I love found family in books so this was a hit for me! The start of the book was slow but it did pick up. I enjoyed the queer representation as well.

Clemence volunteers to get kidnapped by the Merry Men that she has fantasized about her entire life. Unfortunately, the experience isn’t exactly what she thought it would be. It’s uncomfortable and cold. The kidnappers don’t seem to be like Robin Hood at all. She’s going to escape and then people start getting hurt and now she can’t leave because her role as healer won’t let her. She’ll leave once they are better or she’ll stay if she can get the Captain to kiss her.

I have to confess that I actually didn’t read the blurb so I had no clue who Clem’s love interest was supposed to be in the story. I actually thought it was another character by the flirting and it wasn’t until I was a quarter of the way through the story that the lightbulb went on and I said, “Ohhhhh, Mariel is the love interest.” Lex Croucher doesn’t always write their books with romance at the forefront and Not for the Faint of Heart is no different.

I was going to say that the story is about identity, but Clem has a pretty good idea of who she is whereas the rest of the gang is struggling as a whole with the exception of Josey. Mariel, the other voice we get to hear, has the biggest struggle as Robin Hood’s granddaughter and the legacy holder. She struggles with her identity in a man’s world. Her role as daughter, military leader, and as a legacy. I don’t think she once thought of a partner until Clem comes into her life and basically forces Mariel into a relationship. I think Mariel is just dumbfounded by Clem (chuckle).

The secondary cast is heartbreaking. The diversity is wonderful and it is in this spectrum the pain comes. Plus, this is an action-adventure story with battles and sacrifices - need I say more? Croucher doesn’t give us a straight happily-ever-after because life doesn’t work that way. They leave the betrayals on the page and don’t smooth over them. It’s raw and unhealed.

Not for the Faint of Heart is exactly that for a book. It’s about found family with a clean romance subplot as an afterthought. It’s about orphans and people choosing to come together because they want community. They want to belong and they are willing to fight for it. They want to fight for justice. This story lingers for all of the right reasons.

Not for the Faint of Heart is a heart pounding jaunt through the woods with Robin Hood’s Merry Men. –although, under new management. This story follows the story of Robin Hood’s granddaughter, Mariel Hartley-Hood, as she struggles to prove herself as a Captain of the Merry Men, and Clem, a “ridiculous” healer kidnapped by the Merry Men to help tend to battle wounds.

This was a lovely queer reimagining of a classic tale, with all sorts of rep. Lesbian, gay, trans, non-binary, and bisexual. I absolutely LOVED Clem as a character. I thought she was just magnificent, but I will be totally honest when I say that I REALLY didn’t like Mariel. In fact, I thought she was insufferable for the most part. I know the dynamic was grumpy x sunshine. But I just didn’t like Mariel, and I never got on board with her.

I thought this story was a lot of fun though, and I want to go back and read Gwen and Art are not in Love.

thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with a copy of the book!

this book was so cute and whimsical. honestly i feel it was more character-focused than on the plot, which is not a problem since i liked all the main characters. the romance between mariel and clem had me giggling and i kept wanting more. it really does have the vibe of horse riding through an enchanted wood.

4.75/5

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher is a third person dual-POV YA Sapphic historical fantasy romance starring the granddaughter of Robin Hood and Maid Marion and a healer. When Clem, the apprentice of the local healer, takes the place of her teacher in a kidnapping by the Merry Men, she meets Mariel. Mariel is the daughter of the current Commander of the Merry Men and wants little more than to prove herself to her father and her team.

Unlike Lex Croucher’s previous YA, Gwen and Art are Not in Love, Not for the Faint of Heart is set more in a Queernorm version of the time period Robin Hood is set in. There are multiple openly Queer characters, such as Morgan who is nonbinary and Kit and Baxter as well as Robin himself and Will Scarlet from the original legends. I would say that this book is not set in the exact same world as Gwen and Art because of this, but they are adjacent enough that if you liked the worldbuilding in one, you’ll probably like the other.

Mariel has a complex relationship with both of her parents. Her mother, who is the daughter of Robin Hood, hasn’t really been a part of Mariel’s life for a long time with limited visits and fairly brief points of contact. Her father has always placed a lot of pressure on her and it feels like a father-daughter relationship filled with a lot of emotional neglect. It helps to explain why Mariel is so closed-off and has difficulty trusting others because her own parents haven’t really been there for her and both are too wrapped up in themselves and what they want instead of their child.

Clem and Mariel’s romantic arc is full of a lot of misunderstandings and tension related to Clem’s job and how the Merry Men’s reputation has seriously gone down since Mariel’s father took over. I wouldn’t classify Clem and Mariel as enemies-to-lovers because they’re never antagonistic towards each other in that way, but they are on opposite sides and need time to cross over and meet each other in the middle. Mariel is a lot more withdrawn than Clem is while Clem is very compassionate, but those two qualities show why they are a good match.

I would recommend this to fans of adaptations of Robin Hood looking for a Sapphic reimagining and readers of YA fantasy romance who preference something more historical-based

Lex Croucher, how dare you make me cry this much in one book.

