This book was so much fun. A heart-warming tale with romance and humour, I loved every second of this book. The characters have depth and learn so much about themselves along the way. It’s a wonderful cozy fantasy, with plenty of intrigue, battles and pining to keep me hooked from start to finish.
4.5 stars from me! Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the eARC!

Every character in Gwen and Art are Not in Love are so, so dear to me. Each of them are wonderfully fleshed out, even as they fit perfectly into their stereotypes—the titular Gwen, an anxious, fearful young girl slowly learning to break out of her shell; Arthur, a messy, broken boy desperate to hide the ravaged, bruised edges of his personality; Bridget, a sharp-tongued warrior with a heart of gold; Gabriel, the quiet, book-obsessed crown prince; and Sidney and Agnes, side characters and servants (of a sort) who are loyal to their respective employers. This book is centered around Gwen and Art's betrothal, though the title pretty much gives it away: they are not in love. In fact, both of them quickly fall in love with members of the same sex, though it should be noted I found this less of a romance book than a coming-of-age tale. Gwen's determination to become the woman she wants to be—brave and outspoken—is balanced by Arthur's brash demeanor, which hides a softer, damaged part of him. While they start the book as reluctant allies, even rivals, they become each others' closest confidants—not lovers, but as close to soulmates as best friends can be. It is their friendship that carries this book. Even the side characters, from Bridget to Gabriel, from Sidney to Agnes, have their burdens to carry; Lex Croucher balances stereotypes with careful vulnerability, crafting each character with a sort of love and affection not many authors hold for their characters.

The one qualm I hold with the book is its worldbuilding. It's half modern, half medieval, if that makes sense; the backdrop is painted with castles and turrets and magic and swordfighting, but the characters are almost flesh and blood. I can imagine them in front of iPads. I could not place where exactly the characters were supposed to fit in terms of the time period, and the mythology sometimes went foggy and careless in places. There were plot points that should have been explored more, and kingdoms that should have been developed, but ultimately this is a very character-driven book, so maybe that was a false expectation of mine.

Ultimately, this book is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the all right places, and it is exactly the sort of thing Arthurian legend needs: a set of gorgeous queer characters right at the heart of it.

This is genuinely the funniest book I've ever read. And it was so effortlessly hilarious!!

I'm not usually a historical romance person but when it's written in romcom form like this and with the best characters... I'll read a thousand more. All the sarcasm, the jokes, how hard Gwen and Gabriel were pining for Bridget and Arthur in plain sight, I just loved it so much and can't wait to read more from this author.

“To be truly brave, first you must be afraid—and to be afraid, you must have something you cannot bear to lose.”

Please believe me when I say that this is the next award winning book! I cannot recall the last book that made me laugh, cry, and annotate as much as Gwen & Art Are Not in Love. Carefully presented among elegant prose are our two leads - Princess Gwendoline, daughter to the King of England and Arthur Delacey, a distant descendant of King Arthur Pendragon. Although they are bethrothed from birth they resent one another. Gwen is introverted; she enjoys quiet walks, embroidery, and reading. Her primary source of comfort is her older brother Gabriel. Meanwhile Arthur is outgoing and playful, full of clever quips and sarcastic remarks.

Gwen wrestles with the societal and gendered expectations thrust upon her as a princess, along with her budding desire for the only female knight of England, Lady Bridget Leclair. Slipping from a feast to avoid dancing with Arthur, Gwen is able to catch a candid glimpse of Bridget. Hiding from both the knight and her feelings she ducks behind a low wall to wait. She soon discovers that Arthur has also left the feast with a servant of the castle to exchange kisses. The betrothed pair make eye contact and enter into an agreement to protect one another's secret.

Their friendship begins to truly bud and grow as they share the solidarity of same-sex romantic endeavors. Arthur aids the anxious and uptight Gwen in her pursuit of Bridget as he himself overcomes self-loathing and discovers his own self-worth. With the support of her new friends Gwen is able to shed the metaphorical chains that bound her and overcome her fears.

A sincere and heartfelt "thank you" to author Lex Croucher and publishing company Macmillan for providing an ARC. I am looking forward to all of the special editions that this book will surely have by 2024.

This book was a really fun twist on the King Arthur legend. I liked that it was a few generations later and that there was still this air of mystery and association with the original legend. I thought Gwen and Art were great. I enjoyed how their relationship changed from enemies via misunderstanding to friends to kind of almost siblings.

Gabriel was another fave. A soft boy with anxiety who just wanted to read and learn history and be in love.

The last 100 or so pages of this book were wild. I liked how the drama picked up and there was more action outside of just "within the castle walls".

Overall really fun read, I'm excited to get the final when it comes out.

