Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC!

Overall vibes: This was such a fun read! It's the perfect mixture of silly and serious, and the characters are so well-developed and entertaining. It's not historically accurate, but in a way that's funny for people who read historicals while also being approachable to people who don't!

Pros:
-I loved the characters so much! I could read one-off stories about any of them, or prequels, or sequels.
-Croucher was so intentional when creating her backstories for her characters. The depth added so much to these characters who could have just been very surface-level.
-I wasn't sure how the book could be resolved in a way that felt natural, but I thought the ending was really well done!

Cons:
-I think it was just a little bit longer than necessary. The pacing dipped around the 60% mark, but by then I loved the characters so much that it didn't bother me much.

I enjoyed the mixture in language due to the book’s era and the combination of modern language. It is definitely a good young adult book and it’s exciting to see media with queer siblings. A personal peeve is the alternating perspectives, so if you’re not into books like be aware but still try it!

I am a huge fan of King Arthur retellings and this one stood out to me the most in cover art and synopsis-wise. This was really different from all the others I had ever read. Art and Gwen just becoming allies and just having their own side relationships was simply everything I was expecting and more. I love the found family trope that is within this novel and all the shenanigans. The pacing is great and so are the dialogues between characters. I am sad that I have to wait until November to get my hands on the physical copy but it is worth the wait. Thank you for giving me the e-arc copy. I needed this queer retelling of my favorite classic tale King Arthur's adventures.

this? was? amazing? showstopping. breathtaking even.

i don’t know why but i went into this book expecting only a couple things and instead got a whole lot more, and i’m not mad about it. my only complaint is the ending, nothing is wrong with it but it just felt too rushed & wrapped up. i just wanted more, need more.

👑: the characters are by far the best part of this book. i will never not love a little found family group, it’s just the best. we have our royals, gwen & gabriel. i love love love them. and then we have arthur, the second pov & main character, and bridget, the love interest of gwen. and we can’t forgot our secondary characters agnes & sidney, sidney & arthur being the comedic duo of this book, while gwen & arthur are my absolute babies. love them. i admit when it comes to characters, i ended up favoring arthur out of them all, but god this little group of characters have found their way into my heart so quickly.

👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨: nothing i love more than a forbidden romance with some angst. but god there was a LOT here. a part of me just wanted more after i guess. like after all the angst and will they won’t they, and after all the fighting, i just wanted more after. the epilogue was perfect with that, but it feels so incomplete, like idk if this is just me wanting a second book, but god. besides that though, the romance was everything & more. i seen heartstopper and thought this was going to be a cutesy little romance and boy was i wrong, and i’m so glad. no matter how much i love heartstopper, i’m always gonna love a lot of angst & drama over fluff. and there more than just the main romances too, there’s a little side character romance too that i genuinely enjoyed.

🗡️: there this sort-of plot twist that i personally didn’t see coming, since i was more consumed with the romance and everything, that i want to go back & reread it so i can prepare for it. it actually makes me wish that this was an action book first, romance second. but the fighting, and betrayal, mwah. perfectly done. it’s another thing i just wish there was more of.

i mean i feel like the general conclusion of this review is that i just want more. more of our characters & romance, more of the fighting & drama, more more more. i mean with that ending, there so much more that can be done. i really hope this ends up being more than 1 book, regardless if it’s a duology, trilogy, or full on series. i just need more.

5 stars <33
★ ★ ★ ★ ★/☆☆☆☆☆

thank you netgalley, st. martin press, & wednesday books for granting me access to this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Enemies to (fake) lovers to friends? Women with swords? Queer Arthurian retelling? SIGN ME UP

This was such a cozy, quick read full of fantastic banter and loveable characters. Do not go into this expecting historical accuracy, but it is so much fun to read and I genuinely loved all the characters (even while they frustrated me at times!)

Ultimately I did feel like there was some development missing from the overall plot. The background plot that goes on outside of the romance felt like it could have used some extra work to improve the pacing. I also wish that we had gotten a little more time to see how Gabriel overcame some of his fears about being his true self, especially after he spent most of the book rejecting his feelings.

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the advance copy!

4.5 stars. Thanks NetGalley for the arc ! This book made me feel all the feels. I loved this book so much! The representation was perfect, the story was adorable but also powerful, the flow and pacing was perfect! I wish I could read about these characters forever! Arthur is one of my favorite characters in a book and his relationship with Sidney was my favorite pairing. Thanks again NetGalley for the opportunity !

