Reflections of Lilje Damselfly by Natalie Kelda

A review by INFAMOUS🦀

 

What first earned my interest for this novel was the cover. This is perhaps one of the most gorgeous book covers I’ve seen in quite some time and it was drawn by hand – not AI – by the author herself, who told me she practiced for three years to draw like this. Absolutely beautiful cover, in my humble opinion. It immediately sets the mood for something with an ancient background, something legendary we are about to dive into.

Is the story just as mesmerizing as the cover is? Good question, and the answer is ‘Yes… for the most part’.

PLOT:

The story is set in (early?) 20th century England and centers around a real-life water nymph, Lilje, who has lived for many centuries in a forest pond, in perfect harmony with her surroundings, along with her father, also a nymph. Things escalate when she is taken against her will by a team of humans led by a woman named Victoria. Trapped like a fish and transported into a cistern on wheels carried by horses, Lilje is frightened at first, later confused about this whole affair until she finds out that her father is collaborating with Victoria. You see, Lilje – though immortal – has been feeling increasingly ill with unexplainable aches and pains. This woman, Victoria, thinks she knows a cure, but it involves treatment at her own spa miles away from Lilje’s forest pond. Lilje quickly finds out that her father and Victoria have been acquainted for quite some time, in fact they’ve had a relationship beyond the platonic.

Lilje’s time at the spa turns out to be not what readers may expect. Will the treatment offered by Victoria heal the nymph of her ailments? You will have to read the book to find out!

WHERE THE STORY SHINES:

I can tell you with confidence that the strongest element of this story, what makes this book so compelling, is the way the author conceptualized and put together the essence of ‘what it is to be a water nymph’. Lilje is not just some pretty girl swimming in water. The attention to details regarding what a nymph would be like, look like, act like, what she would think and feel, is where RoLD truly shines. The nymph doesn’t just live in water, rather, she has a symbiotic relationship with water itself and with all life that spurts out and around the pond. It is a thing of beauty reading how her life in the pond is a true perfect ecosystem, in a sense; a harmonious environment where Lilje is linked to water at a molecular level, even. Water is life to Lilje. Water nurtures her, keeps her radiant and immortal; but water is also her best friend. She can communicate with all flora and fauna in and around the pond: fish, insects, plants, flowers. Lilje is described as something that is more than human, one with her elements, and these descriptions are so vivid, readers won’t be able to stop flipping pages.

NEGATIVES:

I know this might divide some people but I don’t care (there’s a reason why I’m called INFAMOUS!). There were elements in the story that I felt were out of place and even annoying, most of the time. Specifically, Lilje’s sapphic relationship with one of the inn maids, Mel. I find the whole LGBTQ-whatever thing very tiring at this point in time. The story could avail of true friendship development without having to get ‘sensual’, necessarily. This reminds me of the overall trend we’re seeing in modern fantasy, whereas two characters of the same sex are seldom portrayed as just very good friends – like Frodo and Sam in Lord of Rings, for example. In a lot of modern fiction, it seems as though if two same-sex characters think of one another, care for one another, would give their lives for one another, then the relationship inevitably MUST be sexualized at some point and to some degree.

The truth is that Lilje and Mel could have become very good friends without the unnecessary sexual tension and the story would have gained an additional layer of depth, in actuality. This is just my opinion – love it or hate it.

CONCLUSIONS:

RoLD is a well written novel with elements that go from outstanding and exciting (the nymph’s life at the pond) to tiring and cringe (lesbian relationship). The description of the forest pond and the life it cradles is the peak of the book. The concept of what a water nymph would look like, how she would operate, think, and feel, was so well crafted I had to stop reading a couple of times to say to myself: “Wow, this is how you portray a nymph! Good job!”.

The relationship between Lilje and the pure element of water is what makes this book relevant. If anything, I wished the story had been more about exploring that side of it than Lilje’s infatuation with Mel.

If you want to read one of the best portrayals of a water nymph, this book might be for you. The struggles she goes through, as she finds out the reason why she keeps getting increasingly ill, will touch a lot of hearts, as it did mine. In the end, this story deals with the human struggle against mortality, and how different people will deal with it, truly.

(Reflections of Lilje Damselfly will release on June 23, 2025)

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