This is a really amazing retelling with a ton of representation for queer people, unfortunately it just didn’t work for me in the execution style, a me problem, I can see this being a big hit otherwise.

This was a fun and cute YA romance set in the Middle Ages, but with modern-day language (reminiscent of the movie A Knight’s Tale). In this story, the prince of England likes boys and the princess likes girls! I enjoyed all the amusing banter and hijinks, and the lovable cast of characters that help these queer royals come out of their shells. There’s also political drama that raises the stakes of the story and had me at the edge of my seat during the final climax of the book! Overall, a very enjoyable and worthwhile ride!

A rom-com love story that might well surprise you. Art and Gwen are meant to marry each other but they resent being told what to do and then there's the problem that they both care for someone else. This is all about being your true self . Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A fun read with dynamic characters and a positive outlook.

This was so cute! I expected a slightly cringe YA retelling of King Arthur, and instead I got a fascinating world exploring a post-Arthur England, a clash of religions,and a cast of characters who all shone in their own way.
I have a particular soft spot for Bridget...but absolutely everyone, including Gwen (her name is Gwendoline), Arthur (not THE Arthur, just named after him) and Gabriel was delightful.
I could genuinely read a series set in this world, as it was both a delightful rom com and a lovely coming of age story.

Gwen and Art are Not in Love, by Lex Croucher, takes place in a Camelot several centuries after the reign of King Arthur. Princess Gwendoline (Gwen) has been betrothed to Arthur, a future lord, since childhood, and they have despised each other almost as long. When they are forced to spend the summer together as they are finally of age to be married, they find that they have more in common than they thought—namely, that they are never likely to be attracted to each other. In this queer romance story, the characters learn to seek what they want regardless of what they perceive to be their duty, all against a background of rising tensions in the kingdom.

I had extremely high hopes going into this book, but, having finished, my feelings are mixed at best. Unfortunately, I feel like this book suffered from a confused tone and voice—it doesn’t quite know what it’s trying to be, which makes it hard for the reader to discern what it is either.

Most of the book is unquestionably a lighthearted, fun pair of queer romances, one between Gwen and the only female knight in the kingdom, and the other between Arthur and Gwen’s brother, Gabriel. The sapphic romance was, unsurprisingly, my favorite; Gwen and Bridget’s dynamic was so fun, and I loved seeing Gwen’s years-old crush grow into an actual relationship. My feelings about Arthur and Gabriel are more complicated. I adored Arthur, but found that I just could not connect with Gabriel and didn’t find him remotely compelling, making the romance feel a tad forced and unbelievable.

Regardless of my feelings on the main romances, the first 75% of the book was still such a fun and upbeat read. I was pleasantly surprised by the emphasis placed on Gwen and Arthur’s friendship and on Gwen learning to accept her queerness—she unquestionably has the best character arc and growth over the course of the story, as the rest all felt somewhat stagnant. Gwen and Arthur’s friendship made me wish enemies-to-friends was more of a trope, because it was so lovely and my absolute favorite part of the book.

Despite all of those positive things, the book shoots itself in the foot a bit when the last quarter turns into a story of betrayal and war extremely unexpectedly, completely altering the tone of the book. This might have been fine if the darker tones of the book had been more built up over the course of the story, but as it is the conclusion feels out-of-place and completely out of step with the rest of the book. It feels as if the author remembered near the end that they were writing a Arthurian-inspired story and thus decided they needed a battle-based conclusion, rather than letting the story grow organically toward an end that would have felt much more aligned with the rest of the book. I genuinely cannot understand the logic behind the plot decisions made.

Overall, despite adoring the vast majority of the book, I cannot give it more than 3.5 stars due to the confusing and disappointing tone shift in the last portion of the story. I would still recommend it for anybody looking for this sort of fun queer romance, but the ending detracted from my enjoyment of the book enough that I can’t give it any higher of a rating.

DNF. I think this author and I just don’t get along. I really liked the synopsis of this book and thought I would love it. A queer retelling of Camelot would be something I really thought I would like but again, I think just the author's style is just not for me. The writing was not my favourite and everyone seemed a little whiny. The book just dragged on despite everything and nothing happening. I don’t need to read it all, I know how it’ll end. I do think my younger self would have liked this but just for current me, it was not the book I thought I was diving into.

oh my sweet heavens I LOVE LOVE LOVE every single element of this book!

I had been seeing this book all over social media in the spring and it sounded like something I might enjoy, but didn't know what to expect, and I was not at all prepared to fall HEAD OVER HEELS in love with this story! I'm an instant fan of Lex Croucher's narrative voice, humour, and intricate weaving of plot and character development. This is such a fun, heartwarming, exciting read, I was so in love with the characters that I had to see how everything would play out as fast as I could, I could not put it down.

