First of all, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this tale of a bard and a reluctant princess at faire. That type of experience is interesting to me, though I'm not sure how my readers will feel about it. Books set in a niche experience like ComicCon, Ren Faire, living history experiences, and so on seem to not do as well in my library. I liked Maddy's growth journey, and I was glad to see much concern for consent modeled throughout the story. Ultimately, though, I think this will be a book that lives in the corner of my mind as something I enjoyed while reading but promptly forget about. Will purchase if I have enough funding, but it will be a secondary purchase.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC. This was a tale of learning to live with grief and memories as well as embrace your truest self. I loved how this was written and the character development was on point. I am not a big fan of YA and I missed that key detail but I still loved reading this and hope you will too!

5 stars

This book touched my heart so deeply as a recovering theatre kid, as a fat woman, and as a Rennie. The only thing that would have made this book better is if it had been released when I was Maddie's age. I can only imagine how revelatory the experience of reading this would have been to the contrary, emotionally overwhelmed girl that I was back then.

Ashley Schumacher has this immense gift for character and prose that touches on what it means to be human and specifically, what it means to be a teenager. She manages to strike this wonderful balance between creating flawed characters and making us sympathize with them every step of the way. It is not easy to make a book that goes to such extremes of joy and sadness feel cohesive, but I never doubted this story or this author for a second. I absolutely loved this book and I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy ASAP!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

4.5

so cute and so honest. i LOVED arthur and gwen, and how well they complimented each other/made each other grow. i connected to gwen in a way i haven’t with a lead in a long time; some of her thoughts and feelings were ones i’ve had myself. extremely well-written, and the anniversary memorial moved me to tears.

#netgalley

This book was so adorable. I loved every second of it! It kept a nice steady pace throughout and kept me wanting to read more. I thought it dealt with grief nicely as well. I really enjoyed this book. Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy of the arc in return for an honest review!

This YA novel sounded like fun, as it is set over one summer in a Renaissance Faire, but it turned out to be so much more. Madeline (later nicknamed Gwen for reasons that unfold) is trying to find her way after the devastating death of her mother almost a year ago. She and her dad have continued to peddle their handmade jewelry and leather goods at a series of fairs along their annual route, while 17-year-old Madeline goes to school online from their RV home. Separated from her best friend when Fatima's family opts out of the Renaissance Faire traveling lifestyle and reluctant to let anyone else into her life for fear of losing them, she sometimes makes decisions with a flip of an heirloom coin. Madeline never expected to find her mother's favorite fair almost unrecognizable under new management. Nor did she expect to meet an unimpressive-looking boy her own age who plays the lute, fancies himself a bard, and begs her to be the princess of the Faire.

It is the beautiful, insightful writing that makes this book shine. We agonize along with Madeline as she tries to "tame" her world and find a way to trust her own instincts and reconnect with life. Arthur, her new acquaintance, is one of the most surprising, engaging, and charming male protagonists I have encountered in a long time. It would be hard not to root for these two. Supporting characters such as Madeline's father, her friend Fatima, , Arthur's two dads, and two theater kids from the local high school are sensitively and realistically portrayed. Finally, the way this particular Renaissance Faire is described is almost magical. I'll definitely be looking for the author's two previous books. Highly recommended.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, for allowing me to read The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway early!

Incredibly fun and moving, The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway is a little contemporary gem with an amazing fat protagonist.

Ashley is quickly becoming a favorite YA author. This story deals with the loss of a parent and what to do after something traumatic like that happens. For Madeline, she's nervous to forge new relationships, afraid that eventually everyone will leave her. This book shows what can happen when you finally let go and let fate take you where you're supposed to go.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from St. Martin's Press and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.


Fun, cute, full of whimsy. You'll find the characters relatable and the story enjoyable.

If I could give this book 10 stars, I would in a heartbeat.
Ashley Schumacher's third book, The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway, is an amazing story of grief and finding friendship.
I felt absolutely sucked into Maddie (Gwen) and Arther's adventures, and the brilliance of their ren faire life.
THIS WAS SO CUTE I WANTED IT TO GO ON FOREVER.
I want to add that Ashley seems to have mastered writing grief in a way that makes the character's pain (and healing) so palpable.
This story has only solidified that Ashely Schumacher is now an auto buy author for me.
I can't wait to have this physical book in my hands to I can read it on rainy days with a cup of coffee and feel like I'm returning home.

