A review by egkaetzel
Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

Going in it’s very helpful to know this is a YA fantasy romance, which makes letting yourself just have fun with it a lot easier. As far as Arthurian vibes, it doesn’t quite hit the mark for me, but as far as misdirection in love for LGBTQ+ teens it is a romp. It’s rare that you get a book that both a) has a 1st person perspective/experience of both a MLM (men-loving-men character) AND a WLW (woman-loving-woman) and b) is really just fun. There is definitely the tension of being queer and not being accepted by society, but I would say given this is supposed to take place in the modern equivalent of medieval  England the risk of being found out feels more like a “secrecy drives romance” plot. I’m not a big fan of using misunderstandings that could be fixed by talking to each other as a plot driver, but in a YA i think it works because that actually is what being a teenager is like. Overall I think it’s a really fun read and both lovers of YA and campy romance will enjoy. 
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