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)

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.