Scan barcode
A review by wrongdecision
Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Hm, this one I had to think about longer to rate it properly.
The book leads strongly with great humor, snappy and interesting conversations and a general good grasp on its characters.
I read the first few pages and already had to stop and read out multiple sections to my Mom, who was in the same room, because they were too good not to share.
Character wise I see no proper flaws, they each have their set personalities that run throughout the book pretty consistently.
I love them all a lot and the shenanigans they get up to are great!
The romance however was a little lacking, specifically for Gwen and Bridget.
While I could see Gabriel and Art getting along and having this pull of 'we should but we will anyways' it fell a little flat with the female leads.
I would've liked more conversations, more common interests between Bridget and Gwen because, as they point out around the end, they barely do anything but kiss.
It does feel more like a celebrity crush from Gwen's side and Bridget just doesn't feel like she had a real reason to like Gwen back. She just started flirting back and that was that.
Gabe and Art talk a lot more to each other about themselves and wishes for the future or general dreams so it's easy to see how they could find themselves falling for each other.
I think the book would have benefitted with the focus on only one main couple instead of two.
The pacing was also too slow for me.
The start was great and fun and gave me all the right pointers to plot and future set ups and then it just... dissipated at some point.
There were a few chapters that had me so bored I thought of leaving the book unfinished because nothing really happened or the same things that were spoken about before just got repeated.
There could have been many more hints toward what happens at the end, some investigating maybe even or just general mentions because the one we got were so sparse and always overshadowed by other concersations that I find them lacking.
When the plot picks back up again it's great!
I sped through the last few chapters hungry to know what happens.
Just the middle part could've been cut shorter.
Generally this was a fun read, i might reread it again and just skip a few chapters in between.
The book leads strongly with great humor, snappy and interesting conversations and a general good grasp on its characters.
I read the first few pages and already had to stop and read out multiple sections to my Mom, who was in the same room, because they were too good not to share.
Character wise I see no proper flaws, they each have their set personalities that run throughout the book pretty consistently.
I love them all a lot and the shenanigans they get up to are great!
The romance however was a little lacking, specifically for Gwen and Bridget.
While I could see Gabriel and Art getting along and having this pull of 'we should but we will anyways' it fell a little flat with the female leads.
I would've liked more conversations, more common interests between Bridget and Gwen because, as they point out around the end, they barely do anything but kiss.
It does feel more like a celebrity crush from Gwen's side and Bridget just doesn't feel like she had a real reason to like Gwen back. She just started flirting back and that was that.
Gabe and Art talk a lot more to each other about themselves and wishes for the future or general dreams so it's easy to see how they could find themselves falling for each other.
I think the book would have benefitted with the focus on only one main couple instead of two.
The pacing was also too slow for me.
The start was great and fun and gave me all the right pointers to plot and future set ups and then it just... dissipated at some point.
There were a few chapters that had me so bored I thought of leaving the book unfinished because nothing really happened or the same things that were spoken about before just got repeated.
There could have been many more hints toward what happens at the end, some investigating maybe even or just general mentions because the one we got were so sparse and always overshadowed by other concersations that I find them lacking.
When the plot picks back up again it's great!
I sped through the last few chapters hungry to know what happens.
Just the middle part could've been cut shorter.
Generally this was a fun read, i might reread it again and just skip a few chapters in between.
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Child abuse, and Death of parent