I had so many five starred readings lately. But in my opinion; some books deserve extra shiny plus star to be differentiated and praised for its brilliance! This is absolutely one of them that deserves six starred review! This book is so sentimental, sweet, motivating, heartwarming!

Could you fall in love with a book as soon as you read its first chapter? That’s what happened to me! We meet with ten years old Madeline Hathaway who is raised in Faire circuit, carrying a magical coin that gives her true answers each time she flips, worrying about her mom’s health issues and questioning the fate.

She meets with mysterious Wizened Old Wizard who wants her three precious belongings in exchange of great advice. Then he gives her a tiny globe at the middle of delicate gold chain as he advises her taming the world with kindness. Next day she comes back to meet him, she realizes he vanished into thin air as if he’s never been there!

We move forward to meet with 17 years old Madeline who lost her mother nearly one year ago, still grieving, traveling around in their RV with her father, planning to spend her summer stick on her routine: reading her comics, applying her special hair and face treatments, staying away from the crowd!

But one thing she didn’t expect is meeting with Arthur, joyful lute playing bard, who is the son of Faire’s new owners, calling her Gwen short for his Guinevere, invading her comfort zone to become her friend!

She finds herself as faire’s new princess, saluting to people, walking along with two kings.
She also finds herself joining road trips with Arthur, discovering the fabulous attractions around Oklahoma.

She breaks her promises to open her heart to new people! She doesn’t want to get connected because there’s always risk to lose them forever. After losing her mother, she cannot get through from another hurt!

But Arthur already got her under her skin. She rejects to become friends with him from the beginning but now she realizes she wants to be more than friends with him.

Madeline has to learn loving herself, embracing her body shape, her insecurities, opening her heart to love, kindness, friendship! Could she tame her life for her own happiness?

I loved this book so much! I even loved it more than author’s fantastic debut “ Amelia Unabridged “!

I loved to see how Madeline’s character got out of her cocoon, embracing the change and dear Arthur was so patient, caring, sweet mud pie!
Both of their dads earned so many hugs!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press / Wednesday Books for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Madeline Hathaway knows a few things in life—1. It isn’t fair as she’s almost a year out from the death of her mother. 2. Fate is not real. No seriously. It isn’t. And 3. If she never lets anyone else into her heart, it’ll be the smartest thing she can do. When she finds herself at her mother’s favorite stop on the Ren Faire circuit, she’s not expecting a pushy, charismatic bard to find her. Will Madeline (aka Gwen) let Arthur be more than a Ren Faire distraction? Time can only can tell.

Get your box of tissues ready, y’all. This book is such a tender portrayal of grief and adolescence that it’s going to wreck you. I cannot remember the last time I wished that a character was real like I did with Maddie. I wanted to give her the biggest hug during this whole book. Also we stan Arthur. He is a gem and should be protected at all cost. I found myself rooting for them the entire book and was ready to fight off fate to give them the HEA they deserve.

Well, this was just a delight of a read. I wouldn't have thought I'd dig Renaissance Fair romance so much, but every time I find my way to one of these, I find I'm just captivated. So, I guess this is who I am now. Anyway, we're not here to talk about me. This was just a sweet, light read that I needed in my life. The story focuses on Gwen Hathaway who sees the Renaissance Fair as a lasting connection to her dead mother. But this year, when Gwen and her father return to the Fair, it's under new ownership. Gwen doesn't want things to change, and she resents the new ownership until she meets Arthur, the owner's son. As much as she doesn't want to, they form a friendship, and he gets Gwen to take some chances on adventures with him as well as her role in the Fair. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this read due out in March 2023.

Wow! Just did not expect to like this book as much as I did. A young adult renaissance fantasy romance book just seemed a bit out there. But I was hooked almost immediately.

The booked flowed seamlessly and before I knew it u had reas 59 percent of the book and it was king past my bedtime. So, I just kept reading. Why stop, I can sleep in? So that is what I did.

Great cast of characters. Just an overall fantastic book.

Glad I took the plunge.

Recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and the author for granting me a copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

This was a really cute and heart-warming book. I always enjoy the grumpy/sunshine trope. Loved the body positivity, too.