When I first saw the cover art for this book, I knew it was something I needed to read. Gwen and Arthur style retelling where both are queer? Incredible. But when I started reading this, the joy I felt from the cover started to fade. It did have what I was promised, but it was just not captivating. I enjoyed the snarkiness and rebelliousness of the characters but when it came to actual story, it fell flat. I was constantly putting this book down in favor of other books and while an actual story occurs throughout this novel, it really felt like nothing was happening. Lex Croucher has another novel on my want to read list, and I will still give it a try, maybe this isn't what is to be expected out of their typical writing but it was disappointing. I hate to describe a piece of work as mediocre but that's the best term I can think of to describe what I read. It wasn't awful or mind-boggling bad, but it was just meh. I eventually got through it but I wouldn't say I enjoyed it or felt interested by the story. Again, this could be all my fault, in that this style of plot and writing just isn't for me. I think the only true way to know if this is your kind of book, is to read it. So I do recommend people to read this, because I think it does fit someone's list, unfortunately, it just doesn't fit mine.

Enemies to pretend lovers to best friends because it turns out they are both queer? But also add in the fact that it's Arthurian and there's a hot female knight and a very funny bodyguard?

Gwen and Art are definitely not in love, but their story was quite lovely either way. There was great banter throughout the book but along the way very meaningful conversations about being queer and accepting that about yourself and about others. Even though it takes place hundreds of years ago, every bit of it was just as important to remember today.

This was a very quick read that kept me engaged throughout.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. The plot was well paced and the characters felt fully developed. I would recommend this book to others and am looking forward to other works by this author.

Don't read this for historical accuracy. Do read this for a perfect comfort read full of banter.

It seems like YA historical fiction is starting to become more popular again, and I couldn't be happier about it. This is such a fun romcom, full of genuinely funny moments and dialogues, with both an f/f and m/m romance that I guarantee you will love. Like I said, it's an excellent comfort read, and I loved how it pokes fun at Arthurian legend.

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is a tale full of adventure, mishaps, blackmail, and misunderstandings. Gwen, princess of England, has been engaged to Arthur, future duke and distant descendant of King Arthur, since birth. Their relationship up til now has consisted of pranks, insults, and broken bones, but Gwen's parents have decided it's time for the two to start preparing for the wedding. There are a few issues with this: Gwen catches Arthur kissing another boy, and Arthur finds Gwen's diary where she daydreams about kissing the beautiful and strong knight, Bridget Leclair. If you like LGBTQIA+ stories with lovable characters, you'll enjoy reading Gwen & Art Are Not in Love.

4.5 ⭐️

oh gosh, this book ❤️‍🩹

We are talking about a YA coming of age novel where the characters arcs were beautifully written, the rep is *chef's kiss* and the setting could only be described as perfectly on point. Conversations were witty, funny and the friendships were so wholesome from minute one. But this is NOT a retelling. Or at least not a retelling of any well known stories (I am real bad with history, I'm sorry I can't be more precise).

Gwen and Art were a delight to read, their banter going from hate to that sort of friendship where you're like, ugh I hate them but I've grown attached, it was awesome.

Side characters were also a delight to read.
Sydney was funny as hell, fierce protector but also with a no bullshit policy. I wish we got to see more in detail him courting Agnes, that would have been so sweet.

Bridget was the kind of woman I wish more books had. She knew what she wanted, and she took it. She put herself first and foremost, and made sure everyone around her knew it.
Her relationship with Gwen was so sweet, because while Gwen was all gay panicking towards Bridget, she was being all serious but friendly not knowing what to expect out of their encounters.

Also, Gabriel? I love him, he is my baby, protect him at all costs 🥺. Poor boy struggles so much with the idea of being King, and not disappointing anyone and at the same time coping with all of it by spending time buried into books to the point of not sleeping.

The only thing I really wished we could have seen more of is the development of Art and Gabe's relationship. While Art was so sure about himself and his sexuality, por Gabriel struggled real hard with it, and, I know we could attribute the lack of Art's empathy to him having had his heart broken not long ago, but I wished there had been more moments of understanding between them.

It's such a thin line that in part I was like, good for Art for not wanting to meet people where they are because he's already there (as he says, it saves on the commute 😂) but I also hoped for him to be more lenient with Gabe 💔.

At the end of the day this book kind of felt like it lasted forever, because it kind of felt like it wanted to have equal parts romance and story but I never really got the full picture for either of them?
Like, it feels like so many key parts are missing from both the romance and the plot, but if they had been included the book would have lasted even longer.

