a fun light-hearted read, i read this in one sitting

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First off, this is not a retelling of Arthurian legend, but rather in a world where several hundred years have passed and these characters are the descendants. This book follows Gwen and Arthur, who are arranged to be married. Except they absolutely despise each other. But, shortly after the beginning of the story, Gwen catches Arthur kissing a boy, and Arthur figures out that Gwen has a crush on Bridget, the only female knight at the summer tournament. They make a deal to be civil with each other and keep their secrets, and the story takes off from there.

I enjoyed this book overall. I loved the characters and their interactions with each other. The banter and sharp humor were great, and it was nice to see the development of the characters’ relationships with each other throughout the book. I especially loved the side characters of the story, like Sidney and Bridget.

My biggest issue with the story is that it felt like not enough happened. There wasn’t much of a plot, and when a plot did begin to come into play, it felt rushed through and crammed into the last chunk of the book. I love character-driven stories, and I think if there had been more character development and diving deeper into the characters in general, it would have made up for the lack of plot. But although there is progress in the ways the characters interact with and view each other, there was still a lot of room for development. Honestly, I just wanted more from this book.

Like I said, I did enjoy this book overall. It was a fun read. But if you are looking for something with more of a balance between plot and characters, this might not be the book for you.

Full review will be posted later.

Oh my *god* this book is so stellar. While it’s not aiming to say anything deep, that’s honestly the best part about it. It’s a fun, lighthearted (but not *too* lighthearted) story about parental expectations, queerness, and King Arthur. And best of all? Arthur’s half-saracen and Gwen’s lady love is Tai! Which had me *squealing* as a Thai person.

I love King Arthur / Camelot stories but this one was kinda boring to me. I had a hard time finishing it, I just didn’t get into the plot or the characters. Not for me!

This book had it all!

Art is witty, Gwen is sheltered, Gabriel is serious, and Bridge is confident; together they make an awesome group of characters to navigate jousting tournaments, political uprisings, and hidden romances.

This is not a retelling, which makes it even better when the Arthurian legacy appears in the story.

You’ll fall in love with these characters quickly and cheer for them throughout the whole story. I was very sad when it ended and hope there’s another book.

Don’t miss out on this book!

I'm sorry, but I just found this so incredibly boring. The pacing was off, the writing was stale, the dialogue tried but failed to be witty and engaging, Gwen and Art were not only unlikable but empty husks void of personalities, the romances even more so, and the plot meandered (which I normally don't mind when I'm enjoying the characters, a case not applied here) until the last three quarters or so but I just didn't care at this point.

I know this book has already captured the hearts of readers across the pond; unfortunately, I am not one of them.

US release date: 11/28/2023

Thank you to Netgalley, publisher Wednesday Books, and author Lex Croucher for a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Rating 3.5/5 stars

Gwen and Art Are Not In Love is not a retelling of King Arthur, but rather leans on the legend to create a different, later-Camelot that is divided between Catholics and the cultists who believe in the magic of the Arthurian times of old. In dual POVs, we follow Gwen, the princess of the current royal family, and Arthur, a noble lord’s son and her betrothed. They have detested each other since childhood, and the story begins at a time when they are nearing marrying-age, so Arthur is sent to the castle for the summer to learn how to get along with his bride-to-be. Events quickly derail and secrets about each other are discovered, forcing them into a reluctant pact to cover for each other as they pursue crushes society at large would not approve of.

Right off the bat, this book is simply fun, especially in the dialogue department. Gwen and Art have great banter born out of disdain for each other that slowly turns into genuine friendship over the course of the novel. Their interactions with other characters are also full of charm and hilarity, making for an enjoyable read with lots of laugh-out-loud moments. Along with the dialogue, the prose is contemporary while maintaining enough connection to the medieval setting that it feels fresh rather than out of place. My enjoyment of the writing style as a whole carried much of my reading experience on its back, though I also loved the characters. They came with healthy doses of humor, but also lots of depth, self-reflection, and development that was particularly lovely and important to the larger themes this book tackles (coming-of-age, building and strengthening relationships vs siloing yourself, exploring sexuality, etc). I particularly loved Gwen and Art’s friendship and the vulnerability they were eventually able to share. Sidney was also a favorite of mine, as both a riot and menace, but also an excellent friend (and wingman).

