Girls Can’t Be Knights by Lee French
A Fantasy Novel published by Myrddin Publishing (06/12/15)
Summary:
“There’s no law that says a girl can’t be a Knight.” (Page 250).
Claire doesn’t let bullies get her down, she fights back. On school grounds fighting is cause for suspension, but that didn’t stop her from beating up the bully. She will probably be known for beating up a guy, but she won’t know because she’s not allowed to go back to school until her suspension is over. In the meantime, Claire is suddenly a target of all the neighborhood animals and at her wits end when a cat tries to claw off her face Justin arrives. He is a Knight. Literally. A knight. But he’s happily married with children, still, he must protect Claire from forces she never knew existed.
Keywords:
Spirit Knight, Fantasy, POV Change, Fighting, Responsibility, Unsafe, Group Home, Fire, Orphan, Adoption, Strange Things, Horse, Trust, Hope, Death, Memories, Problems
My Review:
The juxtaposition of Justin’s viewpoint and thoughts and Claire’s perspective and thoughts gives the book a rich variety in flavor as the two characters are very different. Justin is a young father of two girls. He only learned to be a father through a mentor and sometimes doesn’t always understand Claire. He wants to protect Claire and doesn’t mind killing Ur-phasms, hitting innocent people over the head, or stealing hats. Claire, on the other hand, doesn’t think too hard before taking action, is out to protect herself even when she isn’t always able, and follows the law until it would lead to her harm. She also doesn’t always understand Justin.
Claire fights at school and sticks up for herself, even when it gets her in trouble, yet when she’s faced with real problems and life or death fights, she wishes her knight would save her. After the first few times when he doesn’t immediately come to save her, she realizes she still must rely on herself to get out of the sticky situation, but still, her plans don’t always work out. Finally the knight saves her, but through her struggles to figure out what really happened to her father and what the heck a Spirit Knight is, she will learn that she actually can save herself.
Kids bully Claire at school. Adults tell her what to do and what not to do. The system dictates where she lives and who she lives with. And everyone who knows about the Knights tells her that Girls Can’t Be Knights. Every time. Sometimes they say it incredulously, because it’s never happened before while sometimes they say it disdainfully because they can’t comprehend a change in the familiar, a girl knight. Claire is convinced that she can be a knight and is glad to have been chosen. It gives her life a purpose.
Overall the story was interesting and fun to read while speeding along at a rapid pace. The concepts French introduced were intriguing and I loved her play on gender. If there is a second book I would love to see more on how the only girl who is a knight fits into a world of male knights.
This novel was published by Myrddin Publishing on June 12th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.
TL;DR Star Rating: 4.00
Links for more information:
Rachel Author Barnard 