SCARLET
by A. C. Gaughen

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction
Pub Date: Feb 14, 2012
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Length: 287 pages
Spoilers: Marked
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synopsis

Will Scarlet is good at two things: stealing from the rich and keeping secrets – skills that are in high demand in Robin Hood’s band of thieves, who protect the people of Nottingham from the evil sheriff. Scarlet’s biggest secret of all is one only Robin and his men know…that she is posing as a thief; that the slip of a boy who is fast with sharp knives is really a girl.

The terrible events in her past that led Scarlet to hide her real identity are in danger of being exposed when the thief taker Lord Gisbourne arrives in town to rid Nottingham of the Hood and his men once and for all. As Gisbourne closes in a put innocent lives at risk, Scarlet must decide how much the people of Nottingham mean to her, especially John Little, a flirtatious fellow outlaw, and Robin, whose quick smiles have the rare power to unsettle her. There is real honor among these thieves and so much more – making this a fight worth dying for.

thoughts

Dialect
It’s not every day you find a young adult novel where the main character speaks with a dialect, but this is one of them. First off, I was surprised. I had no idea that would be there and it did take a bit of getting used to. However, I loved it once I finally got around to understanding it. It fit the character and the time period and the story.

The Heroine in Distress
I was really quite disappointed with this book because it makes it sound, and starts off with, Scarlet being a very bad-ass, tough heroine. She’s got knife skills and she’s not afraid to use them. She can climb in trees and spy on people. She’s awesome! Until… she requires Little John and Robin Hood to constantly come save her. Honestly, I can’t count the number of times she needed saving in this book and it really soured my disposition towards her and overshadowed her bad-assery.

A Romance by a different Name
I went into this book, having read the description, assuming it to be an action-packed, thief-filled, espionage-style story. However, I was wrong. Within the first few chapters, there are elements of a romance. From there it’s like a wildfire: once started, it can’t be stopped, until the romance takes over the main plot of the book.