A sweet, relatable, and introspective story about a teen girl struggling with grief during the first year after her mother's death. Her coping mechanisms are varied, from a journal in which she attempts to notice things she might otherwise forget, to a coin-flipping routine that might help balance choice with fate, to mutual avoidance with her also-grieving father, to relentlessly pushing away a possible new friend because caring comes at a price. Fortunately for Maddie/Gwen, said friend is equally relentless, and recognizes her tactics for what they are. The two bond over a summer of road trips and family barbecues and Renaissance festival shenanigans, until Maddie/Gwen finds new ways to live with her grief. The setting is fun, allowing for hints of Cinderella-esque fantasy (a makeover, poofy gowns, a ball, a rise from vendor to royalty) and some play on themes of heroes and hierarchies, I loved that the two leads had insecurities I think a lot of teen readers will relate to, such that when the fantasy elements were at play, they felt intentional against a story that also includes acne cream and the challenge of finding a pair of jeans that fits properly. A great match for readers looking for a relatable story about grief and transience, with lots of lovely braided themes about fate and personal choice, perception and reality, and making the world a kinder place.

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

After the death of her mother, Madeline Hathaway is stuck. She's stuck keeping notes of everything lest she forget the little things, she stuck making jewelry in her family's caravan because she's too afraid to venture very far outside, she's stuck in the familiar routines because the unknown means nothing but potential heartbreak. So, when her and her father set up at a familiar, and well beloved, Renaissance Faire at the end of the season only to find the new managers have changed everything... Maddie is understandably put on edge. Add in the charming, if annoyingly persistant, bard-- and Maddie soon finds things are changing quicker than she can keep up.

This book hit so many marks for me: plus size female lead, LGBTQ+ representation, well developed main and side characters, and an utterly charming setting. This book is the perfect combination of a SunshinexGrumpy romance and something a little deeper. Not only does the developing relationship take center stage, but so does Madeline's winding journey through grief.

Another reviewer described this book as a mix between Dumplin' and Well Met for young adults, and I think that sums up what this book is perfectly!

⚠️TW - this book mentions: loss of a parent ⚠️

Yay for NetGalley and being able to be chosen to read ARCs! Okay so here's the lowdown on The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway, the cover is what hooked me. I have mentioned in a previous review, I am a sucker for a good cover and I 100% judge books by them.

I like to write up my thoughts as I'm reading and then review at the end, so if you just want the review skip down to the bottom. If you enjoy reading people's thought processes while reading then buckle up!

Very intrigued by the prologue..

Her mom dying is a little emotional, it's almost the anniversary of when I lost my mom to cancer..

I love that the bard calls her Gwen, giving her a "faire" name I'm assuming she starts to use.

I feel like Madeline could have a hint of OCD possibly with her desire to tally things so much? -- did it just start after her mom died? Maybe she's afraid of the things she'll miss out on now that it's just her and her dad?

It was answered, her noticing journal helps her document things that stay the same.

Madeline talking about how she's forgetting things about her mom, I understand that. It's been 4 years in a few weeks and it kills me that I don't remember specific things. I'm thankful to have a saved voicemail that I can listen to when I miss her voice. But I really miss her smile and her laugh.

I love that the bards name is Arthur, definitely explains why he calls Madeline Gwen.

Awe, I hate that Madeline doesn't think she's beautiful just because she's on the bigger side. Weight has no factor in beauty and Arthur was truly calling her beautiful.

"Grief isn't a contest because there are no winners, so we might as well as help each other towards healing" - beautifully said

I like her friend Fatima and how she encourages her to put herself out there.

***She's making matching earrings to match the earrings she made in her before? - maybe it should just be worded different because it says on one page "work on the matching earrings for Fatima's mother" making it seem like she's making earrings.. But the following page it says "but Fatima's dad wants me to make a necklace to match the earrings"

Ahhh!!! I love that Arthur is getting Madeline to be the princess!!

I thought he might live in the castle when she asked him if he lived behind the faire..

The word know is italicized a lot..

Did Arthur pick Madeline because he's attracted to her or because she's the first girl his age he met at faire and needed a princess?

Okay.. a lot of words are italicized..

Arthur is a good egg, making sure things aren't happening without the approval of everyone involved.

I like how Arthur is pulling her out of the shell that she's crawled into since losing her mom.

