This was such a delightful Arthurian story! I love when the Arthurian Legend is retold and is very queer! This was fantastic and I have no words to accurately describe how much I liked this!

I just could not get into this one - but I think it was me and not the story. I tried multiple times to pick this up and just couldn't do it. Finally, I threw on the audiobook during a car trip and powered through...but you shouldn't have to power through books when you are genuinely enjoying them.

Unfortunately, for me, I think I am just not a historical romance girly - I struggle with regency and I struggled with medieval. I did enjoy the twist on the usual Arthurian legend we all know and love - but it also felt like A LOT was going on, on top of two separate romances.

Ultimately, I think parts of the book simply didn't work for me - but I know there is a huge audience for this book who will probably love it!

I really really wanted to like this book more than I did! It was a highly anticipated read of mine, and it just didn't deliver the way I wanted it to. I just didn't vibe with it the way I thought I would. This isn't to say it was a bad book, it was enjoyable! It just wasn't quite what I was expecting. I thought the humor was really good, and the disagreements between the main characters were pretty funny.

I also thought that the story itself moved kinda slow until the very end, and then there was a lot of stuff going on. There was tension building up to the conflict at the end the entire time, but it didn't really feel like it was the main focus, so when it did finally come up at the end I just... didn't care that much about it. I just wanted to read about the characters being silly and friends with each other. I will say, I found the friendship between Gwen and Art much more enjoyable to read than either of the romantic relationships that they pursued.

Also Gwen was an annoying main characterrrrrr. I liked Arthur, he was funny (most of the time), but I just didn't really like Gwen about 70% of the time. She had her good moments, but basically anytime her love interest was involved or she had to spend any time performing court duties I was annoyed.


I did find myself enjoying most of the book, but nothing really stood out as being amazing so this review unfortunately might read more negative than I'm intending since all I really have to say about the rest of it is that it's good... I love a good LGBTQ+ historical fiction, but I just don't think this book was meant for me and that's ok. I would recommend this to people looking for books of that genre! And I would like to try another book by Lex Croucher to see if I might vibe better with a different title by them.

3 stars

This book was wonderful. It's a really creative *not* retelling of the King Arthur legend. I loved seeing queer characters in this setting.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this arc!

I am dnfing this book. I do not think there is anything wrong with this book. I really love this cover. It is almost been a year and I have not tried to pick up this book in a while. Maybe I will return to this book.

This was a reading that captivated me, the characters are incredible, especially Art who had a great evolution. Friendship is a very important point for the development of the story and the characters.

Arthur and Gwen, were some of the sweetest, relatable characters I’ve experienced. And don’t even get me started on Sidney or Bridget! I immediately fell in love with each and every one of these characters, scars, flaws and all. The ridiculous situations and conversations they kept falling into, were hilarious and heartwarming at the same time. Lex Croucher has such talent for writing some of the most witty banter and cheeky humor! (My face actually hurt from smiling and laughing so much.)

King Arthur's (yes that one) descendant Arthur is set to marry England's princess Gwendoline. Thing is they don't like each other, in fact Art likes her brother Lex and Gwen likes Bridget, a lady knight. When they both find these tidbits out about each other they decide to join forces and help each other pursue their true romantic interests. The witty exchanges between Art and Gwen are great, I love the growth of their relationship and how they help each other.

I liked this overall. It was fun, light-hearted, queer. However, I'm really tired of simple books being over 400 pages. There was so much fluff and filler in this book, I got bored and it honestly damaged my enjoyment of it. If it's not an epic sprawling through time like Heart's Invisible Furies or Tom Lake; or a multi-cast epic like Nine Perfect Strangers; or written by a tried and true master like Stephen King or Jodi Picoult; you do not need 400+ pages to tell a simple, fun, low stakes cozy love story. Hot take, I know.

It's been 100 years since the death of King Arthur. His descendant, Arthur has been betrothed to Princess Gwendoline, since birth. They don't particularly get along, but make a reluctant pact to keep one another's secrets when they spend a summer together in Camelot.

This was a super cute read, though it was rather predictable. We did get a cast of very loveable characters that you couldn't help but adore. The dynamic between Arthur and Gwen was really fun to read. I found my self giggling at times while reading, and couldn't help rooting for both Gwen and Arthur in their quest for love. I loved the found family aspect that developed through out the story as we got to know these characters more. Bridget was a very intriguing character, and I wanted her and Gwen to work out so badly. I loved the side characters, especially Sidney. I vote we get a spin off following Sidney next! (PLEASE)

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to receive a copy of Gwen & Art are Not in Love!

What a lovely novel - I tend to struggle with historical fiction and although it took me a while to get there, I enjoyed this! I liked the dynamics between characters and thought Lex Croucher had a dynamic way with words that helped the story unfold. I am looking forward to their next work!

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher is a delightful, witty romp through medieval court life, blending romance, friendship, and personal discovery. The dynamic between Gwen, a princess with no interest in her betrothal, and Art, a prince equally disinterested, sets the stage for a refreshing twist on the arranged marriage trope. Both characters are charmingly rebellious, and their friendship — built on mutual exasperation — feels authentic and engaging as they navigate the expectations of royalty and their own identities.

