This was a fun, feminist read, and I enjoyed the infusions of all things medieval. Kit's enthusiasm about women in history as well as her want for a workplace that allows anyone to become a knight provides a great drive for the story.
The biggest downsides are that 1) I felt like a lot of subplots and messages (Kit's dad, selling the house, the narrative on being poor, choosing college, feelings for her friend, etc. etc.) just became a bit overwhelming and drowned out the main plot. Each new chapter felt like a fresh problem for Kit and it made it difficult for any one point to get a truly satisfying wrap-up. Speaking of which, that brings me to 2) the conclusion of the book happened SO. FAST. There was hardly any drama/consequences, just a big moment of "wow, this worked out so great in all this various areas of my life!" Spoiler alert here, but such a huge part of the book was that Kit was going to have to deal with what corporate thought of her ideas for the Castle, and in the end they're just like "omg we love it!" with no consequences. Subsequently, because of that, it gave off the impression that corporate only agreed because they could make money off of female knights and not because they actually cared to have a more diverse workplace. It felt cheap at the end.
I still enjoyed the book, and think it had a lot of heart! I just wished it had some more solidity in choosing a narrative and then giving THAT story all it could be. ( )

Fantastic! This story was completely unique and I loved every page. Loved the setting, loved finally seeing a modern YA book with the main character coming from a poor background and showing how that colors every aspect of your life from what you eat, when you eat, your relationships with friends, your sense of worth, etc. Lots of character diversity representation in so far as race, gender, and sexuality. Much loved themes of strong girl character, beating the patriarchy, strong friendships and found family. Would highly recommend. ( )

Wow, this is the book for pretty much every girl who’s ever been to a medieval roleplay restaurant, wondered why all the knights and falconers and people having all the fun were dudes, and loved that line in LOTR where Eowyn rips off her helmet after defeating the Wraith King and declares “I am no man.” (our MC so goes there!!)

In this one, we have Kit from a family experiencing financial insecurity (as in the electricity gets turned off, she has to take toilet paper from gas station bathrooms and eat at friend’s houses on the weekends), but she still longs for a world where she can fight like a knight just like her older brother in the show (even if it is against company policy.) Great friendships and a dash of friends-to-lovers romance as Kit take on corporate and tries to come up with a way to get girl knights into the show. This a good read for those who like lots of medieval trivia!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
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Technically only 3.5 stars but I'm rounding up because I feel sorry for this book.

Its a nice bit of fluff but the pacing is uneven and everything was just so damn predictable. Also making Jett a brown boy seemed like tokenism and it loses marks for all the pop culture references. Still, the plot is cute enough and while not meaty, there's enough to carry the story and characterization of major players is solid. Given this is the author's debut novel, I would read future efforts. ( )

This had a great premise and is the second book of late that I have read that wants to give some voice to unsung women in history. Kit channels more than just the well know Joan of Arc when she replaces her brother during a jousting tournament, a position only held by males at the Castle, a medieval themed restaurant. The story felt very familiar, but was still a good diversion. ( )