I really enjoyed this book. Gwen and Art were both so funny and I loved getting to see how they came together to help each other find who they were truly meant to be with. I would definitely recommend this book.

A charmingly sweet queer romcom revolving around the young and distant relatives of the players of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. They navigate young love, coming to terms with your sexuality, identity, and more.

Very fun, clever, and fun from start to finish.

Gwen and Art are most decidedly NOT in love. In fact, they mostly hate each other. At first. Enemies to lovers...but not quite in the way you imagine. Childhood rivals to arranged marriage to reluctantly covering for each other's romantic escapades, to genuine love and caring, but in a platonic way! This queer rom-com with an Arthurian backdrop explores bravery, love of all kinds, and the confidence to be who you are.

This was such a cozy read! I absolutely loved the slice-of-life look at these characters' lives, and the Arthurian landscape is one of my favorites!

I loved each and every one of these characters. Gwen was adorably shy and naive, Gabriel was the cutest little nerd you'll ever meet, Arthur was hilarious and beautifully vulnerable and brave, Sidney was rambunctious and oh-so loyal, and Bridget stood up for herself like no one's business! There was also SO MUCH character growth for every single one of these characters! I loved that so much! The banter was also top-notch. Arthur and Gwen's interactions were hilarious, as were Arthur and Sid's conversations.

While the blurb for this book does not portend any big serious plot points, at around 70% the overarching plot of this book does really pick up. If you are purely here for slice-of-life queer love, you may not appreciate the ending plot points, but as a reader who appreciates some extra plot with the romance, I did appreciate this. <spoiler>There is an attack (off-screen) of one of the main characters and specifics given of the injuries caused. There is also a major battle sequence</spoiler>near the end that solidifies what I believe to be what the book was leading up to the whole time. I did not find this to come out of nowhere, there were major clues throughout the book that hinted at this, but just be warned that there are some more serious parts to this book and it isn't all "romantic shenanigans."

The worldbuilding was minimal but enough to provide a believable backdrop, especially given the numerous Arthurian stories out there. The writing was fantastic, very easy to read with top-notch banter and familiar romantic comedy vibes. I absolutely loved the ending, it was extremely fitting.

Overall, I loved this and will definitely be looking to read more of Lex Croucher's work!

*I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

This was a fun and cooky take on the Arthurian legend. Art and Gwen are the distant ancestors of the original Arthur and Guinevere, and they are definitely not in love 😝

I enjoyed the writing style. It was a very tongue in cheek interpretation of King Arthur. I also liked that Croucher wrote it from a dual perspective. Getting to see the story from both sides helped to fully flesh it out and give important detail.

It was LGBTQ+ on both sides, which was something I haven’t encountered before. I enjoyed seeing the coming of age struggles that their sexuality elicited. It was a tough subject matter of being closeted and feeling like they had to hide their true selves, but it was handled with a kind and light-hearted hand.

The tone of the story very much reminded me of the Lady Janies series. It was zany and very self aware. If you enjoy retellings with humor and a healthy suspension of disbelief, then this will be a slam dunk for you!

My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I gave Gwen & Art Are Not in Love 4 Stars!

So, I didn't read anything about this book beyond the title and the keyword of "LGBT+" before clicking request and therefore did not realize it wasn't exactly a retelling until I was actually reading it. That's a good thing, though, because I actually ended up loving the fact it was more of a story that weaves Arthurian legend into the time that the story actually takes place, which is a few hundred (? right? I think that's right) years after the events of the actual Arthur Pendragon, making him a bit of a legend to our main characters, Arthur and Gwen(doline), who are definitely not in love. They actually hate each other when the book opens, which is something I love to see myself. We love relationship growth around here.

I also adored the characters. All of them, which is pretty rare for me. Usually I'm okay with some and loving others, but this time I genuinely loved all of them. Even Arthur, who I started out disliking quite a bit. (I love Gwen, okay, I was siding with her the whole time, and therefore was siding against Arthur, who she hated.)

Bridget, though? Best character. Her character arc was, by far, my favorite of the whole story. Every time she popped in I was over here borderline kicking my feet because I knew that meant we might get some more interaction with her. Thanks, Gwen, for picking an awesome crush. I appreciate that very much.

