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.

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. This was an clean, fun, and well written contemporary ya romance. Maddie who is plus size and lost her mom undergoes the journey of acceptance--self, grief, etc. Arthur is forever cheerful and is somewhat nerdy. I love all the interactions the two have!!! The road trips, family BBQ, and the ball! Loved the characters in this book and highly recommend this novel!

This has some really cute moments. I loved the setting of the faire; I actually wish there had been much more of that, with the jousting and fun insults. The scene with Arthur challenging Noah to combat towards the end may have been my favorite part of the book. I must say, I didn’t find it quite as charming as I thought I would. I might be the wrong audience now but I found a lot of the angst to be overdone.

This book goes way beyond a cute grumpy-sunshine teen romance in a fun renaissance faire setting. You can’t help but fall in love with Madeline (Gwen) and Arthur and it’s so much fun watching them go on adventures together! I adored Arthur’s family and want to be invited to their next barbecue.

What really resonated with me though was the exploration of grief and how we feel about our bodies. When Madeline’s mother passed away, she falls into a pattern of trying to control her fate by sticking to the same routine and by not letting anyone in to her heart so that she won’t be hurt again. Her journey out of this was beautiful, and I don’t want to spoil anything, but that scene in Target was one of the best I’ve read in a long time!

Definitely recommend this book and look forward to many more from this author!

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for this ARC.

Fun YA book about the Renaissance Faire and plus size character. Really loved reading and can't wait for more books by Ashley Schumacher
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own

Loved this book about Renaissance Faires. Well written, enjoyable, and kept my attention the whole way through.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own