I loved this authors two previous books. So it was only fitting for me to read her third!
And y'all it was a prodigious read!
Ashley is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers.

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway by Ashley Schumacher was so much fun!
The writing is yet again brilliant, she allows the reader to see deep inside these characters.
I found myself drawn into the story very early on.
The characters are well rounded, well developed and kind with big personalities!
A sweet, funny and marvelous book that had such heart.
Written with perfect chemistry, so smart, very humorous, extremely entertaining and heartfelt!
I loved Schumacher's newest baby!
Once I opened this book up I didn't stop!

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

St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my blog, platforms, BookBub, B&N, Kobo and Waterstone closer to pub date.

The book's premise was what hooked me from the beginning. That and I loved her previous book Amelia Unabridged. I was so happy to get a copy of this. Triggers of past death of a parent.

Madeline grew up within the Renaissance Faire community. Her parents moved around to work at all the Faires in the year while homeschooling her and selling jewelry/journals as income. Madeline lost her mom the year before and even though it was years coming she was unprepared for the huge loss it would cause her. Her mom's last gift to her was the family's coin, it's legacy was to predict outcomes to important questions.

When Madeline arrived to their favorite Faire, it was radically changed. Fellow player as a Bard, Arthur, took an interest to become her friend and to help her with her grieving process. He was the new Faire owner’s son and he made her the princess of the Faire. Which was adorable!! I loved Maddie, even though she can be a bit stubborn. She was scared of losing more people she cared about so she made it her mission not to do so. I liked that she had to go through a lot to overcome some part of the grieving process and to acknowledge that it’s okay to care about others. I especially loved Arthur. He was so kind to her and truly cared about her. He was able to make her care again with all those fun road trips. I also loved that he had two amazing and fun dads that truly loved anything Renaissance. I would love to read their story one day. Maddie’s father was pretty much absent, but understandable that he was grieving too. I liked how he explained the Coin legacy and to be open to new possibilities.

The ending was cute, but I wanted more. Maybe something along the lines of what happens in 6 months. But I’m greedy. Overall, the story was cute and heartwarming that I definitely recommend to others.

I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you so much!

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books and St Martin's Press for allowing me to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"The mark of maturity isn't perfection... but rather the ability to right your wrongs."

After reading Full Flight and Amelia Unabridged, I went into reading The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway with tissues at my side. The tissues did not get used but I definitely got teary-eyed. I swear Ashley Schumacher just wants all of her readers to cry and feel all the emotions.

"I've read a thousand poems about how thoughts are constellations and scattered stars.... right now all of my emotions are lava, burning liquid coals that can't be distinguished as anything other than dangerous sludge..."

I do adore Madeline and Arthur. Their growing friendship is precious and the story felt like a warm hug. I love Schumacher's writing style. She really made me feel like I was walking beside Madeline and feeling her grief and loss of her mother.

"The things that can bring us the most pain in life can also bring us the greatest joy."

I'm so glad Ashley Schumacher did not pit Madeline and Bre against each other in the end. It's important for women to support each other and not tear the other down. I understood Madeline's assumptions but I'm so happy it was more of a misunderstanding and there might be a friendship between them in the future.

My favorite chapter is 16. If you've read the book you know why, if you haven't you are not prepared.

"...does anyone even remember Rosalind? No. Not the audience, not Romeo, because the second he saw Juliet, it was endgame."

Schumacher knows how to tug on the heartstrings. Her storytelling is always so immersing, cinematic and relatable. I didn't want to stop reading. I absolutely look forward to Ashley Schumacher's fourth book!

4.5 stars

Anytime I hear of a book that has a fat main character I jump right in. I was so excited to read this story and I’m glad I did! However, the first 50% of the book was so dull. I had to push myself to get through it. I didn’t find our MC fully developed most of the time. She felt flat. Now the second half of the book was cute. I enjoyed it so much and the ending made everything worth it. Arthur and his parents were so delightful. Those characters felt well developed. All in all, good book.

This is the book for a renaissance fair romance fans! Ashley Schumacher always seems to bring the feels. I'm not going to lie, I loved everything about a cute grumpy-sunshine young adult contemporary romance and setting was so much fun.
Above all, The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway is high quality and fast paced fun! It's one of those books where time flew by and I got entirely swept up by the story!

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