Kit Sweetly is obsessed with everything middle ages, and works as a wench (that is the official job title) at a medieval-themed castle. What she truly wants is to work as one of the knights, like her brother--after all, there were girl knights in the middle ages, too--but company policy allows only guys as knights. When Kit rides out instead of her brother one night, beating her competition to the ground, she kick-starts a revolution not only in the castle but online as well, trying to prove that being a knight should not be gender-restricted. Between college applications, her mum's mortgage worries and her inconvenient crush on her best friend, she starts to realize what it means to fight for what she wants--and what she has to lose. 

This is such an incredibly entertaining book! I absolutely loved the setting, and the unapologetic nerdiness of Kit and her friends. (Almost) all the characters were so likeable and enthusiastic, making the whole read an absolute joy. You just start rooting so fiercely for Kit and her cause, cheering her and her friends on as they start dismantling the patriarchic views of the company. It is amazing to see Kit overcome more and more obstacles that are thrown in her way. The cast of characters is incredibly diverse, including bi, non-binary and trans characters. And, of course, you have the underlying message that gender should never be a reason for you not being allowed to work a job. 

I massively enjoyed this fun, entertaining and deeply relevant book, and can really recommend it!

Kit is trying to go from wench to knight, in more ways than one. Kit's struggle to climb up the ranks in her work place and in her personal life will keep readers interested. Although this book teeters the line between fun romp and serious contemporary, I felt like the victory of the girl knight would have been all the sweeter if the darker aspects of her life were explored more. The book left us with the hiding from her friends the secret of what her life outside the castles is really like. Although disappointed this plot line was never tied up, I hope that maybe Kit Sweetly or her friends may ride again to conquer this issue.

This was such a lovely story! It was laced with nerdy, medieval quotes and references, which was probably my favourite thing. Overall, the story gave me a modern medieval vibe, and that worked really well! I enjoyed every second of it, and I can highly recommend this book.

Kit Sweetly is determined to trade in her wench skirts for knight’s armor at the medieval-themed restaurant where she works. Unfortunately, due to a sexist corporate policy that states only men can be knights, Kit’s dreams are dashed, along with her hopes for the raise that comes with the position.  When her brother, who just so happens to be a knight, is late for a shift, Kit covertly steps in in his place, and rides out to perform in the show.  When she reveals herself to the crowd, they go nuts and she skyrockets into internet fame.  But just because the crowd supports her, doesn’t mean management is going to change their outdated ways. Luckily, Kit has a lot of spirit and fight and it ready to take on whoever she has to in order to pursue her dreams.

Kit is a very lovable character. She’s sassy and hopeful and knows what she wants, but she also has flaws that get acknowledged and she grows from.  I loved her determination and her need to succeed in her quest.  I also love that she was able to wrangle so many others who wanted to be knights but were discriminated against and together they worked to change outdated rules.  There were definitely some issues with Kit and withholding information, but she made mistakes and learned from them.  I really liked her best friend Jett as well and the romance that developed between them.

This was a really sweet story and I can’t wait to see what Jamie Pacton writes next!

*Thank you to Page Street Publishing and Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. *

This was a fun read that showed how gender equality can still be limited. I enjoyed Kit's determination. She is not only determined to be a knight but also is determined to work hard to be able to have the finances to attend college after her addict father spent her and her brothers savings.  Kit and her brother Chris were so supportive of each other. That was another aspect that was important in this story. A lot of times siblings in stories are rivals or competitors. Seeing more and more stories in the past couple years that had supportive sibling relationships is refreshing and important for youths to read as well. 

If you are looking for a cute contemporary with feminist MC then this is a must read!

3,5*
Pros: As a kid, I grew up around medieval fairs, so this book was a nostalgia trip for me. Revolves around the daily life of the workers in medieval castle attractions. Focuses in equal job opportunities across the gender spectrum, while battling the patriarchy and gender norms. LGBT and PoC characters. Talks about living in poverty and fighting for your dreams with what you have access to.
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Cons: Lack of romantic scenes to foment the leading romance. Unexplored secondary characters.

This book featured:
- a delightfully spunky main character
- an overly optimistic training timeline, but enjoyable character bonding
- a romance between friends that felt generally believable
- a plethora of medieval facts
- a variety of gender identities and sexuality (though most of these characters are not fleshed out in detail)
- a family doing their best while living in poverty
- writing that kept the story moving and didn't bog me down anywhere

This title was overall a pleasant read that I expect will do well with teen readers.

I loved this book. You had believable characters, believable situations, and realistic problems. There were jousts, sword fights, and very defined gender roles at work. I loved how modern day tools (the internet and media) helped redefine how we look at jobs and gender roles. It was done in a serious but sometimes funny way.
I hope to see a lot more from this author.

Important message and a beautiful diverse cast but I didn't love it like I wanted to. Honestly I can't really put my finger on what didn't work for me, I guess the story was just kinda "eh." Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC, though I ended up reading the published edition.

