Estelle Laure's new young adult novel is Mayhem.At Tor.com she tagged five top young adult fantasy and horror stories that are "part feminist revenge fantasy, part catharsis, [and give] the reader a chance to delineate important boundaries and cheer along with their protagonists when they firmly draw the line." One title on the list:
Damsel by Elana K. ArnoldRead about another entry on the list.
At first blush this looks like a familiar story, one of a girl who awakens to find herself being rescued from a dragon’s lair to a castle by a handsome prince. But things quickly take a turn. She has no memory of a self, no family to speak of, and doesn’t even have clothing. She is given her orders, expected to submit to the prince’s will in all ways, to bear him an heir and carry on thetradition: prince saves girl from dragon, girl belongs to prince, girl has sex with prince, becomes queen, and never leaves the castle again. Happily ever after? Except that this damsel is far from happy. She would like to know where she came from and why she can’t remember who she is, or was. She has questions about the system, how this all works, how one queen leads into the other, and she does not take kindly to the prince’s advances. As the balance of power between them shifts and the prince sets out to show her that she has none, she begins a relentless search for herself that puts herself in danger, but perhaps not as much as the prince and the entire system he represents. This is an excellent choice for anyone who needs a visceral warrior cry.
--Marshal Zeringue
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