Review: The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton

Hey all, Dani here.

Greetings and a hearty huzzah to you all.

Well, I have finished two full weeks back down in general assembly at work. It’s going okay, but I’m definitely escaping into reading as much as I can. Well, reading and Animal Crossing. Thankfully I was already mostly a hermit before the whole Stay-at-Home order came down. I do miss going to the zoo though. But the zoo e-mailed all of us members and said that our memberships would be extended by however long they end up being closed. I can see that we are making an overall difference, but as more and more reports come in on stats for those who have tested positive and those who have died, it still feels like such a heavy heavy loss. I never imagined that I would live through some of the world events that have happened in the past couple decades.

But at least there have also been so very many new authors and books in the past couple decades, so I’m going to try and focus on the positive as much as I can. Thinking too much of the negative is liable to make me curl up in a ball and try to ignore the world. So I’m going to focus on the things that make me feel better and that is supporting the artists who make my world feel better…even if they sometimes pull my heart through an emotional gauntlet. I love books, movies, TV shows, and all sorts of creative endeavors, so I want to help those wonderful people who create the characters, worlds, and stories that we use to escape the chaos of our every day lives.

Which brings me to today’s book review.

As a disclaimer, I am on the Round Table Street Team for this book, and I was sent a digital copy from Jamie Pacton in exchange for an honest review and help signal boosting. All opinions are still my own and my rating and review were not affected by the advanced copy of this read.

All right, let’s get started.

Book Details

Format: e-book

Pages: 384

Publisher: Page Street Kids

Publication Date: May 5, 2020

ISBN: 1624149529 (ISBN13: 9781624149528)

Summary

Moxie meets A Knight’s Tale as Kit Sweetly slays sexism, bad bosses, and bad luck to become a knight at a medieval-themed restaurant.

Working as a wench―i.e. waitress―at a cheesy medieval-themed restaurant in the Chicago suburbs, Kit Sweetly dreams of being a knight like her brother. She has the moves, is capable on a horse, and desperately needs the raise that comes with knighthood, so she can help her mom pay the mortgage and hold a spot at her dream college.

Company policy allows only guys to be knights. So when Kit takes her brother’s place and reveals her identity at the end of the show, she rockets into internet fame and a whole lot of trouble with the management. But the Girl Knight won’t go down without a fight. As other wenches join her quest, a protest forms. In a joust before Castle executives, they’ll prove that gender restrictions should stay medieval―if they don’t get fired first.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

This was both an easy book and a difficult book for me. Easy in the fact that the characters were great and the medieval restaurant setting and story was entertaining to read about. Difficult because it dealt with a family situation that hit home for me, even if it wasn’t exactly the same as what I experienced.

Kit’s parents aren’t together, and haven’t been for a little while. She lives with her mom and brother and they are struggling to pay bills and get through things. It made me think of living with my mom and helping her pay bills while my father was out of work and then eventually decided he was done with us and wanted a divorce. While Kit’s dad isn’t that bad, he still isn’t winning father of the year anytime soon. So that was a hard part of the book for me to deal with, because I related to it so much. I guess I can say great job to Jamie Pacton for making such a well written and emotionally real situation.

I adored all of the references to geek culture in this book too. From quoting books and movies, to tossing out random factoids about medieval times, this book was like catnip for my geekish heart. Oh, I especially loved when Kit took her brother’s place in the dinner show and then revealed herself by using that fantastic Eowyn quote from the Lord of the Rings movies–you know which quote I’m talking about. I know most of you following this blog are pretty geeky yourselves.

The Round Table of this story was excellent too. Kit is lucky to have such a great group of friends, though I wanted to reach through the screen and smack Kit when she decided to withhold the truth from her friends in the hopes that the situation would just work itself out in time. It caused some tension in the group that didn’t need to happen…but was also realistic, so again, I can’t fault how it all went down.

And oh my gosh…the tension between Kit and her best friend Jett. It’s like they are both friendzoning each other so they don’t risk their friendship by trying for something more. Wowza, they were so cute together, and I just kept waiting and hoping for them to finally announce their true feelings and decide to give dating a try.

Also, can I just say that I loved Kit’s interactions with her brother. They are both such wonderful geeks. I loved that Chris was into blacksmithing and crafting. I loved that they both have picked up sort-of old-timey hobbies and skills because of where they work and because they often have to figure out ways to keep going without having access to all the trappings of modern life. My fiance likes making armors, leather and scale-mail mostly, but I’m sure he would try chain-mail at some point or another.

Oh, and the training sessions for becoming knights was such fun. You really got a sense for the camaraderie and drive of the rest of the Round Table. It was just excellent.

Kit’s jerk of a boss (who happens to be her uncle) drove me crazy. He just kept touting about sticking to the rules and how women were wenches and men were knights, but he leaped to snatch up the credit when it meant a better position and better pay for himself.

Okay, so this review is getting long, but I absolutely loved this book, and I can’t wait to have a finished copy on my shelves.

Where to Get a Copy

You can pre-order your own copy of this book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository, or your local independent bookstore through IndieBound. This book will be released May 5, 2020.

You can also check with your local library.