When does the Wizened Old Wizard make another appearance?

I love that her mom was a princess too.

She's starting to care even though she won't admit it.

This book is making me miss high school, and I NEVER miss high school. Well, maybe it's making me miss the innocent years of first crushes and first loves..

I can relate to her upset when she wants to tell her mom about her good day but can't. I was given a journal when my mom passed and told to "write to her" as if I would be able to get a response..

Arthur is so sweet. I just love how he respects her. But I feel sad because it comes from a place of self-doubt and being unsure of everything.

I love his story of why he calls her Gwen.

I relate to Arthur when he talks about people judging him for being too skinny and making snide comments about him being skinny enough.. and I understand where Madeline is coming from too. I grew up with body issues that unfortunately are very real in our society.

She's heartbroken that her fate coin told her she shouldn't like Arthur 😔

Does Madeline correlate caring with friendship or is she thinking about a relationship?

***On his page she holds up earrings to show Fatima.. so what was she supposed to be making? Jewelry to match earrings or specifically a necklace? I'm confused.

I have an inkling that when she goes to confess her feelings that Bre is going to be there...

Awe, just as bad as if she were there. He is excited about the people he basically said he doesn't care about, coming to work at the faire.. and then to top it off, he didn't say he was didn't want Bre as the princess.

I love the idea of going shopping and just grabbing sizes and not looking at the tags. It makes a lot of sense.

I also find it weird that not only are so many things italicized, but Ashley Schumacher adds dashes-to-phrases-so-much.

The Center of the Universe sounds like an actual cool place to visit. - I had to Google and see if it was a real place.

I love that he played her a song for her mom and it helped her remember things.

The thoughtfulness he put into this gift. I swear, Arthur is well beyond his years.

Arthur isn't jealous because of Bre, he's jealous because of Madeline.

Awe, poor Arthur with his insecurities and thinking that Madeline likes Noah 😔

OMG!!! TWIST!! Martin is the Wizened Old Wizard!!! I love it!

Okay, so my final thoughts are that this book was absolutely everything I needed to read. The little blurb about this book said it was "Dunplin' meets Well Met" and here's what I think about that... yes! Madeline is so much like Willowdean in the way that she starts out self-conscious but self-aware of her plus sized body and assumes that everyone is focusing on that quality, and she has so much character growth with the help of Arthur. Her unsuspecting friendship with Bre and Noah matches Willowdean's friendship with the pagent girls. Add in Well Met's Ren Faire setting and it is perfect!

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the eARC!

So this book started fine and kept going in the fine category for a while. I loved that Arthur wasn’t some hot hunk who she just salivated over the whole time. I liked that Maddie was a plus-sized girl who had insecurities. I loved the two of them but their tale was mostly just fine….

Until…..

The last 1/3? of the book was so beautiful and spot on and adoringly mesmerizing. There’s a scene that just took my breath away and then another few that made me tear up and I almost fainted when secrets were revealed and we learned things that made my jaw drop - in a good way.

This book was all about what fate means, what grief does and how it looks for different people and different situations, teenage insecurity and body type insecurity, and two kids who genuinely like being in each other’s presence.

I do still need to take off a star for the middle of the book where it kind of fell a little flat but I LOVED that ending. Perfect.

Highly recommend to any YA contemporary fan and anyone who liked Amelia Unabridged!

As a fan of the Ren Faire, I found this adorable and refreshing. Excellent read. The characters were likable and relatable. Some whimsy, mixed with the heavy topic of grief, but overall it managed to be a good feeling book.

I received an e-ARC of The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway on Netgalley in exchange for my thoughts and review.
I loved so many things about this YA romance. The setting is so very fun and makes me want to head to the nearest Ren Faire. Maddie is a wonderful, wonderful FMC with so many great moments. Her grief responses, her precious friendships, and her moment of gracious self-love in the Target dressing room make her one of my favorite YA FMCs. The references and the side characters are clever and lovely.
*****Slight spoilers ahead*****
The book loses a star because of Arthur, honestly. I love the *idea* of an insecure, skinny bardling as the MMC, but in execution I mostly found him annoying. He spends the first third of the book badgering Maddie into things she doesn’t want to do and calling her a made up name, which any teenage girl will tell you is Gilbert-Blythe-level nonsense not acceptable as flirting in the year of our lord 2022. Then he spends the last third of the book sulking and side-glancing. At his sweet spot he really was worthy of Maddie, but he spent so much of the plot *not* being worthy of her that I wanted to slug him.
However, I will definitely be adding this one to the cart for my library’s YA collection, and I might even revisit my own copy to spend more time with Maddie.

