I enjoyed this book! Thank you to netgalley for my advanced copy of Gwen & Art Are Not in Love.

When I first started reading, it took a while for me to get into the story and writing style, but about 40-50% through, I started to get into it and enjoy the plot. Gwen and Art were both so personable and funny to
read, whether they were bickering or getting along. Of course, I love the identity reputation in this novel and the entire character story revolving around that Art is only interested in men and Gwen is interested in one girl in particular. I think this book is unique and not many gay romances are written in this style/time period that the author was going for.

Aside from Gwen and Arthur, I really liked Gabe and Bridget and I wish we got a bit more time with them on the page. I felt like the were pretty well developed and I would’ve liked to get more of them with our without Gwen/Art.

The only thing for me that I didn’t like about the book is that there were some parts I felt slugged on and were too slow/boring. If not for this, i feel like I would’ve rated the book higher.

I will definitely read and look forward to what else this author puts out in the future.

Lex Croucher is easily becoming one of my favorite authors. A rom-com of historical fiction and regency, done right. And yet so refreshing with each new book from her. The characters are always so fun and well written.

Book Review of Gwen and Art are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

Cover Story: Ye Olde Illustration
BFF Charms: Eventually x2
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Talky Talk: High Hilarity
Bonus Factors: LGBTQ+ Representation, Siblings, Friendships
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Relationship Status: I’ll Keep Your Confidence

Content Warning: Gwen & Art Are Not in Love features both external and internalized homophobia, gory depictions of a battle, the death of a loved one, and suggested abuse of a child at the hand of/through the machinations of a parent.

Cover Story: Ye Olde Illustration
The title treatment on this cover is great; it harkens back to the time of elaborate drop caps and leather-bound tomes. I also love the illustration; it’s cute without being cutesy and a great depiction of the main characters and their love interests. But there’s a weird disconnect between the title and the illustration. Perhaps there needed to be a bit more depth to the whole thing, rather than just a flat pink background?

The Deal:
Gwen is the daughter of the king of England and betrothed to a guy named Arthur. But she isn’t Guinevere—and this Arthur certainly isn’t the Arthur of legend. This Gwen and Art live in an England that’s centuries removed from the Knights of the Round Table, but an England that is still rife with folks who believe in Arthurian myth. And those folks are at odds with the Catholic rulers.

But neither Gwen nor Art care much about politics. They’re more concerned with the fact that neither of them want to be betrothed to each other, and for reasons other than that they can’t stand each other. Reasons that both of them want kept secret.

BFF Charm: Eventually x2
I liked both Gwen and Art right off the bat, thanks to their snarky personalities and banter, but soon came to see that they were more complicated than initially assumed, which led to questions about my feelings for them. By the end of the novel, I was 100% on board with wanting to be their friend—and vice versa—but there’s a long portion of the book during which I was frustrated with Gwen’s naivety and snobbishness and Art’s self-defeating nature.

Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Gwen and Art have been betrothed since Gwen was born, but neither of them likes each other very much, platonically or romantically. Art is gay, and Gwen is questioning (and coded as aromantic, I believe; they don’t have modern terms for what either of them are in their era). They come to a truce after learning each other’s secret, but that truce (thankfully) does not end up with them together in the end as anything other than friends. Their respective love interests are great, but the chemistry between both pairs wasn’t as fiery as it could have been. (Gwen’s is particularly more robust/believable than Art’s.)

Talky Talk: High Hilarity
You know a book is hitting all the right notes when you laugh, then read passages out loud to your partner (or anyone in your house within earshot). I did this multiple times while reading Gwen & Art, and my husband laughed at the passages I read him, too.

Croucher has a delightful wit and infused the characters in this book with a lot of life.

Bonus Factor: LGBTQ+ Representation
As I mentioned above, there are a variety of queer folk in Gwen & Art. They don’t call themselves queer, nor do they use other labels we modern folk use, but the queerness abounds (for lack of a better descriptor). I liked Gwen maybe being aromantic, too; that’s not something you see a lot of in YA and it deserves just as much representation as the next letter in the acronym. There were times in the book that I worried it was making too much of a big deal about Gwen questioning her sexuality—that’s certainly not the only bit of her personality that should be focused on—but ultimately concluded that coming out stories are just as important as the books in which queer folk are comfortable with who they are and have been for a while.

