Madeline is grieving her mother while travelling the Renaissance Faire circuit with her father. While her mother was still alive, the three of them travelled the circuit together. At the summer's biggest faire she meets Arthur, son of the faire's new owners who've made quite a few changes from previous years. As the summer goes on Madeline and Arthur go on all kinds of adventures and he tries to become more than friends.

I didn't realize this was a young adult novel when I started this but Madeline is 17 and being homeschooled while she travels around to all of the faires. I found this book to be cute but nothing particularly memorable. A ren faire setting was fun but the book was more focused on Arthur and Madeline's budding friendship/romance. It's a pretty slow read and she spends most of the book trying not to like Arthur. I got a bit bored at points when it was the same scenes over and over of Arthur being over the top nice to Madeline and her rebuffing him. It got a bit old and I think the relationship was just too much of a slow burn for my tastes. I will say the highlight was descriptions of the faire and events like jousting.

I thought this was an ok read but nothing to rush out and pick up. If you like ren faires or very slow burn romance you may like this more than I did!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Madeline “Gwen” Hathaway had an unusual childhood; instead of going to public school, she traveled around the Renaissance Faire circuit in her parent's trailer. Instead of having friends, she's only had one friend since her childhood. And, when her mother passes away, she's determined that nothing will change. That’s why she keeps detailed lists in her journals - so she doesn’t forget the moments and loved ones she have left. She’s afraid of losing them. She is afraid of change. But then, Maddie and her father arrive to her mother’s favorite end-of-tour faire…only to find out it’s under new management.

On top of that, she meets Arthur, the son of the new owners. For some strange reason, Arthur wants to be her friend - and somehow ropes her into becoming the Princess of the Faire. Before she knows it, Maddie’s summer has been changed into an adventure…if only she could admit it’s one she enjoys being on.

This is probably one of my favorite new contemporary YA romances! I love the renaissance faire setting - it’s very original, and something I haven’t seen done before. Schumacher did a great job of introducing the Ren Faire scene without making her writing sound like it's coming out of a textbook. Even though I’m someone who isn’t familiar with the Ren Faire culture, it didn’t prevent me from reading and appreciating this book.

This was not just a YA romance. It’s a story with many themes including mental health. It’s about grief, following Maddie going through the grieving process after her mother’s death. We also have a main character who is plus size (the Target scene was one of my favorites). And, I love how this book addresses body dysmorphia with both Maddie AND Arthur.

All in all, the Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway was a lovely, wholesome read. 5/5 stars.

Arthur believes in fate. He's an optimist and he's caring and sensitive and he happens upon Madeline "Maddie" as she wanders his families' renaissance faire grounds at the beginning of the summer. He immediately names her "Gwen" (for Gwenavere, perhaps?) and carefully, slowly works his way into her heart. Yes, this is Maddie's story - her mother passed away the year before. She's grown up in an RV with her parents moving from one faire ground to the next. She's borderline compulsive and she's an unapologetic (but very self-conscious) large girl. While the character arc is completely Maddie's, I fell in love with Arthur right away. He is such a wonderful teen boy character - he's gentle, kind, complimentary to Maddie, and sure, he'll get a little jealous later and have a bit of a tantrum, overall, he's a KEEPER.
Ashley Schumacker has a wonderful way of writing teens who are imperfect, but in no way lost causes. They have depth and dimension and are wise but they are never unrealistically knowledgeable for their age. Arthur is wise, he's inherited much of this from his two loving fathers, but he's not espousing Kafka, Freud, or Dostoyevsky.
This is a story of growing up, of grief, and of fate!
Thank you so much for the ARC!

This was overall just kinda meh? Maddie is a girl who grew up in the ren faire circuit and recently lost her mom, and is a bit too caught up in her own insecurities. At her mom’s favorite faire, she meets Arthur, the son of the owners who is annoyingly persistent and likes to call her Gwen (tbh the Arthur & Gwen reference is a bit odd considering how that story ended).

I honestly didn’t love our protagonist or love interest. The story kinda just follows their friendship as it progresses and Maddie insists on keeping him at an arms distance. Arthur gives so much and his “Gwen” doesn’t give him much back. Plus, there’s a boatload of jealousy and insecurity and pettiness issues, especially in the last third, which just made it hard to read. You obviously like each other so why are you creating problems?! Maybe that’s just the YA formula.

I wish we got to see more of them working within a ren faire (since that is what really makes this book unique), but this is a cute read if you want a simp book boyfriend and an MC with some relatable grief, body, and ocd issues.