Fun, cute, a great setting, but what I really loved most was that Schumacher didn't make anyone the villain--the 'other girl' the 'other girl's new boyfriend' were so fantastic as characters, that I honestly enjoyed the book more because of it. Maybe it seems like Maddie changed her mind and heart about Arthur a little too quickly, maybe there were times where I rolled my eyes and just wanted them to talk to each other honestly, but overall, very cute.

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathway feels like getting a big hug from life. An "it's okay to trust yourself, to love yourself, and to love other people."

Madeline's family travels most of the year as shopkeepers at renaissance fairs. When Madeline loses her mom, she copes with the loss through journaling and "noticing." On the first anniversary of her mother's death, Maddie and her dad are at her mother's favorite fair; however, this year, it's entirely different. New owners have completely changed the fair, and the change is difficult for Madeline to accept. When Maddie meets a persistent and friendly boy/bard, a friendship (and maybe romance) ensues that Maddie isn't ready for. Can she open up again? How can she care for someone if she can lose them so easily?

The setting of this book is quirky and magical. The relationships are wholesome and the characters are lovable. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt uncomfortable in their skin or dealt with loss. A perfect YA read.

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was provided with an eARC of this book in exchange for a fair review.

This was a fun, touching, and enjoyable read. I loved Gwen and my heart went out to her as she grieved her mother's passing. I definitely equal parts wanted to hug her and shake her, as she fails to see her own self worth much of the time. Arthur was the literal definition of a cinnamon roll - incredibly kind and understanding and accepting. He got Gwen to step outside her comfort zone, but did so in a way that wasn't pushy or manipulative. I loved all of the rep in the book, from Arthur's dad to a wide array of skin colors to all sorts of body types. All of this was amazing, and then put it in a renaissance faire setting and you have me sold. Two words: camel jousts. *chuckles* So good.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to my students. It's interesting and deals with issues like grief, loss, mental health issues, friendships, and more. I think Madeline is a relatable character for many students even if they don't grow up as a traveling performer because of her struggles and ultimate growth that comes from having experienced hardship in her young life. The romance was fun, light-hearted, and interesting and propelled me through the book and kept me invested in the story.

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway by Ashley Schumacher was a delightful and fun read about (obviously) Madeline (Gwen) and her life travelling from one ren faire to another. After her mother dies, she's finding it hard to adjust, so she keeps lists in order to keep everything exactly the same. This turns into an obsession with her and she's constantly starting new lists, especially when she arrives at the biggest faire of the year, one that her mother loved. There she meets her Arthur the Bard, the son of the event space owners and boy who sees past all of her lists and self-perceived flaws to the real "Gwen".

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, it was a breath of fresh air this summer! Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a sweet and wholesome read! The protagonist Madeline was very relatable. It took me back to my insecure days in high school when I didn’t know how to love my body. I never felt right in my body or worthy of romantic attention. This is a book that teen girls NEED. Madeline learns to accept love from others and how to give it to herself. I wish I had this type of book when I younger.

The main relationship was absolutely precious and the couple had such easy chemistry. The Renaissance faire setting made the story stand out and was executed well without being cheesy. I would have plotted the novel a bit differently and introduced some characters sooner (hence the 4 stars instead of 5), but all in all this was a solid romcom and one I will wholeheartedly recommend.

3.25 stars

This was a good story, with some good messages (body acceptance, taking your time to process grief, and reaching out for help via therapy), but I think I just don't have patience for teenagers any more. I like some YA, but I think I've just realized I primarily like YA that isn't too realistic (i.e. sort of magical) and this one might have just been too heavy on real-life teenagers for me.

The Ren Faire setting and the road trips were great. I was less enamored of the Gwen/Madeline's tendency to push Arthur away and how quickly she leapt to (erroneous) conclusions. Teenagers are kind of annoying. And given the amount of grief a 17-year-old would have after losing her mom, there is definitely a lot of sadness in this book. I did love Arthur's dads and their Ren Faire style and they provided a lot of fun moments. I did expect "the twist," but I was OK with that.

