Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I saw a review on Goodreads for this which stated it is Well Met but YA and I have to agree. This is a compliment as Well Met was a great book. This one does not delve into the intricacies of running a Renaissance Faire because it is focused on teenagers who don't need to know that detail. This felt like it did hit some known tropes with the MacGuffin and not wanting to like the romantic interest but of course it does! We like the tropes and we like knowing what we are getting. 3.5 stars.

3.5 rounded to 4

I read this months ago, and there is a lot to like, in particular the lovely way the author evokes the best aspects of Renaissance Faires. Brought back happy memories of the first Faire, up above Malibu, more than fifty years ago, at which I worked for several years before grad school and jobs ate my life.

This book is, I think, meant for a very young audience. Our heroine lost her mother, and is pretty woeful; a boy encounters her, and persists in a friendly, ever-present way to bring her out of her Slough of Despond and to enjoy life, and the Faire.

On the surface, it's a sweet, slow-burn summer romance. But an old, crabbed reader like me, who looks back on experiences of self and others I know (far too many others) with stalker men who know what's good for you whether you like it or not shadowed the book with creep vibes that I am very sure the author did not intend. But we bring our own experiences to every read. Then there was the implication that it takes relationship with a guy to cure what's ailing' ya. Urk.

In short, I'd say, adults, read it first before handing it off to your young reader. If that reader is reading for the Faire, go for it! Anything else, it might be a great book to springboard talking things through. I'd love to see what else this author writes.

A sweet young adult novel that demonstrates the ability to find yourself again and rediscover the ability to live life to the fullest.

Our main character, Madeline is still reeling from the death of her mother when she and her father get to the last stop of the ren faire tour for the year. It's always been her mother's favorite so that makes it even more emotional for both of them. When they arrive, it's all changed because it's under new management. Madeline finds that to feel like another loss to her and is wondering around later that night when she meets a young man named Arthur. He's quirky and sweet and likes to call her Gwen. They become friends, even though Madeline insists they aren't. Arthur slowly inserts himself into her life and becomes someone she can't live without.

There are truly some sweet moments in this book. Madeline is a full figured girl and carries many insecurities because of it but Arthur doesn't see that and it's really lovely to see how he treats her. The book basically is the story of Madeline learning that she can open herself up to others again. That the risk of losing someone and. being hurt again far outweighs the loss of never having their love or friendship. To make this sweet story even better, the author threw in a fun twist that I didn't see coming.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

This was such a fun and refreshing book. Madeline "Gwen" has lived on the road at Ren Fairs all her life. When her mother passes, she tries to remember everything she can about her life and her mother by journaling. A year after her mother's death, she's at her mom's favorite Ren Fair, but it's completely different and under new owners. Cue Arthur, the bard who just won't leave her alone and the new owner's son.

This book took us on adventures, but also dealt with serious topics like loss, mental health, and friendships. I think the more serious topics were weaved nicely throughout the book and handled well. The friendship between Arthur and Gwen was also lovely. I especially loved the family cookout and the personalities of Arthur's family.

3.75 stars rounded up to 4.

This was an adorable romance and there really was a lot to love about it. I definitely enjoyed Madeline as a main character. The story centered on her and her grief over the loss of her mom, and her relationship with her dad. As someone who has lost loved ones to cancer, I really resonated with her grief journey (and I loved that she was in therapy! More YA books normalizing therapy, please and thank you!), and I enjoyed following her through the book.

What kept this from being a full 5 stars for me was the romance. I felt like Arthur was whiny and over dramatic, especially for the last half of the book. He lies about Bre to Madeline and tries to make Bre this villain in his life--and that didn't sit right with me. It felt misogynistic, especially the way he twisted everything that happened. I really think Madeline was better off without him.

Overall, I did enjoy the reading experience, and I look forward to reading more of Ashley Schumacher's books!

I started out really liking this book and really liking both characters Maddie and Arthur. I thought it was a good setting and didn't agree with any of the comparison's Jen Deluca's Well Met. The book flows well and the pacing never drags and I thought it would be the perfect summer teen read. But by the time I reached the end, I had changed my mind and would not recommend this book.

We meet the characters through Madeline Hathaway's eyes. This book is written in first person and we are treated to Maddie's thoughts about her mother's death, her body image issues, and her lack of relationships and personal interactions. I thought those topics were handled with good sensitivity and the author does not go down the rabbit hole of grief porn. Maddie and Arthur meet after his date, Breanna, stands him up and he's lonely and wandering the Ren Faire at night. We watch Maddie gradually come out of her shell, take risks, and develop as a character. She meets new people, makes new friends (I greatly enjoyed Bre's character), and starts to move past her grief.

