Gwen and Art Are Not In Love by Lex Croucher Book Review

Happy Monday bookish people!

Today I am bringing you my book review for Gwen and Art are not in love by Lex Croucher, a proof copy of this book was sent to me for review which was a lovely thing to receive.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will try not to give any spoilers.

Gwen and Art are not in love plot:

Gwen and Art are not in love is a new exploration of Arthurian legend, if Gwen was interested in women and Arthur was interested in men. The catch is, Gwen and Arthur are engaged to each other.

I thought the plot of this novel was a very interesting take on what is a well known story and I enjoyed it for the most part. This is a difficult book to discuss without spoilers but there were a few events within the novel that seemed to not fit as well as others. The romance threads were one part but there was another thread to the story and I found it complicated the novel.

Gwen and Art are not in love characters:

Gwen is a very headstrong princess who is struggling with what she wants and what everyone around her wants and how to balance the two, this creates a lovely tension within the novel.

Arthur is a character who I think would be a lot like marmite, he takes a while to warm up to his character. The first half of the book I truly thought how on earth as a reader am I ever going to find any sympathy or interest for him but the second half of the book changed my opinion on him.

Gwen and Art are not in love writing and dialogue:

The writing in this book has a lovely blend of comedy and historical and romance, the writing really helped to convey the lives and emotions of the characters.

Gwen and Art are not in love overall:

I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants to try a romance that has a quirky difference to it.

Blurb/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.