Title: Sugar Plum (Damselfly #0.5)
Author: Jennie Bates Bozic
Year Published: 2013
My Damselfly Review
My Damselfly Pre-Reading
Synopsis: At six inches tall with gorgeous purple wings, seventeen-year-old Sugar is the spitting image of a fairy - and that makes her the perfect spy.
It’s the year 2081 and the USA hasn’t been united for five years. Now it’s divided into three bitterly feuding sections - the West, the East, and the Mids, and thousands of families have been separated by the conflict. In order to figure out how spies are crossing from the right coast, the West is targeting caravans of families crossing the Mids illegally. Trouble is, the crossers are hard to track, and that’s where Sugar comes in.
Every week, she and hundreds of others like her are packaged as Christmas tree ornaments and “donated” to poor children. If they’re lucky, they’ll end up with a crosser kid and dig up valuable information about the clandestine caravans while their wings serve as a tracking device. If not, they fly back to the Candy Factory for reassignment. Wash, Rinse, Repeat until they’ve served enough missions to earn their freedom.
When Sugar is placed with a crosser kid named Clara, she quickly discovers that the conflict is more complicated than she thought. Clara’s uncle and his family were assassinated and now her parents are running for their lives. Every second that Sugar remains with the family, she puts them in danger. If she leaves, she’ll surely be caught and lose any chance at freedom. If she stays, she might lose everything.
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Review: A PSA before I get into my review: This little novelette is FREE on Smashwords (which, if you haven't used it before, supports all types of ereaders and is totally legit). At the time I wrote this post, Sugar Plum was $9.99 for Kindle, and I honestly couldn't explain that to you. So definitely check out Smashwords first. It's also free for Nook (straight from B&N), so I don't know what Amazon's deal is...
I really enjoyed Damselfly, so imagine my excitement when I stumbled across a novelette set at the same time in the same world with the same types of little people. I'll give you a hint: I was totally stoked. I was so excited to meet another six-inch tall girl and learn more about Lina's world.
In Damselfly, we see little to none of the USA. A few glimpses of Hawaii and that's about it. So I thought it was really interesting that, while Lina thinks she's the only girl of her type, the US has created these little fairies to use as spies. It kind of gives a whole new depth to fairies and makes the traditional ornaments seen around Christmas totally creepy, but (apart from shrinking people down to six inches and giving them wings), actually sounds like something that isn't too far-fetched. It's kind of scary to think about, but it's not like we're not all being watched all the time anyway. Just... not by fairies.
Sugar is a really interesting character, and I'm really excited that this is just her introduction. I felt like this story kind of just ended and didn't resolve much of anything, but I'm honestly ok with that because I found out there's going to be a sequel to Damselfly and Sugar will be reintroduced in it. So hooray! I enjoyed that this story was set in the same world, but in a totally different location and focused on a completely different character. I can't wait to see how Sugar and Lina meet, and what adventures they will have.
I would definitely recommend this story to anyone who read Damselfly, since it expands upon the world created there. I would also recommend the series to anyone who loves sci fi and fairy tale retellings. It's a great series, and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. 3/5.
--Ashley
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