I am not typically a romance novel reader, but I can never pass by anything that involves Arthurian mythology and is also queer. In the description of the book, it mentioned A Knights Tale as well, but this is not a retelling in any way. I really like the female knight vibe, though they missed an opportunity to name her some form of Lancelot which I mean, sure, but also Lancelot. And even though two of the main characters were POC, nothing there was explored where it could have enhanced the story and those characters, which I thought was too bad. It was very cute overall, even if it had the miscommunication trope which I loathe, and most of the stuff happened in the last like 30 pages of the book. But like I said, it was queer and arthurian mythology.

Heartstopper meets A Knight’s Tale and it’s a queer medieval romance?! What’s not to like? The characters in this story were well thought out and had substance to them. I enjoyed the banter and relationship Gwen and Arthur and how willing they were to help each other. I do wish we saw more romance. I feel like we didn’t delve deep enough, especially into Gwen and Bridget’s storyline. Overall it was a great read, I just wish that it was longer.

Thank you for the publisher and for Net Gallery for the ARC.

If you want a Historical romance with fake marriage thrown in, this book is for you. The banter was great and always had me laughing. The romance was so sweet.

That’s characters a fleshed out and relatable. The story is smooth and to the point. I loved how this story felt new and exciting and yet familiar at the same time!

I loved this book! The description of a Knights Tale meets Heartstopper is perfect! I loved all our characters, Gwen, Bridget and Arthur but especially Sidney and Agnes, just in love in their own world. Arthur and Sidney's snark exchanges were a highlight. I will definitely be recommending this title to the teens in my library!

3.5 Stars (rounded up)

I absolutely adored the premise of this book, and, on the whole, it delivered! This is the definition of a comfort read. It is uncomplicated and generally feel-good in a way that will make you feel warm and cozy by the time the book wraps up.

I do think it suffers from having too much happen in too short a time. By cycling between two characters that each have a love interest while also examining friendships, individual growth, and an unexpected political uprising, there is a LOT going on at any given time. Honestly, the addition of the political plots that flow throughout the book feels like the author's way of justifying a reworking of Arthurian legend without actually calling it a retelling or "modern"ization (since the time period is, likely intentionally, murky in this story).

I also felt like since we were focused on four characters and got the POVs of two of them, I thought the two love interests ended up lacking a little bit in terms of overall character development. I felt like we got an explanation of Gwen falling for Bridget, but we saw very little evidence of Bridget's feelings. I felt Gabriel had more build up, but still it felt very sudden.

Don't mistake my criticism for a lack of enjoyment, however, as I devoured this book over the course of just a couple days and sacrificed sleep to finish it!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC of Gwen & Art Are Not in Love, which published on November 28, 2023

I wanted to enjoy this one but I found the plot, story, and characterizations hard to follow and not really resonate the best for me at times.

Okay, first off, I have to say that I love this book cover and that I was so excited to read a gay Arthurian plot!

Synopsis: Gwen and Gabriel are the prince and princess of Camelot. Since birth, Gwen has been betrothed to Arthur - her arch nemesis since childhood. Arthur is sent to Camelot for a summer as their marriage looms - but why can't Gwen stop staring at and desiring female knight Bridget Leclair? And why did Gwen spot Arthur kissing a boy in the courtyard? Therein lies the deal that sets this book into motion - Gwen and Art agree to marry and support each other's true desires in secret. However, Arthur realizes he has feelings for a man he never thought he'd be interested in - someone who is shy and likes books?! And will Gwen, who loves to be alone, ever be brave enough to admit publicly that she's in love with a woman?

I love the modern medieval setting - so fun and different from anything I've read. However, I wish there was more focus on the love stories than the long battle chapters. It felt like the book was getting closer and closer, and we were waiting for big love moments between the two couples, and then those moments felt really rushed and muddied after a few dark battle chapters. And even when we did get the love proclamations, it still felt like there wasn't much of a wrap-up - are Bridget and Gwen still going to be loving from afar with Bridget on the road? Is the wedding off? Does Art announce who he truly loves to England? We are potentially being set up for a second book, but it still felt like we needed to get the firework love stories that I was so hoping for!

However, I love these characters individually. I was happy to see that Arthur grew but maintained his gruff, sarcastic demeanor. You could tell that Gwen, who was a very solitary person, grew out of her shell and challenged herself to try new things. Gabe, who studied how he wanted to rule only through books, felt the confidence, in the end, to lead England in a new way. And Bridget, well, I ALWAYS love Bridget!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

this is all that is good about ya fiction and fantasy. sweet romances, daring capers, and a little bit of magic. it was perfect and so enjoyable. my first five star read of 2023, and I cannot wait to read more from Lex Croucher. the medieval setting was wonderful and I just loved it.
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

This historical YA romcom had queer A Knights Tale (you know the one staring Heath Ledger) energy. I absolutely adored having wlw and mlm romantic leads both at the forefront of this piece.

