#a very cute and funny holiday from the generally more miserable reads I'm gravitating around atm

[plantdad-dante]

Book #111 - Gwen & Art Are Not In Love by Lex Croucher

(oh thank fuck it was good)

ahhh... just a good old cotton candy teeth-rotting bubble bath of a book. I hope that paints a picture, because it is quite possible that that only makes sense in my head. I just really needed this. Something my brain could just relax into and enjoy for a bit.

This book is what I want from my Arthuriana (adjacent) stories. Fluff. Queerness. Adventure. Lesbian sword fights. Gay library dates (is that a thing? I want it to be a thing. I want it to be a thing so very bad.) Crossdressing. Magic(??) pets. Intrigue. Absolutely miraculous survival in the middle of a confusing, messy battle field. A king that is implied to spring gay marriage onto 7th/8th/9th (?) century England.

Art has stolen my heart. The bastard. By that I mean I basically liked all the characters from the beginning, but two thirds through, during something involving Arthur's shenanigans, I also suddenly felt like the book had tricked me into liking them. Get yourself a book that can do both.

It's a feat to have all the major characters be this fucking relatable. (Feels like I'm calling myself out when I say Gabriel hits closest to home for me, but I also don't think that that's especially suprising?)

Also, mlm/wlw solidarity (or in this case animosity turned solidarity) is what I wanted from a fake dating story for literally ages?? I'm so happy. It's so fanfic-y (affectionately), and it's so good!

Btw, could we call the Fake Dating trope (especially this version of it, where it's actually fake all the way and they don't end up together) the inverse of Courtly Love? Idk, maybe something to ask my Medieval English professor next semester...