It's a Kind of Faerie

Damselfly by Jennie Bates Bozic

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am having mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it is beautifully written with an interesting premise and a good general sense that thought has been put into creating the dystopian world of somewhere in the 2060s. On the other hand, the plot felt a bit weak at times, and certain events did not sit well with me. Why, for example, in a world where people are starving to death would lilliputan people - essentially faeries - be considered a sign of hope for the future? Unless they were being bred as spies, they would serve no other purpose except as scientific curiosities. Which is, indeed, what Lina is - a scientific curiosity.

Despite being sentient and intelligent, human in general form and figure, she is treated like a pet, a novelty, a being with no rights or will of her own. Lina, of course, rebels against this. She behaves at times courageous, rebellious and selfish - all typical of the teenaged girl she really is. The six Toms, from whom she is supposed to choose a mate, are an interesting cast of characters - well, at least two of them are, the others are treated as basically peripherals, with little more role than to make up numbers. I also wondered at times if the author had taken the diminutive stature of her main characters into consideration - what effect would the high altitude of sky-diving have on such a small body mass? (How high do songbirds fly?). Would the 6-foot wave they surfed upon not be a treacherous, unsurmountable mountain? Of course, with wings, there's always an escape route - but do wet wings work?

Overall, the storyline was interesting, the protagonists and her situations making for a compelling storyline and the concept was intriguing however, like many dystopia novels, it is another that does not stand up well against over-analysing and over-thinking the premise.

I could not help but feel that the story is not yet finished (a sense clarified by the "Damselfy #1" tag above), and that there will be other tales to tell. I do rather want to know what Blue's issues with Lina were, and would like to see more of Shrike. The ethical and moral aspects were intriguing too, and I would like to see them explored in more detail.

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