I really enjoyed this book!! The romance was cute and a good slow burn. I do wish the story overall was a bit more developed, which is why I docked a half a star. Overall it was a good read!! I loved it and will recommend to friends.

"The problem with compromise,' he said eventually, 'is that, often, everybody loses. You sit on the fence for so long that you discover you've built a kingdom on it."

Gwen & Art Are Not In Love was all set to be this beautiful queer retelling of the classic legend - and I was so excited for it! I loved the start - mutual dislike and distrust of Gwen and Art ends up with them agreeing to hold each other's secrets in order to go after the people they actually want! YAY!

We get a heap of found family from Gwen's brother, the future king, her lady's maid and Art's squire. These side characters are probably more interesting than Gwen and Art put together. There's an emphasis on self over country, which is good and all for soldiers, but probably not for kings.

Overall, I found Art to be profoundly annoying, and also slightly useless? As a great knight, you'd think he would have some heroism to himself, but no, just jokes.

Gwen's got a mind for politics and ruling, unlike her brother who only cares for his magic, his books and his theories. But alas, as a woman, she's vastly ignored and overlooked. Even as a princess, her own guards don't listen to her. Gwen's so unsure of her own ability to command - because her commands are routinely overridden by men whose stations are SO far below her. Even her own brother, who she considers to be "her best friend" rarely takes her seriously. This was truly the worst part of the book for me.

Overall, this wasn't the book for me.

Honestly I didn’t think Lex could top Infamous, I loved it so, so much…but this was absolutely brilliant, as good…maybe even better? I don’t know, I can’t make that call but I definitely loved every single second of it! It’s charming, sweet, funny, exciting, and drenched in wit as sharp as Excalibur Nine.

If you haven’t read any of Lex’s previous releases (For shame! Remedy this immediately!), it’s good to know the stories always tend to have a kind of dark dip around three quarters of the way through but then it pops back up in mood at the end. Personally, I love the complexity it adds to the stories but if you’re fully expecting just happy, silly vibes all the way through it might be a little unexpected.

Far and away one of my very favorite authors, I will read anything Lex ever deigns to grace us mere mortal readers with and am currently now rabidly awaiting both Trouble and especially, Not For the Faint of Heart!!

This was one book that had me hooked from the beginning! Gwen and Art are amazing characters that find love and make it known that THEY ARE NOT IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER! Instead, they fall for two other people and become friends and allies. It was ADORABLE and a great YA Historical Fiction story!

This was such a cute book. I loved watching the friendship between Gwen and Art develop and watching them blossom into their own identities. Gabriel and Bridget were also fantastic characters and seeing their relationships in their group develop was incredibly rewarding by the end of the novel. It definitely had its sad parts and Croucher does a fantastic job of weaving those parts in but keeping the humor throughout the book without dragging it down too much. Don't go into this expecting much Arthurian legend content, but definitely an enjoyable YA romance!

<i>"...I spent a very long time feeling confused. I didn't know why I was feeling the way I was, or what it meant, and...you were the first person who knew. [...] What I'm trying to say is, you knew, and it made perfect sense to you even when it didn't to me. I didn't have to try and justify it to you, or beg for your understanding -- it wasn't something that even needed explaining. I had no idea how much that would mean to me. When I talked to you about it, even when you were being a bit of a nightmare, you always made me feel like it was...completely ordinary. Something I should be allowed to want and to have, without question."</i>

TL;DR: An alternate history where the Pendragon line / dynasty has continued on, following teenage siblings Gabriel and Gwendoline, and her betrothed Arthur. Also, a kick-ass lady knight Bridget LeClair. Croucher highlights LGBTQIA+ representation in a sweet medieval romance which, while a little light on Arthurian legend connections and a little slow to get going, is ultimately a story of found family and acceptance.

