About the Book
-
Author:
- Lex Croucher
Cover Story: Ye Olde Illustration
BFF Charms: Eventually x2
Talky Talk: High Hilarity
Bonus Factors: LGBTQ+ Representation, Siblings, Friendships
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Relationship Status: I’ll Keep Your Confidence
Content Warning: Gwen & Art Are Not in Love features both external and internalized homophobia, gory depictions of a battle, the death of a loved one, and suggested abuse of a child at the hand of/through the machinations of a parent.
Cover Story: Ye Olde Illustration
The title treatment on this cover is great; it harkens back to the time of elaborate drop caps and leather-bound tomes. I also love the illustration; it’s cute without being cutesy and a great depiction of the main characters and their love interests. But there’s a weird disconnect between the title and the illustration. Perhaps there needed to be a bit more depth to the whole thing, rather than just a flat pink background?
The Deal:
Gwen is the daughter of the king of England and betrothed to a guy named Arthur. But she isn’t Guinevere—and this Arthur certainly isn’t the Arthur of legend. This Gwen and Art live in an England that’s centuries removed from the Knights of the Round Table, but an England that is still rife with folks who believe in Arthurian myth. And those folks are at odds with the Catholic rulers.
But neither Gwen nor Art care much about politics. They’re more concerned with the fact that neither of them want to be betrothed to each other, and for reasons other than that they can’t stand each other. Reasons that both of them want kept secret.
BFF Charm: Eventually x2
I liked both Gwen and Art right off the bat, thanks to their snarky personalities and banter, but soon came to see that they were more complicated than initially assumed, which led to questions about my feelings for them. By the end of the novel, I was 100% on board with wanting to be their friend—and vice versa—but there’s a long portion of the book during which I was frustrated with Gwen’s naivety and snobbishness and Art’s self-defeating nature.
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Gwen and Art have been betrothed since Gwen was born, but neither of them likes each other very much, platonically or romantically. Art is gay, and Gwen is questioning (and coded as aromantic, I believe; they don’t have modern terms for what either of them are in their era). They come to a truce after learning each other’s secret, but that truce (thankfully) does not end up with them together in the end as anything other than friends. Their respective love interests are great, but the chemistry between both pairs wasn’t as fiery as it could have been. (Gwen’s is particularly more robust/believable than Art’s.)
Talky Talk: High Hilarity
You know a book is hitting all the right notes when you laugh, then read passages out loud to your partner (or anyone in your house within earshot). I did this multiple times while reading Gwen & Art, and my husband laughed at the passages I read him, too. For example:
She had often wondered if her parents had considered committing wholly to the bit and calling her Guinevere to match him, but had chickened out just in time and chosen Gwendoline instead, the uncomfortable legacy of the former’s extramarital affairs with roguish knights staying their hands.
and
“Mother,” Gwen said seriously. “Call the guards. He threatened me with a knife.”
“I told you not to say things like that anymore,” her mother said, taking her by the shoulders and steering her toward the dancers. “Lord Stafford’s poor nephew almost soiled himself when they grabbed him.”
“I hope he really does kill me,” Gwen said glumly. “Then you’ll be sorry.”
She could have sworn that as her mother walked away Gwen heard her mutter, “I wouldn’t count on it.”
Croucher has a delightful wit and infused the characters in this book with a lot of life.
Ed. note: I pulled these quotes from a review copy of the book; the final text might be different.
Bonus Factor: LGBTQ+ Representation
As I mentioned above, there are a variety of queer folk in Gwen & Art. They don’t call themselves queer, nor do they use other labels we modern folk use, but the queerness abounds (for lack of a better descriptor). I liked Gwen maybe being aromantic, too; that’s not something you see a lot of in YA and it deserves just as much representation as the next letter in the acronym. There were times in the book that I worried it was making too much of a big deal about Gwen questioning her sexuality—that’s certainly not the only bit of her personality that should be focused on—but ultimately concluded that coming out stories are just as important as the books in which queer folk are comfortable with who they are and have been for a while.
Bonus Factor: Siblings
Gwen and her brother Gabriel (the crown prince) have always been two peas in a pod, but a situation in the book drives a wedge between them. As an only child, it was interesting to read about their relationship before, during, and after. They have a relationship that, were I not an only child, I’d love to have with my sibling(s).
Bonus Factor: Friendships
Art and his bodyguard Sidney have an equally delightful sibling-like relationship, even though, technically, Sidney works for Art. They’ve been together long enough that neither of them thinks about the transactional nature of their friendship, and both would die for the other (and, spoiler alert) almost do. Although it’s a found family brotherhood, it’s as valuable, important, and genuine as the blood relationship between Gwen and Gabriel.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
We don’t get too much of Arthur’s dad in Gwen & Art, but what we do learn/see is abhorrent. What an absolute ass. He doesn’t deserve Art in any sense of the idea.
Relationship Status: I’ll Keep Your Confidence
I hope I made it clear that you can trust me, Book. We might not be cut out for romance, but platonic love and support is just as good, if not more important. I don’t know that I could live with you—given the lack of proper bathroom miscellany—but I’m on your side, whatever comes.
Literary Matchmaking
Kiersten White’s Camelot Rising series features the actual characters of Arthurian legend, but their true personalities and inclinations might surprise you.
Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn Cycle also features a society built upon Arthurian foundations that isn’t as shiny nor happy as it seems.
Robyn Schneider’s Emry Merlin series is another Arthurian tale with a lot of heart—and snark.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Wednesday Books, but got neither a private dance party with Tom Hiddleston nor money in exchange for this review. Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is available now.