Not For the Faint of Heart is a romantic tale of Murial, Robin Hood's granddaughter, and Clementine, a healer that Murial and her crew kidnap. Clem has always idolized the merrymen and dreamed of joining them one day, so when she is kidnapped by them she is not very concerned. Murial on the other hand is very concerned about pleasing her father- the commander of the Merry men- and kidnapping Clem is just another task on her quest to prove herself. When the band is caught in a deadly ambush and the officers of the Merry Men are captured- Clem's healing skills become very useful and she joins Murial and the rest of the band of bandits on the adventure of a lifetime. As the two grow closer throughout their journey, they will be forced to fight for everything they once believed in.

Croucher is so good at creating immersive stories and this was no different. I loved revisiting the tales of Robin Hood but in an entirely new way and I instantly fell in love with every single character in this book. Excellent!

This book was so cute! It’s a very creative story about the next generation of Robin Hood & his Merry Men, only the Merry Men are led by Hartley’s daughter Mariel. She and her team kidnap Clem, a healer with the unruliest hair. She is funny, a bit sassy, always upbeat, speaks in modern language and believes in modern healing techniques (none of this bloodletting with leeches please!) They have only one horse and only one bed and are a perfect grumpy/sunshine couple, one of my favorite tropes.

I really liked this story of familial troubles, parental expectations, first romance. It’s a fun romp and also includes plenty of Robin Hood-esque heists. I’m not familiar with Robin Hood & his Merry Men beyond the basics from school, but it’s all you need to know. At its heart its a slow burn sapphic romance with a great friend group. I haven't read Lex's other book Gwen & Art Are Not in Love yet, but this moves that up my TBR.

I loved this sapphic Robin Hood inspired historical romance! I loved the grumpy/sunshine of it all, that Clem is not small, the diversity, and the camaraderie. The tropes were there—only one bed, forced proximity, but also how they all dealt with trauma was handled sensitively. Croucher is becoming one of my faves!

Not for the Faint of Heart is a sapphic YA Robin Hood retelling and everything I never knew I wanted from a story like this. I adored both Mariel and Clem and the great banter they had between them. I also enjoyed the whole vibe of the story. The plot was easy to follow and keep readers engaged although it was a little slow to get started. It’s definitely worth sticking through the slower part. I am an absolute sucker for found family, so I loved the Merry Men. I also loved how Croucher used the grumpy/sunshine trope. I combo read this via ebook and audiobook. I loved the narration by Kat Griffiths and Olivia Dowd. They each did so well at bringing their respective characters to life. I also appreciated the use of different narrators to voice Mariel and Clem. Overall, this is a fun vibe read that I would recommend.

Sweet historical YA fiction set in the Robin Hood universe but not really involving Robin Hood, as he has retired and left to be with his boyfriend overseas at the start of the book. This has a lovely found family vibe, where you do get to know the individual characters and they have enough different about them to differentiate the characters. I loved Clem as a main character—just pure sunshine, making the best out of every situation even as she is muttering to herself about how things could have been done better. It’s interesting, because often you see sunshine characters as being less intellectual, just golden retrievers. But here? Clem is smart, sharp, and while she has some idealistic/optimistic outlooks, she actually sees a lot of things that our black cat character, Mariel, refuses to see in her more rigid, perfectionist viewpoint. It’s a fun combination and I appreciated how the characters, especially Mariel, grew throughout the book.

A great setting for a fantasy romance! I liked to references to the original characters of the Robin Hood story, the LGBTQ+ characters were very well done. The adventure and story were intriguing, the romance was sweet, and the characters weren't super detailed, but I don't think it effected the book very much. The themes of found families and family trauma were well written, not super heavy but with a hint of humor that kept the story positive.

"From New York Times bestselling author Lex Croucher comes a queer historical YA romance, with all the swoons, laughs, and heart-pounding moments you'd expect from a story about the granddaughter of Robin Hood and the girl she's accidentally kidnapped.

'You aren't merry,' Clem said to her captor. 'And you aren't all men. So there's been some marketing confusion somewhere along the line.'

Mariel, a newly blooded and perpetually grumpy captain of the Merry Men, is desperate to live up to the legacy of her grandfather, the legendary Robin Hood. Clem, a too-perky backwoods healer known for her new-fangled cures, just wants to help people.

When Mariel's ramshackle band of bandits kidnap Clem as retribution for her guardian helping the Sheriff of Nottingham, all seems to be going (sort of) to plan...until Jack Hartley, Mariel's father and Commander of the Merry Men, is captured in a deadly ambush. Determined to prove herself, Mariel sets out to get him back - with her annoyingly cheerful kidnappee in tow.

But the wood is at war. Many believe the Merry Men are no longer on the right side of history. Watching Clem tend the party's wounds and crack relentlessly terrible jokes, Mariel begins to doubt the noble cause to which she has devoted her life. As the two of them grow closer, forced by circumstances to share a single horse and bed, one thing is clear. They must prepare to fight for their lives and for those of everyone they've sworn to protect.

