Historical queerness is my jam. The cover is so beautiful and the story was so fun. I cared so much about where the plot was going and how the character's relationships were developing. The found family was so beautiful and I will be recommending it to all my friends.

Instant 5 star - I knew from chapter one that I was going to love this book. Gwen and Art are some of the funniest characters I have read in a long time (honestly, maybe ever). Their banter is *perfection* and then you throw in the best side characters. Sydney, Agne, and Gabe are the perfect additions to an already funny storyline.
I truly think Arthur is the best male character I have ever read. He is funny, honest, and a breath of fresh air. He supports his friends and has avoided turning into an asshole like his father.
Now the writing *bows down* to Lex Croucher. I was immediately impressed with her writing style. You have created an instant fan! The way she wrote and navigated LGBTQ relationships in medieval England was clever and important!
Feel free to send me every copy of this book in existence because it's my new favorite!

I love Lex’s Infamous series so when I was sent this book I was excited.. and it didn’t disappear. Lex has a way with writing and it is humorous just like her other books.

King Arthur’s descendant, also Arthur, is betrothed to Lady Gwendolyn. You know history and repeating itself, except Gwendolyn isn’t really into Arthur. No she’s more into her closet knight and Arthur is interested in Gwendolyn’s brother. They’re forced to spend the summer together so they make a pact to become allies than enemies.

Take the story of Camelot and twist it on it’s head and you’ve got this book. That is make Arthur gay and not up to the social norms they expect for him. The characters were comical, especially the side friends involved. but sometimes I found Gwen and Arthur to be a bit annoying in the way they bickered.

All in all, this was quite comical and such a fluffy read. Like a pallet cleanser that I needed. I definitely can’t wait for Alex’s next books!

THOUGHTS

This book is delightful! Despite the impression that the title may give, it is not a retelling of Arthurian legend. It is instead a medieval romcom with particularly modern sensibilities. While I don't usually like historical romances where contemporary values weigh too heavily on the plot, this book was particularly unserious--in a way that made it good fun instead of historically irritating. Could it ever happen? Absolutely not. But that's not why we're reading it.


PROS
Great Atmosphere: This book might not be strictly historically accurate, but it does a good job of rendering a pseudo-medieval environment anyhow. There are boiling tensions between Arthurian cultists and Catholic forces. There are brothers and cousins and uncles all vying for power. And there is plenty of jousting and witty banter and meta-jokes. This book isn't meant to be the peak of historical accuracy. Instead, it's just a whole lot of fun.

Lavender Romance: The main couple, for reasons that become immediately obvious, just aren't going to work out. But a classic sort of fake dating scheme is comprised, one that nods to quite a bit of queer history. They're each other's shields, each other's alibis, and it's nice to have that twist on a generic romance trope. There's a reason to fake date here, and they're not falling for each other in the end (at least not in that way).

In It Together: All of these characters are so different from each other, and the constraints of their lives, their slice of history, their particular personalities are all so acute that you really can't help rooting for them. What happily ever after looks like in this particular setting might be hard to say, but you can't help wanting that for them. All of them.


CONS
Neat Ending: I know I wanted happily ever after for these characters... but the ending just felt a bit too neat for me. Or, I guess, "neat" might not be exactly the right word. It felt too hopeful and optimistic. I know we're not dealing with real history (and I'm not going to spoil exactly how everything wraps up), but it just didn't quite feel real enough to have the payoff I wanted from this story, even if it's a romcom.

Drunkards: I really enjoyed Arthur and his man Sidney as characters, but I don't particularly enjoy drunkenness being played up in a book for laughs. I know this is more of a personal nitpick, and I overall didn't mind. But a few times, this particular element rubbed me the wrong way.

Predictable Romances: Gwen and Art might not be in love... but you immediately know in this book who the end-game romances are. Or at least I did. Maybe I'm just jaded. Maybe I'm too familiar with writing tropes and the clues authors weave throughout a story. But the ultimate couples weren't really a surprise to me, even though sometimes it felt like the characters were being played up as though these pairings were meant to be surprising.


Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
9/10
Fans of Erin Cotter's Shakespearean adventure By Any Other Name will like this new queer twist on English history. Those who enjoyed Sophie Gonalez's Perfect on Paper will like this plot full of mismatched meet-cutes and a bit of romantic scheming.

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love was such a fun book. Set in medieval times during the conflict between Catholicism and King Arthur occultists, we follow along as Gwen & Art go from enemies to reluctant allies to genuine friendships. There's found family! Everyone is gay! It's saccharine in the best way but balanced with some high stakes to keep you invested and hoping for that happy ending.

This was silly and fun and so very earnest. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, 4.5⭐️

For anyone who's ever though that Arthur Pendragon and Lancelot were probably more than just really good pals.

i was really excited to read this one as the synopsis sounded so promising. The pacing on this was really off for me, it moved entirely too slow especially for the amount of action that happened at the end. I think that this story would have benefited from having a lot more energy pumped into it the entire way. I did enjoy the characters and thought that they all held their own within the plot. i would have enjoyed more of the mystery to be central to the story. All in all i did enjoy it and thought that the representation was done very well.

This book is a DELIGHT. A quick, fun medieval read that is both very funny and heart-warming. The representation in this is absolutely fabulous and I devoured it within hours.

This book was so fun and sweet and joyful! It had such a great ensemble cast and unique queer representation. Reading it was an absolute delight, and I would recommend it over and over again to both young readers and adults.

I absolutely loved this and desperately need to read the other books in Lex Croucher's backlist. The characters and story were incredibly well crafted, the character development was really well done and I felt the chemistry between the characters. There were a few plot threads that never really seemed to fully be explained or go anywhere which was my only complaint but overall I had an amazing time reading this and still is definitely a 5 star read for me!

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday for an ALC of this!

In this enchanting medieval YA rom-com, Gwen and Arthur, destined to marry but loathe each other, are thrown together for a summer at Camelot. As secrets emerge - Arthur's kiss with a boy and Gwen's diary confessions about a lady knight - they form an unexpected alliance. Amidst sword-fighting, newfound friendships, and romantic entanglements, this tale promises laughter, love, and a twist on the classic Arthur-Gwen tragedy.

I cannot explain to you how much I loved this one. I inhaled the whole audiobook in one sitting, cried, and begged the universe for more.

It was everything I needed at the time. I love all the growth the characters went through, the tension, the love, the romance, the twists and turns. I enjoyed every single second of it.

Queer King Arthur Retellings continue being absolutely top notch. More please.

CW: death, homophobia, lesbophobia, alcoholism, abuse, mental illness

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book :)
The author knew what they were doing with a queer medival reimagining of the descedant of King Arthur. Everything about this book spoke to me and it did NOT dissapoint. I'm not into YA much these days but this story and characters made it worth picking the book up fs!! 100% recommend

This is the second book I’ve tried reading from this author that I just could not get in to.

I have been trying to read this one off and on for a little over a month and it’s just not working for me at all.

This YA romcom was pitched as Heartstopper meets a knights tale- and it’s the most fitting description. Our Main characters are: Gwen, the princess to the English throne and younger sister to the heir Gabriel. Her betrothed is Art, selected at birth bc of his famous ancestor King Arthur. Gwen thinks there’s only one problem, they hate each other. After discovering Art kissing a stable boy it turns out there might be two problems. Art likes men, and Gwen is wrestling with her feelings for the talented Knight Lady Leclair. They realize they might be better allies than enemies to help each-other get what they want.

I loved this twist on fake dating! Art and Gwen are such perfect opposites, the banter in every single scene is absolutely amazing. Not to mention the amount of heart and humor this book contains. The characters were all so well written and you could sense all of their individual battles and character arcs. Not to mention it was just so fun! It being set in medieval England was the icing on the cake. Definitely worth a read.

