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A review by bittennailbooks
Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A blended perfection of hilarious, heart warming, and delightfully queer reimagining of post-Arthurian England.
Gwen and Art are young royals, betrothed since childhood to keep the delicate balance of Catholicism and Arthurian cultism in check. However, after Gwen realizes that the only thing her and Art have in common is their affinity for the same-sex, they form a truce to fool their parents so they may pursue their real true loves.
I was absolutely hooked by this book and read it with a goofy smile on my face at every page. I think this will be the best YA romantacy of 2023 with its down to earth prose, relatable struggles of finding ones self, and hilarious banter. I absolutely adored the characters and felt that each one was well-rounded with a balanced amount of page-time amongst them. A more specific note was how I enjoyed that Croucher really calls out the "enduring girlish gossip"/internalized misogyny we are currently seeing in fantasy books that feature female MC's. That rather than leaving "Gwen hating the court ladies for their girlish gossip", it was in fact, brought up that it was her veiled loneliness from feeling like the "other" for her inherent queerness she could not vocalize. I thought that was important as it is so easy to slip in those little woman-bashing moments into books.
So was it a nail biter? YES! This was my favorite YA read of 2022 and I thank the publisher St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Gwen and Art are young royals, betrothed since childhood to keep the delicate balance of Catholicism and Arthurian cultism in check. However, after Gwen realizes that the only thing her and Art have in common is their affinity for the same-sex, they form a truce to fool their parents so they may pursue their real true loves.
I was absolutely hooked by this book and read it with a goofy smile on my face at every page. I think this will be the best YA romantacy of 2023 with its down to earth prose, relatable struggles of finding ones self, and hilarious banter. I absolutely adored the characters and felt that each one was well-rounded with a balanced amount of page-time amongst them. A more specific note was how I enjoyed that Croucher really calls out the "enduring girlish gossip"/internalized misogyny we are currently seeing in fantasy books that feature female MC's. That rather than leaving "Gwen hating the court ladies for their girlish gossip", it was in fact, brought up that it was her veiled loneliness from feeling like the "other" for her inherent queerness she could not vocalize. I thought that was important as it is so easy to slip in those little woman-bashing moments into books.
So was it a nail biter? YES! This was my favorite YA read of 2022 and I thank the publisher St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Violence
Moderate: Sexism, Homophobia, War, Alcoholism, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts