This was a wonderful story, equal parts humorous and emotional. I thought this was a retelling, but more specifically it takes place in the Robin Hood universe and is wonderful add on to the lore. Loved the grumpy/sunshine relationship and strong found family threads within the story. Recommend this for everyone, even if YA isn't your usual choice.

01/17/2025 || Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher || #NotfortheFaintofHeart #NetGalley #QueerReads

Thank you NetGalley, Lex Croucher and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for making this e-ARC available!

Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author and myself.
All of my thoughts are my own~

4.25 Stars

Pardon the time it took me to get around to this book, I ended up having a very chaotic and hard Fall time.

What worked for me:
I enjoyed the diverse and inclusive cast- I loved everyone so much, though I seemed to care more for the secondary cast compared to the main girls, Clem and Mariel. I understood both girls were a tad unlikable due to their traumas and issues, and I loved how they found each other, but Croucher really created 2 (two) whole sapphic girls I didn't like. Usually when Croucher makes one unlikable stinker, they make up for it with another MC who balanced them out - but while neither girl were my fav, I was so obsessed with how they were each other's favorite person. Their relationship was truly grumpy X sunshine and I really love that! Mariel's team was truly full of gems and I low key need novellas of each and everyone of them! (hint hint)

The magic of Robin Hood was really endearing and enjoyable and Croucher's writing has been drastically improving book after book and this one truly shined. The humor was top notch and the banter was perfect and loved the forced proximity, and one bed tropes present here!

I think this was an excellent edition to Croucher's already strong title list.

What did not work for me:
On a less serious note, or more positive note- I wanted more. It was so unfair we didn't get to explore more of the world that Croucher hinted at. I wanted to spend more time in the wood and with the Merry Men. I wanted more happy times with everyone, and I feel so bummed that we as the reader just sorta jumped in and jumped out and left everyone behind when there is so much potential for more fun story line time. This is not a fully bad thing, but I think Croucher really needs to get more into their worlds and explore them more just a tad- all their works only touch a bit of exploring moments and that would be so much more enjoyable!

Also, I think Croucher is really in a new era for their writing with revisiting lores and myths of England (referencing to the previously published title Gwen and Art are not in Love here) after publishing a handful of other historical titles that seemed to either reference modern movies or tropes that really worked.

I feel like either I didn't have enough background knowledge or understanding of the tale of Robin Hood being American, or Croucher really took this one and ran with it. I understand that this book is 2 generations removed from the OG Robin Hood gang, I just found myself......unsure how to digest this tale? I really liked it (as described above) but also, everything lacked. I think it was maybe the change of character arcs and how usually Croucher introduces back stories in the first 10-15% of the book, this one explores the main characters throughout the book more slowly. That's fine, but I just don't think it worked for me personally.

I also cannot believe Croucher committed character death and I hated it. I prefer the trope of we think they passed but last minute they started breathing or something.

This was such a good book. I really liked the concept with Robin Hood’s granddaughter. Also love a good sapphic read!

A really cute YA story but intimately I don’t think I was the best audience and would be suited for those a bit younger! I think the cover is absolutely stunning and a perfect book to showcase lgbtq representation!
I would gladly read more from this author!

In this fun and fascinating LGBTQ+ story about the granddaughter of Robin Hood and the girl she kidnapped, readers meet Mariel, a new and grumpy captain of the Merry Men, and Clem, a backwoods healer who is working on a series of new cures to help people, when Mariel’s band kidnaps Clem as retribution for her guardian helping the Sheriff of Nottingham. However, the capture of Jack Hartley, Mariel’s father and the commander of the Merry Men, really throws a wrench into the plans, forcing Mariel to set up a rescue plan that might expose cracks in the Merry Men and their cause. As the relationship between Mariel and Clem, as well as their own stories and secrets about their lives and dreams, evolve over the course of the novel, readers will discover what happened after Robin Hood left the Merry Men and how the world changed. These characters are complex and well-written, and Croucher has created a new, fantastic storyline that fans of historical fiction will love. With Mariel and Clem alternating perspectives and the two young women going on this magnificent adventure with its high stakes, fans of Croucher’s previous book will love this new title and the world it focuses on.