Overall, a solid YA read.

This was a really fun book that kept me wanting to just keep reading. And I love when a book gives me that feeling!

The characters were what totally won me over with this book. The banter between Maddie and Arthur was great. I loved every time Tim and Martin were on page. I also was absolutely in love with Noah and Bre. It’s such a joy to read about people who are just so happy and kind, and I got that feeling a lot while reading this book.

I do want to note that based on the description, I did not expect the death of Maddie’s mother, and Maddie’s grief about it, to be such a big inclusion in this story. I personally tend to struggle with parental death storylines, and while I did know that was in this going in, the amount of the book that it took up surprised me. That being said, I do think it was written well. I just wanted to mention it in case someone like me, who may struggle with that topic, reads this review.

The plus size rep felt very real. I thought that it was realistic for how a 17 year old girl would feel about her body, and I feel like the Target scene was just so appreciated. It added some positivity to some rather negative feelings, especially with how Maddie was feeling at the time. And I think it was a really good turning point for her.

I initially didn’t love the prologue, however I really like how it came back around at the end. That was unexpected, but in a great way! I have mixed feelings about how the book ended in the epilogue, but I didn’t enjoy the chapter before that. I do understand that a young adult novel generally means more of a HFN as opposed to a HEA, but I was a bit disappointed. But in the end, I did really enjoy reading this book, and I’m glad to have done so.

Thank you to Wednesday Books & NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book!

A cutesy rom Com with a plus size main character. It was a quick read, and I enjoyed it

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

I enjoyed this book, there wasn't an overwhelming amount of fat shaming within it. I would say that I am probably not the target audience once I really got into the story. Overall I would recommend it to others who want a cutesy romcom with plus size rep.

Filled with vibrant storytelling, The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway delivers on gut punching moments of grief, but also a very fun romance that will make you laugh. I love the casual mentions of Gwen's body type. I feel like many books featuring a plus size main character often focuses too much on that. Gwen Hathaway is an enjoyable and relatable character that will likely help a lot of teens who look like her and/or who are going through a similar grieving process. I recommend this to anyone who wants to have their heartstrings pulled, but also wants to laugh out loud.

i was pleasantly surprised with this book. i think YA body positive representation is very important, especially for younger readers, and i think this book handled it really well. i was worried that the ren faire plot would read corny but was happy to find out i loved it!!!!

This was cute but it didn't really hold my attention.

Maddy has a bit of a strange life. Her family has worked Renaissance faires for her whole life, meaning she travels from faire to faire in an RV and does school online. She has one friend that was also on the circuit, and has recently lost her mom to cancer. Maddy and her dad are trying to figure out how to go on without her. They go back to her favorite faire grounds, but it was sold last summer, and the new owners have changed everything. They also have a son who convinces Maddy to be princess of the faire. Maddy is determined to keep her heart closed and keep to herself, but Arthur (the son) isn't giving up so easily.

I think this was a little too YA for me (yes, I realize that's what it is). Maddy and Arthur seem younger than high school seniors. The noticings drove me crazy, and so did Maddy's resistance, and the fact that neither of them could tell the other what they were feeling. I wish we had more time with them together and less of the angst.

I did enjoy Maddy's growth as a character (particularly the Target scene where she realizes her body is not what she thought it was). I liked the road trips and the scene with the journal being buried.

Otherwise, I felt like this was slow moving and dragged out.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

1 Sentence Summary: Madeline has been working the renaissance faire circuit with her parents ever since she was a child, but after her mother died it hasn’t been the same, especially when she finds out her mother’s favorite faire stop has been remodeled by new owners that also happen to have a son her age who ropes her into becoming princess of the faire.

My Thoughts: I liked this, but it wasn’t particularly amazing. It was well written and I really liked the theme of taming the world to make it kinder that was brought up a lot. And the renaissance faire aspect was interesting, though I thought it could have been fleshed out more.

My biggest complaint, however, was the characters. I just didn’t really care about them and they were all kind of annoying. And I didn’t super love the romance either. Like, Arthur is obsessed with Maddie even though she’s constantly rude to him and I didn’t really get why. They didn’t have a lot of chemistry and I didn’t ship them. And also the secondary characters were all very one-dimensional.

Recommend to: People who want to read a YA romance set at a renaissance faire.

(Warnings: swearing; mentions of death)