And then this is where it falls apart. We get closer to the end and find out about the events that led to Arthur and Maddie's meeting from Bre directly. And it just gives off Nice Guy (tm) red flags and I ended the book with a squicky feeling about Arthur's character.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this!

All I needed to hear was Ashley Schumacher and Ren Faire and I was sold. This was less a crying book than some of her others, but it was still fantastic as expected. The characters were lovely, and there were strong, supportive side characters. Himbo Noah absolutely made my day better. 100% recommend.

This is the sweetest rom-com I've read this year. Following the loss of her mothers little under a year ago, Maddie has continued to travel the country with her dad going to different ren faires. When they reach the faire that was her mother's last one she got to attend the previous year, they settle in for a few months. Maddie goes through a journey of grieving, learning to make friends, and learning to accept herself. She felt like such an authentic character and her struggles with relating to people and never knowing if they're being genuine, specifically because she's plus-sized and expects them to make fun of her, are exactly what one would expect of a girl who's lived a transient lifestyle with mostly only her parents for company. The relationships that Maddie makes along with how she learns to interact with the world because of her new friends are heart-warming and extremely meaningful.

Returning to the last Ren Faire her mother attended a year after her death was supposed to make Madeline feel closer to her. But everything has changed - new owners have turned the grounds from rundown memories into a splashy new escape. With a young bard calling her Gwen(what is up with that?) and just wanting to work at her family’s handmade jewelry and journal stall, this is not the summer Maddie expected at all.

I loved this story!! It handled grief with great care, and I really appreciated that Maddie had sessions with her therapist on page.

Arthur is adorable, and I loved how he made space for Maddie to grieve, while also pushing her to experience life more fully. Not gonna lie, him calling her Gwen confused me on multiple occasions, and just typing this review made me want to type “Gwen” when I mean Madeline 🤣 still, his open heart and kind nature made him a quiet but powerful source for change when Maddie was ready.

Watching Madeline overcome obstacles, and come to appreciate herself and her life was incredible, and I fully wish I could start this over with a blank slate to experience it all over again. Would highly recommend!

This book was my first by this author and I was pleasantly surprised at how unique, thoughtful and relatable it was.

I appreciated the representations such as…..
-A girl who lives on the road with her dad in a trailer.
-The story is set in renaissance faire.
-The male main character Arthur has two dads.
-Both main characters have body image struggles.

-I love the way the author tackled grief and made It relatable and easy to understand for a YA audience. There’s a lot of adults who would benefit from learning some of the little lessons in this book...
“Somewhere along the way, what I meant to be a coping mechanism became shackles.”

-This teenager romance was super cute and chaste. This quote was especially adorable…
“I hope we didn’t burn your freckles off yesterday. It would be a pity to see so many constellations disappear at once.”

THOOUGHTS:
-Maggie/Gwen was like a hurt puppy. She bites at the hand trying to feed her, and I totally understood her lash out tendencies, I really did, but I wish she could have been a little nicer at times.

-There was a scene in the book where Maggie tells one of her secrets in a place no one can hear her and I was so fascinated with this moment because of the setting and it felt like a big step for her as a character, but it was never revisited or mentioned again, and I felt a little let down.

-The romance was fine for me. It was sweet but I feel like the topics of grief, self-discovery and body acceptance were the main focus.

The book was just fine for the first half. I wasn’t bored but I also didn’t mind if I put it down for a while. It was cute, but it didn’t fully grab my attention until about 60% when I was laughing and getting teary eyed. It's almost like the book woke up for me at that point.

OVERALL:
A great book for YA readers. I'm not sure if adults will connect with this as much, but its thoughtful, well written and I can see a large audience for this book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love love loved Ashley’s first book and so was anxious to give this a try even though Ren Faires are not my thing. The main character Madeline is going through debilitating grief & anxiety and also has some major body insecurities. Working through these issues is the main focus of the story, it just happens to be taking place at a renaissance faire with a charming boy helping her along the journey. I personally don’t struggle with the same things or in the same way as Madeline did so there were a few times it felt a bit extreme to me, but I truly do know this is how some people (maybe especially teens) think and this would be great representation for them. The relationship with Arthur was just so wholesome.
I think Ashley Schumacher writes YA with such depth and I’ll definitely be on the lookout for her next.
*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for my honest review.

Ren fair romances are taking over--and in a good way! I didn't know much about them before reading Jen DeLuca's Well Met Series, and I could not have been more excited to try this YA take on the location. And it's ripe for fun! This story stars Maddie, a plus-size teen who has grown up on the road, home-schooled while her family travels from one ren fair to another. But when her mother passes away from cancer, it's difficult to cope. One year after her mother's passing, she and her dad are back at the last fair grounds they attended with her mom. But it's completely different, overtaken by flashy and expensive props and grounds--overhauled by new owners who happen to have a son, Arthur, Maddie's age. When they ask her to be the fair's princess for the summer, she's self-conscious about someone her size taking on the role. But when Arthur talks her into it and ends up taking her on more adventures that she could have imagined, her summer of grieving ends up taking on a different tone.

