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

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Rating: ★★★★

I received an ARC of this book for free as part of The Fantastic Flying Book Club’s Instagram tour for this book. Since I received an ARC, my quotes from the book are tentative.

This was such a fun feminist YA debut!

I liked how inclusive and diverse this book was. Kit’s best friend Layla is bisexual. One of the characters, Penny, is a transgender Serving Wench at the restaurant. There is also Alex who also works at the restaurant and goes by the pronoun, “they.” Kit’s love interest, Jett, is half Indian. I also liked that Kit checks her own privilege. At one point she states:

“[W]e need this to be bigger than me. I’m just a white girl from the suburbs. Maybe my privilege makes it easier for me to say this isn’t fair, but we need to show people that this is more than just me doing a man’s job. It’s about getting rid of gender restrictions altogether.”
pg 114

I liked that Kit wasn’t a traditional “good girl”. She is a smart girl who gets into college, but she also smokes cigarettes and drinks alcohol.

I loved how medieval history was incorporated into the story. You actually learn some cool facts.

This book was also incredibly fast paced. I flew right through it.

One thing I didn’t like was that the romance aspect didn’t thrill me. It didn’t add much to the plot and the book would have been just fine without it.

Overall, this is an entertaining YA novel with lots of female empowerment and some medieval merrymaking!

Synopsis:

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.

Giveaway

Prize: Win a copy of THE LIFE AND (MEDIEVAL) TIMES OF KIT SWEETLY by Jamie Pacton (US/CAN Only)

Starts: May 5th 2020

Ends: May 19th 2020

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About the Author

Jamie Pacton writes all sorts of books: dark, feminist YA fantasy; contemporary YA stories with a funny + geeky bent; funny MG adventure-fantasy; and, even the occasional adult rom-com. She was a Pitch Wars mentee in 2015 and she mentored YA in 2016, 2017, and 2018. She grew up minutes away from the National Storytelling Center in the mountains of East Tennessee; she’s the oldest of ten kids; and, she currently lives in rural Wisconsin with her husband, their two kids, and a dog named Lego. The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly (forthcoming May 5, 2020) is her Young Adult debut.

Author Links

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19025294.Jamie_Pacton

Website: https://www.jamiepacton.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamiepacton

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiepacton/

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