This book was so incredibly slow that by the time it got anywhere I was so bored, I didn't care anymore. I also didn't really understand why Gwen and Art hated each other so much. Seemed kind of ridiculous.

4.5/5, rounded up to 5 stars!

this story was so SO beautifully written and i loved every second of it. first of all, im a huge third person fan and it was done wonderfully. the characters were so well developed and had so much chemistry with one another, both platonically and romantically. gwen and art were wonderfully developed characters and the found family in this story was so so heartwarming. there is so much grief in queer stories and while there is some of that, this is ultimately a queer story that feels laced with love and gives the characters a happy ending and joy!! I loved this story so much and will definitely read it again :) can't wait to see how it's received I hope everyone loves it

This did not meet my expectations. The story was cute and entertaining, but the writing style felt too modern and took me out the supposedly-historical story, The characters didn’t feel like real people; they were very shallow, too juvenile.

I’m not sure where to start as I’m still sort of reeling from the experience that is this book. I had heard so many good things and a queer medieval rom-com certainly sounded interesting, but I wasn’t entirely sure it would work for me. I knew within reading the first chapter that I had been very wrong. This instantly worked for me and only continued to work from there. I had such a delightful time with this and cursed myself for being so busy this week only because it meant I had to tear myself away from this book. This had practically everything I look for in characters and relationship dynamics, but I really wasn’t expecting to be drawn into the story and time period as much as I was. I genuinely had so much fun with this, so much in fact, that the last thing I expected was to end up in tears at multiple points throughout the book. I already miss the characters desperately. The alternating POVs were a funny thing because I loved Gwen and Art both so deeply that I didn’t want to be drawn away from one’s storyline but immediately found myself just as wrapped up in the other’s every time. This was endlessly entertaining, funny, moving, heartfelt, and just really lovely overall. This is a new favorite, without a doubt. (also, that cover???? obsessed)
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Gwen and Art Are Not in Love is a fun reading experience and I had the best time. It’s not a retelling of the Arthurian stories but rather an interesting medieval tale set in a world where Arthur once was king. The main characters play off each other so well and the writing is hilarious. Lex Croucher crafted some truly absurdly funny lines with this one. I loved it so much. This is a great YA romcom featuring LGBTQ+ characters and I can’t recommend it enough.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. This is not a retelling of the Arthurian legend, but rather set in the same universe.

I enjoyed the characters as individuals but mostly their relationships with each other that grew over time as they became vulnerable with each other. Gwen and her brother Gabriel. Gwen and her lady-in-waiting, Agnes. Art and his side-man, Sid. Gwen and Art. Art and Gabriel.

I agree with other reviewers that the first 2/3 of this book was light and fun, while the last 1/3 went surprisingly dark. For me this lent some credence to the caution the characters all had initially.

This is my first book by Lex Croucher, and I'll search out more for sure!

There is so much to love about this book-- everything from the heartfelt characters, the charming reinterpretation of Arthurian legend (and English history), and even the delightful cover art! I particularly enjoyed all the scenes between Gwen and Arthur themselves. Despite not being in love, they came to understand one another and their own desires a whole lot better through the conversations they shared. I thought it was interesting that so much of the development of those two characters happened in their shared scenes rather than in the scenes with their respective love interests. I enjoyed all the nods to Arthurian legends for readers with a passing fair knowledge of them, and to English history (like the humorous aside that the Vikings had never successfully invaded in this version of things!). The book took on a complex secondary plot for a YA novel without getting too bogged down in its reimagining of history and its worldbuilding.

It turns out that I was not the right reader for this book, so take my four stars with a grain of salt. For many, this will no doubt be a five-star read. YA lit can be hit or miss for me, and I did find myself frustrated at times with elements I found overly simplistic. Additionally, as is common with YA, adult characters were absent at best, or incompetent or downright rotten at worst. I know these are important elements of relatability and accessibility for YA readers and that my frustrations were the result of my own reader preferences.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for an ARC of this heartwarming YA romance!