This is a beautiful book that takes on a lot of difficult topics--grief, body image, self-esteem--while also presenting an adorable love story between two teens in a setting that couldn't be more fun. Maddie can be a frustrating heroine at times, but is also completely normal for someone who is only seventeen and in the recent throws of loss. Her and Arthur balance each other out so wonderfully that I shipped them from the moment he stepped onto the page playing modern music on his lute.

Thanks to Wednesday Books for my eARC and finished copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5stars - 8/10

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway is a sweet YA book that grapples with some heavy topics (death/grief) in an appropriate way! I loved the ren faire setting of the book and the diverse group of characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital advanced readers copy! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. This novel will be published March 14, 2023.

THE RENAISSANCE OF GWEN HATHAWAY by Ashley Schumacher is a young adult novel that starts out well, building empathy for Maddie Hathaway, a soon-to be high school senior whose Mom died a year ago. Her family has travelled the faire circuit for years with her dad selling leather-bound handmade journals and her Mom crafting and selling jewelry. Maddie is struggling to adjust to the new circumstances and rather obsessively keeps a journal of noticings (e.g., how many times she has dinner with her Dad). It gets interesting when she meets an unconventional, but very kind teen named Arthur; he calls her Gwen and asks her to be princess of the faire. Their adventures are fun and joy builds, but Maddie is reluctant to care for anyone again so there is some darkness, too. Unfortunately, that is when the story starts to feel very repetitive despite the quality dialogue between Maddie and Arthur and also with her good friend, Fatima. All in all, it takes Maddie quite a while to believe in herself and in Arthur. THE RENAISSANCE OF GWEN HATHAWAY offers some fun young adult romance, but like Booklist, I would target middle school and maybe very early high school readers for this romance and coming of age story. 3.5 stars

This was a great story, and I appreciated that the main character was someone I could identify with. It's really great to see characters that feel like people I know, especially in a YA book. These stories are important because they empower readers to take pride in the things they love, however nerdy they might seem to the popular kids. There is a place for each of us, and this book gave me a view into the world of Renaissance Fairs. It was new to me, but I had such fun reading this book that I endeavor to experience one in real life someday.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Ashley Schumacher and the publisher of this book for the eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Life has been hard for Gwen after the death of her mother. She tries to not think about it too much by working the ren faire circuit with her dad. Things change though when she arrives at her mom's favorite end-of-tour stop to find it is under new management and has completely changed.
To make things harder, Arthur, the son of the new owners wants to be her friend and convinces her to become the Princess of the Faire. This role is different than what her mom loved, but Gwen is loving it!

A cute YA read that I would highly recommend. I'm loving all the new YA renaissance books!

oh my. i knew going into this that i would cry at one point but i didnt expect to cry THAT MUCH. ashley has such a beautiful way with words and the way she covers grief really gets me.

i dont think i’ve read a book that takes place in a renaissance faire before and it was such an interesting concept! i adored the characters SO much especially arthur. the found family trope >

I had high hopes for this one, as I’ve loved previous books by the author. Amelia Unabridged is one of my all time favorites - so when this one was taking me a little while to get into I was bummed.

It picked up in parts and got me wanting to keep reading to see what happened, and then would sort of fall flat again.

I pushed through and the last few chapters were probably my favorite, but this book just didn’t hit the same as her previous ones.

I do think some might enjoy it, it just wasn’t one for me.

Maddie has grown up on the renaissance faire circuit with her parents, but this summer is discovering what life looks like one year after her mom’s passing.

Schumacher writes beautiful coming of age stories that blend grief and growth. Maddie plans to spend the summer reflecting on memories of her mom, but instead meets Arthur, a charming bard who is persistent with his friendship. We see Maddie navigate the messiness of grief and body insecurities while trying to find the courage to live her life and go after what she wants.

It’s a heartwarming story of opening yourself up and embracing change. Fans of Well Met will love the ren faire setting!

It's been almost year since Maddie's mom died, and Maddie has done all that she can to keep everything the same. When she and her dad arrive at the final ren faire that she was at with them, Maddie is dismayed to find it under new owners and completely changed. Not only that, but a lute playing boy her own age has latched on to her and wants her to be the Princess of the Faire. All Maddie wants is to work in the booth with her dad and keep things the same. Arthur slowly works his way into her heart and her mind and she begins to understand that maybe change isn't so bad and maybe her mother would like the person she is becoming. A touching story of loss and grief and new friendships that bring hope. Recommended for grades 8 & up.