the YA category and the 13-18 age range.

Other world science fiction. A small "first contact" collective lands on a habitable world several light years away from Earth in hopes of discovery. What they find is a psychic planet plagued by the omnipresent All and a peoples and ecosystem exploited.

I like this genre of science fiction because it's always interesting to see what lifeforms and ecosystems the authors can come up with, and this one was no exception. The struggles of communication and connection with the crew were an ongoing theme and felt realistic as any other. Through their willingness to eventually connect with the world around them, they learn what is really driving the sentience of the planet and who is in it for keeps.

Premise wise, great. Writing wise, not so awesome. This needs proofreading, particularly in the quotes, commas, and paragraphs category. Sometimes I couldn't figure out who was talking because one of the three went missing plus the head hopping. Other vexation, the speed of the story. It plods at the start and ramps up with new events and new antagonists so rapidly towards the end that they are barely introduced before the narrative twists again. This meant I couldn't be invested in any particular character narratives outside the first few introduced by chapter 2.

The world building is intriguing. The linguistic struggles are realistic. If you're the type to be interested in a novel for those constructs, you'll be pretty happy reading this.