Madeline Hathaway is a unique teen. She has spent her life growing up on the Renaissance Faire circuit. Her parents are both craftspeople, and she has followed in her mom's footsteps as a jewellery maker. There has been a great deal of upheaval in her life in the past year. Her best friend on the circuit has returned to a more stable life, attending a standard high school, and living in a house, as opposed to a comfortable but aging RV. Most painfully, her mom has died, after a long illness. Madeline and her dad are headed to the #RenFaire that was her mom's favourite, as the anniversary of her mother's death approaches. Madeline is hoping for a chance to revisit the space her mom loves, and maybe do some healing. What she finds is not what she expects, including a highly annoying bard named Arthur, who seems to have decided that she is destined to be his Guinevere (thus, the Gwen of the title).

This one got me in all the right places, and I am thrilled about introducing it to my 12 and 13 year old students, particularly any who may be dealing with grief. Ashley Schumacher has created a beautiful, nuanced, very real portrait of a teenage girl trying to navigate the loss of her mom. Her sessions with her therapist, her conversations with Fatima (her best friend), her attempts to capture as many things as she can in her journal of observations, and her fear of letting anyone else in in case she loses them, are all captured with detail and empathy. The relationship between Maddy and her Dad also comes across as extremely authentic, both in their quiet companionship and in their awareness of the giant "mom-shaped hold" in their world. I fell utterly in love with Maddy/Gwen, and there were a lot of tears, and a lot of laughter as I read the book. I think it might make a terrific small group of book club read in Grade 7 and up.

Arthur, the bard who makes it his mission to help Maddy see her beauty, is also extremely well drawn. One particularly well done aspect of the book is Maddy realizing that Arthur struggles just as much as she does with his body image, and with not appreciating what an amazing human he is. It is genuinely rare to find a YA title that takes on the topic of male body image issues, and this one does it beautifully. Arthur also has 2 dads, and their relationship is another winning aspect of the book, as is his loud, loving extended family (on one dad's side).
There's lots of intersectionality here, which probably added to why I loved it, and why I think it would make an important addition to a classroom or school library.
Thanks to Net Galley and Wednesday books for the e-arc.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this e-arc!! Ashley Schumacher does it again! For fans of Well Met, this renaissance faire and/or romance books! The writing, the characters and the SETTING all fun, awesome read! A great novel that promotes being yourself :)

I loved this book. A much lighter read than her previous two books, which destroyed me. This time, Maddie aka Gwen, is coping with the loss of her mother and the upcoming anniversary of her death. She keeps a journal, suggested by her therapist, of "noticings". In this case, it's a ptsd reaction to her mother's death, because it leans more towards obsessive than being a healthy release.

WOW this book. A character-driven plot of jousting grief and finding new meanings to love not only another but yourself.
The diversity of characters- a plus-size MC (and the attributions and details that went into this were well-written), gay parents, her best friend- was well written and a refreshing take. ALL of these characters were honestly refreshing- it's not often we have a plus-sized MC (and Maddie is adorable) but also Arthur. He isn't the polar opposite of what one would consider male beauty standards but he isn't the typical "booktok boy toy" and I LOVE IT..
The experiences that Maddie has throughout the book are things that I (but also I think many teens) can relate to, whether it be their size or the grief of losing a loved one. The author writes them from a very real perspective and I think that is something many will find touching. My only critique (if we are going to call it that because it is only a minor thing to me) is that sometimes the prose concerning the grief of her mother might be considered repetitive. I think it was nailed down how much Maddie missed her mother but some teens might be a little turned off by how much this was described over and over with different flashbacks or metaphors. As someone who has lost someone dear to them, this was understandable in the way that Maddie explored the world around her without her mom, but to others, this may seem repetitive or off-putting. I think this will depend on the audience that reads it, but it covered grief extensively and was very detailed.
Maddie and Arthur have such great personalities and intricacies to them that the story was easy to read. As someone who has also been to a renaissance fare in person, I think this helped me visualize a lot of context, and hopefully non-larpers will experience the same medieval joy I had from reading this.

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway by Ashley Schumacher is a sweet and charming read set in a ren faire. This setting was really fun and pretty unusual, and gave her cute details to work in as well as the ideas around being on the move and not being in a normal high school. I largely liked Madeline, whose routines I related to and journey with self-acceptance, therapy, and opening up is great for teenage readers. I wasn't particularly into Arthur as a character (the emphasis on how annoying he is was...not incorrect, though he was charming at times), but I loved his dads. Arthur's personal issues and the supposed conflict with Bre and his high school group didn't come together to me, especially in balance with Maddie's story. Bre and Noah, however, were pretty delightful and I could have used them being in the book for more time.

Unfortunately, though, I don't think this one will stay with me, and it felt like something was missing. While also dealing with grief, this novel doesn't hit as hard as Amelia Unabridged, in which Schumacher really focused on grief and moving forward and the emotions came through. In Renaissance, I only started to feel anything in the last 15% or 20%.

