I don't think Ashley Schumacher can write a fluffy book, but I guess this is as close as it'll get. Compared to her other two books, this has less angst and trauma. Madeline is dealing with the grief of losing her mom, but even though it's an important part of the story, I didn't feel like it completely overwhelmed the narrative.

I thought the way the author dealt with Madeline being fat was a bit uneven. Madeline seemed to start off by saying that she had no body image issues, but then we're constantly being told that she feels awkward in certain clothes and walks around sucking in her stomach because she worries what people might think. I appreciate the representation, but it wasn't what I was expecting based on what Maddie said at the beginning.

This book is mostly about the romance between Maddie and Arthur, which was pretty cute, but overall I would say it's not very memorable. Still a fun read, though, especially if you like renaissance fairs.

Another perfect Ashley Schumacher book. What I love about Ashley's writing is how thoughtful it feels and how much you can tell Ashley cares about her characters. Everything feels so heartfelt and authentic!

My big note on this book is that the characters felt too... normal. Look, anyone who has been to a Ren Faire knows that there's some wild stuff happening. It's unhinged. A kid who grew up in that environment wouldn't be quite so... Bella Swan. People embrace a real sense of abandon in these places. I once saw a woman wearing soup ladles... as a bra! There are so many micro-climates within the Ren Faire (fairies, dark wizards, forest witches, whatever!)... I would have loved to get the sense that Gwen has developed a more interesting, unique personality from this atypical childhood.

With Gwen, I didn't even get the sense that she had any of her own interests. What does this kid even like!?

That's the big one.

I do think this world is a very fun sandbox to play in. I like Arthur's gentle, supportive approach. I think we could have resolved his people-pleasing issues a bit more concretely.

Loved the twist that Bri ended up being a friend, and the story with her ghosting Arthur was a bit more complex than we originally assumed.

Madeline Hathaway met an old wizard that gave her a token and gave her a motto to live by years ago. She is currently grieving her mother, who passed away a year ago. At the same time, she is struggling with reconciling all of the changes that have occurred to the last faire that her mother attended the previous year. One of the major changes she is struggling with is the new owners and their son, Arthur. Arthur convinces Maddie, or Gwen, as he calls her, to work the faire as the princess with his fathers, who are the kings. In this, their friendship begins to develop and change. It was an entertaining story and came full circle in the end. I really enjoyed it.

I have been hesitant to read this author as I've heard her books are soul-crushing, should-come-with-a-box-of-tissues kind of stories. However, I was completely lured in by the promise of a Ren Faire romance. I really enjoyed a plus-size heroine - and that she's actually depicted as such on the cover!!! - but the rest of the book was entirely forgettable for me.

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway is a coming of age story about a young girl learning how to deal with the mental health repercussions of loss, set in the backdrop of a renaissance faire. Full disclosure, I have never actually been to a ren fair but have many friends who love them, so i feel ren fair adjacent. I liked the writing of this book, it was the right balance of detail and focus with a lot of care taken towards Maddie's body image issues and mental health concerns. I like the portrayal of Arthur and his trying to find a balance between confidence and insecurities. It would be a great book for a teenager/young adult.

DNF

This book was slow and something about it was not grabbing my attention. I have loved Ashley's other book but this didn't feel like the same author...

With the upcoming anniversary of her mother’s death, a teenager is determined to spend her summer in introspection. When she meets a boy who insists that their meeting is fate, the teen realizes she’ll have to decide whether fate is something that happens to her or something she creates. Author Ashley Schumacher returns with her trademark wry humor and surprising characters in the sweet, albeit quiet, book The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway.

Despite growing up on the Ren faire circuit, Maddie Hathaway is dreading the Stormsworth Ren faire in Oklahoma. Stormsworth was her mom’s favorite, but this year it’s happening during the first anniversary of her mom’s death. Even though Maddie has taken up the jewelry making where her mom left off, she knows her pieces aren’t as good. None of them have sold as well as her mom’s jewelry.

Maddie almost doesn’t mind that part. She would rather hole up in the RV anyway reading poetry, chatting with her childhood best friend, and catching up on her favorite comic books. It can get awkward with her dad, though; they’ve edged around the subject of her mom’s passing. Coming to Stormsworth helps a little. It’s a familiar place, and Maddie hopes being there will help her feel closer to her mom. When she and her dad check out the faire grounds, though, it’s like walking into a brand new place. The faire is under new management, and it’s immediately obvious.

