Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher ~ 416 pages ~ to be published on 11/28/2023 by Wednesday Books
Goodreads Synopsis:
Heartstopper meets A Knight’s Tale in this queer medieval rom-com YA debut about love, friendship, and being brave enough to change the course of history.
It’s been hundreds of years since King Arthur’s reign. His descendant, Arthur, a future Lord and general gadabout, has been betrothed to Gwendoline, the quick-witted, short-tempered princess of England, since birth. The only thing they can agree on is that they despise each other.
They’re forced to spend the summer together at Camelot in the run-up to their nuptials, and within 24 hours, Gwen has discovered Arthur kissing a boy, and Arthur has gone digging for Gwen’s childhood diary and found confessions about her crush on the kingdom’s only lady knight, Bridget Leclair.
Realizing they might make better allies than enemies, Gwen and Art make a reluctant pact to cover for each other, and as things heat up at the annual royal tournament, Gwen is swept off her feet by her knight, and Arthur takes an interest in Gwen’s royal brother. Lex Croucher’s Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is chock full of sword-fighting, found family, and romantic shenanigans destined to make readers fall in love.
What I Thought:
*I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC!*
This was a fun and cooky take on the Arthurian legend. Art and Gwen are the distant ancestors of the original Arthur and Guinevere, and they are definitely not in love 😝
I enjoyed the writing style. It was a very tongue in cheek interpretation of King Arthur. I also liked that Croucher wrote it from a dual perspective. Getting to see the story from both sides helped to fully flesh it out and give important detail.
It was LGBTQ+ on both sides, which was something I haven’t encountered before. I enjoyed seeing the coming of age struggles that their sexuality elicited. It was a tough subject matter of being closeted and feeling like they had to hide their true selves, but it was handled with a kind and light-hearted hand.
The tone of the story very much reminded me of the Lady Janies series. It was zany and very self aware. If you enjoy retellings with humor and a healthy suspension of disbelief, then this will be a slam dunk for you!
My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I gave Gwen & Art Are Not in Love 4 Stars!
Are you interested in learning more about this book? Check out the links below!
Gwen & Art Are Not in Love on Goodreads
Purchase Gwen & Art Are Not in Love on Amazon
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Are you a fan of reading romantic comedies? How about retellings? What are your favorite LGBT romances? Let’s chat down in the comments!
Love and happy reading,
Whitney
Whit Reads Lit 