Let us be honest, I wanted more romance than plot, but that was just my personal craving when I started the book, but it wasn't necessarily bad. The plot twist at the end tho, I really wasn't expecting things to go down the way that they did :')

I don't know what else to say, I really enjoyed my time with this book and laughed real hard while doing so.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Net Galley for the opportunity to review this ahead of its release! As always all my opinions are my own, no matter the situation.

Thank you St. Martins Press, Wednesday Books for an advance readers copy of this book.

Gwen & Art <b> are not </b> in love. But they <b>are</b> in a mutually beneficial fake engagement. Being sworn to marry each other as babies, Gwen and Art are both distinctly unattracted and uninterested in each other. But after both of our protagonist learns the others secret they realize that this might work after all. Art covers his emotions with self deprecating humor, heavy drinking, and <b>shenanigans galore! </b> Gwen begins to allow herself to understand the feeling she gets every time she sees the only female knight, Bridget Leclair. Together Gwen and Art begin to unravel their truth, and with Gabriel's help, Gwens brother, they unravel the truth of the Knights of the Round Table.

All good things must come to an end and this ending felt almost like a whole other book. In this regard I wish it was longer. The last climax was strong as it stood but it felt a bit off from the rest of the book. We spend so much time in an easy banter (loved that) then when everything got serious I wish we had had more of the court politics and military going ons throughout. Our protagonist were just as magnetic in those moments and I think this was a bit of a weak point.

Rom-com meets historical fiction, Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is going to be a huge hit this fall. Gwen, Art, Gabriel, Sidney, and Bridget were an outstanding cast of characters who make you feel like part of the family. You feel all the emotions written in these page and I found myself easily caught up in the story. An easy recommendation for my romance lovers, but I also highly recommend it to my romance shy readers.

<I>An unputdownable debut that will wrap you up in a warm embrace of found family, finding your truth, and self-love. </I>

All I needed to be sold on this book was Camelot, but make it gay. From the day it was announced, I checked on NetGalley every day hoping to get an advance copy, because I could not wait until NOVEMBER to read it.

So it hurts to be disappointed by it. It felt like Lex Croucher did the exact same thing I did: Camelot, but make it gay, and nothing else matters. The plots about Gwen and Bridget & Arthur and Gabe were really fun to read, and I loved watching them all come together. (+10 points for all things Sidney).

But there's a background plot that comes to take over the whole book and it's poorly set up and poorly carried out, and just felt unnecessary. You don't need a larger plot in order to make this story feel Arthurian. Or groups of cultists or those that worship Morgan le Fay (and I say this as someone who has a Morgan le Fay tattoo).

There's a good amount of social commentary, especially about gender, sexuality and class. And there's a cringe-worthy stand in for Christian extremists. These were so obvious and heavy handed that it was more of a disappointment than a good lesson learned.

There's also very awkward use of modern slang/memes, and an extremely confusing world where the characters live. And there's no explanation for why Bridget is interested in Gwen, which at least in the beginning stages, makes no sense. And the second half drags on and on.

I'm ultimately confused about what this book was trying to do. Was it a coming of age love story? Social commentary? A fight over power and family expectation? A court politics fight? It did all of those things a little, leading it to do nothing good enough.

3.5/5

This was a really cute story! I’m gonna be honest, I thought I was going to hate Art because he was annoying but I ended up really loving him. I loved all of of the main characters so much and by the end, I wanted to see all of their happy endings and beyond. My one critique is that I feel like we could have gone deeper into the whole Arthurian history storyline. I felt like the author was leading us to the next King Arthur but then it just never happened. I feel like this story could have been written without anything about Arthur and it wouldn’t have changed much. But I loved it nonetheless!

This was fun. I was thrown off at first by the fact that the characters spoke like completely modern people, and by the lack of parallels to the traditional story. But eventually I surrendered to the fact that I couldn't place the story in any specific time period or find parallels. I enjoyed seeing all the relationships develop and got more into it when the political issues, which had been in the background, came to a head.

This book has everything! So much queerness! Multiple love stories, battles, angst, possibly magic, darkness, actually funny jokes, snappy dialogue, messy characters that grow into better selves, political intrigue, a thrilling ending! Gwen and Art might not be in love with each other, but *I* am in love with all of the main characters. My only complaint is that the pacing dragged in a few places, but the last 30% of the book absolutely flew by. Overall, this was a LOT of fun. <3

“A Knight’s Tale, but make it queer.” If you heard that sentence, knocked over your pint of ale in excitement, and demanded of your trusty companion, “who do I have to joust to read THAT?” then this is the book for you!

Yes, okay, I LOVED it.

