Rob X Punzel

Damsels of Distress, Book 4

By: Dakota Krout

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

An oath of secrecy. Power beyond compare. Too bad it's all snarled in her hair.

Rebecca Punzel grew up as an orphan in the slums, only daring to dream small by providing for her found family. In a kingdom where might makes right, and combat skills rule, her first class is practically a curse: golden locks of hair which require no care. Though she's in a hairy situation, she works tirelessly to build a modest life for the other orphans.

At fourteen, every valuable in reach seems to get tangled into her curls. Practically overnight, she's blacklisted from working at any reputable business. Losing her internal battle of morality just so she can survive, Rebecca turns to the thieves guild and quickly makes a name for herself as Goldie Locks. But when a job goes wrong and a ruthless alchemist marks her as an endless source of magical material, she has only one option: run.

When even that fails, she stakes everything on climbing the Brute Queen's battle tower. The grand prize of the trial of power is protection and status—marriage to the Crown Prince. Her attempt is practically a joke: without combat skills they'd never accept the royal and the orphan as a pair. Luckily, winning isn't the goal, escaping is. After all . . .

There's no greater crime than possessing treasure without the strength to hold onto it.

©2025 Dakota Krout (P)2025 Tantor Media

Fantastic Rapunzel retelling!

Rob X Punzel

In the Brute Kingdom, Might makes Right and theft is illegal only if you do it by not overpowering someone. This puts orphan Rebecca Punzel far away from the center of the kingdom, in the slums to be precise. Rebecca’s first power is a vanity power, shiny and clean hair. The real problems begin when her second power that turns her hair into a klepto.

These standalone litrpg fairy tales are a blast! The litrpg version of Rapunzel took a lot of turns that surprised me. It’s debatable if the main character is her or her hair. I really hope that all of these stories will combine with all of the Damsels of Distress! Emily Woo Zeller did a fantastic job with the narration!

Content warning: none

Best in the series so far

This was a really good read. Very good story and progression, few fillers and lots of action and humor. Of all books in Damsels of Distress this one is easily the best (so far), also the easiest 5/5/5 of the year.

Best in the series so far. Absorbing world.

The prologue felt pure Krout, but by the middle of the book I felt I was in a Cosmere tale. The world has complexities and details enough to draw you in deep. There's opportunity for much more in this setting. Yet this book on its own is a well rounded, complete story.
The narration of this series is superb.

Great!

I finally have another damsel to look forward to besides Little Red. Can't wait for the next Damsel and for them all to start meeting each other

I have never wanted movies so bad!

This series continues to amaze. I can't wait for it to all come together. Both story and narration in this installment are on point. 10 out of 10 will recommend!