The Renaissance Of Gwen Hathaway by Ashley Schumacher was a delightful read. I honestly had totally the wrong expectation -- for some reason I thought the guy on the cover was a girl and just assumed this was a sapphic YA romance. I was wrong and that's okay. This book is one that I actually really enjoyed. Madeline Hathaway's mother died nearly a year ago. To cope, she wants it so nothing ever changes again and she won't get close to anyone else because she cannot bear the loss. She also keeps this notebook of noticings so that she doesn't forget a thing. As the book opens, Madeline and her father are about to run their booth at the Stormsworth Faire. She ends up crossing paths with the owner's son, Arthur who calls Madeline by the name of Gwen and insists that Gwen be the faire's princess. What results is a summer of road trips and reluctant friendship, because Maddie certainly has her guard up.

I tore through The Renaissance Of Gwen Hathaway. The main character is fat. Maddie is clearly going through it and not coping the best. But, she goes to therapy and I LOVE that for her. She learns and grows so much through this book and has so much self discovery. I appreciated that this book took some turns I didn't anticipate and didn't fall into one of those cliche traps with certain characterizations. Arthur is such a gem as well. He is kind and thoughtful and patient. So, naturally I loved his character as much as Maddie. This book is sweet and fun, definitely recommend picking this one up.

I will start with the fact that I love the representation of a curvy main character. That is definitely something that I loved right off the bat. Also, I love the idea of the Ren- Faire in the story. This was a pretty enjoyable read. I think I would definitely check out future books by this author. This was not a favorite, but I did really enjoy the romance and it definitely gives the teen romance movie vibes. I definitely think that some of the topics in the book and the representation is worth noting. I would recommend.

This was a very cute read <3
I loved the setting! It was the primary reason I requested this from NetGalley—a teen who grew up traveling across the country with her parents in the Renaissance Faire circuit? Yesssss.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted this novel to be the nerdy YA contemporary of my dreams, it didn't completely live up to my expectations.

What I liked

🔮 The setting: We follow Maddie during summer break in what used to be her late-mother's favorite faire in the circuit. Much to Maddie's disappointment, the faire is under new owners and has been completely revamped. Maddie is given the role of being the faire's princess, and must play her part alongside Arthur, the bard. There are also spontaneous road trips to other quirky places near the faire.

🔮 Themes of grief and self-image: Maddie is grieving the death of her mother. She doesn't really know how to cope, how to move on and open herself back up again. She also struggles with her body image, always comparing herself to her mother's beauty. Arthur wants Maddie to open up, let him be her friend. Arthur also struggles with insecurity, often feeling weak and "unmanly." Both characters have to learn to love themselves and do away with the mechanisms they use to protect their egos.

🔮 The goofy, sweet, innocent, and overall wholesome interactions between the characters.

What missed the mark for me

🔮 Maddie was a solid protagonist. I enjoyed reading from her perspective for the first half, and then she started making me roll my eyes. It all got a bit too cliché/immature for me in the latter half. The typical miscommunication and misconstruing of others intentions was just too silly. I was in no way convinced that both Maddie and Arthur deserved to be upset with each other the times they were.

🔮 I quite liked the writing before I realized how repetitive it was. All of Maddie's decisions were prefaced in the same way: by using three or more subordinate clauses that began with the word "because." Every. Single. Time. And this book has a lot to do with Maddie's inability to trust herself when it comes to decision-making, so this happened a lot.

🔮 Overall, I feel like this didn't really have a solid climax, making the entire novel feel like a slow decline. It dragged until Maddie and Arthur finally stopped pouting. Perhaps I am being harsh, lol, because Maddie was grieving, but the way the plot was executed didn't deliver the depth and whimsy I hoped for.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Whelp, if it wasn't official before, it is now. I love Ashley's writing. She has such a vivid ability to tell a story and, while this one did not make me cry, I thoroughly enjoyed it all the same. I know, I know... who enjoys crying anyway?
Can I just get more books set at a Ren Faire?? Why is it that this hasn't been exploited more? It's such a fun backdrop for a summery adventure or self-discovery or romance.
Madeline and her father are returning for their annual summer in Oklahoma on the ren faire circuit. Only this time, her mother's death anniversary is looming and her friend and favorite confidant is no longer along for the journey. Maddie only wants to mind her own and keep everyone at arm's length but this boy, Arthur, the bard won't let her be. So now she has to play princess and all that entails has Maddie facing her insecurities and fears head on.
This book took up a little corner of my heart. I love so much how Ashley deals with grief, body positivity, and self-discovery through the eyes of Maddie "Gwen" Hathaway. It's a book a think every tween will find common ground with even if Maddie's exact set of hurdles isn't a shared experience.
Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

