Have you ever heard of the comic books called Fence, written by C.S Pacat (The Captive Prince) and drawn by Johanna the Mad? No! Well today is your lucky day! You might be confused thinking "Why is she talking about a comic book, I thought she was talking about a novel?", do not worry, we will be talking about a novel.
But first, we need an introduction to the comics. So here is a small summary of the plot: Nicholas Cox has a secret: he is the illegitimate son of the famous fencer Robert Coste and step brother of Jesse Coste, another fence prodigy. Unfortunately, neither Robert nor Jesse know that he exists. When Jesse had everything: talent, charisma, friends and money, Nicholas was the opposite: poor, not very good at fencing and a serious anger management issue. But Nicholas wants to prove to everyone that he can be someone. The story starts with Nicholas' first fencing championship, where he meets Seiji Katayama, Jesse's fence partner. After losing 15 to 0, Nicholas is humiliated and wants revenge. Six months later, Nicholas joins King Row Boys School with the hopes of joining the Fence team and finally have his revenge on Seiji. But he soon discovers that his nemesis, is actually his roommate... (And they were roommates... Oh my god they were roommates !!)
The comic books are great for fan of Haikyū!! and The Foxhole Court. The drawings made by Johanna The Mad are great and quickly show the diversity put into this book. The story is written by C.S Pacat (The Captive Prince) and it resembles the story in Haikyū!! (in my opinion). Being a huge fan of anime and the relationship between Hinata and Kageyama, I quickly fell in love with the characters of Fence. The comic books were a 3 out 5 stars for me but when I learned that a novel was going to be written for this, I quickly bought it.
The novel shows the four points of view of four boys from the fencing team: Nicholas, Seiji, Harvard and Aiden. After their first victory in a match, the coach of the team decides to work on team building. It means trying to fit in for Seiji, working harder for Nicholas, coming to the games for Aiden and … going on a date for Harvard??
The writing for this book is perfect. The points of view in the books are very different and it is easy to understand the characters. The story includes fake-dating, pranks as well as friendship. This novel really was the opportunity for me to learn more about each character and the way they think. It was really hard to put down the book. The book is full of LGBTQ+ representation but is also diverse with two main characters being POC.
In my opinion, Seiji's POV are the best and his chapters were hilarious, I laughed so much.
However, I think that you still have to read the comics in order to fully understand this novel which can be expensive if you buy all the comics before the book.
Fence: Striking Distance is now in my favourite books list. It is having a sequel and I am so excited for it, I already pre-ordered it. I cannot wait to be reunited with those boys. I rated this book 5/5 stars on my Goodreads.
Comment below the last book you rated 5 stars. I would love to have so recommendations !
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