As stated in the title, Gwen and Art are not in love, BECAUSE
1. They are childhood enemies that have been betrothed since Gwen was born and
2. Gwen has a mega crush on Lady Bridget Leclair, the mega hottie sword wielding knight competing in the Kings tournament.

My absolute favorite part of the book (besides the tension in the bird shed) is the friendship built between Gwen and Art. From attempting to blackmail each other in the first 30 pages to helping each other follow their HEARTS. A close second favorite facet of the piece is the slight curveball we get in the final few acts. The political turmoil that had seemed just colorful background towards the beginning adds up into this major moment that amplifies the lessons the characters learn throughout the book. Such a fantastic execution for driving the author's points home.

On the flip side, I hold some critiques for the piece. The first critique was actually remedied over the course of the piece. At the open, I disliked both Gwen and Art. Gwen is entitled and untrusting. Art is pompous and a bit of an asshole. As the book moves forward, both of their character's defaults are explained and humanized. Thus, towards the end of the first act, I had grown to adore these two off-putting characters. My second critique is that there are a few word choices that pulled me out of the immersive experience of the novel. An example is that Bridget's jacket is mentioned maybe twice, and I know jackets existed during this time period but suddenly I’m picturing her in a zip-up hoodie.

I highly recommend this YA novel to my friends that loved Rosaline or A Knights Tale because it excels at providing medieval-esque vibes and nails the cute teen romance portion!

Highlights:
1. Gwen getting to practice spar with her crush
2. Gwen trying to blend in at a cultist celebration
3. Art and Sidney's ride-or-die friendship

Thank you, NetGalley for providing me an arc in exchange for my honest review!

I saw one of the first announcements for this book online and knew that as soon as it was published I would be buying it to read just based on the small description I read. I am not typically someone who reads a lot of fantasy books, but I wouldn't classify this book as solely fantasy. I finished it in probably 3 days, once I started reading it one night I didn't want to stop. There were some parts in the middle of the book that were a little slower in plot line, more character building but I loved the relationships that grew during the heights of the plot and all of the little things the author made sure to include about the characters. There were some points that genuinely made me laugh, and others that made me stop and think about that quote and how it would even play into my own life. Overall this was such a good book and I will for sure be recommending it to people I know when it comes out!

I honestly loved every second of this book! The characters, even when being terrible were extremely easy to like and root for. The development of not only the relationships but the friendships felt very natural and that translated into the dialogue making the interactions funny and accurate for young adults/almost adults (even if it was a little modern for the setting). I do wish we could have gotten to see more of the developed relationships but again, I really enjoyed the pacing of everything and this was just such a fun read!

I had high hopes for this book, and it, unfortunately, fell short. The romance aspect was not as prominent as I would have hoped. At one point the characters used the fact that they were gay as blackmail against each other, which I though was inappropriate. There was a lot of internalized homophobia, however, I do think that was the point, as the main characters were coming to terms with their sexuality. Overall, the plot was lacking and not a lot happened until the end and it all felt very rushed.

these types of books are exactly what we queer people need. historical retellings that are gay as fuck because why do we need to hear over and over again the real history that's straight and boring when we can pretend this is what actually happened? right?

this book was very emotional, especially the last chapters. it's a very slow paced book that if u take your time to enjoy and appreciate, you'll be given an incredible story that will forever be in your heart.
the way the author wrote the characters reminded me of the way Alice Oseman wrote them in novels like Heartless and Loveless, and that couldn't be a better thing. everyone was charming and distinctive, and just a delight to read. following gwen who has to deal with how people see her and how she actually is, arthur who was loved carefree throughout his entire life and wants people to live like that too, gabe that it's the total opposite, not wanting any complications even if it means hiding a huge part of yourself and bridget, someone that has to carry the weight of everyone's judgements for wanting to be something else.

lverall, this author just created an amazing story that will be comforting to many of us, and that's exactly what our community needs.

Gwen and Art are not your ordinary medieval couple. Forced to marry for political reasons, these young nobles have other plans. Their schemes to convince everyone they are (actually) in love is filled with romance, intrigue, cunning capers, and heartwarming moments. I enjoyed every page as I laughed, cried, and tried to read faster. I want more of these characters!

I thought this was a fun book. It definitely is not a King Arthur's retelling, but such a fun love story. Watching Gwen fawn over Lady Bridget was amusing and defying the odds was satisfying. Arthur was my favorite character, he made me laugh and had me slapping my forehead thinking "This is such an Arthur thing." Watching Gabriel's deal with his feelings and having Arthur help was so sweet.

The writing was sloppy and felt as though I kept reading the same situation just written differently. Having random politics thrown in made no sense and was lost a lot of the time. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for letting me read this early!