Book Review: Scarlet

Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the evil Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only Big John and Robin Hood know the truth—the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. It’s getting harder to hide as Gisbourne’s camp seeks to find Scarlet and drive Robin Hood out of Nottinghamshire.

But Scarlet’s instinct for self-preservation is at war with a strong sense of responsibility to the people who took her in when she was on the run, and she finds it’s not so easy to turn her back on her band and townspeople. As Gisbourne draws closer to Scarlet and puts innocent lives at risk, she must decide how much the people of Nottinghamshire mean to her, especially John Little, a flirtatious fellow outlaw, and Robin, whose quick smiles and temper have the rare power to unsettle Scarlet.

Full of exciting action, secrets, and romance, this imaginative retelling of the classic tale will have readers following every move of Robin Hood and band of thieves.

**ARC courtesy of publisher via NetGalley

Goodreads: 3/5 stars

My review:

I loved the idea of Will Scarlet actually being a girl. There was another twist later in the book, revealing Scarlet’s true identity (no spoilers here; you have to read and find out!), and I thought that was really cool, too.

Everyone’s heard the tale of Robin Hood—the rightful Prince of Nottingham, he always battles the sheriff, he steals from the rich and gives to the poor, etc. etc. The characters in this book definitely had their own personalities. Scarlet and Rob had this undeniable tension between each other, and they were both too stubborn to admit it. I kept pushing for them to be together the entire way.

Scarlet’s vocabulary threw me off at first; it wasn’t something I got used to easily.

John fell apart in the latter half of the book. I came so close to putting this down due to John’s inability to keep his hands to himself when Scarlet was around. But I was upset with Scar for leading him on, when she knew she had feelings for Rob. If the awkward John/Scar relationship had been removed, then I probably would’ve rated this higher.

Also, the action didn’t happen until the last quarter of the book. Up to that point, all that happened was stealing/giving back and making sure they had enough money to hand out to the locals before tax day.

Surprisingly, the villain isn’t really the sheriff; it’s a man from Scar’s past. I won’t say anymore without giving her backstory away.

Overall, if you enjoy retelling of Robin Hood, then I suggest you pick up this book.