Joan of Arc, through this edition of her life, was made up of more than the usual snapshot of her life. The history of the times, her opinions, what drove her all contributed to her ultimate known end.

Solid 4.5 stars
This secular retelling of Joan of Arc’s story is refreshing and inspiring. Joan’s story as a saint has always been heavily influenced by her relationship with God and the church. Katherine Chen takes the opposite approach and tells Joan’s raw and unfiltered story.

Chen strategically takes historical facts and uses them to construct the life of a woman that anyone can look up to and aspire to be like regardless of race, religion, or sex. As someone who grew up in the Catholic church, saint’s stories were always so far from normal or understandable. Through this book, I was able to appreciate Joan so much more, not as a saint, but as an inspirational person.

Definitely worth the read if you are a historical fiction fan and if you are not this may change your mind about historical fiction. It has a little bit of everything. I only wish there was more to read.

ARC kindly provided by Netgalley and Random House Publishing.

This was an interesting story about Joan d’Arc. I can’t say I knew too much about her. I did think it started a bit slow and didn’t like her father at all. It gradually picks up and becomes an epic tale. I really enjoyed this book
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

Supplemented by brief, scene-setting sections of paraphrased history, this novel weaves a well-known story but infuses it with nuanced introspection and atmosphere. The prose is incredibly elegant and reads like the transcript to an enthralling oratory performance: the words have the eloquence and cadence of music, sometimes gentle, other times rousing or staccato. It's really fun to read aloud.

In this version, the religious nature of Joan's calling is considerably downplayed. The God-blessed aura she's famous for is presented more as being foisted upon her by desperate individuals than any claim to saintly visions on her part. Instead, Joan's motives for leaving Domrémy are decidedly more feminist; they are ambitious, vengeful, and defiant, deriving as much from restless patriotic objection to the English as from the awareness of the injustice, incompetence, and inactiveness of the French leadership.

Admittedly, Joan's public story does lose accuracy. But her fictionalized personal story as a daughter, a sister, soldier and leader, and woman gains so much depth. And that's what I loved most: the ability to take such a famous historical and cultural icon and make her feel fresh, unknown, and close. She could've been any of us.

This is not a fast paced book, but it is fascinating. I had been wanting a book about Joan of Arc; a story about her life that didn't feel like a history book. This is it. I liked that we get to sit with the characters, feel them and empathize with them. I would recommend this to people who enjoyed Half Sick Shadows by Laura Sebastian.

4 stars

When I pick up historical fiction that follows a famous figure, there is pretty much one thing that I am looking for. Rather than having the author deliver the cold, hard facts, I want them to breathe life into the past, to unravel its strands to create a fully-realized character out of a historical figure that can thrive outside of the legends and stories surrounding them.

Katherine J. Chen's Joan more than delivers on that front - in fact, it might be the best example of this idea being executed that I have read.

It is so clear in every line, in every page, and in every chapter that Chen has been living with this story for quite some time and that she so deeply cares about telling it well. Joan, who has so often felt untouchable and godly, feels so incredibly real and alive as we follow her exploits through childhood to her ascension as the savior of France. I absolutely devoured the first half of this book due to Chen's lyrical writing and its focus on Joan fighting against the role that she is forced to play within her village. The second half, which focuses on Joan as a warrior, did drag a bit for me since I felt like we moved away from Joan as a character to focus more on the plot. The epilogue, however, brought us back to the character of Joan to deliver an absolutely stunning ending.

All in all, this was an exceptional piece of historical fiction and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to pick this one up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I knew very little about Joan of Arc before I started reading Katherine J Chen’s Joan. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I’ll admit I read this at a time I was not feeling very motivated to read, but I still enjoyed this book. Chen’s take on Joan’s life was very well researched. I felt like I was on the battlefield with her. I could totally picture her as a warrior leading soldiers into battle. I think this book would be a great addition to a high school or college classroom.