My only qualm was it felt a little long, and I could feel myself getting a little bored somewhere around the 60% mark. Shit hit the fan at some point, helping with that incoming boredom, but I stand by the fact I think it could have been a little shorter. Just a little.

But, beyond that? My favorite book from Croucher so far. I may have only read two so far, but I'll be lining up for more, no questions asked.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I tell you the amount I times I said to myself “This is SO reminiscent of A Knight’s Tale” while reading this book…like it’s almost embarrassing but I digress since I spent 70% of the book kicking my feet.

Inspired by an Arthurian legend, we follow Gwen and Arthur who are most definitely NOT in love because one is in love with a hot lady knight and the other is in love with the former’s brother. When I say I found these characters incredibly likeable like how can you not?? They’re queer and they’re in love, how can you not root for them?? This book almost read like a romantic comedy at the beginning because it was very fluffy and there was this loose element of “fake dating” if we can even call it that since Gwen and Arthur are quite literally betrothed to one another but hate the other’s guts. However, I felt like that fake dating trope went completely out of the window and it was casted off to the side.

One of the highlights for me is seeing Arthur trying his hardest to be a wingman for Gwen…the comedy is just a running stream throughout this book. I have to say this book has some of the strongest dialogue I have read in a while. It doesn’t take itself seriously and again, like in A Knight’s Tale, merges modern language in a medieval setting expertly. I found myself audibly laughing out loud, mostly because of Arthur’s shenanigans and quibs.

I will say from the romantic side of things, I do wish we got to see more of that with Arthur and Gabriel as I feel like Gwen and Bridget definitely took the spotlight when it came to romance (definitely not mad about that tho!). However, considering the circumstances outlined in the story it makes sense as to why there wasn’t as much romance between Arthur and Gabriel but it still made the story feel a bit empty. I wish the book hadn’t ended where it did because again, I feel like things were a bit unresolved in the romance department for both couples.

Also I felt as though the ending felt a bit rushed, the last 20% of the book there is this complete shift in tone and mood that I didn’t see coming. I don’t mind gruesome or gory details but oof! How did we go from “we’re queer and we’re panicking but we can be cute sometimes” to “blood! swords clanging! more blood”.

I will say though, I really enjoyed this book and I would highly recommend it if you want to read a queer historical YA romance set in the medieval period written in a modern tone! If you’ll excuse me, I think I need to go rewatch A Knight’s Tale now.

Recommended: eh, if you are really excited by the synopsis
Not for likeable characters. Come to this for a whole lot of story that happens with some relatable personal conflict, though

Thoughts:
Look, if we weighed the quantity of things I liked versus didn't you'd think this would be a five star book. Unfortunately the one thing I didn't like tarnished everything else, and that made the whole experience lackluster overall for me.

So what was the issue?

Y'all, I HATED both these main characters. We get perspectives from both sides, but even knowing each of their own thoughts and motivations behind their actions, they were just so unlikable. He's obviously a prick, insensitive and dickish and making "jokes" so often I wanted to punch him in the throat. She's barely better with her insufferable prissiness and complete lack of humor. I've also rarely encountered someone I would straight up identify as a coward but well, here she is. Strangely, their love interests were excellent and way more likable, so it's a shame the stories weren't told by them. If they had been though, I'd have seen Gwen and Art and been like "why tf are they even bothering with these crappy people?" So maybe it's better off.

So look, if you can read the first few chapters and not be completely sick of them both, then this will probably go over much better for you. Like I said, there's a quantity of good things in this, if they can outweigh the annoyance of the people telling the story.

First up is just the sheer scope of this story because holy shit does it escalate. This isn't "just" a cutesy romance with forbidden gayness. I mean yeah that's there, and there's a ton of discourse about the struggles and pressures the characters have with their identities in conjunction with their public positions and cultural attitudes. But holy damn y'all, this really ramps up in the second half so if you make it there you are in for a banger of an ending.

And while the characters are annoying, the personal conflicts all four of them face are very relatable. Impressive considering they're fake royalty in medieval times. As with any romance, there's some kind of barrier to the lovers getting together. In this case it's a mix of internal and external issues, and the way both sides were handled was great. There's actually a good amount of honest conversation in this, just... not between the two main-main characters. The way Bridget responded to one of the crux moments between her and Gwen was admirable and I was so happy with it. I know that's super vague, but just trust that it's a good vibe and I supported it.