Kit Sweetly wants to be a knight.  No, this isn't a fantasy book, Kit just works as a serving wench at a medieval themed restaurant where girls are not allowed to be knights.  You read that correctly: in this, 2020, this restaurant has a policy prohibiting women from being knights.  Kit is obviously not cool with that.  She subs in for her brother, a knight, one night and the video of her performance went viral.  Can she use her newfound internet fame to parlay that into an opportunity for women?

This book was reminiscent of a late 90s/early aughts rom-com in the vein of The Knight's Tale (which, yes, does come up in the book).  It's definitely cute and fun and there's a GRRRRRRRRRL POWER theme that runs throughout the book.  Aside from the medieval trappings, it was a fairly routine read.  I think it'd make a cute Netflix movie, but I'm writing this review less than a month after reading the book, and I don't have a huge impression outside of "cute, but predictable".  

This would be a cute summer read for fans of "A Knights Tale" or those teen rom coms on Netflix.  3 stars - I liked it.

Thanks to Page Street Kids and Netgalley for the eARC, which I received in exchange for an unbiased review.  The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly is available now!

3.75/5 STARS

Since seeing this really cute cover of Kit Sweetly, I knew I had to read this book ASAP. This book was a light contemporary with an interesting premise that delved into history but also managed to touch on some heavier topics surrounding family without dragging the whole book down.

I loved the diverse cast of characters and I thought the portrayal of Kit’s family’s financial struggles was carefully balanced by her awareness of her privilege.

What I did not enjoy about this book is the ‘lying to your friends for most of the book’ trope. I think I would have enjoyed it more if they had rallied around Kit and protested together.

Read my full review over at mousethatreads.com!

I love the themes of this book! It was such a fun read, while also addressing deeper themes of sexism, etc. I also particularly love the focus on history and accurately (or not) portraying history through renaissance festivals (and similar things). Would definitely recommend!

I really enjoyed the feminist message of this. The cast of characters were also very diverse and there’s plenty of representation. Other than that this was more of a middle of the road book for me. The characters didn’t feel as well developed as I would have liked and the story, while interesting in theory, didn’t grab my attention. The love story between Kit and her best friend seems like an afterthought, especially because apart from some basic information and the fact that Kit thinks he’s amazing I didn’t feel like we actually got to know him (or any of the other side characters). While I still consider this a decent book, I ought to say that I expected more from this.

Cute premise--I used to be involved in medieval circles--even though this is more like a group of actors/employees than people who truly enjoy medievalism as a hobby (except Kit, who wants to study history at Marquette University). I liked the whole smashing the patriarchy thing--really fighting against being the underdog all around (overworked mom, absent dad, just scraping by). With all the various subplots going on, Kit crushing on Jett (even before he became sort of the documentor of the wenches' training adventures), doesn't quite have the punch that it should, but is still nice. As a librarian, not sure who I'd recommend this to , but nice to keep on the back burner.

*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Wow, this book was AMAZING! I loved Kit, I loved the other characters, I loved the reality of a lot of the situations they were in. I really hope this gets turned into a movie at some point! It had major Whip It vibes.

This book is a contemporary young adult fiction set in the recent times, yes don’t let this medieval word deceive you. Funny fact time: There is this thing that I always mess myself with, which is, I really don’t know how to compose “Medieval”, it’s always this autocorrect that figures it out for what I’m trying to type!

STORY TIME:

The story revolves around a girl named Kit Sweetly, yes you heard that right “Kit”! And her brother Chris Sweetly. Kit works at a medieval times themed restaurant as a wench (waitress). But she has always dreamt of being a Knight and riding a horse in the arena just like her elder brother Chris. Being a Girl Knight is what considered as a taboo in the community, given that only boys become the knight. Kit is ready to do anything to make her dream come true. In the quest to becoming the one she has always dreamt about, Kit gets famous all over Chicago, when she plays in the arena as a knight in place of her brother and reveals her identity.

Revealing her identity would bring the management into trouble, about a girl being a knight. Now what will Kit do? It would be enthralling to know. So, pick up your copies right now and read this wonderful YA fiction.

The book is a cute love story as it has delivered some cute friends turned to romantic lovers with fierce feminism. This book is for every fellow queens and fellow wenches who understand the depth of their dreams and resolute to fulfill each of them. Kit is shown as a girl who not only takes a stand for herself but also for all the other girls out there, who are willing to accomplish their dreams.

With fluency in the language and excellent narration, I totally enjoyed the Jamie’s debut novel. I think the characterization was on point. I loved the characters of Chris (Kit’s brother) and Jett (Kit’s childhood friend) who have always extended their hands to help Kit in which ever way they could. I can assure you that you won’t regret reading this funny YA. Its hearty and lively, full of lovely characters.

Must read!

