This sapphic retelling of the Robin Hood legend was witty, heartwarming and well written. Not for the Faint of Heart was a very anticipated read for me after I read Gwen and Art Are Not In Love last year and loved it. I think that Lex Crouchers' writing style is perfect for this cheeky YA genre. Their books always make me smile and have the best banter. I love that she has taken these old tales (King Arthur and Robin Hood) and put a refreshing, modern, and queer lens on them. The Robin Hood tale was very fun and unique. I liked that it showed change over time and wasn't just the same Merry Men tale. I also love that this world is very queer-normative. Having Robin Hood fall in love with one of his men later in life was a fun touch. I liked that this book had two different narrators (Kat Griffiths and Olivia Dowd). The dual narrators really helped bring life to both girls and give them distinct personalities. The witty banter in this book was especially great on audio and you could tell the narrators had a fun time with the sassiness of the girls. This was an excellently produced audiobook. Overall, Not for the Faint of Heart is a YA book I will be recommending a lot, and one of my favorite YA reads of the year.

Not for the Faint of Heart completely swept me up. I didn’t know I needed a sapphic Robin Hood retelling in my life, but here we are, and I’m all in. Mariel and Clem? Obsessed. Their banter kept me smiling, and I couldn’t get enough of the grumpy/sunshine dynamic between them. Plus, the whole vibe—adventure with a touch of romance—was exactly what I wanted.

It took a little time to find its footing, but once it did, the story totally delivered. Found family is my kryptonite, and the Merry Men hit all the right notes. I read it in both ebook and audiobook formats, and the narrators (Kat Griffiths and Olivia Dowd) really brought Mariel and Clem to life in a way that deepened my connection to the story. Switching between the narrators added so much to each character’s perspective, especially with all the witty exchanges.

If you’re in the mood for a cozy, adventurous read with sweet romance and well-crafted characters, definitely give this a go. This story may start slow, but stick with it—it’s worth the journey.

I unfortunately cannot fully rate this, because I could't get through the audiobook. I found the narrator impossible to listen to. And it wouldn't be fair to judge the book by the narrator because the last book I read by this author was a 4 star read for me. I will try again with a physical copy. What I did read was very interesting and I'm excited about the premise

I really enjoyed Not for the Faint of Heart and its lighthearted, humorous take on the Robin Hood legend. The witty dialogue kept me entertained throughout, and the narrator did a great job bringing the story to life. While the playful tone and quirky characters were fun, I did feel like I needed to learn more about them to fully connect.

Lex Croucher does it again with a decidedly voicey retelling of Robin Hood and the Merry Men. When the granddaughter of Robin Hood accidentally kidnaps Clem, so begins a story full of laughter, found family, romance, and a lot of heart.

As with her last book, this book packs a ton of characters that you’ll immediately fall in love with, from their snappy, often funny dialogue, to the more heart-wrenching moments they encounter and help one another through. Mariel’s grim and tough attitude is perfectly set off by endearingly cheerful Clem, making them a grumpy/sunshine match made in heaven. With a slew of other beloved tropes (only one bed, only one HORSE, wound care, I hate you but I love you, etc), the book is jam packed with a fantastic story.

While laughter is often abound, the plot does get serious at times. Mariel’s desire to prove herself to her father, she sets out to save him from capture, but the Merry Men find themselves on the wrong side of history, and ultimately need to make the decision about what matters most to them all.

All in all, this book is thoroughly enjoyable. The dialogue alone makes the entire thing, I could read it for days! Lex Croucher is wonderfully themself and if someone showed me a single line of dialogue, I’d know it was theirs.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I love Lex Croucher's writing so it was no surprise how much I loved Not for the Faint of Heart! The modern references and language were so on point, enough that they made me laugh but not too many that it took me out of it. And of course, I absolutely loved Mariel and Clem!

Great narrator for this audiobook!! I thought they were doing an excellent job at bringing to life the characters.