Vibes: Red White & Royal Blue + A Knight's Tale wrapped in a blanket of Mackenzi Lee's snarky dialogue and protagonist angst

Genre: YA Alt-Historical Fantasy Romance

Romance Meter: ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
A true romance story, with 3 central couples at the heart of the story.

Character MVP: I'm going to cheat a little here and say it was Arthur and Sidney's romance. Arthur was, I think, my favorite character but his dynamic with Sid -- and the snappy, witty, dry sarcastic exchanges Croucher wrote for them -- really elevated both characters.

Verdict: 4.5 stars, rounding up.
To be fair -- this book took about 2/3 of the way through to get going, which may be a bit long for some. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it -- I absolutely did -- the pacing was just a bit off. I could see the threads that Croucher was weaving with the cultist vs. Catholic tension, the scheming cousin, the helpfully insistent noble and the tournament, I think I just wanted more...action.
A lot of the story was spent in the protagonists heads -- and being split between Gwen and Arthur didn't help it feel a bit too long because there were 2 reluctant love stories that needed to be developed.

Again, I really enjoyed the story when I read -- particularly Arthur & Sid's relationship & dialogue -- but for about 2/3 of the book it was a bit too easy to put down. Once the main "conflict" of the story kicked into gear, it was a lot harder to put down and I found myself racing through the last 25%.

I also wanted more Arthurian legend connections...? A personal quirk, given how much I love that mythology, and I know that wasn't the point, but still.

Overall, a YA romance done right -- and yet still enjoyable by New Adults.

I did not expect to enjoy this one as much as I did. I have a soft spot for King Arthur stories, and so reading this one with all the twists and turns, it was definitely a book that kept me on my toes!

I loved this medieval YA romance. It has gay awakenings, fake dating, lady knights, and political intrigue (a few of my favorite things). The banter between Gwen and Art is top level, and the way their relationship evolves throughout the book goes from frustrating to heartwarming. This book is like if A Knight's Tale was queer, and I enjoyed every page.

I am a huge fan of Camelot stories. Gwen and Art Are Not in Love is a different twist that I hadn't read before. It was cool to see characters I love represented in different ways, namely as queer characters. While I enjoyed the banter of the characters at points and the setting of the story, I overall was a little bored with the pacing. I think it was a bit too long and I would have liked to see more breadcrumbs or pining with the love interests.

This book had a lot of buzz, and it lived up to the hype! Queer royals, lady knights, and a hinted at Arthurian throuple, it ticks all the boxes. I love each main character dearly for different reasons. Can't wait to read the fanfiction based on this.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is rooted in Arthurian folklore. It's not quite a retelling as the titular Art is a descendant of the Arthur of lore. However, his family has fallen from grace a bit and another family is on the throne. Gwen is princess and has been betrothed to Art since birth as part a political alliance between Gwen's father, the king, and Art's father who is influential in a group of cultists. The kicker? Gwen and Art are both very much not straight. Everything comes to a head as the crown hosts its annual tournament and the date for the wedding approaches.

This book is absolutely delightful. I loved it. The characters were phenomenal. The desires and conflict between them all played together beautifully

Also, Art's mother's family was from Iran. It is so nice to see a book set in "Arthurian time" that acknowledges that the world was not static and people did move about.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (4.25)

Content Warnings: homophobia, violence, death of a parent

This was a cute and sweet effort, but the humor didn't quite work for me, and that made it hard to get into the story as a whole. I liked the idea and the characters themselves felt interesting, but the character interactions and the romances didn't quite work for me in the end. I also felt that the pacing was somewhat strange, as it is very slow for the first couple of hundred pages, and the shift in tone in the latter part of the book was somewhat jarring. I would have liked there to be more of a focus on the romantic relationships that we got.

Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher
#NetGalley published 11/28/23
#retelling #alternatehistory
#LGBTQIA #ya

This book started off very slow for me. Then it got funny. Then it slowed down again and I didn't want to pick it up. If the is wasn't an ARC, I probably would not have given this book as many chances as I did.