As is common with stories featuring "enemies" the reason for their animosity is incredibly stupid and could've been solved with a conversation basically ever. That said, I also don't like either of them, so maybe it's not surprising they don't like each other, either. 🤷‍♀️

Overall, eh. I didn't love this book which was a shame, but if you can get behind the characters despite how super annoying they are (see: dickish petty jokes / prissy bossy coward) then you might have better luck.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a free advanced copy. This is my honest review.

Centuries after the time of King Arthur, Gwen, the second daughter of England's current queen, finds herself living in Camelot under the watchful eyes of her parents and her brother, Gabriel, the heir the throne. Many years ago, Gwen's father had promised that she would marry Arthur, the son of a lord who has been an important ally of the king. The only issue is that the two have hated each other since they first met. When Gwen and Arthur are forced to spend the summer together at Camelot, as a way to get reacquainted before their marriage, they initially find their feelings remain the same. But after they discover the other's secret, they agree to pretend to be in love and to cover for each other so they can each pursue their own interests. But as the annual royal tournament moves toward its conclusion, the two soon find outside events intruding on their lives and their futures.

This is a charming story, full of winning characters, a fun and fast-paced narrative, and a creative spin on the King Arthur legend.

Highly recommended!

This was such a disappointment for me. I considered DNFing quite a few times, but trudged along, assuming it would get better. It got interesting for maybe 20% of the middle of the book, but that was about it. There was a lot going on and none of it felt fully fleshed out. The characters were meant to be satirical and funny, I think, but I just found them incredibly annoying.

4.5 Stars for Gwen & Art Are Not in Love

This book was an incredibly clever and fun take on an age old story we've heard time and time again. I absolutely loved how our four main characters all had such unique personalities and voices without any of their screen time being compromised for any other. The book was well balanced between Gwen and Art and their respective stories and romances while focusing well on the underlying main plot.

Overall this was a really enjoyable story with plenty of action, humor and romance!

4.75⭐️

I genuinely had so much fun reading this book! I laughed at their banter and wanted to wrap them up to keep them safe. I loved watching them grow.

This isn't a retelling, but is set in a world of their descendants. The setting/era took me a minute to grasp.

I am by no means an expert, but I loved the conversations that were had it this book relating to sexuality. Each of the characters are in very different places with acknowledging and accepting their sexuality. Of course there are arguments, but there are incredibly empathetic interactions as well.

I can see this book being extremely important and touching to teenagers (or any age truly) since there are so many journeys to acceptance to relate to. And of course, there's more to the plot and development too! Finding one's voice, taking a stand, changing history, and so much more!

❗️Content Warnings Include: Violence, homophobia, unhealthy relationships with alcohol, parental abuse, parental death, and struggles with mental health including depression

This is such a well written YA novel that melds humor and great banter with political intrigue over a backdrop of societal expectations for medieval royal siblings Gwen and Gabriel. Art is probably my favorite character within the book, and his relationship with Sid is great. Although Gwen and Art are not in love romantically, watching their relationship grow within the story was also a highlight. Art exudes an attitude of nonchalance, but at every turn acts in caring and thoughtful ways. Their plan to fake date while pursuing their crushes on Lady Leclair and Gabriel is a perfect setup to cover for the actual romantic pursuits that follow. The reason this book landed at a 4 star is the massive tonal shift at around the 70% mark. I was so taken aback and never really recovered as the action ratcheted up that I found myself delaying finishing the book.

Gwen & Art is a completely brilliant and unique story that I absolutely adored.

Lex Croucher's new book is a contemporary historical fiction, with a focus on an alternate, Arthurian-inspired history and queer romance. I call it "contemporary historical" and "Arthurian-inspired" because it's worth emphasizing: this book is NOT a retelling of King Arthur's story, or a dense, historically-accurate novel. Rather, it takes place in a version of medieval Europe in which King Arthur, Morgana, Merlin, and the Knights were REAL people. At the time of this story, some people, referred to as "cultists", worship these historical figures and their magic. The religious conflict between these cultists and Christians is one of the many surprisingly complex plots woven through the romantic storyline.

