4.25/5 stars
This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I had previously read and loved Gwen and Art are not in Love by Lex Croucher so when the publisher offered me an ARC of Not for the Faint of Heart I knew I just had to read it.
This book did not disappoint, in general I think that readers will enjoy this book if they like reading about a ragtag bunch of queer youths who somehow found each other in this big wide world just to act like a bunch of fools. You will love this book if you have some sort of emotional connection to the story of Robin Hood. Personally, I am just mildly familiar with the tale, so the intricacies were lost on me. My lack of Robin Hood background didn't negatively impact my understanding and enjoyment of the book, but it could've improved my overall experience for sure.
I loved the main crew of characters in this book so much, I do think that some of the side characters were lacking a bit in terms of personality but they were not a major focus so I am okay with forviving that. While I overall enjoyed the story, I do think there were times when the plot felt a bit directionless, and as soon as a mission/direction was identified, the group went into it so impulsively that there wasn't a lot of buildup with major story events. This impulsivity is part of the characterization of our beloved group of Merry Men but I’m still allowed to feel that it hurt my enjoyment of the book. The very end felt a bit rushed, but that could also be because I was reading at warp speed because I loved the book so much.
Overall, I liked this book and would recommend it. I won't be knocking down doors and screaming from the rooftops trying to get people to read it, but I will definitely be bringing it up in conversations because I know many people will love it.

A fun read. I enjoyed the story line and the interaction between the characters. I enjoyed watching the growth of the main character as she stopped trying to be the perfect shadow and became her own person.

I received this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Incredible. no notes.
jk, i have SOME notes.
first, let me say, it is very difficult, in my opinion, for lex croucher to produce anything bad. and they still haven’t. i received and reviewed and arc of Gwen and Art are not in Love last year and fell in love with their writing immediately. Croucher’s characters, no matter who they are or what they believe, are complex and multi-layered that it’s hard to decide whether to like them or not, hero or villain. and i think that’s so important. to show every facet of a character instead of reducing them to a trope.

Mariel. she’s hard, she’s jaded, she seeks approval from her father, she’s a captain. but in the end she’s just a kid forced to make grow up decisions to stay alive. and she was written so beautifully.
and Clem. oh my god i love clem. she’s witty, she’s smart, she’s caring, and she holds steadfast to her code of honor. she deserves so much.
clem and mariel together felt like a stretch at the beginning. i couldn’t see mariel breaking down her walls enough for clem. but the way their relationship developed was so fitting and perfect. and less love for them.
and the company! baxter, josey, kit, morgan. incredibly family dynamics. love them to pieces.
ok that’s the end of my notes. everyone read lex croucher!

A rollicking good time! Robin Hood has retired and his granddaughter is desperately trying to make her way as a captain in the band of Merry Men. She accidentally kidnaps the wrong healer who decides to join her little band of queer found family fighters. And the adventures begin!

I loved this story. The dialogue was fun and snarky and the characters were adorable and I just wanted to adopt them all. The romance was sweet with just the right amount of heat for YA. And the setting was gorgeous. All my childhood Robin Hood fantasies come to life.

The plot was full of adventure with twists and turns I didn’t see coming. And I loved the ending.

This was a gorgeous historical fantasy with amazing queer characters that brought me back to my childhood dreams of following Robin Hood through the forest. I highly recommend it and am grateful to @netgalley as well as @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for my free ebook and audio copies to review.

Croucher just gets better and better! Another YA queering of British folklore: these next-gen Merry Men are out to steal your heart. The banter flies as thick and fast as the arrows. Without compromising on adventure, Coucher seamlessly weaves in an arc about healing, love, loss, and the family you choose. For every queer kid who felt a little (or a lot) outlaw, this one's for us!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

4.25/5 stars

This was absolutely adorable, just as you would expect from Lex Croucher! I love how she flips Robin Hood on it's head, making it slightly more modern and queer normative but still holding true to the original heart of the story. Never in a million years did I expect to read a queer romcom based on Robin Hood….but my life is so much more complete for having it.

