Article contributed by Marta Paraschiv
“This is about my friends and me getting a chance to be ourselves. It’s about fighting against inequality and showing the world that gender shouldn’t be a bar for any job these days. And it’s about taking a battering ram to the notion that the heroes of the Middle Ages were all men.”
Kit Sweetly has always been the girl with a plan and in this book, she’s focusing all of her efforts on creating equal chances for everyone at her workplace. She’s tired of working as a wench at the Castle, a medieval-themed restaurant – instead, she would like to be a knight like her brother, but the company policy has a strict rule that prohibits women from being knights. Her dream becomes more palpable though as she takes her brother’s place one night and impresses everyone with her skills and competence, becoming even Internet famous after a video of her riding and duelling is posted on YouTube. This new-found fame encourages her to come up with the idea of organising a tournament with the purpose of overthrowing the sexist policies and to create equal opportunities for everyone at the Castle.
I think some of the best aspects of this book were diversity and the friendships between everyone at the Castle. It was easy to see that friendships were the core of the whole book and even when Kit was trying to do things on her own, not involving her friends because she wanted to protect them or she didn’t want them to bail on her plan, they were still the force that kept her going. Without them, she wouldn’t have been able to do much. And I feel like without those amazing and rewarding friendships, the Castle wouldn’t have resisted for as long as it did. As I was reading the book, I definitely felt like I would have loved to work there because of how close-knit the group was. I enjoyed the family dynamics as well, they were all so devoted and the way they were taking care of one another was amazing especially with how many struggles they had…having to balance jobs, school and so many other responsibilities, yet always finding time to be there for one another.
Moreover, most characters were very nerdy and there were lots of pop culture references that all the other nerds are probably going to catch and appreciate. Kit would always mention great female warriors from Middle Ages and emphasise how wrong the conception that in the past all heroes had been male was, which I really liked because it was both informative and inspirational.
This main plotline of Kit trying to change things for the better at the Castle took over the whole book and even though there were other small plotlines (like her graduating and not knowing yet what college to choose, her family struggling financially, her strained relationship with her father who is a drug addict) – they didn’t seem consistent enough to hold the reader’s attention for long until the tournament become once again central. Besides that, I think the development of the secondary characters also suffered from the close focus on the tournament, which was a shame because they were all very interesting and I would have loved to know more about them. Even the romance, while sweet, felt a bit rushed and underdeveloped. I also had some issues with how Kit was handling her whole plan. I wish she would have involved her friends more and not keep them in the dark as much as she did because this whole thing was about all of them, not only her. I think she underestimated how supportive they were and how much they wanted to help her succeed.
But in the end, this witty, feminist story was one of empowerment and it surely will inspire its readers to fight for equality. The friendships will warm your heart and make you feel like you could do anything as long as you have loyal and supportive people on your side.
The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
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.