In case you haven't heard of this book: The story follows the princess of England, Gwen, and her betrothed, Arthur. Though the two despise each other, they decide to "cover for each other" after she discovers Arthur kissing a boy and he unearths proof of Gwen's crush on the lady knight Bridget Leclair. The result? 300 pages of witty banter, high emotions, cute queer romance, and a heartwarming found family. Also lots of bullying and betrayal and political drama--but that's more of an impressive side plot.

This book and I got off to a rough start. I wasn't sure I'd enjoy the "romcom" meets "historical fiction" genre, and it seemed full of run-on sentences and childish characters. However, Lex Croucher develops their voice and writing style quickly as they settle into the pace of the story, and it became much more enjoyable to read.

The characters also grew on me. The focus on their flaws, though sometimes annoying, made them feel much more real. Their dynamics, from the sibling bonds to the friendships to the romantic relationships, killed me with cuteness. I laughed out loud at the banter, kicked my feet and giggled at the love confessions, and held my breath during the drama.

While Gwen & Art is very different from the books I normally read and didn't hook me right away, it won me over with its complex characters, worldbuilding, and plotlines. If you're looking for something lighthearted but still adventurous, I cannot recommend this book enough times.

4.25ish stars

I really enjoyed this YA novel. There were some funny (and cheesy) moments as well as some serious scenes, and both contributed to the effective telling of this story. I liked but didn’t always love the major characters, and that’s because they were realistic, fairly well-developed, and therefore flawed but interesting people. I didn’t mind the dual perspectives for the story (or stories), but I would have preferred that each chapter alternated its point of view consistently rather than sometimes having large chunks of multiple chapters from one perspective as I found myself losing track of the other narrative. Overall, though, this story was a good one, and I’ll probably look at buying a copy for my classroom library. I’m really loving everything that the writer creates, especially the focus on creating diverse, queer historical fiction. (I also liked the title and absolutely loved the cover design/art for the book.) I can’t wait to read the writer’s next one!

3.5 -⭐⭐⭐💫

"It was dangerous to want things, and Gwen was out of practice."

Gwen & Art Are Not In Love is the debut book of author Lex Croucher and is a YA Queer Historical Rom-Com set it none other than Camelot. In it we follow betrothed Gwen and Art as they are forced to spend the summer tournament together and, seeing as they have never gotten along, both are dreaded it. Yet when Gwen discovers Art kissing boys in stables and Art discovers Gwen's infatuation with a lady knight an opportunity strikes. Maybe, just maybe, they can find the happiness they both deserve...away from each other.

This is an adorable read. I really found the dynamic of Art and Gwen to really help tie this story together, Gwen plays in to rigid female trying to do all the right things...except she has this desire she keeps bottled up. Art is the playful character who, despite having a world of pressure on his shoulders thanks to his father, takes life by the reigns. He sees an opportunity and takes it. The dichotomy of these created humour and banter that drew me in time and time again.

Now the love interests. I'm not going to dig into too much but I honestly felt this was a bit weaker in the story. Gwen's story with the lady knight becomes a bit traditional with Art trying to be matchmaker and the "summer will end" vibe. Art's has the angsty push and pull as one is confident in who they are while the other is trying to find themselves. I felt it worked but I wasn't falling for the romance. This story has no spice as it is YA.

"You can't do my punchlines for me," Arthur said crossly. "They're quite literally all I have."

In terms of world and story I like the little nods to Camelot and the story of King Arthur but you don't need the knowledge to read this story. It very loosely draws and any deeper understanding just allows you to access easter eggs. I did get to a point in the book and started thinking we were launching into a book series because I felt the conflict and backstory of the politics was unleashed with little to no warning. I wished we got a bit more political intrigue and tidbit to build this world.

Meanwhile the story has a very cutesy idea with the tournaments...that then go bloody. i enjoyed the sportsmanship to help tie down the story while also getting Art and Gwen's journeys of discovery. I felt there was plenty of shenanigans to book involving secret rendezvous, old cults, and bird training. They kept the pace and fleshed things out. The final 30% took a pretty dramatic turn (lots of action and twists) that I was initially overwhelmed with but gradually got my bearings. I felt it would have better worked in a series but by the end I felt comfortable with the resolution. It ended on a good note for me.