Where the book missed the mark for me was mainly the plot. The book is absolutely character-driven vs plot-driven, which can be fine. However, we suddenly got a lot of fast-paced action in the form of political intrigue and civil unrest during the last quarter of the book that was missing in the first three-quarters. I personally would have liked more of that to accompany the journey of self-discovery our characters were experiencing throughout the story; while I appreciated that journey for what it was, I did find myself bored at times as there wasn’t a whole lot going on.

Overall, this was a fun introduction into Croucher’s work, and I’m interested in reading more of it! I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys character-driven stories, self-deprecating humor and quippy banter, and themes of self-exploration.

Super fun fantasy rom-com. While it begins a bit light in tone, Croucher doesn’t shy away from including some intense fight scenes and drama. Each of the characters are a delight to read about. They are by no means perfect people, but they each grow throughout the course of the book. Even when one of my lesser preferred events happened, it felt believable because of the characters’ established personalities.

A few major themes covered in this book deal with accepting ones true identity (not just sexuality), emotional abuse, and parental expectations (perceived or real).

Overall a great story that had me smiling the whole time.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 4/5 stars

read if you like:
♡ dual pov
♡ very loose arthurian inspiration
♡ queer, medieval & knightly escapades
♡ lgbtqia+ rep

➸ you will never meet a more lovable pair of bickering beards than art and gwen. a ruthlessly hilarious and buoying coming of age rom-com, gwen & art are not in love grapples with themes of friendship, sexuality and self-acceptance in the face of external expectations - all cast in the melodrama of teenage angst.

➸ it would be a sisyphean task to try to find two individuals who get along more poorly than the ferocious princess of england, gwen, and the dissipated nobleman’s son/descendent of the fabled king arthur, art. and yet in a stroke of extraordinarily ill-luck, they have been shackled to an engagement between them since birth. locked in a frosty battle of wills with no detente in their foreseeable future, things come to a boil when they’re forced to spend time together for an entire summer at camelot until the day the wedding bells ring for them. not even a day has passed when art is caught in flagrante with another boy by gwen and it dawns on them that they might have more in common than they would like to believe.

➸ as a character-driven novel, it should come as no surprise that, sweepingly, every character figuring in it is unfailingly and ineffably worthy of adoration. not only that, but they are each of them so unlike one another that crouch virtually caters to every palate. don’t like abrasive and dagger-tongued gwen whose self-imposed social isolation forms the plate of her armour? well then why don’t you try your luck with the callous and rakish art, whose barbs and debauchery are no more than a front for a vulnerable young man compelled to hide the truth of his sexuality and thereby hide his all? still no? not to worry, there’s still gwen’s reticent and sweet brother, gabriel, mournfully peering out from the bars of his cage as future king. and if none of the above have secured your attention there is always the good-humored sidney pumping out jokes which will have you bent double ten ways from sunday. or the admirably brave and self-possessed bridget or, failing all else - the lovely agnes. with a cast like this one, suffused with the chemistry of popping candy, lively and well-timed verbal jousting is therefore a foregone conclusion.

➸ crouch’s debut ya novel is absolutely overflowing with sugar-spun prose and a thoughtful mix of era-appropriate lexicon as well as more facetious modern-day idiom. this is not a historical fiction work nor a retelling and in skirting the limitations of such, crouch is given more room to play around with the story and keep it all fairly light-hearted/unpretentious. that is, until we get towards the last third of the novel wherein the tone assumes a darker pitch. this variation of the novel’s character stumbled on so suddenly i experienced a tremendous degree of whip-lash and not for the better. by the end however, i came to a slightly begrudged acceptance of this new direction for the plot and the ending was beautiful albeit tempered with bittersweetness.