First of all, let me tell you that I got an e ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I flew through this book!!! It was so easy to get into the story and start getting invested in Kit's dreams, I have to say that there was one thing that I was surprised to find out about Kit and that I wasn't a fan of but I decided to still keep reading despite of that because it was just a small thing and I didn't want to let it ruin my experience with the book as a whole.

As you can probably tell by the name and the cover, Kit work at the Castle and her dream is to be a Knight but Corporate doesn't really let women into other jobs other than what is "normal" for a woman to do.

In the book Kit is trying to get people to see that women can be knights too, so, she starts a plan and she takes is along while she goes through every phase of this plan, there are some ups and downs and definitely a lot of growing up to do but honestly Kit's story was very pleasant to read, it allowed me to get lost in her schemes, in her family life and to wish that she would tell her best friend Jett that she wanted more than friendship.

If you are looking for a light and super fun read with a great message at the end, then this book is for you.

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This is a really strong debut novel with some of my favourite tropes: kickass-nerdy-girls smashing the patriarchy, friends to more-than-friends, and teen work-place stories.

The world here is vibrant and diverse in all the ways, reflecting a slice of actual real life.

Kit is a strong lead character who knows what she wants and goes and gets it. I love Kit's family drama and her friends.

The class details and Kit's attempts to hide her family's poverty from her friends was achingly real.

Perhaps things come too easy to Kit--perhaps the last half of the book is a bit slower than my usual reads--but both these things are minor because the world of Kit Sweetly is alive, and Kit is exactly the kind of character teens want to know exists in the world somewhere. In some ways Kit is a model of what to do when life gets you down. In other ways she injects a little hope into the dark-ish world we're living in.

Okay. This is going to go against the popular opinion; but then again, I think at 29 years old, I am getting a little jaded with a young adult contemporary novel that sounds like a fun read, but it really.. is not. 
This YA follows Kit who works as a “serving wench” at a Medieval Times Castle/Restaurant – but what she really wants is to be a Knight; not only d o they make more than serving wenchs but they also have more fun. But since it’s a “authentic” Medieval Castle – women can’t be Knights. EVER! 
And since Kit wants to be a Knight; it’s high time she starts planning to be one, now shouldn’t she? The one night she exchanges places with her brother, a Knight, the video of the First Female Knight goes viral. And it gives her the idea of how she will become a Knight. 

I am not going to lie – for the first half of the book, I was quite hooked, and reeled into the story – the background of Kit and her motivation to just be more; her anxieties and fears as well as her relationships with the secondary characters has me very interested; but at some point; the story just.. drags and drags. 

I really wanted to enjoy this one – the plotline is quite unique; there is inclusion and representation – a wide variety of gender/color/sexuality representations as well as a budding f/f relationship on the sideline; that I would have loved to know more about – it should have been an enjoyable read. I am just not even going touch the “romance” between Kit and Jett her best friend. Nope.

But I think the main issue with the book, for me at least was that I just didn’t become as invested I should have been as reader in our protagonist – she was; lets just say “meh” – she could have been a crusading feminist, but there is an inherent selfishness in her that neither I nor the author could justify. 

I wish I could have liked this one; but if you are a young reader, like say between the ages of 15-19 years, maybe just maybe you might enjoy this one!

Disclaimer: I received this arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Life and Medieval Times of Kit Sweetly

Author: Jamie Pacton

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity:f/f relationship, mixed race couple, bi character, non-binary character

Publication Date: May 5, 2020

Genre: YA Contemporary

Recommended Age: 16+ (underage smoking, underage drinking, drug abuse TW, child abuse TW, language)

Publisher: Page Street Kids

Pages: 384

Amazon Link

Synopsis: 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.

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.

Review: Holy cow I absolutely love this book! It was fast paced and absolutely amazing! The writing was well done; the author was able to convey so much with showing rather than telling, especially with Alex who is a non-binary character. The characters were all well developed and I loved the back stories and world building the author wrote into this book. I expected it to be a simple story with an over-arching romance, but the main focal point was the knighthood and I really appreciated that in this novel, especially one making a point about gender norms and feminism (which argues equality for all, not just those who identify as female). I also want to brag about the romance, which is mixed race (some people are still against that in 2020, isn’t that wild?) and is very sweet. Jett doesn’t come to the rescue of Kit. While he’s a help and he definitely aides Kit and the others, he doesn’t steal the show from Kit. That’s something I don’t see a lot in YA books, from either side, and I really appreciated this change in the norm. This book is definitely one of my faves of 2020! Great job Jamie Pacton!

The only issue I would say that I had is that sometimes the time jumps were a bit disjointed. 99% of them were separated by a little icon in the book to symbolize time breaks, but there was one or two in there that wasn’t and vice versa there were one or two times where the book was separated but it was the next action right before the “time jump”. Also, there were little plot points that were kinda swept under the rug. I wish that Kit had invited Jett and Layla into her house and I kinda wish that Len didn’t have a “redeeming” arc but meh that’s life, men get all the credit -_-.

Verdict: I highly recommend this read!