This novel was breathtaking. Every step of the way, I wanted the book to end differently than we all know it inevitably does. Chen breathes new life into the story of Joan of Arc and turns her from a holy maiden to a warrior. The story, as one can assume, follows the life of Joan, but in a way we have not seen before. She focuses on the humanity of the woman, and turns her from a faithful believer to someone more feminist and strong than we could have ever imagined. I thoroughly enjoyed the book but as all good books are, this one ends too soon. It ends wrong, but such is the way of books based on true stories. She died too young, but we can learn from this book.
The author subtly teaches us that we need not take the road paved for us, but the road that will take us to the place we belong, and that may be somewhere people like us have never gone before. Joan of Arc was seen as an anomaly in her time, but now we realize that she was one of the west's best known and most recognizable early feminist icons. Read this book, even if you don't like historical fiction. You will be dazzled.

solid 4 stars
The war between England and France wages on, and serves as the stage for the arrival of Joan of Arc (Joan d'Arc). A poor, belittled by her father, unpleasant looking girl of immense resilience and courage.
Katherine Chen's words of a young girl who goes on to lead many battles with nothing but determination and a fiery will. She is made real with the rashness of her behaviour but always acts with great aplomb. She is a typical young girl/teenager sad and missing her favourite people but also knowing that she is destined for fulfilling her strengths in battle.
Filled with tenderness 'she recalls the dust motes like fairies' and sadness 'you couldn't live your whole life covered in hurt...' Joan is brought to life unlike the typical saint we have seen in a Catholic church.
I highly recommend this book and thank #NetGalley #RandomHousePublishingGroup for this early copy for my unbiased review.

I thought this was a good book about Joan of Arc . I really enjoyed this authors take on this saints life . It was a good telling of her life.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book and review it .

"Joan" is an ambitious retelling into the life of the famed Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc), with a focus on her childhood and upbringing, and how these experiences would shape her in the future. Joan is born in a small town in France called Domremy, where tensions between France and England pervade, even amongst the children. We get to see the love and adoration she has for her older sister Catherine, which is countered with the violence and abuse she tolerates from her father. It is in this environment where Joan is forced to protect herself on a regular basis that she grows up, and her physical strength is one of many attributes that is reinforced throughout this novel.

From there, we follow Joan as she is forced out of her family and eventually winds up in front of Charles VII in Chinon where her physical prowess is tested. She's given the chance to lead an army to the siege at Orleans and after being successful, is admitted into Charles' circle. Her subsequent failures, however, end to her eventual demise - a story that most of know through our history classes.

Chen's retelling of this heroine is masterfully done; instead of focusing on the religious backstory, she crafts Joan as an individual crafted through her own experiences and willpower. While there are subtle inclusions of visions Joan sees, these are not at the forefront of her story and her accomplishments. In the later chapters of the book after Joan earns Charles VII's trust, she lays out the political complexities of the court and how they placed her in an impossible situation - one where Joan was forced to take the fall. I enjoyed her descriptive and poignant prose throughout the novel as well, as it truly transports readers to France in the 15th century.

I enjoyed reading this fresh new historical fictionalized biography of Joan of Arc and rate it 4 solid stars. This book opens with Joan's life as a ten year old, living in the village of Domremy in 1422. The first quarter of the book re-imagines Joan's life as teenager. She is frequently beaten by her father, who is disappointed in her as a daughter. However, she grows into a strong woman, and 1 day he realizes that she is stronger than him. He orders her to leave. Before she leaves, the English attack her village and her beautiful sister Catherine is savagely raped. Catherine eventually commits suicide. At this point, Joan vows revenge upon the English
She makes her way to a nearby lord's castle and finds work in the kitchen there. She learns how to shoot arrows. Her strength and abilities reach the ears of the Dauphin, uncrowned king of France. He sends for her. She tells him that she can fight for him. This she does do, leading his armies in a string of victories, starting with the taking of Orleans from the English. This book concentrates on the secular side of Joan. She was not made a saint until 500 years after her death.
One quote for cat lovers: "The cat gives her a slow feline blink; its gray-green eyes look watery, or maybe that's just a trick of the light. But she would rather believe that animals, too, are capable of grief, of memory and therefore of remembering better days.
Thanks to Emani Glee at Penguin Random House for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.
#Joan #NetGalley

I thought Joan was a good piece of fiction about the Joan of Arc. The author did a great job making me feel as though I was right there during that time in history.

France, 1422. The story begins with Joan at age ten, who takes part in a mock battle. She has three older brothers and one sister who is considered beauty. Joan is more of a boy-looking and boy-acting, what we would today call a tomboy. They grow up with an abusive father, leaving Joan in bruises many times.

