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

I was recently loaned a copy of this by my wonderful friend Mary, and couldn’t believe I’d never heard of it before! And with a tagline like ‘Joust like a girl’, I couldn’t possibly resist seeing what this book was all about…

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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.

But 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.

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This was a complete joy from start to finish. I hardly expected less, with a book tagged ‘Joust like a girl.’ and with an excellent use of the word ‘clobber’ in the blurb. Just from that, it made me miss my annual trip to Cardiff to the joust that happens there every year (not happening this year, of course).

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about jousting but in modern-day America, but actually that was one of the things I loved about it! It really brought to life re-enactment groups as men (and non-cis-men, if Kit has her way) got armoured up and ready to spear each other with lances. The whole community of characters really sang, and were easy to love even if you didn’t actually get much page time with them.

This was also wonderfully inclusive, which really should be standard at this point but still brings me joy when that expectation is fulfilled. The cast is diverse, and it was good to see the word cis being used in conversations about gender and patriarchy in the story. It’s less “let women joust” and more “let people who aren’t cis men joust” which was lovely to see!

There is also a very sweet friends-to-lovers storyline in here which, although you can see it coming, in no way takes away from how endearing and delightful it is. it balanced really nicely against the rest of the plot, and also helped to really highlight the importance of friendship in this novel.

Overall, a delightful read, and proof
anyone can joust if they want to!