Lex Croucher has quickly become an anticipated author for me. I adore how they infuse Regency classics with so much queerness and joy and vulnerability. Mariel Hartley-Hood, much like Gwen and Art, are saddled with a legendary lineage that theyre trying and failing to live up to. After Bisexual icon, Robin Hood, sails off into retirement bliss with Will Scarlett, the Merry Men have descended into a paramilitary force that has started far from being the cheerful champions of the downtrodden. And Robin's granddaughter is a cog in the machine who kidnaps a healer who refuses to remember she's been kidnapped and not recruited. Mariel's unit, so chock full of diverse queer characters, is easily the most lovable found family who you root for immediately. Mariel is grumpy, Clem is bantery; honestly, the vibes in this are immaculate for a Robin Hood type story. The sapphic romance is a little too close to Stockholm Syndrome for my comfort, but Clem has so much agency, spunk and easy camaraderie with the crew that it's easy for even the reader to forget she's been kidnapped. The romance also isn't super central to the story, which starts mostly as a situationship hookup with loads of shared trauma on the side. Which in itself is not a bad thing -- I'm all for romance lite YA. However, the other focus of the novel, about Mariel and her struggle with her legacy and her quest for parental approval and love, is not well addressed either. The thing that really tripped me up a lot is actually the anachronistic nature of the language and unaddressed social expectations in terms of gender and queer identity. This is not something that stood out to me before in Croucher's previous historical works, but it really distracted me in this throughout.
Overall a pretty fun and light read that should have had a bit more gravitas to it. Thanks to Netgalley for the free ebook ARC.

All style, no substance. This is a fun read- just don't go in expecting a lot of plot. It wasn't bad by any means, just not deep!

I will always always always read anything Lex Croucher publishes. Whether YA or Adult, these are always fun, insightful, and adventurous! This Robin Hood one especially felt made just for me. I wish Croucher was published when I was younger but I'll take all I can get now!

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Net Galley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

An adorable, surprisingly heartfelt teen retelling of Robin Hood with a queer twist. A found family story at the core, about a sunshiny healer, Clemence, who gets abducted by a band of Merry Men and their grumpy leader (and granddaughter of Robin Hood), Mariel. The group goes through rescue missions, heartbreak, and many a wound patch-up around the legendary woods from the original Hood stories.
The characters were lovely and the romance was perfectly paced. My coworkers are big fans of Lex Croucher, and now I am too!

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5 stars rounded up. Not for the Faint of Heart is a fun adventure, told in the dual POVs of Mariel, the grumpy granddaughter of Robin Hood and Clem, the sunshine healer she kidnaps.

Once again the author shines with their characters, a charming found family you can’t help but love. I also really enjoyed the anxiety representation!

The pacing of the first half was a bit slow but picked up later. The ending did feel a bit rushed and I wanted much more of the romance.

Overall another great story from Lex Croucher, looking forward to more from them!

(Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for providing this EArc)

Not for the Faint of Heart is a fun queer YA romance that tells the story of Robin Hood's granddaughter, Mariel, and a town healer, Clemence, that she takes captive. They end up going on a quest with Mariel's crew to try and save Mariel's father, the leader of the Merry Men, which is no longer like the Merry Men of the old stories.

The characters are all fairly well fleshed out and likable, especially the two main girls, though I wish there was a little more backstory for some of the side characters. I found Clemence especially endearing and admirable and lighthearted than Mariel, who admittedly had a lot going on.

The "bad guys" are a little bit cartoonish to me, but it mostly works in a 'fairy tale' setting. The ending is a little abrupt, and I could've definitely done with a bit more of the romance, but overall, this is a fun, quick, and enjoyable read.

I feel emotionally compromised by this book.

It took me a bit to get into it but I feel so lucky to have been sent this book early. Lex Croucher has done it again with this medieval masterpiece inspired by Robin Hood and it tugged at all my heartstrings and left me quietly crying in the middle of the night. I'm a sucker for found family and this delivered in the best way possible - I would literally die for every single one of these characters, especially Clem because she's a woman in science and she speaks to my soul. And Mariel. God. That girl deserved so much better in life and my heart broke for her so much throughout it all.

I love this. I love this. I would've read 400 pages more but if this is all we get I'm so happy it exists.

Lex Croucher's "Not for the Faint of Heart" is a queer historical YA romance where Mariel, granddaughter of Robin Hood and captain of the Merry Men, accidentally kidnaps Clem, a spirited healer. As they navigate a dangerous mission to rescue Mariel's father, tensions rise amidst the Merry Men's uncertain reputation. With humor, heart, and unexpected romance, this thrilling adventure promises to redefine loyalty and love in the Greenwood Forest.
The first 60% of the book felt slow to me; I found myself wishing for more world building or deeper character development during this portion. However, the story began to pick up significantly afterward, which kept me engaged. Unfortunately, just as the plot started to become more compelling, I found the ending to be quite abrupt.
Given the young adult genre, I understand the balance required between romance and plot development. While I would have appreciated more romantic tension or banter between the two female main characters, I recognize the constraints of the genre. Overall, I have given the book 3 stars.

I really liked this book! It was an excellent adventure of a read from beginning to end as a reimagining of the Robin Hood storyline with a sapphic twists. It featured girls with swords and who became the hero of their own story. The love story was realistic and evolved organically. I plan on purchasing this book once it’s published.