I wish it was a bit more in my realm for reads — I just couldn’t get too into it. I think younger readers (teens) would definitely enjoy it though! There is good humour and good character development. The pacing could have been a bit better.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Goodness gracious, I want to live in the worlds Lex Croucher creates. I loved the band of misfits in this Robin Hood retelling. I loved the queerness and inclusiveness. I loved the wood and Clem’s need to help and the witty banter among everyone. I loved the twists and the intrigue and overall feel to this novel.
The audio book is excellently done! I enjoyed the two POVs and even while the sexual tension was obvious, the blossoming romance was beautiful and really well done with a perfect YA innocence.
Not For The Faint of Heart is not just adventure and love story, but an examination of the concept of “good.” Who’s doing good and are they really and why/why not. It’s historical but also timely.

Lex Croucher absolutely has a talent for queer historical romance and I'm so happy to see that Not for the Faint of Heart is every bit as much fun as Gwen & Art Are Not In Love. This was a delightful twisting book full of intriguing side characters and a unique plot that takes a story you thought you knew and turns it on its head.

Clem has made a life for herself working with the local healer after being orphaned at the age of ten, and everything is going well for her helping the villagers and causing misery among the local wildlife (via attempts to put them in tiny hats). At least, until she's kidnapped by the Merry Men as revenge for her guardian helping the Sheriff of Nottingham. Except, these Merry Men are nothing like the stories that Clem grew up dreaming of; they're fighting wars against the Sheriff and kidnapping folks, after all, which is a far cry from what Robin Hood used to be about. Her kidnapper, Mariel, just so happens to be the granddaughter of Robin Hood, and while she's grown used to following the orders of her father, Clem's doubts might start to take hold.

The slow-burn romance between Clem and Mariel is so trope-y and fun. There's only one horse! There's only one bed! Grumpy X Sunshine! Genuinely, Clem's perky optimism in the face of being kidnapped is just SO funny and plays well with Mariel's permanent grumpiness. But where this book truly seemed to shine was in the secondary characters, especially Mariel's team. Baxter and Kit had my whole heart and I would love to see more of this team in a future book!

The narrators were both lovely and gave their characters such distinctive voices. Really, this is a book that I think is absolutely enhanced by having such talented narrators.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this audiobook.
Thoroughly enjoyed this coming of age story.

This book was extremely fun and full of intriguing plot, hilarious, period-accurate one-liners, and all the yearning and heavy glances that a girl could want. I will devour anything that Lex Croucher decides to give me from this point on.

I had a hard time following Lex Croucher’s second book. I really enjoyed Gwen and Art are not in love but had a difficult time staying interested in this story. The narrators did an excellent job regardless

The romance was so good in this I loved Clem and Mariel dynamic. The kissing scenes were disgustingly sweet. I really enjoyed the main crew and wished we a learned a little more about everyone. But this was such a good time I’m definitely going to recommend it to people.

ahhh so cute!!! i love lex croucher's writing so much. they are so funny and their characters (mcs and side characters) are always so special and memorable. also the audio narrators were amazing!

This was such an adorable audio book. It was written well, albeit a little slow starting. The characters really made the story, and I enjoyed Clem and Mariel with the way their characters developed into a romance. The novel was all about action, adventure and love. The plot line was fun, characters very interesting, and the slow burn romance to top it all off. I will be recommending this book to other readers.

Thank you Net Galley ARC and Wednesday Books.

This book simply didn’t hold my interest.

Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher is a sapphic dual-POV romance following Clem, a healer who mistakenly gets kidnapped by Robin Hood’s Merry Men, and Mariel, a captain of the Merry Men and Clem’s captor. This book follows the two of them and the eclectic crew under Mariel as they become entrenched in the war against the Sheriff of Nottingham. I liked the first book I read by this author, Gwen and Art Are Not in Love, so naturally I thought this one would enjoy this one as well; however, this just didn’t do it for me. I found myself not really connecting with the characters when I could tell the author was writing them in specific ways to make you care and to make you emotional when bad things happen, but I just didn’t really feel that. I was also kind of bored by the plot, which is unfortunate because a good amount does happen in this book. I don’t think this book did anything inherently bad or wrong, but it just wasn’t for me. I will say that it gave autumnal vibes though.

