Reviews

Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

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e_reader124's review against another edition

5.0

Oh my goodness, I just LOVED this book so, so, SO MUCH! When I started this book, I was expecting to like it because it sounded like a totally me book, but was I expecting it to potentially end up being one of my favorite books of the year? Definitely not. For starters, I loved the world building. It’s fun and campy in its depiction of Medieval England, and it really leans into it, but it also doesn’t make it so campy that the setting just sounds ridiculous and it takes me out of the story. I also loved how it added in the Arthurian background because it made the setting pretty unique in adding this really cool detail and weaving it into the story, particularly the final act, effortlessly. It continually stuck out to me more and more every time it was brought up, and I like how it continues expanding until the end of the book. I also like how the story developed all of its relationships, romances, and familial alike, and gave all of them an equal amount of importance and focus in the story. Even though there are relationships that are more pinnacle to the story than others, no relationship is put on the back burner to rot into irrelevance and undevelopment because of bad writing and/or putting other relationships first just because they’re more important to the story or because they’re friendships, romances, or familial. They’re all so sweet, have great chemistry, actually communicate, have an appropriate amount of up and downs as leave off at the perfect places. All the relationships, such as Arthur and Gwen, Gwen and Bridget, Gwen and Gabriel, Sidney and Agnes, Arthur and Gabriel, and so, so much more, were perfect examples of great relationships that were lovely all throughout. They have the feel of cheesy rom-com relationships, except they feel like real people and actual, healthy relationships. The characters themselves were also very well-written, having good development, growth, and personalities. They were all likeable while still having an appropriate amount of flaws. Specifically, Bridget is super cool in how she’s both so strong and so caring, Arthur has the perfect set-up and execution of the rebellious noble with pain as well as a great character arc (he’s up there with Monty Montague for me). Sidney and Agnes were just the best of best friends, and so much more. Similar to the relationships, I could go on and on and on about how great all these individual characters are, but we would be here for hours. Finally, I also liked how the book had the spirit of a campy, cheesy rom-com while still being very unique and serious when necessary. This book is very fun and free-spirited, and at its core, it’s a silly and fun rom-com. However, while the book does have fun in embracing some cheesiness and tropes, it still crafts a story that is different, has other plot in addition to the romances, and carves out an identity for itself. It knows how to be other types of stories in addition to being a little romance, like an adventure story, a finding-yourself story, etc. it makes it so much more memorable. Overall, this was such an amazing book that is just so well-crafted in many ways.

thelizzabee's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.5

tiarax's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted

4.25

madeleine_7's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

gvdickerson's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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

5.0

So cute! I loved the double love story. Neither pov was boring which I feel like is very tough to accomplish. Arthur was precious and Gwen was very funny useless lesbian.

jenny_abrahamsson's review against another edition

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3.0

The humor in this book is immaculate, but the plot is a tad be tedious and can come across as too convenient in some cases/ the opposite in others.

One thing, I didn’t quite catch all that happened after the ‘big battle’ towards the last 40 pages. What actually happened in the end? Idk.

3.5 stars