This was just fluffy and adorable and wholesome, while also being reflective, encouraging, and funny. The story and characters will make you smile and also make you think - about how expectations (of ourselves, from others, from society…) have impact on our mental and emotional health; how first impressions and attitudes about a situation impact our relationships; about how we see ourselves, especially through the lens of legacy; about PTSD and the way trauma-responses hit us at unexpected times; and how never taking a stand on anything can be more dangerous than taking a stand on the important things.

This is a great fluffy romcom, but I love the importance of its message too. This book made me smile, laugh, and think - exactly what I wanted. Highly recommend!

A heartwarming romp through the Sherwood Forest! I am loving Lex Croucher’s historical fiction novels based on British myths and legends. Like Gwen and Art Are Not in Love, Not for the Faint of Heart is the perfect balance of comedic prose and serious themes.

I loved how much Clem and Mariel were polar opposites - choosing to deal with their childhood trauma in vastly different ways. Each of the members of the Merry Men were well developed - I believe stories are built on the backs of side characters and this cast did not disappoint. I also loved how Croucher seamlessly weaved the legend of Robin Hood into her queernormative world. Overall, this story was a moving exploration of family, friendship, and the bonds of legacy. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley, Wednesday Books, and St. Martin’s Press for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a grumpy/sunshine enemies-to-lovers LGBTQ historical romance.

Healer Clem is kidnapped by Mariel's band of bandits when she volunteers to be a hostage in place of her elderly mentor. Clem is annoyingly cheerful and unperturbed about her predicament. There are some skirmishes, deaths, and political machinations but ultimately this is about the group of bandits and their growth in their romances and as people. Diverse LGBTQ representation.

So far, I have enjoyed every single one of Lex Croucher's books.

This was such a fun and adventurous follow up to the first. I absolutely loved it. Lex Croucher is becoming one of my favorite authors. I love Lex's writing style - the storytelling is brilliant.

Anyone who likes Robin Hood, queer romance, black cat/golden retriever dynamics, found family, or adventures through the forest with arrows and swords and horses will absolutely love this book. I laughed, I cried, I feel like I adopted six children. Lex is a master as always at creating complicated flawed queer characters that we fall in love with not despite their flaws but because of them.

Lex Croucher has done it again! After Gwen and Art Are Not in Love, I knew I would read anything that she wrote. Her characters are so well written and unique, and her dialogue snappy and fun. Not For the Faint of Heart is just as witty as Gwen and Art and I fell in love with these characters too. Clem in particular was very endearing to me with her, with how she talked relentlessly, making me laugh every time. Mariel was also a very intriguing character. While not being very relatable, her backstory sets her up so well that you can see exactly how she became the way she is. It was interesting to see how Croucher envisioned legends like Robin Hood and Maid Marian might continue their family and who those people would be.
The other members of Mariel’s company of Merry Men were also great, though I have a particular soft spot for Morgan, the youngest recruit with goblin like tendencies.
The writing was well done, moving the story along swiftly but still setting the mood very well. I loved the woodsy ambience and how it impacted the storyline.
There was one plot point that I felt was unnecessary, which I won’t mention for spoilers sake, though you will probably know what I’m talking about when you read it. Which I highly recommend! I assume it was done for realism sake, but that’s not why I read books personally. Other than this detail, I adored this book. I will definitely be picking up the next Lex Croucher book too!
I received an early DRC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Very YA which is fine but I think I was looking for a little bit more. I kind of felt like nothing happened until 60%? It honestly could have been a novella. I wanted more character development, more plot- the concept was very cool and I loved the representation but overall it just fell a little flat for me. Still a three star read and one we’ll be adding to our library order!

This was a fun and adventurous read. The side characters are just as lovable and fleshed out as Clem and Mariel. The storyline is heartfelt and substantial so that the romance isn’t the entire main storyline. Clem and Mariel both grow and change in satisfying ways. Croucher knows how to write some witty banter and make you fall for their characters every time.

