I received this book at no cost from the publisher
Fence: Striking Distance by Sarah Rees Brennan, Johanna the Mad, C.S. PacatISBN: 0316456675
on September 29, 2020
Pages: 368
Goodreads

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the FENCE by Sarah Rees Brennan Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About the Book:
Title: FENCE: Striking Distance
Authors: Sarah Rees Brennan, Johanna the Mad (Illustrations), C.S. Pacat (Creator)
Pub. Date: September 29, 2020
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Formats: Paperback, eBook, Audiobook
Pages: 368
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org
The boys of Kings Row bout with drama, rivalry, and romance in this original YA novel by The New York Times bestselling author Sarah Rees Brennan–inspired by the award-nominated comic series by C.S. Pacat and Johanna The Mad.
Sixteen-year-old Nicholas Cox is the illegitimate son of a retired fencing champion who dreams of getting the proper training he could never afford. After earning a place on the elite Kings Row fencing team, Nicholas must prove himself to his rival, Seiji Katayma, and navigate the clashes, friendships, and relationships between his teammates on the road to state championships–where Nicholas might finally have the chance to spar with his golden-boy half-brother.
Coach Williams decides to take advantage of the boys’ morale after a recent victory and assigns them a course of team building exercises to further deepen their bonds. It takes a shoplifting scandal, a couple of moonlit forest strolls, several hilariously bad dates, and a whole lot of introspection for the team to realize they are stronger together than they could ever be apart.
The first installment of this enticing original YA novel series by Sarah Rees Brennan, rich with casual diversity and queer self-discovery, explores never-before-seen drama inspired by C.S. Pacat’s critically acclaimed Fence comic series and boasts original cover and interior art by Johanna The Mad.
Text and Illustration copyright: © 2020 BOOM! StudiosFence(TM) and © 2020 C.S. Pacat
REVIEW
This is a very fun read with humor and witty dialogue. I admit I got lost in the pictures of this story. I haven’t been this enthralled with a graphic novel since I picked up Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely: Desert Series ages ago. This caught me off guard (ha) and I gound that I loved this story about high school romance among the subtle art of Fencing. Except the sports aspect is only background for the friendship s that are developed.
Kings Row is four boys all on a fencing team at a posh Connecticut boarding school and even with their pedigree of world-class champions are the underdogs. As the four boys are sent on team-building exercises that in turn extend to petty theft, newly found romantic awakenings and al told from the four viewpoints of each character. Nicholas is the scholarship student that is bullied because of his economic situation. Seiji and Harvard both experienced racism even though they are stellar athletes while Aiden gets jealous of everyone’s talent.
Sarah Rees Brennan is the author of the Demon’s Lexicon trilogy, and the Lynburn Legacy series which begins with Unspoken, a romantic Gothic mystery about a girl named Kami Glass, who discovers her imaginary friend is a real boy. Sarah’s latest fantasy standalone In Other Lands, the story of the crankiest nerd who ever fell into a magical land, is now available! She’s also the author of the tie-in series of books with Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: all three books out now, and coming later this year is a tie-in with C.S. Pacat’s FENCE graphic novel series…
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Tumblr | Goodreads | Amazon
For info about C.S. Pacat go HERE!
For info about Johanna the Mad go HERE!
Giveaway Details:
3 winners will receive a finished copy of FENCE, US Only.
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
9/28/2020 | BookHounds Ya | Review |
9/29/2020 | What A Nerd Girl Says | Review |
9/30/2020 | The Clever Reader | Review |
10/1/2020 | Do You Dog-ear? | Review |
10/2/2020 | Rajiv’s Reviews | Review |
Week Two:
10/5/2020 | YA Books Central | Interview |
10/6/2020 | Confessions of a YA Reader | Review |
10/7/2020 | Eli to the nth | Review |
10/8/2020 | onemused | Review |
10/9/2020 | fictitious.fox | Review |
This sounds like an interesting read. I would like to learn more about fencing!
Fencing is quite the sport and one to look into especially now with masks required and social distancing. This cover is eye-catching and I love the premise.
I love Sarah Rees Brennan’s books! So excited about this one and can’t wait to read it. 🙂
I pretty much don’t know anything about fencing. I bet there’s a lot I’ll learn when reading this fun story.