Rest in peace historical accuracy. If that’s what you’re looking for, do not read this book. This is like A Knight’s Tale and the Lady Jane series had a baby, and therefore nothing historical is sacred. However, if you don’t care about such things, stick around.

In Lady’s Knight by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, Gwen is tired of hiding who she is—a skilled blacksmith, an aspiring knight… and someone who’s attracted to girls. To cope with at least one of these, she enters the Tournament of Dragonslayers (no actual dragons involved) as Sir Gawain to prove what she can do. At the qualifiers, she meets Isobelle, the rich and fashionable young lady who is this year’s Dragon Sacrifice (that is, the woman to whom the winning knight will almost certainly marry for her dowry). Isobelle is desperate to escape a loveless marriage, and so appeals to Gwen to help her. Surely if Gwen wins the tournament, she can have the money, and Isobelle can have her own life. But as the tournament progresses and the girls get to know each other better, real feelings develop—but there’s no way they can navigate a relationship, is there?

Like I alluded to, there isn’t much in terms of historical accuracy here, beyond the barest essentials of knights, nobles, tournaments for money, and sexism. Other than that, this feels like it takes place at a medieval fair or among a group of dedicated LARPers. It does lend it a casual, campy tone, though admittedly the more modern sensibilities, dialogue, and occasional setpieces did kind of distract me. But it’s really just something you have to get used to and accept about this story, much like the aforementioned Knight’s Tale (though I do wish this book had somehow incorporated “We Will Rock You” like that movie did, but alas).

As for the characters, I did like Gwen, Isobelle, and the supporting cast well enough. I just wish that some of the development had been deeper. In particular, Isobelle’s crisis of sexuality could have been a much bigger deal, but instead feels rather surface level and then is dealt with pretty quickly. I understand that the plot needed to progress, and the plot is a queer romance, but still, it didn’t feel explored enough. Gwen’s insecurities and desire to be appreciated for who she is makes for a compelling story arc, and is a little better handled (since it ties in directly with the tournament plot), but I don’t know, I still found myself wanting a bit more. A lot of the emotional side of things gets set aside for something silly, or in favor of the tournament storyline.

However, I can’t entirely begrudge the authors having fun with this—they clearly are having a blast. And it is quite entertaining to read the jousting scenes, even if it confirms that I would never want to do something like that ever. Overall, the action is pretty decent, especially in the final act where everything comes to a head in a satisfyingly dramatic way. No spoilers, but I was quite happy to see what happened at the end of the tournament, even if it was predictable.

Something I didn’t love, though, was the subplot about the hedge witches and the women townsfolk being locked up for speaking out about problems in the kingdom. The hedge witches seemed a random addition to this world, and didn’t really serve the main narrative in a substantial way. And the aspects about feminism, women’s rights, and girl power in general just felt very heavy-handed in their presentation throughout the story. We’ve all heard these (correct) arguments about how women deserve to have a say in their lives, aren’t just baby-making vessels, etc., so I wish that the authors hadn’t just regurgitated these concepts in a way we’ve all seen before.

However, the romance between Gwen and Isobelle was cute. They have decent chemistry, and the times they butt heads make sense within the narrative, and it’s clear there is a lot of affection behind their actions. I think it was a little too soon for them to have fallen entirely in love, but for young people, maybe not. And it worked for the story overall, so yes, a good couple.

In the end, Lady’s Knight was a bit of a mixed bag for me. There’s certainly some fun to be had, with all the drama of secret identities, young people having fun, medieval jousting, and sword fighting. But I wanted more from the character development, and more nuance to the discussion of feminism. Also, there are several interlude chapters full of snarky fourth wall breaking, which was amusing at first but which I quickly found annoying. That said, the audiobook narrators Helen Keeley and Barbara Rosenblat were wonderful, and if you’re looking for a light read for Pride month, this isn’t a bad choice.

Lady’s Knight is available now!