Mariel and Clem are two very different women thrown unwilling together by chance. Both are out to prove something, however. Mariel wants to live up to the example set by her grandfather Robin Hood. Clem wants to become a healer adapt at treating any illness/wound. What happens when these two are forced to spend more time together while trying to rescue Mariel’s father?

This was so cute! I love Robin Hood so much and this being about his descendants and the Merry Men was so fun! And I loved that it was LGBTQ! I absolutely adorned both of the female main characters and the other characters were also fun to get to know! I can't wait to read more by Lex Croucher! Thank you to NetGalley and to St. Martin's Press for my digital ARC!!

Thanks, Netgalley for the free ARC.

Maybe 3.5 or 4/5. This is a fun, diverse, YA romcom with characters who are descendants of Robin Hood, Marian, and other characters from the Robin Hood myths. I like humor and banter, but here, it prevented me from getting to know the characters in depth in the beginning. I initially wondered if I'd accidentally requested a sequel. Maybe that's just me. The story picked up by the end, with schemes and revelations that added depth to the characters. Sometimes the deliberately anachronistic humor was hilarious and sometimes it felt uneven, but it was a consistently fun, fast-paced read.

I did like the idea that institutions (even informal ones like the Merry Men) become more formal and corrupt over time.

this book was such a sweet queer romcom! it was cute but personally i thought the pacing was a bit off and some parts could’ve been cut in places. i liked it but there’s definitely room for improvement!

thank you netgalley for the e-arc!

An incredible book full of humor, fantastic queer representation, wonderful characters and a powerful plot. Lex is a master and their craft!

The premise of this novel is cute. Sadly I just couldn't get into it. I'm sure others will adore it. Thank you to Netgalley.com for giving the chance to read it before publication. I have no doubt this will have a captive audience and fandom.

Overall,this was okay. The pacing felt off with the majority of the first half being very slow, but I'm a sucker for queer romance.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!
This book is what happens after Robin Hood with a twist aka lesbians lol. Mariel is the granddaughter of Robin Hood and leader of the merry men, while Clem is a “witch” aka healer. They are opposites but so adorable!! Overall it’s a good book with a twist/continuation of what happens after Robin Hood and his merry men.

At this point, Lex Croucher is an auto-buy author for me; I see their name, I read the book. Their other YA book Gwen and Art Are Not in Love was one of my favorite books of 2023, so I knew it would be difficult for Not for the Faint of Heart to live up to its predecessor. To start with the things I enjoyed, Lex's sense of humor is top notch. Their writing style always draws me in, and I love the banter between the characters. You can tell immediately how close-knit they are, and I'm a sucker for found families. As usual, Lex does a great job of including diverse characters, proving once again that there's no reason NOT to include LGBT+ and POC characters in historical settings.

That being said, I personally struggled to keep track of which character was which. This could be because the formatting of my ARC was messed up, but I think it's mainly because it was a fairly large cast of characters and their voices were pretty similar. Additionally, the plot was a bit too slow for my preference. I kept waiting for things to get moving, and that didn't happen for me until over halfway through the book. Overall, though, this was an enjoyable read, and I'll continue to read anything Croucher writes.

My expectations going into this book were so high because Gwen & Art Are Not In Love was one of my favorite books this year! I was so excited to pick this one up early on Netgalley, but it just didn’t deliver for me. The first 60% of the book was incredibly slow and the romance was a little lackluster. Really, the only thing I enjoyed about this book was the romance, but there was so little of that. This took me forever to get through and I unfortunately didn’t really connect or care about the characters or their stories. Major sad face.

Another great book by Croucher, but I liked it a bit less than "Art and Gwen."

Again I loved the tie to myth and legend and the cool (mainly queer) characters in the Merry Men (BAXTER!) I would have liked a bit more about Clem and Muriel falling for each other. The romance seems to take a back seat toward the politics at play in the wood.

Fascinating, this story has the same problem as "Art and Gwen" (where Art is like 500% more cool to spend time on the page with than Gwen.) In this story, that character is Clem. She's hilarious, virtuous, brave, talented and holds the story together. Since there isn't much of a love story build up, you're not quite sure how she falls for Muriel who mostly scowls around, wrapped up in Daddy issues. I kind of wanted her to end up with Josie, who seemed bad ass.

I think the part I liked least was all the Dad stuff and the fact that the Merry Men had become this military-like machine that mainly serves itself. Those elements certainly drive the plot, but they also made this book WAY less fun to read. I think the Merry Men vs the Sherif would have been sufficient drama without the layer of the Merry Men vs the Merry Men stuff. It also might have allowed for some lighter moments with Muriel where we could see more of her personality.

This is a small editorial quibble though. Mostly this was another fun read. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Listen. Croucher is a fine writer. Their characters are interesting. Their sentences are nice to read. But this is NOT A ROMANCE. This is a historical YA romp with a romantic B plot. The decision to market this book as a romance suggests that neither the author nor the publishing team understands this genre. Calling NFTFOH a YA romance is an insult to romance readers, who are drawn to the genre’s constraints & and an author’s ability to play with those constraints. Which isn’t what Croucher does. Instead, they bore the reader, then betray their trust, which tells me they have no respect for the genre they are (supposedly) writing.