Bonus Factor: Siblings
Gwen and her brother Gabriel (the crown prince) have always been two peas in a pod, but a situation in the book drives a wedge between them. As an only child, it was interesting to read about their relationship before, during, and after. They have a relationship that, were I not an only child, I’d love to have with my sibling(s).

Bonus Factor: Friendships
Art and his bodyguard Sidney have an equally delightful sibling-like relationship, even though, technically, Sidney works for Art. They’ve been together long enough that neither of them thinks about the transactional nature of their friendship, and both would die for the other (and, spoiler alert) almost do. Although it’s a found family brotherhood, it’s as valuable, important, and genuine as the blood relationship between Gwen and Gabriel.

Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
We don’t get too much of Arthur’s dad in Gwen & Art, but what we do learn/see is abhorrent. What an absolute ass. He doesn’t deserve Art in any sense of the idea.

Relationship Status: I’ll Keep Your Confidence
I hope I made it clear that you can trust me, Book. We might not be cut out for romance, but platonic love and support is just as good, if not more important. I don’t know that I could live with you—given the lack of proper bathroom miscellany—but I’m on your side, whatever comes.

Heartstopper meets A Knight’s Tale is a STRETCH. Yes, it has queer couples and is medieval, but the tone/style is wildly different. There's some of the anachronistic play that A Knight's Tale does so well, but other parts of the story take itself too seriously. I'm still going to read Lex Croucher, but this one was a miss for me. I will probably stick with the adult titles.

Will post my real review once Mt Press addresses the concerns of BIPOC reviewers after a Wednesday Books editor said racist comments.

I wanted to love this one but I just wasn't vibing with it. I think this was a case of reading the right book at the wrong time because on paper this book has everything -- Arthurian legend, queer love, fake dating. The world was instantly engaging and interesting -- I was definitely shipping Gwen and Bridget from the get go. But I found Art to be deeply tedious and sanctimonious in a way that was deeply unappealing. I would definitely encourage folks to give this one a chance though -- the dialogue is snappy and funny.

Gwen and Art was very well written and even though it isn't a book I would normally choose, it took me by surprise. If you are looking for a quick YA read this could be the book for you. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced preview.

What a cute and fun story from Lex Croucher! This is definitely my favorite book so far from this author! I enjoyed all the characters and following them along throughout the course of this book. I can’t exactly place why, but all I know is that I was entertained from start to finish!

I probably should have DNF'd this one - it just didn't work for me. The pacing felt really uneven - not a lot happened in the first half and the ending felt rushed. I also didn't like most of the characters - they felt one dimensional (particularly Gabriel and Bridget) and the dialog felt forced a lot of the time.

In participation of the SMP boycott, I will not be reviewing this until the publication releases a statement. Once the terms are met, i’ll be back to edit this with my actual review.

Gwen & Art Are Not In Love is the perfect blend of comedy and a heartfelt message that everyone needs to hear. Now I will admit I went into this story expecting King Arthur retelling which wasn’t a good mindset to be in. I was disappointed when I realized that this book is more inspired by it than a retelling. Well yes, but it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with the characters!
I adore Art and there were so many times in which I was trying to speed read to his part so that I could have a good laugh. Not only that but Art and Sid’s relationship was one of the best I’ve read in a while. They reminded me a ton of Merlin and Arthur from the BBC TV show, Merlin.
The only thing is, I felt like a good chunk of the book caught me off guard, as there is a major death that happens, plus a character gets assaulted off the page. I just felt a bit of whiplash from thinking that the story was going to go one way, and then bang it goes a whole new direction. The last thing is, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Gwen. I felt the most disappointed in Gwen, she felt whiney and expected too much from her love interest. I wanted a good character arc from her, where she learns to stand up for herself and the people she loves but nope it never happens.
I also thought that we were getting a novel that has to do with magic or even two teens trying to sabotage their wedding day. Instead, we got chaotic bimbo and grumpy but clingy princess. But regardless you should read this book because it was such a fun read!
Thanks to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for this ARC for an honest review!

