A review by vthecreature
Nottingham: The True Story of Robyn Hood by Anna Burke

adventurous challenging funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

LOVED THIS. Finished it in one day. This is just the bunch of LGBTs gallivanting in the forest thing I needed right now. There’s romance, found family, adventure, and some jokes too. When the very first scene was about a hanging, I thought this book was going to be much darker than it ended up being. Yes there are adult themes like violence, sex, bigotry, etc but there’s also a tendency for things to work out for the heroes. I think Marian expressed her surprise at her own luck about five times. All of the heroes have very thick plot armor and they’re also accepted for their queerness which I don’t find super realistic but I do find cathartic. It’s nice to see a book with a bunch of female and queer characters where none of them meet a horrible fate. With that being said, I wouldn’t expect a book like this to rag on femininity, but it kind of did. There are a few moments when people with “feminine interests” are put down for this, with praise going to people who rejected feminine roles and presentation. But other than this there’s a great story of self-acceptance. The dialogue flowed so well, especially the flirting (aaaaaa) but I would’ve liked to see the relationships fleshed out through dialogue more. Like, Robyn and Marian both had their mothers die in childbirth. Talk about it! Ask Little John about how he became John and joined Siward’s crew. Communicate! There was some jealousy caused by miscommunication that could’ve been avoided. Still I think the team worked together well. Overall this book made me grin, gasp, and shake my reading screen several times. An exciting and worthwhile read for sure!