Gwen and Art Are Not in Love is everything I could’ve wanted and more. If you were a fan of BBC’s Merlin and felt the homoeroticism between Arthur and Merlin that I had, then this story is for you.

It’s a queer, medieval coming-of-age rom-com featuring many likable characters. From the first few pages of this book, you can’t help but feel pulled into their world.

Gwendoline, Princess of Camelot, has been betrothed to Arthur, a future and very charming Lord since they were children. When Arthur is sent to spend the summer in Camelot, things do not go as planned. With less than 24 hours in the castle, Gwen finds Arthur kissing a boy, and Arthur discovers Gwen’s crush on Bridget Leclair, the only female Knight participating in the royal tournament.

Hilarity ensues. Agreements are made. And the chaos has only just begun.

It’s funny. Heartwarming. Occasionally Angsty. GAYYY. And features the best found family anyone could have asked for.

I would have to say my favorite thing about this book is the relationship that builds between Gwendoline and Arthur. To me, it has to be the most beautiful thing in this story. The growing amount of understanding and care between them shows how beautiful queer friendships are. They both just accepted each other, no questions asked, despite not being able to be in the same room together.

Not only were Gwen and Art very memorable, but each character brought something to the table for me. They all had their own unique quirk that made them feel so real and relatable.

I wish I were able to get more in the end. It felt a bit too abrupt for me, but it gives me hope that it could lead to a potential sequel.

I can’t wait for others to read this and find the joy in this book that I have.

Gwen enjoys certain privileges as a medieval princess but choosing her betrothed is not one of them. She has been engaged to Arthur since birth despite her adamant hatred of him. When Arthur comes to Camelot to spend time with Gwen prior to their wedding, he realizes her affections lie with Bridget, a lady knight, and he quickly becomes enamoured with Gwen’s brother Gabriel. Realizing they have more in common than they initially thought, Gwen and Art form a tentative truce.

What I loved:
-banter
-queer medieval romance
-supporting characters! Sidney! Gabriel! Bridget!
-so funny at times but also so tender
-made me cry

I’d highly recommend this book! Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the advanced reading copy.

Gwen & Art—a princess & a noble—are betrothed to be married, but find themselves far from loving each other considering they're both queer. Gwen can’t help admiring the only woman competing in the palace’s tournament of knights, while Art is falling for Gwen’s brother, the prince soon-to-be king.

Unconventional royal romances are a lot more fun that I give them credit for. This one was an all-around good time with easy banter between protagonists, and several heartwarming moments between both couples. Art and his bodyguard were too funny for their own good, while Gwen and her brother tugged at my heartstrings all throughout this story. I flew through this book in a day, which is a commendable achievement considering how slowly I’ve been reading because of school.

Art was easily the standout character for me. Something about effortlessly charming (and effortlessly dumb) character have the key to my heart. The consistent drunken humour was top tier. This, paired with the fact that he began falling for Ben because of how kindly he treated his bird (and animals in general) was possibly the greatest thing ever. Animal lovers rule!

My only qualm with this book was the flimsy world-building. I found it hard to care about the magical politics in a book that is centrally focused on romance, so I didn’t piece together much of what was going on in that regard until the final scene. To Croucher’s credit, I was honestly shocked by how crazy the climax was. When I tell you I was stressed for these characters, I mean it. It’s a shame the ending wasn’t a bit longer, I really wanted more!! This was a really fun story, with so much genuine heart and meaning spread throughout both protagonists’ experiences!

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the arc!

I LOVE THIS BOOK OMG! It's like a mix between Heartstopper and Red, White, & Royal Blue, both of which I loved! So naturally, I enjoyed this one as well!
The writing is so beautiful! I love how the scenery and emotions were written! The plot is amazing and I knew I was going to adore it the moment I read the synopsis!
I am so in love with the characters and the relationships! The rivals to friends, the romance, and the side characters were all so lovable and unique! Gwen and Bridget made my heart melt and the way Arthur slowly crept into Gabriel's heart-*sobs*
One of the best books I'll read this year and I'm so excited for the reception when it gets released! I highly recommend it and I really hope you'll love it as much as I do!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the review copy of this title.

I had been excitedly awaiting the release of Gwen and Art Are Not in Love since the first time I ever heard the synopsis for it in a Twitter thread of upcoming queer novels and am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have been chosen to review an early copy. This was such a beautiful story with one of the most amazing and goofy and lovable cast of characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.

This story is one that I feel will stick with me for a very long time and I can’t wait to start encouraging all of my friends and peers to read and love it as much as I do. Not only is this an intriguing retelling of Arthurian legend but it is also full of love stories, both platonic and romantic, and the beauty of queerness and friendship.

Lex Croucher is definitely and author I will be keeping up with in the future and reading more of her work because in just the few short days I’ve had with this book I’ve been completely enthralled with her writing and am eager to read more as soon as I can.

I haven’t had this much fun with a book in a long time. It’s funny and charming and the characters feel like real people and it was all just so delightful!

