Gwen and Art Are Not in Love - Lex Croucher

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, Gwen and Art 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 & Art Are Not in Love is chock full of sword-fighting, found family, and romantic shenanigans destined to make readers fall in love. (link)

Review: 3/5

I just assume, at this point, that I have an issue with books that do well on TikTok… BookTok is another beast along that journey. I feel like Hercules defeating the 12 Labors (reading stupidly overhyped books) set before me to prove myself in order to make amends (be validated in the book enjoying community). I am Hercules, tragic backstory and all… Nah just kidding, I’m a 21st century woman that listens to jazz on Spotify Premium and complains about having to decide which oligopoly **cough cough** sorry, I mean “major corporation” I need to support in order to live…

Anyways, I was fine with this book. I didn’t hate it, and I didn’t adore it; which might be surprising since anyone who knows me also knows my opinions are stronger than straight tequila.

I was really rooting to like this book for a number of reasons: I’m part of the LGBT community, I adore history (especially of the medieval sector), and I heard good things. However, every part of these details fell flat for me, and for that, maybe I just hate rom-coms. Maybe I’m becoming such a spinster that I’m truthfully anti-love. “Oh they’re happy because they’re in love” NUKE THEM! BOMB THEM! KEEP BOMBING THEM! AIRSTRIKES! I’m becoming a hateful spinster witch, and I can’t say no-one saw it coming for my storyline.

A big beef with this book (regarding mass reviews on GoodReads) is that the last part of the book, regarding traumatic themes like war and death, came out of nowhere. I agree, this “Heartstopper meets A Knight’s Tale” preface didn’t really have themes of war throughout the entire thing, until suddenly, (if I’m remembering correctly) Gwendoline’s brother doesn’t have a leg because of… war. The usurper plot just fell flat for me considering it didn’t feel supported besides some minor detailing and side-bits of conversation throughout the book.

I wish I liked it more, but at least I didn’t hate it. Glass is half-full. The songs are fantasy/gay/medieval rom-com-esque.

Spotify: LINK