Croucher's young adult queer medieval adventure romance is sweet, spunky, and full of great banter, with characters finding their way (and love) despite complex challenges.
"You aren’t merry," Clem said to her captor. "And you aren’t all men. So there’s been some marketing confusion somewhere along the line."
Mariel is the bristly new captain of the Merry Men and is anxious to live up to the legacy of her grandfather, the retired Robin Hood (who now lives with his true love, William), and to make her hard-to-please father, who has wrested control of the Merry Men, proud.
Clem is a jovial healer from the country who is advancing medical techniques and is sought out for her helpful salves and methods in a time of the outdated use of leeches and attempts to cure dark humors. Clem has only noble intentions of helping others, and she doesn't differentiate between those on the Sheriff's side and those on the Merry Men's side.
When the Merry Men capture Clem in retribution for her help in healing the Sheriff of Nottingham, things get complicated for both Mariel and Clem in this sassy, fun, queer historical fiction young adult romance.
Mariel is trying to find her way and keep her emotional walls up, while Clem's openheartedness seems determined to tear them down. The rest of the gang is fantastically spunky, tough, kind, and loyal--with nonbinary representation and lots of love.
The group faces real challenges, and some characters don't make it through the battles and sometimes-messy plans-gone-awry. Consequences feel appropriately weighty.
It's a young adult book, with lots of love and attraction but very little steaminess (none explicit), and it kept me hooked with the layers of emotional growth, the fights for autonomy, and the determination to build a new future.
I am all in for Lex Croucher novels forever. The banter, the adventure, the medieval setting--yes yes yes.
I received a prepublication edition of this book, which was published November 26, courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.
More from this author:
Lex Croucher is also the author of the wonderful Gwen & Art Are Not in Love.
Comments