3.5 star review rounded up.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a fun adventure, but I did find it a little muddied at times. I think the storyline had great potential, but there wasn't really enough of any aspect of it. I wish that it had been fleshed out a lot more.

Clem's character was endearing and I enjoyed her banter. She made me laugh out loud on several occasions.

I didn't feel like Mariel's character got the depth that she deserved. The twist ending wrapped up too quickly for my taste, and I wish there had been loads more romance involved.

It was very, very fun and fulfilling to see a reimagined Sherwood Forest where queerness is just part of the culture, and for that, I would recommend it.

3.5 stars rounded up. This book (like Gwen & Art Are Not in Love) is pure escapism. It’s sweet, funny, and has some great action. I love the queer representation and diversity of the cast of characters. It was a little slow to get going, but the second half made up for that and got me interested. It’s fun, and now I really want to rewatch Disney’s Robin Hood.

This was super cute!! A new take on Robin Hood lore.
Parental expectations are always difficult and when you keep trying to prove yourself as the grandchild of Robin Hood you might end up kidnapping a cute girl!
It was very enjoyable, the characters likeable and I am definitely going to get the audiobook when it’s released.

I love Lex Croucher, but this was the weakest of their work I've read yet. It still has the trademarks of their writing: funny, irreverent, heartfelt, but the pacing felt strange and it wasn't as engaging for me. There may have been too many characters and they blended together a bit. The romance was okay, though not the focus of the book as the blurb and cover would lead you to believe. Still, I can imagine that there are readers who would enjoy this.

for the most part, this book was an absolute and unmitigated delight. i have two very small quibbles (well not so small, but in the grand scheme of things i am willing to let them go)
to start with the good:
clem, you absolute beauty, i would do literally anything for you. you and the other characters in this book are clever and funny and real. it has been a long time since i have been willing to give a book the title of As Clever As It Thinks It Is. this book deserves a prize just for that.
i loved the friendships, the queerness, and the fact that this book was funny enough to give me the ability to ignore my disbelief that a gang of teenagers roving the forest would be an efficient guerrilla military operation.
i see a lot of content online about people deconstructing religion, usually evangelical christianity. seeing mariel go through a similar process in regards to her father was fascinating. i wish it didn't take her quite so long, and the backtracking took away from some of the satisfaction (this is quibble number one), but i understand why it happened the way it did.
my only real, actual problem is that... <spoiler>i don't think baxter should have died. i don't think it was the storytelling choice it was supposed to be, and honestly i don't think it accomplished much. this is not a book about futility and senseless death, or at least it isn't in that way. i think it took away from the found family that was so strong in the rest of the book, and which is truly the reason i love lex croucher's writing so much.</spoiler>
this book is overall wonderful, and i really enjoyed reading it. i would be fascinated to know where these characters end up in several years, and i hope it is as happy as they deserve.

Not for the Faint of Heart is a Robin Hood retelling with queer characters and a queer romance. I appreciated the representation across the characters and the way that they were just part of who the characters were -- it wasn't about their struggles as LGBTQIA characters; they just existed as part of the story. Furthermore, strong, capable female and LGBTQIA characters who are leads and not side characters was exciting to read. For these reasons, I think this one is worth adding to any library. I enjoyed the dual POV and the ways the characters, especially the main characters, played off of each other. I would recommend it to anyone who likes retellings, myths, the story of Robinhood, or the time period.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for this advanced copy! You can pick up Not for the Faint of Heart on November 26, 2024.

I love how Lex Croucher continues to turn classic tales on their heads and explore how we can retell these stories in 2024. I haven't read a Robin Hood retelling before, but I appreciated the abundance of queer people and relationships, the hilarious tone, and how the characters' journeys help us resonate with the story. Mariel and Clem were fantastic protagonists, helping each other break down walls and confront what they thought they knew about the world (and those closest to them).

While I do wish the middle had been a bit more exciting, the ending was a nonstop emotional rollercoaster. I didn't expect certain character deaths to hit so hard, and the conflict afterward really amped up the stakes in the story. I'm looking forward to seeing what story Lex Croucher reinterprets next!