The diverse and complex characters really tie the story together, they feel like believable teens working through very real personal issues while simultaneously navigating an actual Camelot and all that entails. This is a great read for any age, but I think it'll be great for queer teens who need a little escapism mixed with validation of their complex feelings about their own queerness.

I can't praise this book enough, it's an instant favourite. I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy! Thank you so much Netgalley for the arc!

Phenomenal characters. This is less of a retelling than a story inspired by the original legends. This felt very character driven and had a good balance of light and funny with serious life issues.

This book was fine. I didn’t really connect with the writing style and that took me out of the story. I think this book will be a hit with the target audience, but it just didn’t work for me.

Don't worry - this isn't a run of the mill medieval romance between Arthur and Guinevere. (For starters, it's Gwendoline now.)

But all jokes aside, this is a cute queer book about teenagers coming to terms with their sexuality. It's just extra fun because it's set against the backdrop of Camelot. I really enjoyed Bridget as a character, along with Sidney. Gwen and Arthur are a bit insufferable at the beginning, but they also grow into themselves and become close friends. The narrators also did a great job at each of their point of views without any exaggerated voices for the opposite gender. Give me a glass of mead and a copy of this for a reread please!

*Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review and to Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC*

I have been so excited to read this book! This has been my most anticipated read and it definitely did not disappoint!

Everything in this book was so FUN! From the characters to, the plot, to the HUMOR. Congratulations to this book for being the first (of hopefully many) to actually make me laugh out loud!

It was so heartwarming and I will definitely be recommending this book to people

A Knight’s Tale, but make it queer and FABULOUS. This is more than a queer medieval rom-com; this is about love, friendship, and being brave enough not to be afraid to lose everything. Lex Crocher has taken historical YA to a whole new level and has set a new standard for how queer romcoms should be written. Not only is the writing executed to perfection, but you instantly fall in love with the characters that you are at the end of the story before you even realize it. This is the queer novel that everyone needs to read. Thank you Lex. Thank you.

- Medieval RomCom
- Historical
- Queer Romance
- Retelling

I was provided an ARC of Gwen & Art are not in love, All thoughts are my own.

I DEVOURED this book. Croucher paints a wonderful picture of a kingdom split by religious ties, the monarchy that is trying to hold it together, and the heirs to the throne that just want to live their lives. This was easily one of the best YA books I have read all year.

I fell in love with all the characters - even the secondary ones that did not get a lot of page time - which is a difficult thing to get me to do. They're a bunch of idiots, but I love them all the same. I also loved the relationships - platonic, familial, romantic - between the characters. I wish we got to see more of the adults, who all seemed to have their own interesting stories, but it makes sense why we did not.

I found myself laughing aloud at parts, which made the reading experience all the better. The banter was fantastic, and some characters (cough Arthur cough) had some of the best one liners I've read in a long time.

People have said in other reviews that they didn't like/couldn't make sense of the politics, but I honestly found them very intriguing. While they were not fully fleshed out in this book, we saw the kingdom conflicts from the perspective of the younger generation, who likely would not have all of the details. I feel like this set up a great opportunity for a sequel that takes place shortly after the events of this book.

Overall, this was a fun, witty, and heartwarming read that I would recommend to anyone in need of a mostly lighthearted queer YA romance. If you like F.T. Lukens or Becky Albertalli, this is the book for you!

I will follow Lex Croucher wherever she goes - this book was so much fun! I have just never read anything like this, and the comparisons to A Knight's Tale are perfect. It's such a romp from beginning to end. I was so invested in all the characters and I found myself smiling like an idiot reading this on the train. We need more books like this!

This was such a delight! Gwen is a princess at Camelot, years after Arthur Pendragon has turned to myth. Arthur is her betrothed. However, neither is looking forward to their future together because both are queer.

Gwen has spent years falling for the one and only female knight that takes part in the tournament every summer while Art is falling for Gwen's brother. This story is not only romantic but is full of meaningful moments. The dialogues, the banter, is so funny and enjoyable.

The ending completely surprised me. I thought this would never get too serious, but the ending is intense!

Out November 28, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

Wonderfully creative rom-com. I’m always a sucker for an Arthurian retelling and this was more that I could have hoped for.

Absolutely delightful — funny, queer, and full of lovable characters. This book was phenomenal.

