Mundie Moms

Monday, February 13, 2012

Book Review: Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen


By: A.C. Gaughen
Published by: Bloomsbury Teens
To Be Released on: February 14th, 2012, TOMORROW
Source: book from publisher to review
5 stars: I LOVED it!
Purchase from: IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance.

Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in.

It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for -quoted from Goodreads

I didn't think I could love Robin Hood or the legend of Robin Hood any more than I already have, but I'm totally in love with A.C. Gaughen's verion of this historical hero. Her writing is flawless! She not vividly describes what it was like to live during this time period, she also captures the feelings of the people, and the hope Robin Hood and his band of thieves brought to them. I felt like she perfectly crafted together a story of how I envision a younger version of Robin Hood. I absolutely love what she's done with the lore of Robin Hood, Marian and Will Scarlet, not to mention John and the rest of the lively characters present in this story.

I was blown away at the character of Will Scarlet. I loved the notion that Will could have very easily been a girl in disguise and A.C. did an amazing job at making Scarlet, known as Scar believable. The story follows Scar and getting this inside glance of being apart of her life and apart of Robin's band was fascinating. I loved the danger, romance, and action that made up this story. Scar is truly become one of my all time favorite heroines. Her bravery, fearlessness, loyalty and all around butt kicking attitude made her admirable in my eyes while reading her story. She's a character who's flawed, broken, carries around a horrible grief she hides from those around her and she truly wants to save those in Nottingham who are suffering. Scar's a bit rough around the edges, but the more I got to know and understand her the more her behavior and the way she acted made sense.

The tensions and chemistry Scar and Robin, as well as John and the rest of the characters is extremely well written. It's developed in such a real way and I loved the notion that a girl could be just as tough as the guys were during this time period. The bond, the loyalty, trust, and friendship this group has was well defined and portrayed in Scarlet. A.C. also does a great job at touching on the subjects of how girls/women were treated during this time through Scar. I truly felt like this version of Robin Hood is by far the best I've read, but maybe that's because it falls in line with how I like to picture some of the characters. Aside from Scar/Will, I loved what she did with Marian! I like to think she would have had a lot of those same characteristics. Robin Hood and John... *sigh* These two characters couldn't have been written any better in my eyes. They are flawed, they're fearless, courageous, and do what they feel is right for the people they serve. They also have some fabulous scenes together where their jealous gets the best of them over Scar. John definitely provides some of the laugh out moments.

I am totally in LOVE with this book! I feel like I should crave a big heart into a tree with the initials MM's + S = Love in the middle of it. I felt like A.C. did an amazing job at not only telling the story, but making sure this story stayed true to the lore of Robin Hood, as well as making it credible with her own vision of it. She did a brilliant job with capturing the essence of Robin Hood, and creating an incredibly strong heroine in Scarlet. Scarlet's story is absolutely amazing! If you're a fan of Robin Hood, I highly recommend picking this book up! Along with my love of the story, I love this cover! It fits the character of Scar perfectly.

6 comments:

  1. Fantastic review!! This book sounds so awesome!! Your review had me almost bouncing in my chair wanting to read it.

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    1. Thank you Amy! This is another favorite read that will be on my top 10 list for this year. It's AWESOME!!! I can't wait for you to read it!

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  2. Wow, that is a shining recommendation... i'm going to get it for my nook right now.

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    1. Thank you Misa. I hope you love it as much as I did. :)

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  3. I second EVERY emotion! I loooooved this book so much.

    If Gaughen doesn't write a sequel, I'm seriously considering going all Misery on her!!! (Okay, if she or any law enforcement agents are reading this, I'M KIDDING!!!!)

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    1. LOL I'll be there to back you up ;) I hope she writes another book that's part of this story. I WANT MORE!

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