Ugh ... I wanted to love this SO BADLY, but I just couldn't because it was so boring and slow.

The premise was great and unique - a plus size Ren. faire gal gets roped into being the faire's princess by a cute dude. Uh, yes please! But by halfway that had barely happened.

I felt like the advertising was misleading... this wasn't a lighthearted and fun book about the ren faire circuit. It was a book about grief, anxiety, and big feelings.

Unfortunately I won't be recommending this to folks who want to read about the ren faire. But I would absolutely recommend it if someone wants a heavier YA contemporary with a fun setting!

Madeline has grown up at the renaissance faire, her family traveling on the circuit each year. This year looks a bit different though: it’s been almost a year since her mom died and now her best friend is no longer traveling with the faires. When they get to what was her mom’s favorite faire of all, Maddie is devastated to see the new owners have changed so much about it. She just wants to be left alone, but the owners’ son Arthur will not leave her alone, nicknames her “Gwen” and even cons her into being the faire princess. This faire is nothing that she wawa hoping for, but it forces her to confront her fears and insecurities.

I’ve loved Ashley Schumacher’s writing since her debut, and her storytelling and ability to really get you to feel keeps getting better and better. While this one did not have me ugly crying, it still deals with grief and insecurity and will leave you wanting to just hug Maddie. The ren faire setting was amazing, what a backdrop for a sweet story of a girl finding herself. Maddie’s journey was so beautiful. This is definitely a book worth picking up.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advance copy.

This book just turned out not to be for me at this time. The subject matter just continued to not really catch my eye.

This was a really quick and well done read! I enjoyed the characters and Gwen Hathaway's renaissance quite a bit! I look forward to more from Ashley Schumacher in the future.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

This is a fun and emotional book that is perfect for any fan of The Life and Medieval Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton. Whether you have been to a renaissance faire or just thought it would be fun to attend one, this book will have something for you my dear reader.

Surprisingly charming, this book explores grief, loss, friendship, family, and first love. And I genuinely enjoyed every bit of it.

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway by Ashley Schumacher was a delightful YA novel about fate, loss, and young love. I loved Madeline! Watching her navigate loss along with all the angst and emotions of being a teenager made for a wonderful story full of heart. Not to mention I adored Arthur. His quirks and adventurous spirit made him the perfect friend to help Madeline on her journey. I also loved the setting and getting to see behind the scenes of a ren faire. Overall, I enjoyed this book and recommend it for any YA contemporary romance fans.

*Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an e-arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

I gave this a three out of five stars, I really enjoyed the story. I like the growth that the main character goes through in this. TW for death of a parent. I like how she goes to therapy in this. I felt like something was missing for me but unsure what. I loved the renaissance fair setting.

This book was so cute! I didn't go into it with any expectations on storyline, characters or writing style, but it was such a quick read that got its message across. I really liked how everything naturally tied together at the end and made sense, and both Maddie and Arthur were such relatable character whose flaws and strengths had you rooting for them. I wanted them to spend more time communicating in the second half of the book since it was a very sudden change to have them together in every scene to having Arthur barely in the picture. I loved the journey that Maddie had throughout this story, and I enjoyed every minute of reading it!

3⭐️

<b> I’m Madeline Hathaway: Seventeen, fat, motherless, and smart. Smart enough to know that I never, ever want to experience the white-hot grief of losing someone I love again.</b>

Madeline and her family travel to Renaissance Faires as craftspeople and sell their hand made items. When Madeline’s mother gets sick, an eight-year-old Maddie flips her family’s coin which tells her that her mother’s condition will get worse. Years later, and a year after Maddie’s mother has passed, Maddie and her father return to the last Ren Faire her mother was alive to see and find it completely changed by new owners. Maddie begrudgingly befriends a bard named Arthur, whose father’s now own the Ren Faire and keeps referring to Maddie as “Gwen.” Arthur also forces Maddie to step out of her comfort zone and become the Princess of the Faire, and Maddie must learn to accept that change might not always be bad.

I like the setting, I like the writing, I love the mental health elements and the main character, but that being said, I found myself consistently falling asleep while reading this - even while reading it mid-day. I liked a lot about this book, but ultimately it’s not a story that sticks with me and is one I will likely forget having read.

This was a very cute book. I feel as though the Renaissance Faire as setting for rom-coms is becoming a bit of an overdone trope, and there are authors who have done it first (and better), but this is a totally harmless entry into the genre. A quick read and especially delightful for people who love Ren Faires and the characters that can be created by them.

So sweet! Great contemporary romance, I love the renaissance fair and love seeing stories that include it. Not a fan of misunderstandings, they make me so frustrating. Other than that, it is a super cute and sweet romance with lovely characters.

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathway begins with our heroine Madeline arriving at the latest stop on the Renaissance faire circuit. For Madeline's whole life, she has traveled from faire to faire with her parents, but ever since her mother's death, she is unsure how to continue on. Madeline's grief is palpable throughout the story, as she keeps a notebook of "noticings" desperate to keep anymore of her memories from slipping away. Enter Arthur, the son of the faire's new owners, who is determined to crown Madeline (or Gwen as he calls her) as this season's princess.

Madeline was an endearing character and I found myself rooting for her growth throughout the course of the book. Arthur felt a little one-dimensional, but his dedication to Madeline was sweet. Overall, this was a very cute YA romance!

Wonderfully, perfectly adorable. I laughed, I got misty eyed, I swooned. This was such a surprise! This story did not just tug at my heart strings, it played them like a Ren. Faire bard.
5 star read!

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway was entirely not what I was expecting, but in a good way.