2/5 stars! This book...I'm not sure what it reminds me of but it felt like a bunch of books I had already read meshed into one and placed at a Renaissance Faire. I couldn't get into it. I think Renaissance Faires are super unique and special and if the author had done more in that area, I might have been pulled deeper into the story. However, the writing felt relatively shallow and I didn't connect with the characters.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

I was highly anticipating this one based on the comps, Dumplin' and Well Met are two of my favorites, and it exceeded all my expectations. Schumacher perfectly captures the magic of both first love and the ren faire. I fell in love with the characters right away (Arthur is such a little sweetheart!) and I wish I could visit Stormsworth in real life. I'm actually from Oklahoma, and went to my first faire there, which made reading about Arthur and Madeline's road trips very fun. I've actually started re-reading this one because, sadly, since reading it the first time, I've experienced the loss of a close family member. Reading about Madeline's journey through grief has been very healing.

Ooooh this swoony little slow burn young adult gem! I adored this.

Madeline's parents raised her in the Renaissance Faire circuit, traveling to Ren Faires in their trailer and selling jewelry. In the year after her mother died, Madeline is determined to avoid change. Afraid of the speed in which she forgets little things about her mother, she wants to notice and remember her life as it is by keeping detailed lists. Oh, my heart. Her determination to keep her life exactly as it has always been wavers when she meets Arthur. The truth of it is that Arthur barely takes no for an answer and makes Madeline/"Gwen" his friend and the faire's princess.

The body image focus of this book is brilliant. Both Madeline and Arthur struggle with body acceptance and self love. They are teenagers, so they don't have it all figured out, but I love how these characters grapple with it. Just so thankful whenever a book like this exists so I can pass it along to my kids at the right time.

I felt like the magic of this story had a very slow burn vibe. It took me a bit of time to really get into this, but it was absolutely worth the slower start.

It's about grief. She's at her mom's favorite Ren Faire and it's just one year after she died. The feelings are fresh and constant for our heroine. So while this book does have a "Well Met" but for teens thing going on, it's a deeper and angstier read.

We get a bit of a romcomy teen movie makeover montage with Arthur's dads helping Madeline become princess of the faire, complete with princess worthy gowns.

The romance is just.... perfect. Truly young adult with zero steaminess. Let Arthur set the standard for YA book boyfriends! Like, when she gets a sunburn and he leaves to get aloe and changes their plans to stay in and be adorable together justSTOPit!! It's really sweet, you'll see.

Above all, this one was about letting people in after putting up walls, letting go, being so scared to lose people but being brave and loving them anyway.... goodness, I'll never not get in my feels when I think about this book.

4.5/5⭐️

I loved the two previous books that I’ve read from this author (although one broke my heart), and this one was every bit as wonderful.

This YA takes place at a Renaissance Fair and centers around Gwen/Maddie, a 17-year-old who lost her mother a year before and travels the circuit with her father selling handmade items. She meets quirky Arthur, a bard, who stubbornly works to pull her back into life.

This is a wonderful story with layers of teenage insecurities and includes body image issues, grief therapy, prejudice, and misconceptions. It speaks to the effort of letting go and moving forward from loss and how to let others care for you during trying times and help share the burden.

Beautiful characters, fun setting and a wonderfully sweet relationship between Maddie and Arthur. My only wish? The ending felt a little unresolved to me.

Highly recommended.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing the free early arc of The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: death of parent (past, cancer), grief, brief mentions of homophobia (challenged)

I really enjoyed this book. It was quiet, soft, and discussed so many important topics. Maddie has spent her life traveling with her parents from ren faire to ren faire. But now she's discovering what life looks like after the passing of her mother. This book discuses grief beautifully, how messy it can be, how strange the world is, not wanting to miss anything but also feeling stuck.

Maddie was also curvy/fat and I really enjoyed seeing a fat YA MC, something I wish I had when I was reading as a teenager. It was quite the slow burn with Arthur and I enjoyed every moment of them. Them becoming friends first, the discussions of fate and luck, and just how much of a cinnamon roll and a bit of a dork Arthur was.

This was very much a coming of age for Maddie as she starts to discover what she wants out of life, asking for it, making new friends and just living her life, all while at a ren faire.

Steam: 1

Ashley Schumacher is just one of my faves. She uses words so beautifully and creates characters who you love to love while at the same time, they make you FEEL so many things. I adored Arthur. I didn't expect to. I honestly am not really into Ren Faire's but this setting, these characters, their hearts - it was just so good. With themes of grief, insecurity and self doubt, this YA Romance gives us all the feels and all of the romance with all of the fun that we want.

While this book was not for me personally, I can see how it would appeal to my students so I will continue to keep this in mind for student recommendations. I, however, did love the premise and the setting and would love to try another book by this author in the future!