Ultimately, if you like banter, camaraderie, and a good medieval tale this is definitely a book to sink your teeth into!

Thank you Wednesday's books for this arc!

This was such a cute medieval about queer love and friendship. I loved the relationships between Gwen and Bridget and Art and Gabe, both of which were adorable and full of love and took the risk to be with each other in medieval times. But my favorite relationship of this book was the unlikely friendship between Gwen and Art. They started out hating each other and ended up as family. Their relationship was also filled with banter that stayed throughout the course of their relationship. I also loved their individual growth and how they helped each other get the love the wanted and deserved.

Overall, I loved this book and highly recommend!

Read if you like…
•queer romance
•hate to friends
•Arthurian times (not a retelling)
•found family

Thank you netgalley and wednesday books for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review!

rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

enjoyed this book from start to finish! croucher's writing and characters are just incredibly fun and beautiful, brave, and the lgbtqia+ rep is unmatched. i definitely need more from this author! definitely recommend, i loved it so so much and i'd definitely do rereads.

I quite frankly enjoy Lex Croucher's approach to YA historical fiction and fantasy. Her protagonists always feel appropriately young and vibrant, animating the distant historical setting. Gwen and Art are Not in Love had been on my TBR for quite some time, so I'd forgotten some of the details of the synopsis. I knew it was a queer YA medieval story, but I'd forgotten that it wasn't an Arthurian retelling (the titular Art is, allegedly, a distant descendant of Arthur Pendragon). I'd somehow misremembered this story as either a YA King Arthur story (a la Avalon High) or a Ren Faire YA romance. Given my confusion, the exposition felt a little meandering. However, the richly drawn main characters hooked me into the story really quickly, as I love a found family. Gwen, Arthur, Gabriel, Sidney, Agnes, and Bridget are all delightful. I was also impressed that some of the more supporting characters felt more lived in.

This book is more of a coming of age story than a romance, but the comparison to Heartstopper is apt, as the characters navigate love and self-discovery and their place in the world. Once I settled into the story queer descendants of King Arthur's Camelot, I really enjoyed the story. It feels like a cozy hug in which the protagonists' exploration of queerness is a joy, not a crisis.

Easy 5 stars. Love love love this book. The story is new and exciting with enough references to Arthurian legend to make it somewhat familiar. It’s queer and lovely and wonderful, full of hilarious banter and mysterious court intrigue and the most delightful cast of central characters. I laughed. I cried. I was on the edge of my seat. I want to read it again.

Have you ever tried reading something that you have absolutely zero knowledge of but still end up enjoying it anyway? Well, that was this book for me, though it helps that it takes place years after the times of Arthur Pendragon and Merlin--aforementioned zero knowledge of.

Decedents of Arthur and Guinevere of legend, Art and Gwen respectively, are betrothed; only problem is they hate each other. But it also doesn't help that Gwen finds out very early on that Art is not into women at all, and Art finds Gwen in a similar state with women. So they come up with a plan: cover for each other while also pretending to be lovebirds in the spotlight. But things get more complicated when Gwen's long time crush, a knight named Bridget, starts to look her way. And similarly Art starts to find Gwen's brother, Gabriel, rather attractive. Throw in some crazy cultists, secret plots, and a lot of banter, and this book is what you get.

Gwen and Art, along with their romantic counterparts, are definitely the stars here. The banter between all four of them is rather adorable, though after awhile it began to get very repetitive. Surprisingly, this book did angst really well, especially in regards to the last 75% of the book and when it dealt with Arthur's depression, and I feel I am definitely in the minority on that opinion. But I think it really captured the harsh realities of being in a position of power like these two, and while the banter is great, I really found myself looking more forward to that aspect of the book rather than the banter. But regardless, the main four leads, in addition to Gwen and Art's companions Sidney and Agnes, were fun to get to know, even if their endless bickering began to get stale towards the middle.

Despite my grievances with the overabundance of banter in this book, I will admit it just isn't my thing as much as anyone else. I just enjoy a bit of depression and stakes in my books, yeah know? And the last quarter of the book really gave that to me! I just wish it was sprinkled a bit throughout a bit more. But don't get me wrong, I still very much enjoyed this book! And if you aren't like me--well versed in the Arthurian legends and a comedic banter lover--I don't think you can get much better here.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review!