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is everything I ever wanted from a YA romance. Easily a 5 star read, I couldn’t think of a single thing I would change in this book. How could I resist a book with: Heartstopper-adjacent main characters, evolving friendships, queer panic, Arthurian mythology, utterly sweet and affectionate romance, and a healthy dose of sword-fighting, lance-wielding, falcon-flying, castle-escaping adventure.

There are young adult books purely FOR young adults, and there are young adult books simply about the universal truths of BEING a young adult. Gwen & Art Are Not In Love is in the latter category - a sweet, queer romance that anyone of any age can connect to. It made me giggle and cry, but mostly I just felt supremely satisfied through every page. I’m going to be thinking of how much joy this novel brought me for a long time.

4.5 Stars!

This book was so incredibly cute and a worthwhile read for any young person who is becoming interested in Arthurian legend! The romance was swoony but not spicy and Crocher gave everything this story needed.

I really liked Lex Croucher’s previous novels but this one just didn’t click for me. I enjoyed parts of it but I really felt like I was forcing myself to read this book. The dialogue is fun and witty and I love the anachronisms. Fans of Croucher should not be disappointed because this book is still delightfully queer! What didn’t really click for me was Gwen and Arthur. I really enjoyed the supporting characters but could not connect with the two main characters. I will continue to read and recommend this author, this book just wasn’t for me.

I'm not even exaggerating when I say that this book was physically painful for me to finish reading. Gwen is the most annoying character I've ever seen in my life. She makes everything more difficult for herself and everyone else because she wants to act like a spoiled brat all the time. She blames it all on Arthur because he's supposedly this horrific person, but honestly, he is not nearly as bad as she is. I'm in complete agreement with him on the fact that she's insufferable and I wouldn't want to be around her for a second either. Gabriel is the only likeable character in the whole story. The ending is very predictable. I knew exactly who everyone was going to end up with. Good attempt at representation, but otherwise just was not a hit for me. Thanks for the opportunity to try it out though.

While the last 25% of this book were definitely 5-star-worthy, I don’t think the beginning matched the end. It was slow, a little boring, and I couldn’t really tell how the King Arthur plot was going to lend into the general story at all. The ending was fantastic, pulling all the loose threads together, and raising the stakes from the beginning to a place where I was unable to put the book down.
That said, I’m not really sure why the King Arthur plotline was important at all. Aside from Gwen and Arthur being named after The Gwen and Arthur, I didn’t really see a need to introduce a connection to Arthur Pendragon at all. The title also seemed to suggest a much different book, one more light and more focused on the romance.

This is by far one of the best YA romances I've read in a while. I'm usually not a big fan of the arranged marriage trope, but it was done brilliantly in this book - mainly because it comes with a twist, and one I'm a big fan of. Gwen and Gabriel are the true queer power siblings and I support them wholeheartedly, and Arthur absolutely captured my heart throughout the entire book until I found myself holding my breath praying for him to be okay. To be completely honest, I went into this thinking I'd be reading a fun romcom, but I found myself reading an absolutely hilarious and heartfelt story that touches on deep topics that had me crying and laughing at the same time. I'd recommend this to anyone who's a fan of YA and historical romances, because it was a delight to read.

This book is the ultimate wlw/mlm solidarity. These couples are clever, funny, and surprisingly not necessarily the center of the plot of this book. With amazing characters, war, spies, and other intrigues, this book was just a really good read.

Arthur is honestly ridiculous and he puts on such a grandiose persona, but is such a sweetheart. Gwen’s journey from feeling like she is better than the other girls (because she thinks their heads are empty from anything besides gossip) to realizing that people are just people is actually really well handled. Gabriel is just the most endearing little bookish people pleaser, and I love him. And Brigette is bold, strong, and loyal. This little found family/actual family is just actually the best.

Parent’s guide:
Sex & Nudity: mild (references to people assuming characters had sex/ruining their honor, references to not getting pregnant)
Violence & Gore: moderate (war, character death, characters attacked, attempted murder, knight fighting competitions)
Profanity: mild
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: mild-moderate (characters get drunk-may be underage, potentially alcoholic tendencies from character)
Frightening & Intense Scenes: moderate (descriptions of war, death, fighting, war scenes with lots of death, attempted murder)

Great concept, absolutely adored the characters. The Arthurian influence on this world was really engaging and fun. The way the story unravels is also interesting, you really fall in love with the characters, it’s funny, relaxing, sweet but also there are undercurrents of things happening below the surface leading to a conclusion that’s thrilling and tense. I couldn’t put it down and had such a good time reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book! It looked so cute - queer Arthurian-ish romcom, described as A Knight’s Tale-esque. Let’s just say there is nobody in this book nearly as charming as Heath Ledger.

The characters are fine, they definitely grow on you, but they start out fairly annoying and immature. I don’t think the dual perspectives works particularly well, especially at the start. I’d say the biggest issue is the pacing, and characters not figuring things out that seem incredibly obvious. There’s one particular “reveal” that I saw coming half the book away, and they don’t even piece it together! Like they start to piece together half of it, but not in time to actually do anything about it, and then the other half they don’t figure out at all until after it’s already happened and some random person that works for the kingdom has to be like “oh yeah this thing happened”.

It’s also a bit hard to parse exactly when this is meant to be taking place / how true this is meant to be to history OR mythology. Clearly not 100%, which is fine, but it feels jarringly different sometimes in a way that isn’t really explained. I kept wondering if maybe I just don’t know enough about Arthurian legends or if it just felt off in general.

This book isn’t bad necessarily. The couples are cute. The main friendship is sweet once they get past being annoying. If you’re into battles, you might enjoy it more than I did. But it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Gwen and Art are Not in Love 3.8/5
In this queer teenage camelot retelling, there’s inclusivity, girls with swords, boys with feels, Riverdale quotes that made me snort in public places, and about 70% of the way in it takes a turn and reminds us that it is about that transition of a kingdom in the middle ages.
Set in England with a few references to other countries such as Iran, it presents a cute little alternative history fantasy story involving King Arthur cultists, lovable teenage dirtbags, and characters you can SO CLEARLY envision it was the easiest visually for me in a long time.
A little bit long, but the 2020 Emma soundtrack made the time fly!

Loved this! I loved the relationship dynamics, and the period drama of it. I didn't like the pacing towards the end: I thought the wrap-up was a bit sloppy and needed some more work. Otherwise, fun book that I'd recommend to any heavy YA fans who want something different than the average high school romance!

It’s books like this that keep me coming back to YA time and time again. I am completely in love with this book and will be shouting about it from the rooftops!

This queer coming-of-age story set in medieval times ties together Arthurian legend, lots of pining after one another, and high expectations. Princess Gwen is betrothed to the infuriating Arthur and their resentment to one another is about to rekindle when Arthur is sent to officially court Gwen. Gwen finds Arthur in a precarious situation and Arthur digs up (literal) dirt about Gwen and a reluctant alliance is formed. Throw in the kingdom’s only lady knight competing in the tournament and a certain princess’s brother and feelings get even more complicated. Despite budding feelings, the pressure of familial expectations creates tension and fear as Gwen and Art find themselves along the way.

I absolutely love how the characters hook you in with their wit and humor (and sometimes chaos) from the start. I loved the banter and even the side characters play a large role and are just as charming. It was heartbreaking watching the characters come to terms with their feelings, especially when they felt like they wouldn’t be accepted by others and that it would cause turmoil. But at the same time, it was heartwarming watching Gwen and Gabriel’s sibling bond strengthen as they worked through their feelings and how they gave each other support or even a push when needed. I love Bridget and how she didn’t let the sexism get to her as she trained to be the best knight and saved various characters throughout the story. I love that Arthur’s character hid behind a carefree mask when in reality he was fighting his own battles and still finding himself. And even though Sidney and Agnes were considered side characters, they perfectly complimented the friend group and were just as charming.

The writing in this book was spectacular and I breezed through this book as it was so entertaining. I loved the plot and how we start with some lost and unsure young adults and finish with them stepping up and ready to finally be themselves publicly. It’s a fantastic ride from start to finish and exactly the kind of book that I needed when I was younger as it’s full of adventure and hope. You’ll be throughly entertained from start to finish and finding yourself on a rollercoaster of emotions.

first off, this book is FUNNY. i was maybe 6 pages in, hit with one ridiculous riverdale reference, and i didn’t stop laughing. lex has this way of being so effortlessly funny in their work that it’s a joy to just turn the page and see what new hilarity awaits you.

second, the characters. omg, this book had me hair-twirling, kicking my feet giddy & in no time, i found myself a little bit in love with all of them.

arthur and his swagger and sarcasm - “needing to be constantly entertained” as a front for his pain; gwen’s snarky, anxious mouth as she navigates the world and her heart; gabriel with his ink-stained fingertips and messy hair, struggling with his destiny; the dreamboat knight, lady bridget, filled with so much ambition, courageous and confident— to quote gwen, “god, i hope she stabs me.”

I LOVED THIS BOOK AND CANT WAIT FOR ITS RELEASE.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for this eARC.

This was a fun spin on the stereotypical Medieval/Arthurian tale of secret love or forbidden love.

They find common ground in their separate but similar interest of other people and a love that's still forbidden, but isn't between FMC & MMC.

3.5/5 stars (keep in mind a three star is typically an 'Okay' read, not bad, just okay).

I will be honest, this book... wasn't it for me.

I don't think this book was polished very well before it was released as an ARC. Does it have some amazing potential to be a 4-5 star read? Absolutely.

Did it lag a lot in between? Sadly.

Did it still have the amazing ability to twist what the norm is and make it a great book? Yes.

Overall my thoughts on this book are this: If you are all for the LGBTQ+ variety of books, enjoy YA, and don't mind historical (ish) fiction? This book is right up your alley.

I, however, am not the biggest fan of Historical Fiction, but I wanted to give this one a go. It did exceed expectations in that department, but it just isn't a book made for a reader like me.