I really tried for like this one, but it was so slow. The narrator is great, but I couldn't finish it.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending me an audio-arc in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley.

I thought I was in for a cute story, similar to Gwen and Art, but this was so different. Mariel is the granddaughter of Robin Hood, and now she's also a captain of the Merry Men. Clem is a healer who is looked at as kind of weird for her new kinds of cures (modern medicine vs, say, leeches and bloodletting). When Mariel kidnaps Clem for her guardian helping the Sheriff of Nottingham, she comes back to find out her own father and leader of the Merry Men has been captured, forcing Mariel to work alongside Clem. Things get intense, feelings develop, and what you end up with is an adventure full of action and romance.

I really enjoyed this. The group within the Merry Men that we get to know really embodies the found family trope. The side characters really make this book so much more interesting than it would've been, and that's saying something considering we have a few other of my favorite tropes (one bed, kidnapping). But overall, the plot was fun, the characters were well rounded, the romance was slow burn and worth it, and the world building was done in a way that didn't feel clunky. I definitely recommend this.

This book had my heart racing and my jaw dropping throughout. There were very few twists that I could predict were coming, making it into an incredibly fun journey to be taken on. The slow building chemistry between the two main characters felt so natural for them to fall into. While it was obvious what was happening between them I still couldn’t contain my shock when they actually kissed. All of the characters were so strikingly well-written that a reader couldn’t help but root for them. This was a book that I couldn’t wait to come back to each time I had to put it down. The audiobook narrator did an excellent job pulling the reader into the story and conveying the characters emotions. I am a strong lover of the original Robin Hood mythology and thought Lex Croucher did a brilliant job expanding on the world in a way that doesn’t require a reader to have background knowledge going in.

Lex Croucher is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors for their brilliant characterizations and hilarious dialog. If you’ve ever wondered what happened to the Merry Men after Robin Hood retired, Not for the Faint of Heart offers a satisfying story of what might have come next. It’s an exciting adventure filled with an admirably diverse group of flawed yet lovable characters, many of whom are queer in one way or another.

One aspect of the story is a slow-burn grumpy/sunshine Sapphic romance between obstinate Captain Mariel Hartley-Hood (granddaughter of Robin Hood), and Clem, the irrepressibly cheerful healer that Mariel and her little troop of Merry Men kidnap. I absolutely adored Clem from the moment I met her. Mariel could be frustrating, but as I got to know her better, it was easy to understand why she acted the way she did. And to her credit, she goes through a wonderful growth ARC by the story’s end.

The secondary characters were well developed and memorable, and there’s a strong sense of found family.

I loved the very matter of fact queer representation. This is a world where I did not notice any assumptions about or limitations based on gender or sexual orientation. People simply are who they are and love who they love.

I would recommend this book for fans of queer young adult historical romances, romantic comedies, and adventures. If you enjoy books by T. Kingfisher, Alexis Hall, or Casey McQuiston, you should definitely give this a try.

The audiobook production was good, and the story works well in audio. I generally enjoyed the duel narration by Kat Griffiths for Clem’s point of view and Olivia Dowd for Mariel’s point of view. They both have pleasant voices; clear pronunciation; distinctive voices and speech patterns to suit each character; and the ability to convey humor, mood, and emotion effectively. My only frustration is that Kat Griffiths often used a strange speech pattern… at the start of her chapters… with unnatural pauses… every few words. Once she got going, she sounded great, but then at the start of her next chapter, she’d include the weird pauses again.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for providing me with a free advanced review copy of the audiobook through NetGalley. I volunteered to provide an honest review.