Some things are the same, like the vendor booths where they’ll set up with Maddie’s jewelry and her dad’s handmade journals. But now there’s an actual castle on the faire grounds, a solid structure and not one made of foam or cardboard or anything. And there’s a moat! Granted, the crocodiles in the moat are inflated, but still. Who in the 21st century actually needs—or wants—a moat?

Then Maddie meets Arthur, the son of the new owners. Arthur introduces himself as the bard of the faire and actually plays the lute he carries around. He also takes an immediate liking to Maddie, giving her the nickname of Gwen and somehow convincing his parents to make Maddie the princess of the event. That means Maddie has to get all dressed up in fancy costumes all day and greet visitors, neither of which she wants to do. Who wants to see a plus-size princess sweating in the summer Oklahoma heat?

Arthur, though, is incredibly persuasive. More than that, he’s genuinely kind and funny and manages to convince Maddie to go on day trips to visit the sites in nearby towns around the faire. All of it is taking Maddie’s attention away from her poetry and her jewelry and her journaling. She’s supposed to be spending the summer thinking about her mom and figuring out how to handle the upcoming anniversary, not riding in an ancient car the color of an avocado, eating more Tootsie Pops than she can count, and traipsing around the faire pretending to be beautiful and confident. Why can’t Arthur just leave her alone?

What’s worse, Arthur keeps talking about fate as if it’s a real thing. Maddie knows from personal experience that it isn’t. If it was, she wouldn’t be facing this summer without her mom. But the more time Maddie and Arthur spend together, the more she realizes that maybe fate isn’t just about how life unfolds on its own. Maybe it’s about what you do next.

Author Ashley Schumacher writes teen characters with an ease and confidence that carry readers through all of her books. Maddie is likeable and relatable. Her weight and body issues don’t overtake the novel, yet they’re also a constant underlying factor in how she views herself and the world. Readers in the target audience will relate to that worldview and easily see how it translates to their own personal challenges.

The book’s quiet approach may make some readers impatient. The core conflict—Will Maddie be able to deal with the upcoming anniversary of her mother’s death?—is answered when Arthur enters the novel the first time. The resulting story, then, is more about the inevitability of watching Maddie come to the answer.

Regardless, Schumacher gives readers a treat in that she doesn’t follow tried-and-true tropes. There are no bullies or teenage terminal illnesses, just the slow, steady development of a young woman learning to accept her circumstances and becoming a better person because of them. Anyone who enjoys an empowering book will definitely want to pick this up.

This is the best YA romance I've read in a long time, maybe ever. We follow Maddie, who goes by Gwen for a portion of this book, as she copes with the loss of her mother and her self-image, all while she travels the Ren Faire circuit with her father. We get to see her grieve, and then learn to open up and trust, and it all happens as she falls for a sweet boy named Arthur whose parents buy a Ren Faire where she's working. He's kind, and patient, and doesn't make some big dumb declaration about not noticing she's plus-sized or whatever. There is no betrayal or horrible thing he does that they need to overcome, it's just a sweet and funny and cute story about young love with sweet people and how they learn to trust each other. I couldn't rave about this enough!

At the height of the pandemic, I was introduced to @ashwritesbooks writing. Her gorgeous debut, Amelia Unabridged, was followed up by an equally gorgeous sophomore release, Full Flight. (Their covers are also gorgeous, btw). So when I saw she had a third book out, i jumped at the chance to read it. I don’t read a lot of YA anymore, so when I do, you know it’s something special.

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway takes us into the world of Madeline Hathaway, a teenage girl who grew up in the Renaissance faire circuit. After losing her mom last year, this particular season of faires has been pretty hard, namely their latest stop- which was always her mother’s favorite.

At this point you might be wondering why I am referring to the main character as Madeline when the title states her name is Gwen. Well, to quote the great @elyse_myers, that’s a great question, I’d love to tell you. See, Madeline “becomes” Gwen after meeting a fellow faire kid, Arthur, one night by chance. Despite her best efforts to explain her name is not Gwen, Arthur insists upon calling her such, finally explaining he’s nicknamed her Gwen after Guinevere, a swoon-worthy foreshadowing if there ever was one.

