Oh, so this was a whole lot of fun. I love any sort of subverted expectation love trope, so of course Gwen and Art can't be in love because Gwen has a major crush on a super hot female knight, and Arthur has a crush on Gwen's older brother and future king to be, Gabriel! I thought most everything about this managed to feel original despite being based on arguably one of the oldest and most classic English stories. I highly support finding inspiration in classic stories and tropes because there's a reason they endure for centuries across the world with millions of varying audiences! And changing this particular Arthurian legend to hold characters that can represent the queer community as well as function as unique, complex, and fun people was just so fun to read. I loved following along on their journeys, specifically since it takes a bit for Gwen to realize parts about herself and attractions that Arthur embraced about himself long before. I thought it was realistic for Gwen and Art to want to initially blackmail each other and refuse to accept any sort of help or alliance, but loved seeing an uneasy, quirky friendship emerge from the suspicion. I also appreciated how the story was able to sustain a more political B plot that fully unfolded toward the end of the book. Things got a lot more serious in a way that felt appropriate, ​and this is one of the rare times where a miscommunication trope actually worked for me (they hardly ever do). I once again just had a really fun time laughing at the really well-written dialogue (Arthur's quips are seriously enviable) and trying to predict the twists and turns of all the characters' matchmaking. This is a book I'd recommend for any month, but you might as well squeeze it into the last few days of the lovely month of June if you have the time. :)



Some of my favorite quotes from Gwen & Art Are Not in Love:

"To be truly brave, first you must be afraid. And to be afraid, you must have something you cannot bear to lose."

"'Now hang on,' said Arthur. 'I’m a man, and my crotch isn’t a burden.'

'Maybe not to you,' said Gwen. 'But it’s a burden on the rest of
humanity.'"

"I'm crying because I was just in a bloody battle. It was awful, I hated every second of it and I would not recommend it to a friend. And, yes I supposed I'm also crying because I love you and I'm so pleased to see you."

"Shame. That was the feeling. She felt flooded with it, like it was curdling the blood in her veins and taking root in the pit of her stomach. This is what comes of wanting things."

This will be a short and sweet review, but I've just finished reading this text to specifically use it as a textbook for my introductory writing and research class for college freshmen this upcoming fall! I've taught two previous groups of students within this course with slightly different curriculum, but am particularly excited to integrate the main concepts and framework of this book into this third round of my teaching. I have no doubt there's a very real and powerful intersection between faith and writing (even more specifically, the Christian tradition and writing). Having this text to use as a guide for not only writing instruction, but helping students grasp how their levels of faith and spirituality can manifest in the classroom, is truly fantastic. I also love the multimodal elements of this book, namely the relevant artwork, diagrams, and pictures used throughout, as well as the many footnotes connecting the text to all sorts of other research voices and conversations. I'm looking forward to my time this fall with my students and the time we'll spend with this book and its wisdom. :) 



Some of my favorite quotes from Charitable Writing:

"Education in writing, we saw, needed to be interwoven with education in Christian Scripture and tradition."

"Imitation, instead, has long been understood as a catalyst for what rhetoricians call invention, 'the making of something new by remaking the old.'"

"We are always writing for an audience..."

"Humility is the virtue that allows us to see not only our finitude and fallenness but also the goods of our communities. It allows us to recognize that we don't have all the answers."

"...humility means adopting a proper regard for our own thinking as we swim in the broad sea of ideas."

"The best contributions to class discussions are often questions."

"Christians are a listening people..."

"...a Christian writer is not duty bound to write from an explicitly Christian standpoint all the time."

"Simply stated: we may write to learn what we think."

"The kingdom of God is a topic whose richness we can never exhaust."

"To revise is to strive to welcome the stranger into our thinking."