Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher
| Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher | |
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| Category: Teens | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: Silly and fun, heartwarming and madcap, this is a light and enjoyable romp of a romcom story! | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 432 | Date: May 2023 |
| Publisher: Bloomsbury YA | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781526651792 | |
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Who knew that what I really needed to read right now was a gay Arthurian RomCom? But honestly, it lifted my spirits in a most delightful way. In this story, Gwen and Arthur have been betrothed since they were tiny, much to their mutual disgust! Gwen, you see, is in love with Bridget (the kingdom's only female knight) - something that Art discovers from her private diaries. And then when Gwen then catches Art kissing a boy they find themselves becoming reluctant allies, creating the subterfuge of falling in love with each other, when really they are enabling their own other romantic attachments. But as their impending wedding draws ever closer, will they find a way in which they can both truly be themselves, or are they destined to live a lie their whole lives?
This is a real romp of a story, with sword fighting and witty dialogue and madcap events, but it's also an exploration of being young and gay and struggling to come to terms with yourself. Whilst it's medieval in flavour, this is no accurate historical reconstruction. But you feel enough of a sense of England some one hundred years post-Arthur to get that historical vibe, but it comes with contemporary dialogue, and recognisable situations and experiences.
Art was by far my favourite character, and by the end it was his story I was most invested in. I especially enjoyed his arguments with Gwen, and any dialogue he had with his sidekick, Sid. I did feel sorry for Gwen, but I found I was impatient with her fears and I just wanted her to get on with things! But really, the characters made an impression, and I was fully immersed in their world as I read, to the point that I found the climax of the story an exciting, emotional read!
Once I got started, I didn't much want to stop, and I was eager to see how things would work out for everyone involved, especially Art. It is quite a long book, but I felt like the pace didn't slow too much at any particular point. Perhaps Gabriel and Bridget could have been a tiny bit more fleshed out, as I didn't quite feel as if I knew enough about them, but this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story overall. The only part of the story I didn't really click with was the politics (not surprising, I think I had my fill of political intrigue through the pandemic!) I'm not sure if it wasn't quite fully explained, or if I'd just glazed over slightly in these parts, but I just stayed the course and figured enough out without fully understanding all the subterfuge! Overall this was fun, and moving, and left me feeling warmly happy inside, which was just exactly what I'd needed from a book!
You might also enjoy trying this book which is contemporary rather than historical, but is another great LGBT+ story Sprout by Dale Peck.
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