Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
So - first things first, I loved the premise and was super excited. I wanted Scarlet's character to be tough and independent and fierce before I even made it two pages in. In essence, I wanted her to be WORTHY of being in Robin Freakin' Hood's band of merry men. Turns out - she is fierce. And tough. And independent. But in all the wrong ways...(insert melodramatic tears). She was an excellent fighter - but how/where did come about these skills? She was independent but tended to run away like an immature child. Like, girl, stahhhhp. I suppose I was just flustered about halfway through with all the contradictory incidents. And I didn't sign up to read about the badassery that is Hood and Little John fighting over a chick who ain't all that and a bag of chips. Ifyouknowwhatimsaying. Sigh..
Without a doubt, one of my very favorite reads ever.
I have to admit that I never particularly thought much about the Robin Hood story. In fact, before I read the synopsis for this book, I didn't remember the Will Scarlet character at all. But I loved, loved, loved this world and its characters. It was filled with adventure, action, heart and Scarlet's unforgettable and unique voice. And underneath all of that page-turning, there are layers and layers of truth about what it is to be a strong female and an underestimated female in society. (But don't let that scare you away, guys, because I think this book really has something for everyone).
I sincerely hope there is a sequel because I can't wait to get back into this world.
I have to admit that I never particularly thought much about the Robin Hood story. In fact, before I read the synopsis for this book, I didn't remember the Will Scarlet character at all. But I loved, loved, loved this world and its characters. It was filled with adventure, action, heart and Scarlet's unforgettable and unique voice. And underneath all of that page-turning, there are layers and layers of truth about what it is to be a strong female and an underestimated female in society. (But don't let that scare you away, guys, because I think this book really has something for everyone).
I sincerely hope there is a sequel because I can't wait to get back into this world.
"We do what we do because there's something we can do about it. Things like 'how long' and 'what if' aren't part of that. It's about the hope, not the horror.”
Summary
Will Scarlet is Robin Hood's best thief. The skills she possesses are invaluable. Yes, she. Because Scarlet is actually a girl, posing as a scrawny boy. It's a secret that is not known to people outside of Hood's band.
But the reasons for her concealing her identity are in danger of being exposed. Lord Gisbourne, has arrived in Nottingham to rid its people of Robin Hood and his band of outlaws. But the ruthless thief-taker and Scarlet share a history. And it's not a pleasant one.
Writing
The language used in this book matched the story and the setting well. But… I didn't like it. Something about it felt a little off. Almost like it was forced. It also was a little inconsistent. The characters swapped between using language filled with grammatical errors to talking completely normally for no apparent reason.
I was also annoyed by the fact that Scarlet is the only one who seems to be using such crass language all the time. And it makes even less sense once we learn about her background.
Characters
Scarlet is a completely insufferable brat. She rushes into things without thinking, she loses her temper extremely quickly and makes ridiculous decisions. Her behavior is also very inconsistent with what the author is trying to tell us about her. On one hand she is portrayed as a fierce warrior and a fearless thief, but on the other hand she actually spend like half of this book blushing and flushing. She can't decide between being a warrior and being a love-sick girl who can't choose between two boys. Also, her possessing the kind of fighting skills she has makes absolutely no sense. It's never explained where she learned to steal or fight like she does. And when you find out where she comes from it starts to feel even more ridiculous.
Robin in this book matches Scarlet perfectly. He is just as childish as she is. A match made in heaven.
This book made a complete mockery out of Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men.
Plot
Just so you know, this book is like 30% plot and 70% Scarlet blushing.
But really, there really isn't a lot of plot going on. This book is just pointless, meaningless action and Scarlet's love dilemmas.
Overall
It's just a pretty bad novel. Characters are poorly introduced, descriptions are almost non-existent, the scenery is sloppy and the plot twists are predictable.
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Reread January 25th, 2021
I last read this somewhere around five or six years ago, so I went into this with little memory of the events and no real expectations, beyond hopefully enjoying it again. Sadly, this didn't really happen. The pacing and action scenes were good, and I did like Scarlet, but I have to say - I really didn't like Robin. He was, put plainly, a jerk. Consistently. Things did look up at the end, but... by then I felt it was too little, too late. The book was a quick read, taking me somewhere around an hour and a half, which was nice, and fast paced. Still, the characters weren't gripping enough for me, although their overall struggles, such as that of being a woman in the time the book was set, were well portrayed. So, on the reread I've moved this down from five to three stars. Just... not enough for me.
I last read this somewhere around five or six years ago, so I went into this with little memory of the events and no real expectations, beyond hopefully enjoying it again. Sadly, this didn't really happen. The pacing and action scenes were good, and I did like Scarlet, but I have to say - I really didn't like Robin. He was, put plainly, a jerk. Consistently. Things did look up at the end, but... by then I felt it was too little, too late. The book was a quick read, taking me somewhere around an hour and a half, which was nice, and fast paced. Still, the characters weren't gripping enough for me, although their overall struggles, such as that of being a woman in the time the book was set, were well portrayed. So, on the reread I've moved this down from five to three stars. Just... not enough for me.
Loved this Robin Hood retelling! Review to follow!
I really loved this re-telling of a classic tale.
Though it took me a little while to get into the way she spoke, once I did I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I'm not sure if there will be a sequel or not but I will be stalking the authors site in the hopes that there is.
If not I'll be a little disappointed with how it all ended....mainly cause I'm greedy & wanted more LOL.
Would definitely recommend to any fan's of fantasy style novels like [b:Poison Study|60510|Poison Study (Study, #1)|Maria V. Snyder|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170542921s/60510.jpg|1180409] etc.
Though it took me a little while to get into the way she spoke, once I did I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I'm not sure if there will be a sequel or not but I will be stalking the authors site in the hopes that there is.
If not I'll be a little disappointed with how it all ended....mainly cause I'm greedy & wanted more LOL.
Would definitely recommend to any fan's of fantasy style novels like [b:Poison Study|60510|Poison Study (Study, #1)|Maria V. Snyder|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170542921s/60510.jpg|1180409] etc.
This book was... okay. There wasn't really much of a plot, and there was a whole lot of "does he love me omg does she love me omg I hate myself omg" angst, which is really all that carried the book along. That said, there were some good parts (it is Robin Hood, after all!) so I'll go ahead and give this a 3/5 instead of a 2/5 (which the rest of the series deserves). Would I read it again? Probably not. Do I regret reading it? Nah, it was a fluff book that took up three hours of my time. I don't resent it for that.