ARC Review: Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher
10:00
Series: None
Author: Lex Croucher
Published May 11th 2023 by Bloomsbury YA/November 28th 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, they 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 and Art Are Not in Love is chock full of sword-fighting, found family, and romantic shenanigans destined to make readers fall in love.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.
Arthur Pendragon, descendant of the famous King, and Princess Gwendoline have known that they are betrothed for as long as they can remember, but have hated each other for just as long. They are very much not in love, but go along with the time they are forced to spend together each summer, during the Tourney Season, to save the peace. But this year is different. They are told that their marriage will take place at the end of the summer, just when both are starting to develop feelings. But not for each other. No, Gwen is drawn to the kingdom's only lady knight, Bridget Leclair, and Arthur finds himself thinking about Gwen's brother, Prince Gabriel. No, Gwen and Art are not in love, but that doesn't mean they can't be happy, right?
I was drawn to this book by the title and synopsis, so requested it as soon as I saw there was a UK publisher. Then I realised that I had read the author's adult debut, and hated it, so was a little apprehensive about reading their YA novel. So, I put off reading Gwen and Art Are Not in Love, for a while, but in a way I'm glad I did, as I found myself enjoying it much more than I expected. Firstly, this is not a book for people who want historical accuracy. In the years following King Arthur's reign, England has been split into cultists and non-cultists, and after fighting the Vikings (I think this book is set around the time of the real Norman invasion), Gwendoline's father is proclaimed king, and decamps the royal court to the ageing Camelot. I liked seeing the way that world building was interwoven in this book, with some real aspects standing side by side with fantasy. All of the main characters were great, though Art got a little grating at times with how blasé he could be. Even so, the camaraderie between them all was great, especially once the drama and action increased. I found myself needing to devour the last third of the book in one sitting, because it became too exciting and fraught with danger and intrigue, that I needed to see if our heroes managed to make it out alive. Definitely a fun read, though one you need to go into expecting it to be more fantasy than historical.
Dates Read:
August 12-17, 2023
Rating
4 Stars
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