This book was a perfect fit for me as a reader! While there certainly is a plot, the story focuses much more directly on the characters and how they're driving the plot, not the other way around. The characters had me invested from page one, with Clem and her fox hat dilemma, and then getting more and more invested with each passing meeting.
Clem is one of my favorite main characters in a long time. She's so unapologetically proud of her accomplishments and free with her words. Witty, fun, friendly, she really pulls you in. While I enjoy Mariel as a character, she's the kind of character you start to like as you get to know her. Clem was an instant connection. The other characters are wonderful as well, of course. Morgan embodies grumpy teenager vibes and Baxter is the gentlest of giants, but they work so well as teammates and friends. Kit is my favorite member of the company, not because of trans-masc solidarity (though that does help), but because he's an amazing balance of kind and practical that in itself helps balance out the other characters that start the story as extremes. Also, Clem's respect, fascination, and matter-of-fact acceptance of Josey's skills is delightful. Josey is the end-all, be-all of Merry Men skill. I love that for her.
Characters are always my focus and favorite part when reading, so I appreciated the straight-forward premise of the plot. Not that it lacked twists and turns, because it had plenty of those and they were all executed beautifully, but that it doesn't take a block of text to explain the context of the story. The Merry Men and the Sheriff are at odds; it's an easy place for a reader to get dropped into because everything else lands firmly atop that solid foundation. Stories that are heavy on world-building and info-dumping all at once in the beginning tend to overwhelm me and make it hard to remember all the details. That wasn't a problem for me here because the story starts simply and builds into something intricate over time, weaving in complications and unraveling over time.
Overall it's just an amazing book. While it's based on the story of Robin Hood, you don't need any prior knowledge going into it. There's so much charm and wit, but there's also adventure and somber moments. There's a little bit of something for every reader. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a great story, as long as they're not particularly squeamish about all the injuries and medical talk. Definitely worth a read and a re-read!

DNF'd @ 50%. I really liked Gwen and Art are Not in Love, so I wanted to like Not for the Faint of Heart so badly as well but unfortunately I couldn't do it. The plot just feels so slow - I'm not sure how I'm halfway through yet it feels like nothing is happening. It's a shame because the characters seem interesting but I wish we had more background about them or just any additional information that would help build more depth. I feel like I'm watching a movie where all the characters are just roaming around aimlessly even though there is a clear objective in the plot. The dialogue is also a bit of a dichotomy to me because it has like a modern feel to it in terms of the language used yet it's supposed to be a historical setting, and I tend to forget that until the setting is described again. Overall I give it a 2.5 stars because I see the potential but it just wasn't for me.

I liked it okay! I think over all I preferred Croucher's YA debut more, but I still found this one fun

This book had the makings to be great,
Mariel, the Grand Daughter of Robin Hood is now a captain in the Merry Men, she has arrested / kidnapped a healer who was found to be treating the Sheriff's men.
While traveling through the forest Mariels eyes are opened to the fact that Merry Men may not be the lovable band of helpers she thought they were.

I love Lex Croucher, her modern stories told in historical settings get me everytime.
This book is the first time I found myself a little bored.
Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed this book, but the premise of the story was a lot better than the actual story, something about the execution kind of lost me.
BUT I still enjoyed it and I still love this author.

"Not for the Faint of Heart" by Lex Croucher is a refreshing retelling that I couldn't get enough of. It has all of the things- hilarity, romance, its fast paced, queer main characters. . . need I go on? Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this gem in exchange for an honest review.

I am normally not a fan of historical romances but I’m a sucker for anything dealing with Robin Hood. I absolutely adored this book! The ragtag team of Merry men and a kidnapee figuring what they are really fighting for. I loved Clem, Josey , Kit, Morgan, Baxter and Mariel. I know Mariel had a lot of issues (IYKYK) but her group of friends weren’t afraid to tell her what she needed hear. Also Clem is just the best. Her too sunny optimism honestly made everything better. The burn between them was *chef kiss* incredible

Absolutely incredible. This one is a must read. I will definitely be putting this one in the hands of my teenage patrons.

Not for the Faint of Heart is a unique, Robin Hood inspired retelling with a sapphic love story and loads of adventure. If you’re looking for an action packed YA historical fiction with found family and fantastic side characters, this is the story for you! Clem was easily my favorite character and I enjoyed watching Mariel develop and change over time. Unfortunately, nothing really took this to the next level for me, so I kept my rating at three stars. My overall final impression is that Not for the Faint of Heart is just another YA story that remained at just okay throughout. It’s a fine read, but not something that’ll stick with me long term.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and the author for sending me an early copy!

Ever since reading Lex Croucher's Gwen and Art are Not in Love, I have been dying to get to the ARC for Not for the Faint of Heart. This author seems to be reviving all of my childhood obsessions- first the tales of King Arthur, and now, the world of Robin Hood. You may have first been acquainted with Keira Knightly in Pirates of the Caribbean or the Star Wars prequels alongside Natalie Portman, but I knew her from a little old Disney movie called Princess of Thieves, and I was OBSESSED. I recently found a copy and rewatched it, and man, oh man- all the nostalgia points hit that spot in my heart jussssst right. Knightly was an EXCELLENT daughter of Robin Hood, the Robin Hood/Will Scarlet dynamic was dynamite, and the movie didn't end in a crazy, Disney-ified love story, which I appreciated.

And the excitement continued with this book. The surly granddaughter of Robin Hood, Mariel, tries to live up to the expectations of her perpetually hard-to-please father, and when a mission goes wrong and ends up with her team kidnapping a chatty healer, Mariel goes into damage control. The ray-of-sunshine healer, called Clem by her friends, surmises the ins and outs of this little group's dynamic while slowly gaining the group's trust and shedding the kidnappee designation. Meanwhile, Mariel's father is losing his grip on control of the Merry Men, and when an ambush results in his kidnapping, Mariel defies orders in the hopes of rescuing him. As she leads her friends in a hunt to find him, she faces off against her nemesis, the son of Robin Hood's Sheriff of Nottingham, and discovers that the people of the Greenwood forest may not share in her and her father's vision for the way things should be.

Croucher writes a wicked grumpy/ray-of-sunshine, will they/won't they, kidnapped trope of a story. The found family dynamic of the side characters was undoubtedly my favorite part. I loved the characterization of Clem the healer, but found myself a bit annoyed with the pacing of the character development for Mariel. I adored Croucher's take on the Robin Hood and Will Scarlet interactions of the original lore, but disliked how the author treated a burgeoning gay romance with two of my favorite characters (trying to avoid spoilers!). And the scenes that take place underground were just mwah *chef's kiss* mwah perfection!

I give this book a solid 3.5/5. It was a fun, cozy read in a fantastical world that I love, and I enjoyed it greatly.

3.5 stars rounded up. This was a fun addition to the Robin Hood lore. I liked the characters and the main relationship was cute. I didn't find the plot particularly exciting, but the characters and general mood made up for that. I don't think it'll ultimately be a memorable read for me, but it was likable and fun.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

I always love how Lex is able to take stories and rewrite them into fun young adult books with casts of characters that you'll enjoy and connect with and this was no exception!

While I loved the characters, the sapphic romance, and the adventure, this book starts rather slow. It takes a while to get going, although once it does, it becomes quite action packed. The grumpy-sunshine aspect was cute and I could totally relate to Mariel and the weight of the expectations she carried and had a hard time meeting. Clem was a fun character and I could see how she wore down Mariel's defenses and soften her heart. The end leaves you satisfied as you know that Mariel and Clem find their place in the world of the Merry Men (and honestly every time I read the words "Merry Men" the infamous quote from the "Shrek" franchise played in my head lol), but I just felt that it needed more. More development of the relationship as it didn't feel like Clem had to work too hard to reach Mariel and more time focused on them together as a whole.

While I enjoyed the story and it left me satisfied, it was fine. Nothing crazy or necessarily noteworthy, but it's a fun enough read that fits the young adult bill well and is completely unique. At the end of the day, I'm still excited to read Lex's next project because regardless of the story, you'll be entertained either way.

