Full disclosure, this ebook was so poorly formatted that it was difficult for me to read without frustration. Numbers randomly appeared throughout and made it hard for me to get into the story. I tried not to let it interfere, with my review, but I’m sure it did. I liked the book ok, but didn’t feel very connected to the story. I would love to read a finished version and review without the formatting in the way.

After reading and loving GWEN & ART, I was so excited to dive into this one! It's another fun, queer YA novel from Lex Croucher that you can easily binge. So refreshing and just a great time!

Not for the Faint of Heart is an intrinsically charming read. I'd read Gwen and Art are Not in Love, a title by the same author, before this book, and while I liked it, I found that the more serious moments didn't blend well with the humour. However, I found that Lex Croucher balanced the tone of Not for the Faint of Heart perfectly. I instantly fell in love with both of the main characters of this book, as well as the cast of side characters. Some deep topics are addressed throughout the story, but the book also had me laughing out loud every chapter. I found the plot a little slow at times, but the characters are so engaging that I never lost the desire to pick up this book. Overall, I had an incredible time reading this book and urge others to pick it up. If you aren't already convinced that this is the book for you, then let me lure you in with the novel's first line: "The morning the Merry Men came for Rosie, Clem was trying to put a hat on a fox."

Thanks to Wednesday Books & Netgalley for the arc.

Charming sapphic romantasy based off the Robin Hood legend.

I really enjoyed this book overall, though I’d say I still love ‘Gwen And Art Are Not In Love’ more. It took me a little bit longer to get into this one, even though the premise intrigued me as a kid who grew up loving Robin Hood and watching too many adventure movies. I think it felt a bit slow at times and it took a while for me to warm up to some of the characters. It was hard not to love Clem, but Mariel’s was a bit of a stretch for me (and I’m usually all about the grumpy lone wolf character who needs no one). I did really enjoy the sass and banter back and forth, the amusing band of merry ‘men’, and the found family vibes. If you like the author’s other books, ever thought of running away to live in the woods, or always wished Robin Hood was more queer, check this out - you’ll probably like it. Thanks to NetGalley for the book.

the premise? chef's kiss. the execution? it leaves a little to be desired. that said, i love sapphic fantasy retellings and how accessible lex makes them for people. i would have loved a book like this in my teenage years!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher!

Thank you for the ARC. Likable queer characters in the book, but the plot left a lot to be desired. Loved the premise though

DNF 15%. I thought a sapphic Robin Hood retelling would be a book I LOVED. I love the Robin Hood movie with the foxes and thought this would be a great and fun spin on that. I’ve read and enjoyed Lex Croucher in the past but the writing on this felt a bit choppy and disconnected? Sadly, I just wasn’t vibing with it. I think it has a lot of potential so maybe some will find it to be a home run for them!

Thank you NetGalley, Lex Croucher, and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

This was so stinkin' cute. Yet, I can't say it's quite cozy. The stakes are quite high most of the time and the characters get into real danger frequently. While I had hoped more for cozy, it was still warm and full of love. There's a great found family aspect with fleshed out and memorable characters. I especially loved Clem, the kidnapped love interest. Her wit and humor kept the story from getting too dark at times and I appreciated that.
The romance is more of a slow-burn but then turns around and wraps up incredibly quickly. I wish there could've been more towards the end about the future of the Merry Men as well, but I'm also content to just use my own imagination for that. I was ultimately satisfied and relieved at the way things had shaken out.
Finally, as someone who also loves historical settings and folktales (especially Robin Hood), I really appreciate historical worldbuilding that normalizes queer relationships. It's such a treat to just turn my brain off and enjoy a Sapphic story set in medieval(ish) times and not make a huge deal out of it. Historical accuracy be damned!

Another great book from Lex Croucher! I really enjoyed Gwen and Art are not in love and this one was much the same except with Robin Hood being the inspiration. I really liked the characters and the bonds they had as well as the main storyline. I will say that there was a death I did not appreciate in this one and cried like a baby over.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

I liked this queer robin hood retelling, that takes place years after the original Robin Hood, one of our mcs is his granddaughter., Mariel. She is doing everything she can to be the perfect captain and living up to her father’s expectations. Of course, she isn’t perfect, but she is likable if a little thorny to newcomers, including Clem. Clem is the opposite of Mariel, she is a lot more open and talkative. And the two of them worked out so well together. I liked what we saw of their romance, I just wish there was more of it. But there was still plenty to keep you hooked including a wonderful cast of side characters, which are basically a family to each other, and lots of action and adventure.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC in return for an honest review.

Not For the Faint of Heart, is the second book that I’ve read by Lex Croucher.

This book gave me a DnD campaign vibes more than a cohesive story with a plot. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have heart.

Clem is a healer, who lives by the code to heal everyone.

Mariel is the granddaughter of Robin Hood.

When these two meet during a Mariel’s kidnapping of Clem, the grumpy x sunshine trope blossoms.

This isn’t a light carefree romp through the forest, though. It’s the real side of the human cost of the struggle for power.

Highly recommend.

I’m still relatively new in my fantasy journey, and as I’ve eased my way into the genre by seeking out books that incorporate familiar tropes or classic stories, which is how I found my way to Lex Croucher’s Not for the Faint of Heart, a story about Robin Hood’s granddaughter and how she falls in love with the girl she’s kidnapped.