Princess Gwendoline is engaged to Arthur Delacey, even though she hates him. But in a twist of fate and arthurian legend, Gwen falls for the knight Lady Bridget and Arthur falls for Gwen’s brother, the heir to the throne Gabriel. Aka, this is a story of mlm and wlw solidarity and the cutest found family ever. Both romances were so well done, the perfect amount of swoony and realistic. I was rooting so hard for both of them.

This book was also just so witty! The dialogue between Arthur and Sydney, his best friend and squire, was so hilarious, and I love Arthur’s sarcasm and deadpan nature. Gwen takes a bit of warming up to, but I love her journey of self acceptance and growth into a leader, and how she challenges her friends as well. Every character is just so lovable and funny.

There’s some political side plots about Arthurian cultists and a coup, but it’s so well integrated into the plot that I loved it. Every twist and turn was masterfully explored, and I loved every bit of it. Plus, the medieval setting post-Arthur allows for some really interesting insights into Arthurian legend as well as neurodivergence & queerness in a fictional place in that time period.

Overall this was phenomenal and is definitely one of my new favorites.

I’m not much into Arthurian legends, so I wasn’t sure if this was gonna be my kind of book but the description sounded fun, so I decided to give it a try. And turns out it was much
different than what I expected it to be.

This is more of a coming of age, queer, YA romcom whose setting is hundreds of years after King Arthur and our male protagonist Arthur descends from him. Gwen is the princess and both of them are betrothed even though they despise each other. It was hilarious getting to know more about each of them through the other’s eyes because their grievances felt like petty teenage angst to me, but it’s so much more to them.

Gwen’s crush on the only female knight Bridget was so cute and I loved their little budding relationship, though Bridget’s path to be herself is full of discrimination and she never wavers. Gwen’s brother Gabe knows the weight of his position as Crown Prince and only wants the best for the people but he is also sweet and bookish and just overall such a nice person. They also have an amazing sibling bond which I adored.

On the other side, Arthur (Art) and Sidney are best buddies and it’s a friendship that’s full of loyalty and trust for each other. But their banter is top notch as well and it was impossible not to laugh when they were together. Sid and Agnes’s romance was the best though, coz they had literal heart eyes towards each other and nothing could come between them.

The plot was a breeze to get through for most of it because of its light hearted nature and extremely lovable characters. While they could be typical dramatic teenagers, they were written in a very endearing way and I never got annoyed with them. The plot however does take a dramatic turn towards violence/war in the last quarter and it was a very hard tonal shift, that didn’t feel like it matched the vibe of the rest of the story.

In the end, this was a mostly fun, cute, bantery queer YA story with lovely characters, great friendships and cute romances. While the political plotline towards the end gave me a hard jolt, the characters didn’t let the story become too dark. It also helps that the two audiobook narrators Alex Singh and Sarah Ovens just bring out the teenage drama of it all perfectly in their voice, making the listening experience very entertaining. Definitely check it out if you want something lighthearted, but do keep an eye out for the slightly darker plotline at the end.

Anachronistic post-Arthurian society where it's Catholics vs Arthurians rather than Protestants. We aren't told when this is but since there's modern references everywhere, it doesn't matter. It's Elsetime. (And unlike some other popular author I will not mention, the references sit well in the story rather than jarring.) The descendent of Arthur is betrothed to the king's daughter, and if ever two people hated each other more, I don't know who they are. Still, this is a very different enemies-to-lovers; they are both queer. What's a little mutually assured destruction between the affianced?

This was a fun book. I've never made it through Knight's Tale but the anachronisms don't hit that hard in a queer AU. Also the main characters are both the kind of flawed human beings that you can root for, while absolutely understanding why they grate on each other. Would read more by the author for sure.

I was not entirely sure I would like this novel. Historical fiction so totally unrelated to Jane Austen isn't generally my thing, and knights and medieval political intrigue are of zero interest to me. Would Lex Croucher's incredible writing be able to overcome my innate disinterest in the material?

YES.

Gwen & Art Are Not In Love is sweet and funny and completely absorbing. It's also deeply silly, in a good way - it really commits to the historical, myth-adjacent world of its story while also maintaining the modern sensibility that is the hallmark of Croucher's historical fiction. It has (mostly queer) romance, friendship, and wonderful character development. I loved the themes of standing up for one's beliefs and building the world one wants to live in.

As other reviewers have pointed out, the cheerful tone of the first two-thirds of the book is interrupted by some serious and quite sad events in its final act. I felt as if these were adequately foreshadowed, though, and that the ballast of loss and trouble made the happy ending feel more satisfying as well as making the medieval setting feel a bit more authentic. Unless setting it in Regency England were an option, I wouldn't change a thing.