What a fantastic book. Mariel, grand-daughter of the famed Robin Hood, lives in a different Greenwoods than the good old days of the Merry Men. Her father runs them like a militia, with ranks and full battles against the sheriff and his men. She wants nothing more than to impress him and live up to his impossibly high standards. Clem is a small-town healer and a prodigy at that. She's the best healer around, so it makes a ton of sense when a band of Merry Men (more like Merry Teenager) come and kidnap her. Only, it turns out that they don't actually want her for her healing prowess, it's a power play for healing the sheriff's men. And when Mariel's father gets kidnapped by the sheriff, she sets out desperately to rescue him, dragging Clem along for the ride, as she gets increasingly attached to Mariel's ragtag company and the young captain herself.
Where to begin? This book is hilarious. Laugh out loud funny. It manages to be anachronistic without being annoying with how characters talk and act. The characters are a delight. Obviously, prickly Mariel and joker/genius Clem are wonderful, but Mariel's company steals the show. Baxter, her step-cousin, the gentle giant who just wants to make people happy by throwing things. Morgan, the emo little former noble running from their past life and doing it all with the anger and vibes of a wet cat. Josie, a terrifyingly quick assassin who's good at everything. Kit, a cook and healer and general cool dude. The chemistry in the group was so good and well written and funny. And then, even though it's the funniest book I've read this year perhaps, it is also the first book to make me cry. The pacing was great, the emotions were palpable, and it was such a good story.

I absolutely love Lex and will read all the books by this author. This one did not let me down and I loved every minute of it. Overall it was a lighthearted and hilarious read and I am glad I got to experience this story before everyone else!

***Croucher's young adult queer medieval adventure romance is sweet, spunky, and full of great banter, with characters finding their way (and love) despite complex challenges.***

<blockquote>"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."</blockquote>

Mariel is the bristly new captain of the Merry Men and is anxious to live up to the legacy of her grandfather, the retired Robin Hood (who now lives with his true love, William), and to make her hard-to-please father, who has wrested control of the Merry Men, proud.

Clem is a jovial healer from the country who is advancing medical techniques and is sought out for her helpful salves and methods in a time of the outdated use of leeches and attempts to cure dark humors. Clem has only noble intentions of helping others, and she doesn't differentiate between those on the Sheriff's side and those on the Merry Men's side.

When the Merry Men capture Clem in retribution for her help in healing the Sheriff of Nottingham, things get complicated for both Mariel and Clem in this sassy, fun, queer historical fiction young adult romance.

Mariel is trying to find her way and keep her emotional walls up, while Clem's openheartedness seems determined to tear them down. The rest of the gang is fantastically spunky, tough, kind, and loyal--with nonbinary representation and lots of love.

The group faces real challenges, and some characters don't make it through the battles and sometimes-messy plans-gone-awry. Consequences feel appropriately weighty.

It's a young adult book, with lots of love and attraction but very little steaminess (none explicit), and it kept me hooked with the layers of emotional growth, the fights for autonomy, and the determination to build a new future.

I am all in for Lex Croucher novels forever. The banter, the adventure, the medieval setting--yes yes yes.

I received a prepublication edition of this book, which was published November 26, courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

Lex Croucher is also the author of the wonderful Gwen & Art Are Not in Love--check out my rave review of that title here!

Not for the Faint of Heart is a gender-swapped, sapphic, Robinhood “reboot”! I had a good time with this story about Mariel, Robinhood’s granddaughter, and Clem, her “accidental” captive, and their Merry “Men”---which Clem points out as a bit of a misnomer as they’re not all men, nor do they follow binary gender norms! The cast of characters is diverse and inclusive, and I really enjoyed the way Croucher wrote that into a historical fiction—I also laughed out loud at their author's note about the anachronistic use of potatoes throughout the story!

Not for the Faint of Heart was filled with action and comedy and a sweet discovery of romance between the two FMCs. I also really enjoyed the subplot of Jack Hartley going sour with power and Mariel discovering what it actually means to fight for the people of Sherwood Forest, and not the other way around. The found family and overcoming generational animosity tropes were perfectly done. In the end, I gave this book 5 stars, which is unusual for me with a romance, but I think this story had nothing wrong with it and did a lot right!