Arthur is persistent in his attempt to lure Madeline into hanging out with him, although the guarded part of her continually insists this definitely does not mean the two are friends. Then Arthur manages the impossible, convincing the insecure Madeline to stand in as Princess of the Faire. Although a part of her wants to stay rooted in mourning the loss of her mother, another part of her finds herself wanting to embrace change. Before long, Madeline finds the renaissance faire inspiring her own, personal renaissance.

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway tackles a myriad of difficult subjects including loss, coming of age, and even body positivity. All are touched upon with humor and heart. This is one coming of age novel that’s sure to come into its own with the right audience.

Wait this was soo cute! I love the Ren Faire angle and it was just a lovely read. I really identified with the female MC in so many ways.

This was really cute, I had fun reading it. It wasn't my favorite of Ashley Schumacher's books, but I loved Gwen and Arthur. I really enjoyed the plot and the setting - I'm such a sucker for a Renaissance Faire. This was just a feel good book that felt very relatable and kept me interested the whole time. I cannot wait to see what Ashley writes next, I'm a forever fan.

This book was unbelievably cute. If this book were a person, you would want to pinch its cheeks. I figured it would be a YA novel with a renaissance fair in the background; it was so much more!

Maddie was so damn likable and relatable, even when I occasionally wanted to smack her upside the head. I wish there had been more characters like Maddie when I was a YA reading YA fiction; it might have made high school and those insecurities more bearable.

Arthur was amazing. He is what every girl should dream of and then maybe we would not have such a toxic dating culture.

Overall, this book was amazing and adorable. I would definitely recommend it.

Note: My original review was longer, but apparently Netgalley logged me out and it didn't save. I can't remember what it said and this was the best I could do to recreate it.

Cute book, I don't normally read YA, but I enjoyed the cover and wanted to see what it was about. I love the themes of inclusivity and would love to see it on shelves in school libraries!

While I have enjoyed other Ashley Schumacher books I've read, The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway was just a bit of a disappointment for me. First, it took me forever to pick up - I think I read the first chapter three times before I finally committed to the book via audio.

But, throughout the story, I couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment and detachment from the characters. While I was eager for a coming-of-age story, with potential for a young romance, I just never felt like I had genuine empathy or emotional investment in them or the plot. They all felt a bit one-dimensional.

Overall, I still adore Schumacher and would be eager to read anything she writes - but this on

This was a good YA novel, with a fun setting, that touched on some serious topics! Overall, I would recommend to those who think it sounds good!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

Sweet romance novel for the tween and teen set. While I appreciated seeing concerns about both male and female body expectations, I wish Gwen had demonstrated more interest in Arthur's own anxiety about his body and given that idea more space to breathe. The humor helped move the story along (Gwen's self hatred spirals were sometimes a bit of a slog) and I loved Arthur and his family. The cover makes it look like Gwen's weight is a major plot element which feels slightly disingenuous. While Gwen is obviously very anxious about her own body, the reactions of other characters strongly suggest she is not particularly overweight and instead both too self critical and wrapped up in her very legitimate grief. I think folks who see this cover might assume the story has Dumplin' vibes, which it does not.

I absolutely adored this novel. This will be, if it is not already, the book of the summer.

From the first page I was drawn into the story, and read late into the night. This is one of those books that you just can’t stop reading, and for good reason. This truly is a story about finding who you are, learning how to take risks, and discovering what it means to take fate by the horns.

I really enjoyed how well all the characters were developed, and how it really felt like I was walking beside Maddie during her grieving and learning to cope. These are such important parts of life, and Maddie was really shaped by how these events changed her life. Her newfound friends seemed to each fulfill the opposite of these symptoms, and she had such an important arc throughout the story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books and the author for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.

A laid back, cutesy YA contemporary romance with a fun setting and some good inclusivity. There were a lot of difficult topics covered in the narrative, but they weren't too heavily investigated. The tone stayed moderately light though there were moments of contemplation and some good information/considerations in the interactions of the characters. Speaking of characters, they were rather sweet and cute - Arthur in particular was quite fun. There are some good discussions about grief and self-confidence. The story reads really easily and quickly, making it a great comfort read. A sweet, fun YA.