➸ conclusion :
a divinely soft and alternately heart-wrenching tale of awkwardly coming into one’s own, i will cherish gwen & art are not in love with every particle of my being.

thank you netgalley for the arc !

Such an adorable book. I loved this twist on such a classic tale. While not a retelling of the King Arthur story it still had elements of it but with a slightly modern twist. This one kept me laughing throughout the whole story whole also having touching moments.

This hilarious romcom took the key players of the story of Camelot and turned it on its head. Gwen, the King’s daughter, and Arthur, a young noble, have been arranged to be married since they were children, but the two cannot stand to be in the same room with each other.

When Arthur, now an adult, is sent to Camelot to secure this marriage with Gwen, the two (begrudgingly) find common ground in their hidden queerness and agree to use this sham of an arranged marriage to their advantage—Gwen gets to keep her parents off her back about what it means to be a lady, and Arthur gets to stay away from his abusive father and near Gwen’s charming book nerd of a brother.

With its secret romances, charming women knights, exciting tournaments, attempted assassinations, and hilarious witty retorts throughout, this book did not disappoint!

There was a perfect balance of plot and character in the drivers' seat for this book. Lex Croucher has managed to freshen up the voice and feel of Arthurian England without creating a disconnect for the reader. The main characters also felt their age, for the most part, which I know can be challenging.

I don't feel like this title will be one of my favorites of the year, but I will definitely be recommending it for those who enjoy queer YA stories or knights of the round table lore.

I thought this was such a fun story. I love all things Arthurian and this book had a fun little twist to it. This is a queer medieval rom com and it is nothing like I have ever read before. I loved all the characters and the journey that they were on. It is a perfect read for anyone looking for a book about friendships, bravery and the courage to change history. 100% recommend.

This is my second book by Lex Croucher, and I utterly adored it. I was in it for the queer flirtation and pithy dialogue, so the fact it went in a much more intense direction for the finale was both startling and gratifying. I loved all of the characters, and their dynamics not only between couples but among friendships were very satisfying.

On top of it all, Croucher introduced the idea of nationalism in a way that works well for the story without being heavy-handed. In this world, Arthur and the knights of the round table are on the receiving end of a literal cult, which not only comes into play in the story’s plot quite directly, but also works well for the allegories about our view of history. Certain aspects of the Lancelot/Guinevere/Arthur love triangle (???) are left a bit vague, and it’s not clear if magic is real in this world or not. Mostly because it doesn’t matter; the story works either way. I appreciated how much worldbuilding went into this story, because the characters could have carried the book for me even with slapdash world development. The nuances of the Arthurian cult were the icing on the sarcastic, witty cake.

I adored this book. It works on so many levels, and I absolutely recommend it for anyone who’s a fan of the webcomic “High Class Homos.” Lex Croucher, congratulations, you’re now an autobuy author for me. 💜

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this as an ARC.

This was so so much fun!!

I had a feeling I would enjoy this when I started it and I was not disappointed at all! This was surprisingly more heartfelt than I was anticipating. The discussions surrounding queerness and coming out were so well-done, and the actual queer rep itself was amazing. I love the reluctant bromance between Gwen and Arthur—they’re so funny together! I do wish the romantic relationships had been a little more developed—I’m partial to slow-burns and pining that lasts 90% of the book—but the romantic scenes were cute and I enjoyed all the pairings. I’m also surprised by how much I enjoyed the more modern jokes that were sprinkled throughout (that Riverdale reference was a shock but I’m not mad at it).

The characters were fun, the relationships were cute, and the story was entertaining. It’s not a perfect book, but it’s definitely a great time. I can’t wait to get my hands on a finished copy!

