Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

15 reviews

fanboyriot's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

♡ Rom Com

♡ Royal Fantasy Vibes

♡ The Lady Gets the Knight (but make it Sapphic)

I loved the humor in this book.  The way the characters interacted was nicely done as well. 

When I read this I wasn’t in much of a mood for it but pushed through and ended up really enjoying it.  The plot wasn’t too confusing as some fantasy books can be, but this kept my interest.  It was such an entertaining read.

And the queer rep was better than I was expecting actually.

Spice Level: n/a

Angst Level: 💧(1/5)

POV: Duel, Third Person

Release Date: 28, November 2023

Rep: Sapphic (Main Couple), Achillean (Main Couple), Thai (Side Character), Biracial Iranian/White (Side Character)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, War, Death of parent, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Blood

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Vomit, Grief, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Murder, Misogyny, Sexism, Alcohol, and Medical content

Minor: Kidnapping, Animal death, Gaslighting, Biphobia, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Gore, and Outing

fishfish's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Violence, Gore, Religious bigotry, Blood, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Vomit

emsies's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, War, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, and Emotional abuse

hmatt's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is such a fun Arthurian exploration. I found it both age-appropriate for YA and supremely entertaining to me, which is kind of a feat. The characters are nuanced and loveable, and it's silly at times but the heavier plot points are handled appropriately as well.

My biggest gripe is with the narrator for Art's perspective, who seems not to have understood the tone of anything they were reading. Inflection is completely missed. This really got in the way, for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, War, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Vomit, Homophobia, and Misogyny

axel_p's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Why was this so fucking good

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Content Warnings

Minor: Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Vomit, War, Ableism, Body horror, Grief, Blood, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

bubbles_ishere's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

While I did really enjoy the book and the way the characters developed, I felt like it rushed at parts in order to have a lot of things happen. 

I would have preferred further introspection from the characters before acting, but for people who like to read books where things "happen", this is a good choice. 

The book very much feels like a romance that decides half way through that other plot events are more relevant and then decides to change genre. 

Spoiler for how plot/character focused the book was during certain events:

At first it felt like the book would focus further on the interpersonal relationships of the characters. In the beginning, a lot of time was spent on the characters panicking over being in situations. The first kisses of the couples got portrayed, after which the characters had to face various challenges to come to terms with their feelings. However, when it came to actually getting into a relationship or showing the conversations needed for that to happen the author skipped forward and just told the audience that the couples were now in functioning relationships, caused by a major plot event. 

Personally, I would've preferred to see how the characters got to where they are, instead of being told that the threat of death made them realise their priorities and then see them kiss.

I really liked how the characters developed and got more loveable to the reader; their actions seemed to make sense in the context of their character, and the development of their actions made sense. 

The romance itself felt a bit rushed to me, but it is still enjoyable, if somewhat frustrating because it doesn't go very in-depth and fails to resolve or address certain topics.

The book mentions a few tidbits that fans of Arthurian legends will recognise, which I thought was very nice. 

All in all an enjoyable read, in my opinion this book would've been 5/5 stars had it been 200 pages longer and actually explored the relationships and worldbuilding further. But then again I really like high-fantasy and worldbuilding.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Alcoholism, Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Outing, Sexism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry

janneke2302's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This was a great book. I loved the romances in it, but my favorite parts were the friendship that grew between Gwen and Art. I also really like the humor in this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Homophobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Murder, Islamophobia, and Racism

hazychapters's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i’ve bought this book after my friend Anna, who hadn’t read it yet at that moment, convinced me to take it as we were browsing in one of our favourite bookstores. the promise of a very gay arthurian retelling was here and i’m so glad i read this book because it was all i needed!

we follow Gwendoline - the princess of Camelot - and her betrothed Arthur - son of an opponent to Gwen’s father. they are promised to each other as the sign of an alliance between their two fathers. but the problem is: they are not interested in each other at all, if you know what i mean 👀

i absolutely loved this book. the story is about friendship, love, first experiences and coming-out. the characters are all incredible, from Art and Gwen, Bridget and Gabriel, Sid and Agnes. i won’t call it a romance book because for me, it’s more about discovering, accepting and loving yourself. every character is different, with their own background, fears and experiences. but they are also a unique group of friends, and i loved how Art was like « you’re gay. you too. and you as well. because everybody is secretly gay ».  by the way, we love the mlm/wlw solidarity!

this book warmed my heart and i can't really explain why. but to read the story of these young queer teenagers, who overcome assumptions to love whoever they want, without fear of the gaze of others, it's just incredible. i think this book healed something in me. i couldn't stop smiling reading these lines, laughing at some sour and sarcastic responses from Gwen and Art, and being happy watching them find their soul mates and do everything to make their love possible. i think that if i had been able to read this book when i was younger, i would have asked myself a lot fewer questions and i would not have tried to bottle up what i was feeling. it just felt safe to read this book ❤️‍🩹

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Child abuse, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Outing, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and War

krisalexcole's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: War, Death, Medical content, Sexism, Chronic illness, Gore, Death of parent, Hate crime, Murder, Blood, and Homophobia

Minor: Self harm, Cursing, Grief, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

emilo's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Sexism, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

Minor: Religious bigotry