At thirteen, she starts having visions, but this book takes a different approach Joan without those visions, being religious on her own terms. This reimagining certainly brings a fresh approach in presenting this heroine.

The writing is vivid with descriptive scenes, which in turn make the plot slowly moving. A lot of people appreciate this style of writing and if you know the story of Joan and would like to read more of a reimagining, rather than retelling, then this might be a good selection. The writing is certainly beautiful, at times lyrical.

Chen fleshes out the historical Joan of Arc in this novel. I don’t have a huge understanding about the 100 Years War, but I felt like the author did a good job on giving the basics of what you needed to know.

I liked how the story focuses on Joan’s background and took an alternative view that depicts her as a young woman that wanted to fight and not an overly religious woman experiencing hallucinations that is the common belief.

I was afraid that the battle scenes in the book would be overly gory and dragged out, but they weren’t. I really liked how the author provided us with the historical figures that would be involved at the beginning so you would have something to reference throughout the novel.

Joan by Katherine Chen is a fictional telling of Joan of Arc. While I’m not always a fan of historical fiction, I did enjoy this book.
The story of Joan of Arc is very well known so I’m not going to comment on the plot; My review is more based on the author’s interpretation of Joan’s life, and the authors writing style. I liked this version of Joan, she questioned her own faith throughout the story, and even though her father tried to break her she was kind a generous.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of Joan by Katherine Chen in exchange for my honest review.

Chen’s novel chronicles the life of Joan of Arc, the 17-year-old warrior and leader of the French army during the 15th century. Little is known about her childhood, early life or the experiences that would have prepared her, a simple peasant girl, for such extraordinary accomplishments. To fill in these blanks, Chen has woven a seamless union of fact and fiction that brings Joan fully to life. The imagery is amazing, engaging all of the senses. Joan’s interactions with historic and not-so-historic characters are as authentic as history itself. The story is so expertly crafted that the reader is left to believe it could only have happened this way. What an amazing piece of writing. Wow. Just wow.

Joan is born into a period of conflict within France and war with England. Abused by her father and virtually ignored by her mother, she finds solace with her sister, an uncle and the neighbors. Escaping the sadness that is home, she becomes a soldier where she tastes glory and enjoys it, forgetting her original desire to revenge and seek atonement. She becomes a soldier of mythical proportions, sanctified in the eyes of the French citizens whose Dauphin through her successes is crowned. This is a fictional interpretation of Joan, very different from her usual image. Katherine J. Chen depicts her as a victim of physical abuse, quite tall and strong, and not as steeped in spirituality as we might imagine. She speaks out; she seeks redemption; she is not visibly holy. She hears no saintly voices; she grows into her faith where she speaks directly to God. Very different from the standard depiction, it is worth meeting this woman and accompanying her on her quest, despite what occurs.

Joan is a chronicle of Joan of Arc from childhood through the battles she led. It celebrates the large, courageous woman Joan —not some cardboard Saint. The novel focuses on Joan’s triumphs as she accomplishes the crowning of the Dauphin as France’s king and her defeats when the new King’s advisers thwart her efforts to retake Paris. The novel embeds the reader in the sounds, smells, blood, and gore of the battlefield. It’s realistic historical fiction.

"Girl. Warrior. Heretic. Saint? From the acclaimed author of Mary B comes a stunning, secular reimagining of the epic life of Joan of Arc.

1412. France is mired in a losing war against England. Its people are starving. Its king is in hiding. From this chaos emerges a teenage girl who will turn the tide of battle and lead the French to victory, becoming an unlikely hero whose name will echo across the centuries.

In Katherine J. Chen's hands, the myth and legend of Joan of Arc is transformed into a flesh-and-blood young woman: reckless, steel-willed, and brilliant. This meticulously researched novel is a sweeping narrative of her life, from a childhood steeped in both joy and violence, to her meteoric rise to fame at the head of the French army, where she navigates the perils of the battlefield and the equally treacherous politics of the royal court. Many are threatened by a woman who leads, and Joan draws wrath and suspicion from all corners, while her first taste of fame and glory leaves her vulnerable to her own powerful ambition.

With unforgettably vivid characters, transporting settings, and action-packed storytelling, Joan is a thrilling epic, a triumph of historical fiction, as well as a feminist celebration of one remarkable - and remarkably real - woman who left an indelible mark on history."

Always here for all things Joan.