The story is hundreds of years after the original King Arthur and Guinevere. And it has a queer twist to it. Which is really fun, actually. Art and Gwen have hated each other since childhood. Then they end up with others sounding like the typical friend group in high school you hear about.

I'll leave the story there. Since there were tons of fun bits, I'll be rounding up for ratings. Just for me, there were too many times I didn't want to pick up the book.

#historicalfiction
#romance
#bookstagram #bookrecommendation #booknerdsbookreview #bookreview

<i> I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. </i>

i liked this book, just … a predictable amount given my everything. but i finished this book in two sittings, and i can’t stop thinking about it oh my GOD.

the premise of this book is an arranged marriage in a faux-medieval society, where both parties are actually queer. it’s enemies to friends to fake-lovers, and it’s got so much heart it manages to soar above the pile of tropes that got me to read it to begin with.

all of the characters have such wonderful arcs, and the dynamics between characters - they’re all smart and emotionally competent (mostly) and know what they want (eventually), and they take good care of each other and care about each other so so deeply.

AND there’s a riverdale reference in the first 30 pages. man. it’s just. AUGH THIS BOOK.

i was actually laughing out loud, kicking my feet, screaming into my pillow, especially as the climax of the story got underway. it was just. oh my god. can’t stress enough that i started this at 9 pm, expecting to get a bit of reading done and then put it down, and then before i knew it it was 2 am and i was like ‘well there’s only 30 pages left and i can’t go to bed without knowing what happens’.

can’t stress enough how much i love all of these characters. arthur and sidney’s friendship, his petty rivalry turned best friendship with gwen, bridget’s dynamic with her friends, gwen growing to see that her judgement of agnes as a ‘silly girl’ was rooted in her fear of being rejected …

it’s just good. you need to read it. banger way to start 2024.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

I really enjoyed Gwen & Art Are Not in Love! This is a queer medieval rom com which follows Gwen (the daughter of the present king) and Arthur (a descendent of King Arthur). Forced into a political engagement, Gwen and Art don't initially see eye-to-eye. However, when they each learn that the other is queer, they begin to realize that the appearance of an engagement may work to both of their advantages.

This was a fun and easy read. Croucher's humor hits just right -- as with Infamous which I read earlier in the year, there is a definite Louise Rennison influence here. Honestly, I'm a sucker for it. I laughed out loud at various points throughout. Towards the end, the book takes something of a tonal shift when the stakes dramatically increase. I didn't see this coming, even having read earlier reviews, but I think Croucher really pulled it off. Would recommend this to anyone who's looking for a fairly light, silly romance.

The story enthralled me from the first page, I love Arthurian legend and while this wasn't a retelling, I loved that it took place in the same world, and loved that it was a queer story.
The characters were all extremely lovable and flawed and I wanted to spend more time with them.
I will say the ending 20% or so of the book went in a direction I didn't expect, but it wasn't off-putting, just entirely unexpected.

I really enjoyed Gwen & Art Are Not in Love! A fun, queer medieval rom-com with a lovable cast of characters. This hit all of the boxes for a delightful comfort read for me.

A queer Arthurian delight! I loved the charm and wit of Art and the badassness of Bridget as the only female night in the land. This story is so well crafted, the characters thoroughly developed. Although the ending felt a little rushed.

I got an ARC of this book.

At first, it was a little bit fun. Felt like it was supposed to (A Knight's Tale), but then it didn't seem like anything grew or got deeper (Heartstopper was missing). I could put it down to days to weeks and not realize it. I ended up not finishing it, because it just felt stagnant. So it could very well have gotten more emotional and deeper as it went. I just didn't make it far enough to find out.

It isn't the worst book, but it was compared to two major titles. I think that partially set it up for failure. I expected more out of it than it delivered, because of those comparisons. Is it a bad book? No. Did it live up to its own cover? Also, no.