About the Book
-
Authors:
- Amie Kaufman
- Meagan Spooner
- Genres:
- Action-Adventure
- Fantasy
- Girl-Girl Romance
- Voices:
- Cis Girl
- English
- French
- Lesbian
- Wiccan/Witch
Cover Story: Swordfight In Style
BFF Charms: You’re In Danger x 2
Talky Talk: Thou Art Here
Bonus Factors: Witches, Friendship
Factor: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award For Terrible Parenting
Relationship Status: Hopebringer
Caution: This review contains spoilers for Lady’s Knight.
Cover Story: Swordfight In Style
Did Isobelle really color-coordinate her gown to match the sea monster they’re fighting? Yes. Yes, she did.
The Deal:
Gwen and Isobelle are in a stalemate. They may have slain a dragon and become famous – for now – but with Isobelle’s guardian, Lord Whimsitt, still holding the purse strings, they feel they have no choice but to follow his orders. He sends them all around the country to “investigate” monster sightings which inevitably turn into PR tours. This isn’t easy for Gwen at the best of times, and worse when she’s still suffering from nightmares. Isobelle does her best to distract her, but distractions only work up to a point. And when the latest monster rumor turns out to be true, this knight and her lady have more than one battle – physical and mental – on their hands.
BFF Charm: You’re In Danger x 2
Gwen and Isobelle are excellent examples of how a character’s strength can become their weaknesses, or vice versa, depending on the circumstances. Gwen is a fighter, but what if there’s a fight she can’t win? Isobelle always looks on the bright side, but what if there is no bright side to find? The strategies that got them through the first book may not be enough this time.
Swoonworthy Scale: 8
This story is a trial by fire – or rather water – for the girls’ relationship as well for each of them as individuals. My heart was in my mouth every time they argued, because they were both wrong and both right, but at the same time, it was always clear how much they love each other underneath it all.
Talky Talk: Thou Art Here
You’ll find the same funny mix of modern and old-fashioned as in the first book: a “Thou Art Here” sign on a town map, for example, or a character inventing the word “tourist” on the spot.
Bonus Factor: Witches
There were witches in the first book, but this time we get to learn more about them and how their magic works. There’s a fascinating uncertainty about how much of it is “real” and how much is due to the power of belief – and whether that distinction even matters.
Bonus Factor: Friendship
Isobelle’s – and now Gwen’s – friends, Jane, Hilde and Sylvie, are loyal enough to not only accompany the couple to a monster-infested town, but stay there and support them for months on end in an atmosphere of increasing fear and paranoia. Even Sir Orson, who betrayed them in the previous book, takes action to atone for his crimes and earn back the friends he lost.
Factor: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Gwen fights the dragon all over again in her nightmares. She’s afraid that, instead of defeating it, it might defeat her – and that if she tells Isobelle about this, she won’t be her hero anymore. Meanwhile Isobelle needs to accept that there are some problems even her relentless optimism can’t fix; sometimes all you can do is just be there for someone. And sometimes that’s enough.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award For Terrible Parenting
I had my doubts about Isobelle’s parents since the first book, leaving her alone for years with a guardian who’d marry her off as a tournament trophy, but here we find out that the Avingtons – or Lord Avington, at least – is guilty of far worse than that.
Relationship Status: Hopebringer
That’s the name of Gwen’s sword (given to honor Isobelle), but it also applies to this book.
Literary Matchmaking
Lady’s Knight by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner is the previous volume in this series.
My Salty Mary (Mary #3) by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand and Jodi Meadows is another feminist seaside adventure.
The Titan’s Curse (Camp Half-Blood Chronicles #3; Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3)
The Battle of the Labyrinth (Camp Half-Blood Chronicles #4; Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4)
The Last Olympian (Camp Half-Blood Chronicles #5; Percy Jackson and the Olympians #5)
The Sea of Monsters (Camp Half-Blood Chronicles #2; Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2) by Rick Riordan also features, well … sea monsters.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received no compensation for this review.