Madeline's mom passed away last year and since then, she is clear that nothing can change. Daily tally marks and note taking have ensured this. That is, until she arrives at her favorite Ren faire to see that it is under new owners and has changed.

Arthur, son of the new owners and baird, is about to change Maddie's life. For a reason Maddie cannot think of, he wants to be her friend and include her in the faire proceedings. Now, they're going on road trips and collecting post cards at each stop. Yet Maddie cannot help thinking at every stop about her fate. This definitely isn't the life she expected this summer.

I really enjoy any novel written by Ashley Schumacher and this one is no different. Schumacher took care when writing about grief and there were multiple lines that stuck with me about the process. I enjoyed getting to see little tidbits into faire life and the multiple road trips that Arthur and Maddie go on. While I thought the novel dragged at times, it's one I'm glad I read.

Thank you Wednesday Books and Netgalley for my earc in exchange for my review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Cute but not for me. I think this book is definitely past my age demographic. It was a sweet YA book, that is really unique to the genre but, I didn’t feel connected to it.

“grief isn't a contest because there are no winners, so we might as well all help each other toward healing”

Maddie is adjusting to life at the ren faire circuit for the first time without her mom. It’s been a year since her mom passed and when Maddie and her dad reach the end-of-tour spot that was also her mom’s favorite but they find it completely different, Maddie hopes for all these changes to stop.

Maddie catalogs various lists of what she calls “notices” in her journal because she doesn’t want to not remember these details as she’s starting to forget little things about her mom. To say the least, Maddie is busy and has no room in her life for new friendship or romance but then she meets the son of the owners who brings both to the table along with a proposal for her to be princess of the faire.

This book did an amazing job with so many things. It has a plus-sized heroine so deals with body perception and it discusses mental health, therapy, and loss in a relatable way. But overall the romance really tired me out. The will-they-won’t-they isn’t for me and it felt like it was dragging on forever in this book while the end was on the cheesy side that isn’t my taste.

So stinking cute! I really love Ashley Schumacher's writing and this book is no exception. While less heavy than her previous novels, The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway still centers around grief and life after loss.
Maddie "Gwen" Hathaway has been raised on the ren faire circuit, helping her parents sell jewelry and journals in their stall and living in an RV. After her mother passed away, Maddie and her dad make the trip to Stormsworth, her mom's favorite faire, to find it's entirely different. This book follows Maddie as she grapples with the upcoming anniversary of her mom's passing, trying to find her place in the world, and figure out who she wants to be.

I found this book to be utterly charming. Maddie and Arthur are both delightful and insecure and so entirely relatable. This is a book about life after losing a loved one, accepting yourself, friendship, and finding comfort in one's own skin.

Thank you so much to the publisher for my e-arc. All opinions here are my own.

This was a bit more YA than I expected going in, but that being said was well written and constructed with a cute back drop and great characters!

💙❤️🤍💙❤️🤍💙❤️🤍💙❤️🤍💙❤️🤍💙

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway is a charming-YA Contemporary Romantic Comedy set at a Renaissance Faire. If that description sounds even slightly alluring to you, you need to pick this up posthaste.

In this story we follow 17-year old, Maddie Hathaway, who has traveled and worked the Faire circuit with her parents her whole life. Maddie doesn't attend regular school and has had only one really close friend.

A lot has changed over the last year for Maddie though. Her good friend and their family have left the circuit, so they are forced into long-distance friendship. The most devastating change though is that Maddie's Mom has passed away, leaving her and her Dad to travel the circuit alone. It's understandably left a huge hole in their lives and while they are still close, they have a more difficult time connecting without Mom around.

When we meet Maddie, they are just getting to the final stop of the season, a place in Oklahoma that was her Mom's favorite. This seems fitting as the one-year anniversary of her passing is going to happen while they are there. Unfortunately, the property is under new management and a lot has changed.

Being back at this place and seeing the changes sends Maddie for a bit of loop. She is struggling and feels alone. Her Dad keeps himself busy with work and Faire friends, so it gives Maddie a lot of time to just be in her own head. Sometimes that is not a comfortable place to be.

Then we meet Arthur. A jovial and fun-loving bard, son to the new owners, who sets his sights on Maddie, christens her Gwen, as in Guinevere, and then refuses to leave her alone, no matter how much Maddie tries to shut him down.

We are talking the teen grumpy-sunshine set-up of my dreams. Once Arthur and Maddie meet, I was unable to look away. They are just so cute. I loved how wholesome this story felt. I generally wouldn't use that word, but I don't know, it just seems to fit here. It was such a great examination of IRL-issues, while also bringing such warm humor and charm.

The setting of the Faire is so well done. I love how the Faire shapes the action. It's not just stated as the backdrop to sell copies, it actually is an integral part of the story.

I feel like a lot of Readers will be able to connect with this one. As an exploration of grief and confidence issues, I can't give it higher marks. I also liked the way Maddie's character grew over the course of the story.

As Maddie was able to let down her walls, the world opened for her in such a positive way. I know this is a standalone, but I would love more of this story and these characters. Maddie is at such an important point in her life, the end of high school, and I would love to see what choices she makes for herself in the future.

Initially, I gave this one 4.5-stars, but the more I have sat with the story, thought about it, talked about it, recommended it to people, the more in love with it I am. I laughed, I cried, I became so invested in Maddie's life and outcome; how could I not bump this up to 5-stars?

If you love witty banter and humor, paired with the honest exploration of real-world issues, you have to check this out; particularly if you a fan of Renaissance Faires. Additionally, I think this could be a great story for parents and teens to read together. I think it could open up some great dialogue.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This is the first novel I have read from Ashley Shumacher and I am definitely excited to read more of their work in the future!