THE PLOT: ‘Joan’ by Katherine J. Chen is a literary historical novel about Joan of Arc. Medieval France in 1422 is a country in turmoil. They are losing a war against England, the people are starving and the Dauphin must assert his claim to the throne. Yet in a backwater village a young peasant girl aspires to more. Reckless and freakishly strong, Joan works her way to a position at the head of the French army. Hailed as a miracle from God, she inspires the troops to win incredible feats. But despite her victories on the battlefield, will she be able to navigate the dangers of the royal court?

RATING: After seeing a few mediocre reviews, I couldn’t resist picking this book up for myself. I’ve always wanted to know more about Joan of Arc so, as a lover of medieval history, I wanted to give it a chance and make my own mind up. Well, this is your friendly reminder to listen to the bookstagram reviews! Unfortunately, this book didn’t blow me away. It was okay and I don’t feel it was a waste of time but that’s the problem – it was just good, not great. Many other reviews felt this book was too modern as it doesn’t depict Joan as religious. I didn’t actually mind that aspect because I approached it like a counter factual history and an interesting basis for a retelling; depicting Joan as a soldier rather than a saint. But, for me, the pacing was way too slow and there needed to be less focus on and repetition about her upbringing. Therefore, it’s a solid three stars from me.

GOOD BITS:  I really liked the writing style as it felt very literary, with beautiful turns of phrase and a focus on atmosphere and imagery. Also, I liked how Joan’s character was depicted as strong and wilful, bordering on arrogant towards the end of the novel. While I do wish there was more character development and that more of the novel showed her in battle and the final stages of her life, this was a compelling characterisation of Joan as a soldier. In particular, the dynamic between her and the Dauphin was exciting to read and added a lot of tension.

NOT SO GOOD BITS:  The pacing and structure didn’t work for me at all. In fact, I couldn’t stop thinking about how I’d edit this manuscript if I could get my hands on the original word doc! The first third of the book focuses strongly on Joan’s upbringing in Domrémy. Despite Guillaume’s death and her uncle’s homecoming, she’s still living the same life as the start of the novel. Therefore, it doesn’t feel like there’s an inciting incident and I kept waiting for a ‘call to adventure’. I honestly feel like the first 100 pages could’ve been truncated into a 3-page prologue and this threw the whole novel out of balance.

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to fans of ‘Matrix’ by Lauren Groff and ‘The Marriage Portrait’ by Maggie O’Farrell. If you like character-driven historical fiction with strong imagery and a literary flair, this is one for you.

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