What really makes this novel stand out is its clever humor and the way it tackles LGBTQ+ themes in a historical setting, without ever feeling forced. Croucher crafts a world where the characters’ queerness is seamlessly woven into the story, giving it both heart and depth. Gwen and Art’s journey of self-acceptance and their growing bonds with others make for a satisfying and heartfelt read. I highly recommend this for fans of historical fiction with a modern, inclusive twist.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for this eARC to review. All thoughts are my own.

5/5 stars!

To be honest, this is not a book I would normally pick as I don't often read YA Contemporary/Fiction that isn't more Fantasy based. But let me tell ya, I absolutely ATE THIS UP. Since I was behind, I did use an audiobook from my local library so that I could also listen/read on my drives to and from work, and I loved the narrators so much that I stuck to the audiobook. They were IMMACULATE. I laughed more in this book than I have in a really long time! Lex made it so so easy to get attached to all of the characters, both main and sides, and I was so invested in their journeys. I was laughing, blushing, gasping in just about every chapter, and honestly I wished by the end that there would somehow be more because I didn't want it to end.

Art was a bit of trope character; I definitely feel like I've read him before. Not a bad thing - he was such a joyful and heartwarming read! Gwen, however, was so much more relatable and such a wonderful representation of baby queer coming of age that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The love interests and side characters made for a supportive and motivating found-family plot. Even the historical fantasy was immersive and intriguing, from the dueling to ye olde pubs!

Cute YA! Love the vibe! The characters each were brought to life and while a bit slow at times, the story was still enjoyable!

This book is one of those that’s just so incredibly fun, that it just forces you to enjoy reading it. This book did deal with a lot of heavier topics, mainly relating to queerness and being forced to hide it, but the writing, characters, and their banter just made it all feel so much lighter! It’s definitely a fantastic book to pick up when you need a generally lighter read, and want a type of writing that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is there just to give you a fun time. The cast is just full of a bunch of queer disasters, and I loved seeing how they all came together to help each other and befriend each other, even if they were not fans of each other at first!

One of the things that I struggled with a bit in this book was maintaining my focus and finishing it up, though it may have been more my fault than the book’s for that. I did end up finishing it up in audio format, and I feel like I would have enjoyed it even more if I read it entirely as an audiobook! I just find it difficult sometimes to push through romance and contemporary books when the main characters are acting difficult and miscommunication kind of takes over, though I can see now at the end that it really wasn’t that bad at all!

One other thing I wasn’t as big a fan of was the sharp turn in focus in the final portion of the book seemed to take. Most of the book felt fairly low-stakes and was a bit more fluffy, focused more on the characters and their romances and relationships with each other, with a touch of politics. The ending is extremely focused on these politics, more so than anything else, and I felt like we lost a bit of the conclusion to the character side of the story because of it. It was also suddenly a lot darker and more harrowing. It made sense for the way the plot turned at the end, but it didn’t fit tonally with the rest of the book for me, and it made the ending feel much more abrupt.

Overall though, I had a lot of fun with this book, and I’ll definitely be reading more by this author in the future!

(Read November 26-29, 2023)

What a fun Arthurian inspired YA romance! 🏰

I thought setting the plot in a Camelot 300 or so years after the original King Arthur period was interesting. Picking to show how the tales of this period slowly turned into myth was a fascinating move for this tale, and it really sets up the characters rather nicely. 🗡️

I thought Gwen as one of the two protagonists rather pretentious at times. She was quick to make her assumptions, but was upset when she was given a similar reception. That and also her notion of being unlike other girls didn’t work for me as it just made me think of her as snooty. I did enjoy her close relationship with her brother though, and along with her budding romance with Bridgette made her more redeemable for me. 📓

Arthur as the second protagonist was more likable for me. His comfort in being himself was a nice contrast to Gwen’s self-consciousness. As much as his motives at the beginning of the book were rather despicable, his friendship with Sidney and his budding romance with Gabriel really helped balance out his character for me. 🐴

As much as I had a good time with the book, I did feel like the plot dragged on at times. 🙁

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for accepting my request to read in exchange for an honest review. And to the author for writing a fun Arthurian inspired YA romcom. 👑

Overall: 3.75/5 ⭐️ (3 stars for the first third, 3.5 for the middle third, and 4 for the ending)

A queer historical telling of King Arthur, this young adult novel is sure to be a hit. Witty, fun loving, and spirited, this is one for all high school libraries.

Really enjoyed this one! It gave me A Knight’s Tale vibes and was a nice revisit into King Arthur lore that is not fantasy based like Legendborn.
Always here for queer historical romances and having dual love stories made this one extra fun!

While I originally was interested in this because of the pretty cover and neat premise, I ended up reading it out of spite after reading what is possibly the dumbest review I’ve read in a while that wasn’t purely GIFs, and yet, for some reason, is also highly upvoted here because that’s how the Goodreads community is. The number of personal insecurities people write into their own reviews here is absolutely baffling, and name-dropping Kurt Vonnegut does not in fact make you a review virtuoso. But hey, reading out of spite got me one of my favorite books of the year. Who knew?