Lex Croucher's Not for the Faint of Heart is a thrilling adventure full of hijinks, found family, and romance destined to change the lives of the inhabitants of the Greenwood Forest forever."

I'm a fan of all things Robin Hood, but I'm REALLY a fan of characters named Clem.

This is a sweet, lighthearted story about friendship and found family, with a dash of popular romance tropes on top.

Lex Croucher’s second historical-ish YA romance absolutely hits its mark, scoring a swoony, humorous, adventurous bullseye. A sapphic take on the Robin Hood legend, the story’s POV alternates between buttoned-down, militaristic Merry Men captain Mariel and newly kidnapped, wryly humorous healer Clem. The two main characters are wonderfully distinct and seemingly incompatible, but knowing the author’s work, readers assume these two are destined to fall for each other. The delightful fun of this novel is witnessing the slow burn of their budding romance grow into the inevitable, roaring fire readers are rooting for.

This brief excerpt from the advanced reader copy deftly shows the delightful dynamic between the repressed and complicated Mariel and her annoyingly free-spirited foil, Clem:

“My life is good,” Mariel said, but it sounded so unconvincing even to her own ears that she wouldn’t have blamed Clem
for laughing. She didn’t.
“Well I’m cold, so come here and make my life a bit better, would you?”
There she went again, just asking for what she wanted, like it was the easiest thing in the world. Mariel was awed and
horrified by it.

Mariel and Clem are surrounded by an ensemble of quirky, unique and engaging characters who are fiercely loyal and fully game for the battles and adventures Mariel leads them on. Simply put, Not For the Faint of Heart is a romantic, riveting and rollickingly good read.

“Gwen and Art Are Not In Love” was one of my favorites last year and Lex Croucher has done it again with this book. Sapphic Robin Hood retelling. Yes please! Creative take on the story. Great supportive cast of “merry men/merry people”. Plot kept it moving with just enough romance. Lex Croucher is going on my favorites list. I dig the writing and I love these queer retellings. Thank you!

Thank you Wednesday Books for my free ARC of Title by Not for the Faint of Heart — available Nov 26!

» READ IF YOU «
🏹 love irreverent fairytale/folklore retellings
💚 are a sucker for a good found family trope
👯‍♀️ enjoy strong, vibrant women in your stories

» SYNOPSIS «
Clem finds herself a captive of the Merry Men, a group she idolizes (though they're neither merry nor men), and ends up acting as the team healer when things start to go south. Mariel, the captain, learns of her father's capture at the same time she starts to doubt the noble cause her represents to her, and the whole band of un-merry un-men will have to work together to save what they truly care about.

» REVIEW «
This was a super cute little adventure romance! I loved the grumpy-sunshine dynamics of Mariel and Clem (I'm such a sucker for this), and fell hard for the strong found family vibes throughout the book. This story was pitched to me as similar to "The Princess Bride" which is one of my all-time favorite movies — I also looooved Gwen and Art Are Not In Love by Lex Croucher — so my expectations were extremely high and not quite satisfied. Nevertheless, I had a great time with these quirky characters and their wild adventures!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This was a thoroughly entertaining Robin Hood retelling. I liked that it focused on the "after" of Robin Hood taking a step back from leadership and the dynamics and hierarchy of the Merry Men. All the elements expected from Robin Hood are found in this story, with no shortage of romantic tension.

All of the characters are interesting and have lots of depth, including the side characters. Clem and Mariel alternate chapter perspectives, and I enjoyed the contrast between their outlooks and approaches. Both of them have very satisfying character arcs and are extremely relatable with the lessons that they learn and the work that they choose to do. Of course, they have a strong support system in their own company among the Merry Men--each of these characters have their own tragic backstory, personality, and are very much not relegated to the sidelines. The found family atmosphere is strong among them.

Although some parts of the book can be pretty dark, the author successfully maintains a consistently light, happy writing style with genuinely funny character dialogue and interactions. Clem's optimism and lack of self-preservation make her an unforgettable character. The pacing was done well, and I liked the ending (although I did want to see more from one of them). I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a Robin Hood story with a new cast of characters, lots of romance, and plenty of mischief.

Loved this journey into a new world of Robin Hood and the entire universe and characters just came to life for me. It’s a lovely journey and I just can’t wait to take the ride again just as soon as I possibly can.

Croucher's last YA historical (fantasy?) novel set the bar really high for me in terms of humorous writing, and this new book didn't quite meet it—but it was still great fun. Her last book in this category was just hilarious line after line, and this book was more quirky characters, ridiculous situations, goofy and irreverent dialogue—so still enjoyable, just not quite the same. I especially enjoyed Clem for all her cheerful, funny remarks, and how good and self-assured she was. Their little teenage band was also really sweet and hit me the most in the feels. Overall, I thought it was a good time.

This was a good, action-packed story! I really liked the main characters, Mariel and Clem, and thought they had great chemistry. Personally, I was expecting a bit more romance than there was as well as more Robin Hood-like activities, but overall the story was very entertaining and I think the target audience will find this very fun and enjoyable.