While this isn’t an exact retelling, Croucher references characters and plot points that are used in the original Robin Hood story in a fun and creative way that modernizes the story and its themes all while maintaining the historical setting. Their characters are diverse and authentic, and Croucher writes in a way that makes all characters – whether hero or villain – feel real and human.

As much as I loved the concept and characters, I’m sad to say this book didn’t quite work for me. I think it veered a little too much into the historical fantasy space for my personal tastes, and the more twee parts of the story sometimes felt at odds with the more action-oriented plot points. But if you’re looking for something cozy and diverse, with a fair amount of action and romance, Not for the Faint of Heart is the book for you.

Not for the Faint of Heart is out now. Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not for the Faint of Heart is just that - not for the faint of heart, because you'll need to work hard to keep your composure and not succumb to giggling fits if you want to keep reading this silly, funny, goofy time of a novel. I just had so much fun!

Queer historical romances can be hit-or-miss for me, usually because authors struggle to find the right balance between historical accuracy (i.e. homophobia) and a believable romance. But, Lex Croucher nailed it with this. The Robin Hood universe setting allowed for the kind of shenanigans that queer kids get up to, and the way that both same-sex relationships and gender nonconformity were so normalized just felt right. Like, of course these chaotic outlaws who steal from the rich are going to be queer. They're already challenging class structures, so it just makes sense that they would challenge heterosexuality too. And on that note, I actually really liked the political themes that came up throughout the main conflict. There are some important lessons in here for teenagers, and Lex delivers them without making you feel like you're listening to a lecture. Timely messaging that was handled with care.

All in all, the jokes were witty and sharp, the found family was endearing and delightfully queer, the action scenes were gripping but not gory, and the sapphic annoyances-to-lovers romance was *chef's kiss* perfect. I'm obsessed with the way Lex wrote Clem's inner dialogue - she felt like such a real person to me, someone I would want to hang out with and befriend, rather than just a character. I highly reccomend picking this one up, and I can't wait to dive into Lex's backlist because I really, really enjoyed this.

I had the best time!!! Sapphic Robin Hood spin with LGBTQ+ merry men? YES, THANK YOU!! I know Lex Croucher’s books are romances and it is always so tender and tingly (fade to black!) but the adventure is always TOP TEIR. These feel like a DND campaign and I am SO along for the ride. This was compelling and funny, heartwarming and sad, and everything else in between! The way that these characters talk about love, platonic and otherwise, and the sweet yearning mean that this is the flavor of romance for meeee. This was also such a warm and fuzzy community centered story to read, especially right now. Found family always gets me. Another 5 star on the map for Lex Croucher. Thank youuu!

This is my second Lex Croucher book--the first being 2023's Gwen and Art are Not in Love--and, on the whole, I enjoyed this more than its predecessor. It contains many of the things that I thought made Gwen and Art wonderful, including goofy, tongue-in-cheek, The Princess Bride-esque dialogue (without ever veering into out-and-out silliness) and historical queer romance. Because this book is only telling one love story as opposed to two, I felt like the plot had a lot more room to breathe and the relationship more room to develop, and it's clear that Croucher was having so much fun playing with the Robin Hood story, taking our heroes on adventure after adventure at a steady pace that made this a fairly quick read. I also appreciated that the world Croucher has built is queernormative and contains diversity among its cast of secondary characters, with no over-explaining of why there are non-white people in ye olde England (as if diversity hasn't always existed). If I have a single quibble with this fun, lighthearted read, it's that the conflict felt resolved a little too quickly, and (without getting into spoilers) a series of betrayals near the end of the book left me wondering who, exactly, I was supposed to be mad at. I also had a hard time at times with the main relationship, but that could be a matter of personal preference; this book markets itself as leaning into the "grumpy/sunshine" relationship trope, and it certainly does that well (I love Clem!), but sometimes Mariel's grumpiness went to such an extreme that I wondered what a kind, positive person like Clem even saw in her, apart from that she was hot. But overall, very enjoyable and very satisfying; I hope Croucher has some more queer historical romances up their sleeve!

Sapphic Robin Hood- not retelling, but this story builds off of the Robin Hood lore. Also makes Robin Hood gay- yay! This follows Robin’s granddaughter. Low stakes. YA story that wasn’t bad. I would recommend just borrowing this. It did take me a while to get through it. Things moved a little too slow for me. Plus not a ton happened in the storyline to equal page count.

Special thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital ARC.

This was a delightfully fun puff pastry of a novel featuring a lot of wacky gay characters with a charming Sapphic romance in the center, mixed with the best of the found family trope. Exactly the sort of sheer, exuberant escapism I've needed lately, in this horrible news climate, with Southern California burning around my ears.

Lex Croucher's latest queer reimagining delivers! I've been eagerly anticipating this release since its announcement, and it exceeded all expectations.
Croucher's approach is less about strict retellings and more about vibrant reinterpretations, breathing fresh life into familiar stories and creating wonderfully imaginative worlds. "Not for the Faint of Heart" is a delightful blend of found family dynamics, heartwarming sapphic romance, laugh-out-loud rom-com moments, and compelling, character-driven storytelling. Highly recommended for anyone seeking a charming and inclusive read!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martins Press and Lex Croucher for this ARC for a honest review.