(1) The perfect amount of historical (in)accuracy, especially for YA. When people are like “you have to know the rule book before you can throw it out”… well I don’t think that’s necessarily true but I do think you need to know the *history* book before you can throw it out and this author absolutely does. Ngl I saw her previous books and was like “oh god, somebody else writing unrealistic under-researched Regency romance? Just throw ‘em on the pile I guess.” And now I have to go pull ‘em OUT of the metaphorical pile so I can read them because clearly this author knows what she’s doing! And this is the kind of book where you can tell you’re just getting a snapshot - there’s so much more that you just get to see the edges of. Which is WILDly impressive to pull off in this almost theme-park-medieval tone.

(2) I want to say specifically that this book’s plot? Genius. Just… reeling me in like a fish! I NEEDED to know what was going to happen. And it works because there are four main characters and a bunch of others and yet they all feel so sharply drawn, like all the author had to do once she’d figured them out was toss them in the same setting and then take notes as incredibly compelling chaos ensued.

(3) I mean, Gwen & Art & Bridget & Gabriel… lovable, bad decision-making teenagers, all of them! There was a moment maybe two-thirds of the way through where Gwen was the emotionally perceptive one and I literally laughed out loud in astonishment and delight.

Just… Ah! How is this book so GOOD?! Look it starts strong, ends strong, and is also strong in all the parts in the middle. Did I mention the plot??? I was on the edge of my seat needing to know what was going to happen with the cultists and Art’s dad, I just KNEW there was something brewing and I was so stressed and yet somehow it all worked out happily but sadly but perfectly??

Easily 5 stars. I loved this book.

Lex Croucher writes in a way that immediately drags you into the world and the story. The writing had me actually grinning many times, and I had to reread a few lines because they were so clever (most of these lines belonged to Arthur, who turned out to be my favorite). I didn't even know I could love grumpy x sunshine in a friendship but I do wholeheartedly and need more.

This book was sweet, funny, witty, and with just the right amount of pining/angst. I loved the growth of all the characters as they discovered and accepted truths about themselves. Even the "side" characters were fully fleshed out and lovely.

I thought this book was longer than it needed to be, but at the same time I can't think of anything that could've been cut or any scene that I didn't absolutely enjoy. The writing was that good. I'll definitely pick up anything Lex Croucher writes in the future. PLEASE ADD THIS TO YOUR TBR.

“To be truly brave, first you must be afraid—and to be afraid, you must have something you cannot bear to lose.”

Fun fact:
I LOVE historical comedies.
And when I say “historical comedy,” I don’t mean a comedy that was written in times past (although, Pride and Prejudice can GET IT). I mean, hand a classic IP to a queer Zoomer who majored in English Lit and minored in History and tell them to make it funny.

I have no idea if Croucher’s credentials meet those specifications, but either way, it appears she’s up to the task.

H o w e v e r
Side effects of reading this may include:
- Giggling in the dead of night like a deranged schoolgirl
- Sapphic panic
- Long-suffering sighs
- Emotional damage
- Existential dread
No, you didn’t misread those last two. No, I’m not reviewing the wrong book.

For a purportedly wholesome, Arthurian-derived YA… this got quite a bit more grisly and emotionally harrowing than I expected. In fact, the more I read, the more often I had to remind myself that this wasn’t written by Madeline Miller and therefore (probably) wouldn’t end in tragedy and buried gays.
(I wish I could say I’m kidding)

*Content warnings incoming*
Of course, there’s homophobia: internalized, externalized, internalized turned INTO externalized. I wouldn’t say that it was unexpected, given that homophobia is a staple of queer literature, but I will admit to finding it inexplicably heartbreaking here.
Then there’s the whole “we can only ever be each other’s dirty little secret” conflict. Which, again, not unexpected… but still hurt a surprising amount?
There’s also some pretty graphic injury and violence present. Plus multiple major-character death scares. And a coup culminating in several gruesome battle chapters, the death of a parent, and lifelong disability.
*Content warnings concluded*

I wouldn’t say any of it was handled poorly. I wouldn’t even say that it ought to be tempered or taken out.
I just wish I had a little more… I don’t know… warning? Transparency about what I was getting myself into? As much as I prefer cozy fiction, I can handle heavier material. I promise. I just need a chance to prepare myself first.

I’m not quite sure if the problem here is misguided subversive advertising or a lack of self-awareness. Maybe it’s neither. For all I know, the tonal bait-and-switch might’ve impressed some readers. But the only experience I can speak to is my own, and personally, I felt a little blindsided.

That said, I still enjoyed GAAANIL. I wouldn’t have minded more than two short aftermath chapters, but then again, I’m just happy it ended on an optimistic note.

3.75 stars