Anyway, yes, the book is not a retelling of whatever people think it might be a retelling of (certainly no one here is claiming to be Welsh and there’s no precise discussion of the Arthurian stories as culturally appropriated colonialist propaganda). It’s certainly not “Lancelot and the Lord of the Distant Isles” retold but with Arthur starring instead of Lancelot outside the extra dramatics and fake relationships bit, even if, to a degree, it gets perhaps unintentionally close (though is there significance to Gabriel having a G-name like Galehaut - Lancelot’s boyfriend - does, beyond his sister’s name? Who knows?). A better description would be that it’s some kind of cross of the 1994 animated “The Swan Princess” movie (particularly the opening through “This is my idea”, as well as “Princesses on Parade”) meets Cassandra/Rapunzel fan fiction from “Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure” with a bit of “The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue” tossed in the mix for flavor. I haven’t seen all that much of BBC’s “Merlin”, though I can see from what little I know where folks might draw parallels. I don’t, personally, based on the aforementioned having not watched much of it. There are at least some parallels between Art and that Arthur, with a bit of Monty thrown in the mix, outweighing everything else, and if Monty were gay instead of bi/pansexual. It’s interesting because it pretty well explains the character of Sidney, if Art/Monty wasn’t in love with his best friend. Sidney is not Percy, but they certainly feel somewhat narratively close (and Percy’s character is kind of split between Sidney and Gabriel). In a way it also reads similarly to the “Fence” novels (not the comics, the novels).

It’s historical fiction meets romantic comedy with a group of upper-age teenagers dealing with crushes and the ups and downs of emotional turbulence you have at that age, with a smattering of pushy expectations that will make or break their lives, parents with some misogynistic patriarchal issues they really haven’t dealt with, and a bit of <spoiler>emotional and physical abuse</spoiler>. Along the way there’s friendship through adversity and happenstance, and belief in a better tomorrow against all odds. The second half is a bit darker than the first, in a way many modern Arthurian stories go.

The cast is honestly a lot of fun. Gwen is an introverted young woman crushing hard on a lady knight she sort of idolizes without necessarily wanting to be like her, perhaps working on some of her own suppressed wishes for freedom, which has been formed by being raised Catholic. Beatrice is a determined young knight who believes in fairness and who clearly has an interest in Gwen that Gwen is, as teenagers and most people often are, completely oblivious to. Gabriel is a young man pressured to become king who adores his sister, has his own cluelessness about patriarchy to deal with, and who really just wants to adopt cats quietly in the middle of nowhere and for people to leave him alone so he can study whatever books he wants. Art is a lonely boy who’s had his heart broken too many times, been told he was absolutely worthless by his father since he was a young child, and has proceeded to do what many boys in patriarchal societies do: blame it on the woman in the situation. And while I do feel compassion for his situation, as is often true in patriarchal societies, no one has called him out in any meaningful way beyond one that might be rather permanent. He is also my favorite character.

Important side characters include Gwen’s lady-in-waiting, Art’s alcoholic and lust-focused bodyguard who seems to be Art’s only friend and confidante, and Gwen’s parents, who are at turns doting and frustrating.

Despite not caring much for f/f these days, and being at turns more frustrated with Art than not (his sexism is, well… present), I honestly enjoyed this. It’s a bit corny at times and the teenagers act shockingly like teenagers at times, for better or worse, but overall it’s funny, cute, so full of heart, and enjoyable. Art is enough like Monty to keep me seated, basically, even though I would definitely prefer rereading “The Gentleman’s Guide” to this, but goodness is this a fun ride all the same.

Is the world-building a bit wonky? Sure, yeah. But any Arthurian premise that doesn’t tackle the colonialist roots of modern pop culture interpretations of him is going to be. Even “Lancelot and the Lord of the Distant Isles” was racist, and that was the 1200s! Perhaps the weirdest aspect of this is how it does and doesn’t sidestep the role of Christianity in screwing things up royally, particularly by the adding the uh, “cultists”, whoever those are supposed to be. But if you like Arthurian stories and are okay accepting the usual wonkiness that comes with that, it’s about as fun a romp as the best of them. But what do I know, “Excalibur” 1981 used to be my favorite movie, my opinion is as dubious as “Your lust will hold you up” is good as a line.

Overall, it’s a fun story. If you like cute miscommunication teenage drama with a dash of Arthurian sprinkling in a historical fantasy backdrop, this is the thing for you. It’s got echoes of Tamora Pierce’s “Song of the Lioness” (particularly “Protector of the Small”, to be honest), and like a lot of those books, is about hope in dark places. About how we’re stronger together than we are apart. And it’s funny and sweet and the cast is lovely. If that sounds up your alley, pick it up. If you want more queer Arthurian stuff, maybe pick up “Lancelot and the Lord of the Distant Isles”. It's a tough read, but worth it.