I loved this book, it was so funny! And I personally love when books are funny, the funnier the better. Almost everything Arthur said made me laugh, especially when he was up to various shenanigans with Sidney. I just generally loved his dramatic ass and I want to be his best friend. I liked Gwen too! She also had her funny moments, and really like the relationship between her and her brother.
I also, of course, enjoyed the exponential amounts of queerness in this book. I especially liked all the different representations of it, we not only had someone who was comfortable in their sexuality, but also characters that were newly discovering it, or in denial. It wasn't just one without the other and I felt like it captured a lot more of the variation in experience by having them all there together.
There were things that I absolutely did not see coming towards, which I loved because it's hard for books to surprise me. I've gotten really into books like this lately, that are almost retellings but not quite.

GAY. HISTORICAL. RETELLING.

Okay not a retelling per se. It's not a retelling in the traditional sense, it's a retelling of the ancestors of the original tale of Camelot, but hey still counts. So in this story we have Gwen and Arthur, and although I am not a fan of enemies to lovers romance wise, I think I really like enemies to friends. It's so much better than enemies to lovers because there's a really gentle progression into the friendship. I really really did love the relationship between Arthur and Gwen. There were moments where they realized they were thinking of the other, or concerned, or laughing together where they had an "ewww gross I forgot for a second I hate them" moment. But as the story progressed these moments were further and further apart, and I truly loved everything about them together and how they brought out both the worst and the best in each other.

And then we have the ROMANCE, which ya know, is the basis of what this book is about.

Gwen has a secret crush on the knight Bridget, and Arthur likes...drinking way too much and avoiding his feelings. Arthur and his best friend/bodyguard Sidney get into a decent amount of trouble. Arthur however was by far my favorite character. He was charming and sometimes a bit of a douce - but he was also loving and kind and extremely loyal to the people he cared about. Even his drunken escapades just made him so much more likable.

The romantic pairings and the cute gushy scenes and figuring out romance were just so freaking cute and I loved all of them. In fact, so much about this book was just really cute and funny. The comedy aspect of this book was incredible and I really liked the way Arthur and Gwen's humor played off each other. It made for some truly genius moments that had me laughing.

Basically, this book was just a super fun and adorable read and I highly recommend it if you're into Aurthorian lore and romance.

This book is everything I wanted it to be! The humor was spot on, the pacing was just fast enough to keep me hooked but slow enough to flesh out all the finer details, and the adorable romance was balanced nicely with the intensity of the plot. This is honestly one of the best YA fiction novels I've read in a very long time and I've already convinced my coworkers to buy it when it comes out.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was such a fun read! I really enjoyed it. It was a great palette cleanser from all the fantasy and I can't wait to read more of Lex's work! Plus, that cover is so dang cute. I love it so much.

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is a queer King Arthur retelling that takes place during Medieval times. Gwen & Art are both noble teenagers (Gwen being a princess) and have been betrothed to one another essentially since birth. Unfortunately, they hate each other. When they realize they’re both hot for other people, they decide to call a truce and marry in hopes that they can carry on their extramarital love lives in secret. But the kingdom begins to find itself vulnerable to outside forces and many obstacles attempt to break the bond formed between G&A as well as the rest of their crew.

Ok so, my opinion time. [Takes a very deep inhale… exhale…] IFUCKINGLOVEDTHISBOOK!!!!!!!!! Y’all this book was incredible. It was so freaking funny and I had such a blast reading it. I really took my time with this one because I was having so much fun I didn’t want it to end. I started off side-eyeing both G&A pretty hard but by the end, I was ready to strap on some armor and go to battle for them. All of the characters in this book are so freaking lovable; I couldn’t imagine a minute without all of them. The diversity is so well thought out and executed. The character growth was chef’s freaking kiss for the two stubborn asshole MCs (said affectionately because they are in fact the lomls). And the medical rep! I won’t spoil the major medical rep at the end but the author did confirm that Bridget has endometriosis 🥹 Your girl loves to feel seen in books!

This was really the most fun read I’ve had, possibly ever. I was laughing the entire time but also had my whole heart invested in the seriousness of the plot. Absolutely brilliant work by Lex.

Also, I would commit crimes for a copy of Gabe’s speech at the end. Lex let me know if you can be persuaded to write this in the future 👀

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC