Gwen and Arthur Are Not in Love was my first 5 star read of 2023!
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This is a YA medieval romcom that releases November 28th of 2023
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I absolutely adored this book! The characters were beautifully written and all had their on flaws to work through. Reading this book felt like growing with them as they found their true selves. The alternating POV’s let’s you really delve deep into the character’s emotions and desires. There is also great gay, lesbian, and bisexual representation.
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Each chapter brought laughter, tears, and heart wrenching moments. I didn’t want the book to end.
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I read this book as an arc on net galley in exchange for an honest review. A big thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for letting me read this amazing book!
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My review will be posted on my Instagram @eliza.bethreads tomorrow as well as my Goodreads account : https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/138904998-eliza?fbclid=PAAaYuQPa2e4ZLwwIrfwJvh6AnYW0MMo7LZ_nxE04ILYJsABb46WypkQ2hTnE

As someone who spent a lot of time watching and rewatching A Knight’s Tale as a youth, this book was a treat. It was filled with truly funny banter, enemies to friends, medieval games, and a group of young adults changing Camelot for the better. The ending was so wholesome and lovely, exactly what I wanted for this story.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC for my honest review!

I've read a lot of Arthurian retellings, and I think this one has ended up being my favorite. Several generations removed from the original characters, King Arthur's descendant (also named Arthur) is engaged to the princess of England, Gwendoline. The problem is, Arthur and Gwen hate each other, and have gone years without seeing each other until the summer they're meant to be married. Soon after their reunion, the pair find out each other's deepest secret: they're both gay. They reluctantly make a pact to protect each other's secret, which leads to better friendships, romantic flings, and some minor political tension. I really liked the characters, the summary mentions A Knight's Tale, and that's perfectly accurate in terms of the dialogue, where the characters talk in a more modern way than the setting would suggest. They were interesting and varied, and the friend group Art and Gwen build together ended up meshing well and being the best part of the book. The plot itself tends to drag, there's hints here and there of political movements behind the scenes, but when things do hit the fan, it sort of comes out of nowhere. I felt that there could have been more focus on the plot and less on Art and Gwen antagonizing each other, the switch from enemies to allies to actual friends took a long time and ended up switching rather suddenly. Overall though, this was a fun book and I really enjoyed reading it.

This book did not start off strong. There was a lot of telling instead of showing in the first half as well as several pages of straight info dumping. There was also a lack of anachronism in early chapters especially with use of phrases such as “work-life balance”, “silly me”, and addressing birds as “sinister raptors” when the story is set in medieval times. The lack of anachronism made it hard to push through the first half as I was taken out of the story each time.

The flow and storytelling improved for the second half. The references to Arthurian legends were more smoothly worked into the plot and didn’t come off as forced. I appreciated the growth and character arcs throughout the story especially since Gwen and Arthur did not come off as lovable in the beginning.

3.5 Stars – Rounding up to 4

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with an Advanced Reader's Copy of Gwen and Art Are Not In Love. I‘ve been interested in reading this since its announcement, and appreciate being provided the opportunity to read and review it.

I thought this book was so much fun, and its strongest moments were those exploring the various relationships between Gwen, Gabriel, Arthur, Bridget, Sidney, and/or Agnes. I would’ve enjoyed seeing them develop even further. I particularly enjoyed Arthur and his friendship with Sidney.

Overall, I recommend this book, especially if you’re looking for a fun, gay, medieval read.

I really wanted to like this queer YA, but it didn't work for me. Tried too hard to be modern and hip in medieval times and I just didn't like Art or Gwen as characters.

This book was a very fun take on the story of King Arthur. The romance was very cute and the characters were positively charming.

A fantastic tale, packed with witty banter and humor. Highly recommended for fans of King Arthur as well as Fantasy and even Romantic Comedy readers.

Princess Gwen and her betrothed, Arthur, take turns narrating each chapter. Arthur's family is supposedly descended from King Arthur's line and he's about to marry into the royal family. We start following him just as he's about to spend the entire summer at the castle. He and Gwen hate each other, both have eyes for other people, and his body man and Gwen's lady in waiting instantly fall for each other.

What follows is a summer of self discovery, royal obligation, and humorous, drunken shenanigans. Don't miss this one!

If Red White and Royal Blue was a YA novel set in medieval England, and featured the coming out story of two royal siblings with some nods to Arthurian legend, you’d get this book.

A fun queer romp that ends with our characters more mature and self-actualizases, even after some heart-breaking turn of events.

Special shout-out to this book for giving us a gender bent, butch lesbian knight that our baby butches deserve. Definitely channeling Bridget LeClair for future gender euphoria inspo. ❤️❤️❤️

Review in return for ARC:
This has got to the BEST book I've read all year!! It was exactly what I wanted: snappy dialogue, loveable and charming characters, mystery, action, and sweeping romance.. if this is the last book I ever read, I'll be happy!

I found this book so easy to get into, which isn't always the case for historical fiction - it was the right blend of history-bending and accurate, and the characters were so vivid. Croucher's talent with creating relatable, well-rounded characters is huge, and one of the best things about this story for me was being able to track the character development of Art and Gwen. They make such a great team when they're trying not to maim each other!!

I cannot wait to buy this book when it comes out and read it again!!

Synopsis from Goodreads:
It’s been hundreds of years since King Arthur’s reign. His descendant, Arthur, a future Lord and general gadabout, has been betrothed to Gwendoline, the quick-witted, short-tempered princess of England, since birth. The only thing they can agree on is that they despise each other.

They’re forced to spend the summer together at Camelot in the run up to their nuptials, and within 24 hours, Gwen has discovered Arthur kissing a boy and Arthur has gone digging for Gwen's childhood diary and found confessions about her crush on the kingdom's only lady knight, Bridget Leclair.

Realizing they might make better allies than enemies, they make a reluctant pact to cover for each other, and as things heat up at the annual royal tournament, Gwen is swept off her feet by her knight and Arthur takes an interest in Gwen's royal brother.

Gwendoline and Arthur have been betrothed since childhood. But guess what, they’re gay! This tale takes place in medieval times, Camelot style, with castles and jousts. Arthur is a daring, goofy jester type of guy. Gwen is a more serious, goody-two-shoes type of gal. So naturally, they do not get along very well.

The 1st chapter felt a bit slow to start and didn’t draw me in, maybe it was the alternating perspectives?

At 100 pages, not much has happened. Very slow developments. Not super funny but I have to remind myself this is YA….but YA can be funny! This is mostly…silly.

Ok, I’m sold on Arthur’s love interest.
It is so sweet, so precious, how Art guides him and helps him with his vision. Also, he is brilliant in helping him come to terms with his identity. Art also helps Gwen really go for it, in terms of her secret desires, and I admire that.

Lady Bridget Leclair, knight extraordinaire, was so hot. I want a gorgeous knight in shining armor!! That’s exactly what I want! I was so disappointed by how things played out for Gwen and Bridget. I wanted more from them!!
For some reason, Art’s romance felt more believable than Gwen’s. I was left wanting more emotion and passion from the characters.

Overall, I enjoyed this and there were exciting moments but I was left wanting more from the plot, and the sapphic side of the story. I connected with Art the most.

I really want to know how the speech went at the end, is there a sequel? I'd give this 3.5*.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

*Thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the chance to review this ARC*

Gwen has been betrothed to Arthur since she was born. Art hates Gwen. Gwen hates Art. They both hate the Camelot references in their names. Add into the mix that they're both very, very gay, and you accidentally end up with a fairly fragile truce.

I really enjoyed this book. Taking part in a post Camelot world (set a few hundred years after the epoch of King Arthur) England is much as you would expect it (albeit with a few more cultists around). The book has a bit of a slow start, but Gwen and Arthur really push each other out of their norms and it was great to watch their friendship grow. Despite being set in a more historical period, family, acceptance and belonging are real focal points of this story.

Content warning re Arthur, his father is very neglectful and abusive, which is definitely heartbreaking.

Complete with knights, a tournament, and an awful lot of wine, this boon was really lovely read, was sorry to see it over so soon.

If this isn’t on peoples favorite lists for this year or the next I will be very surprised. This was such a good time. It was magnificently written, had all the witty banter one could want, and the right amount of gay panic.

Our main characters are flushed out and are flawed, and just work brilliantly together. I imagine if you were to put Heartstopper in jolly ole England and were to add some of John Gwynne’s Malice to keep on your toes, this would be the result, and it is wonderful. The action scenes were perfect, pacing was excellent, and the plot was *chefs kiss*

Prepare to be sick of me in November when this delight comes out because I promise I won’t shut up about it.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is a LGBTQ historical romance about two foes who make a pact to keep each other's secrets.

I really enjoyed this book. All of the characters were interesting and the story was fun! Sometimes I get bogged down in the language in period pieces but this was very easy to follow. The end battle sequence dragged on a bit but otherwise the plot was very compelling. I enjoyed the reimagining of Camelot.

I was given this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

The cover art and synopsis drew me in, but I didn’t realize just how much I’d love this book. This fun, historical rom-com was everything I want in a story, and more. Gwen & Art Are Not in Love has easily become one of my comfort books and I’m looking forward to diving into Lex Croucher’s other novels after this.

This book has so much hear, and what really drove the story for me were the characters. The characters are all flawed, charming, and also so very relatable. Quite honestly, I set the bar low for rom-com characters, and Croucher’s cast definitely exceeded my expectations and raised the bar a million times higher.

Also, the dialogue? The banter? Absolutely top notch. I often find the dialogue in romance novels sufficiently eye-rolling, but Croucher’s characters seriously made me laugh from the get-go. Seriously, I’ve never had a book that’s made me laugh out loud before Everyone was so loveable and fun, you can’t help rooting for them throughout the entire story!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an E-arc for review!

This book had a lot of good humor and queer rep & overall was a fun take on Arthurian legend. Unfortunately, I did feel as though it wasn’t really for me, but I think many are gonna love this!!! I can’t really put my foot on exactly where this went wrong for me, but I just felt disconnected & am kinda disappointed because this was one of my most anticipated reads for the year. I do feel as though there were some pacing issues & generally found myself not feeling connected to the characters or the story. I want to make clear though I think many are going to love and enjoy this & that I’m probably going to be in the minority with this opinion so don’t let my opinion deter you!

This story was utterly charming from beginning to end. The dialogue is top notch, characters are equally flawed and loveable, and there are shenanigans galore. I will definitely be recommending this title to all teens and secondary libraries.

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Engaging? It's slow.

OH MY GOD THIS BOOK! This book is if BBC's Merlin was gay. It was amazing start to finish and I can't recommend it enough. The characters are captivating and the story has twists and turns that keep you reading. This is perfect for fans of Heartstopper, BBC's Merlin, Priory of the Orange Tree, or anyone who wants a queer romance.

Plot -
The plot was character driven with a few key events that help drive the character's development. However, it wasn't as if there was nothing happening but the characters themselves. There was also multiple points of views which helps the reader understand different character's backgrounds and see more of the world. As this is a fantasy-ish novel, the romance was the center focus. However, the small world building done to set the political stage was well done.


Characters -
Wow. The characters went through quite a journey. When we meet Gwen, Gabriel, and Arthur, they are quite unlikable. Gwen is, for lack of a better descriptor, entitled. She spends her days isolating herself from others because she struggles to make friends but also doesn't see the friends right in front of her. Gabriel, is so scared about becoming king, that he too secludes himself from the world in books and scrolls (which isn't a bad life if I'm being honest). Arthur is a pain in the ass to everyone around him and makes quite a nuisance of himself in the first act. But by the end of the book, you are rooting for these characters. Gwen and Gabriel learn to be less uptight and Arthur learns how to process his emotions. The culmination results in a wild finale act that will has you stressing for the characters as they go through trials and tribulations.

Writing -
Not much to add in this department. The amazing story and stunning characters speak for the book.

Going into this, I found Gwen and Art both to be very two dimensional as characters, often finding them falling flat and not connecting to them. This changed as the book continued, Art growing on me, though Gwen did stay relatively two dimensional to me. Art, however, quickly changed to be my favorite character and one I kept rooting for. From learning more about his childhood, going through his attack and recovery, to the end of the book, it felt like he truly developed into a fully fledged character. I did enjoy Gwen's arc of learning how to speak up to herself but it still fell flat to me come the end of the book.

Additionally, the ending did feel a little rushed? I'm not entirely sure if it's lack of feeling comfort writing battle scenes and the follow up to them but it did feel rushed and while that did bother me slightly, I still enjoyed the book as a whole. I would gladly buy this once it's released and convince my friends to read it!

I really wanted to like this book. Queer Knights Tale sounded great, but I found the characters very unlikable and very few of them grew on me. I also found the plot too complicated, there was too much going on to keep track of, especially when the perspective changed every chapter. It just made it difficult to connect with characters and the plot overall.