A delightfully queer and heartwarming Arthurian retelling that had me giggling and kicking my feet, unable to put it down. A wonderful addition to the Arthurian retelling list and the YA historical space.

Lex Croucher has done it again, and this time with their first YA novel! I'm a fan of Croucher's Regency romances -- they're smart and fun (and I'm eagerly anticipating diving into their third, Trouble), so I was excited about Gwen & Art, which is a historical set in Medieval times. This book is delightfully queer and joyous, and Croucher's unique and delightful writing style is definitely present. A compelling and moving story that I could not have loved more!

4.5. I enjoyed this far more than Lex Croucher's debut novel--Reputation--which feels mean-spirited and mired in angst. This has plenty of angst (especially from Gwen), but it's relatable and appealing. (Who among us does not remember our first allegedly unrequited crush?) Arthur is snarky without being annoying, and his relationship with Sidney is my favorite platonic pairing I've read in quite a while. There's an element of found family here among the leads and their love interests that warmed my heart as I read; I wish the romance had played out slightly more, but I didn't mind the amount that Croucher included.

Unfortunately, this book was a huge miss for me. I read the description and saw the book cover and thought that this would be one of my favorites of the year. Once I started reading the book though, I could see where I would be disappointed and how the book just didn't hit for me. For one, the book is way too long for what it is. Also, there were so many loose ends; things that were mentioned in the beginning of the book that were never mentioned again. And I guess I was just hoping for something a little different than what I got.

No shade to the author, but I think if you want to advertise a book as a Gwen & Arthur retelling, then it should be a retelling.

I am participating in the St. Martin's Press boycott. I will not be publicly reviewing this title until St. Martin's Press addresses reader concerns.

The characters really fell flat as the book progressed. I enjoyed it from the beginning and loved the plot line conceptually, however I feel like the character development just wasn’t there. This was a 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC.

I really love the concept of this book! Camelot-inspired LGBTQ+ romances; what a great idea! As for the story itself, it ended up being a 3* read for me. At the beginning, I was very interested in the characters and their pairings. But as the book continued, I felt that the relationships fell a bit flat for me—maybe because it’s hard to give two pairings enough depth when the book is on the shorter end. I especially wanted more from Bridget’s character; I loved the idea of her at the beginning and I loved Gwen’s crush on her, but once their relationship blossomed, I was left feeling underwhelmed. I liked Arthur and Gabriel as well, but again, felt underwhelmed by their storyline. The pacing toward the end of the book felt weird as well. When the climax of the story was happening, I should have been more interested, but instead I found myself skimming pages. All of this isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy the book at all; it’s a cute, medieval LGBTQ+ story. It just wasn’t my favorite.

i absolutely loved the beginning of this book. the characters were so fun and i was really rooting for them. the banter between friends and love-interests was spot on, and even made me giggle at times you get three different relationships to swoon over, which was a plus.

the last 25-30% is where she lost me. i was never really interested in the tournament scenes which became more prevalent as the book went on. the final conflict genuinely caught me off guard and escalated very quickly. given the length of the book, i'd say more foreshadowing could have been woven in to/taken place of part of the middle where the activities got pretty mundane and repetitive.

i loved all of the relationships, but i really wish i got to see more of art's. there was a lot of opportunity for character development (and ANGST) on both sides of his relationship and we just never got to see that -- i was still rooting for them nonetheless.

overall, i really enjoyed this book primarily for the characters. if you're a plot-driven reader, this may not be the book for you. the pacing could've been a little better, it goes from fairly low stakes to high stakes pretty quickly and feels out of place compared to the beginning of the book.

final rating: 3.75 rounded up (goodreads, PLEASE update and give us partial star ratings, thx!)

thank you netgalley for the eARC.

A sweet LGBTQ young adult romance! I love seeing and reading stories that are inclusive but also unique to the genre. Definitely read if you love inclusive romances and historical romances.