Scarlet

***** (5 out of 5)

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Disclaimer: All Amazon Links are affiliate links. That means if you purchase any of these books through one of my links I will get a small commission! All the thoughts/opinions in my posts are mine and in no way influenced by Amazon.

Scarlet Series:

• Scarlet (Amazon)
• Lady Thief (Amazon)
• Lion Heart (Amazon)

Completely random intro:  I have noticed on a couple other book blogs that the blogger keeps a “review notebook” close by when they read so they can write stuff down.  I thought this was a brilliant idea because I am always telling myself I will remember something to add to the review and then forgetting it. So I stole borrowed a notepad from work and gave it a shot:

As you can see, I failed.  (and yes, I know I spelled “grammer” wrong) I wrote a comment about the very first sentence of the book and then didn’t write anything else.  I’ll come back to my comment later, but the fact that I had only one, speaks volumes to how awesome this book was.  I couldn’t even remember that I was supposed to be reviewing things.  I was so completely engrossed in the story that it never once occurred to me to write anything down.  I read the book in two sittings and only stopped because I had a volleyball game.

I will warn you there is a love triangle.

If you read my last couple book reviews you might have noticed that I really really didn’t like the love triangle and I reviewed the series harshly because of it.  In general I think love triangles are overused and abused.  However, in Scarlet I didn’t mind it.  I don’t want to give anything away so I won’t go into details, but the love triangle actually helped the story and was fine.  It was also not overdone.

Alright so back to the first and only comment in my review notebook.  The writing is a little bit different.  Here are a couple random sentences from the first page of the book:

• No one really knows ’bout me
• It were too hot and stank of beer and men
• It were heaving with bodies, laughs, and mugs slinging ’bout
• that I’m none too pleased ’bout

It is written through the eyes of Will Scarlet so its written like he talks.  And he talks like a peasant in Medieval times.

Halfway through the first page I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish the whole book if it stayed like that.  (it did)  But after a couple pages I didn’t even notice it anymore and it didn’t bother me at all.  I actually kind of liked it.  However, when I came back from my volleyball game, I had forgotten how bad it was and it took me a couple pages to re-adjust but then I was fine again.  It reminded me of Pudd’nhead Wilson (Amazon) by Mark Twain. There were certain characters in that story that were hard to understand.  Scarlet wasn’t nearly as bad as Pudd’nhead Wilson .  Also, as an added bonus, the way Will talks comes into play later in the book, so its not completely pointless.  Don’t let the grammar scare you! Its worth it.  Just try and get through the first couple pages and hopefully you will get used to it like I did!

I went through a Robin Hood phase in middle school where I read every single Robin Hood re-telling I could find.

Because of that I will always have a soft spot for Robin Hood books, especially ones where the girls are not just love interests but part of the band.  My favorite from before, was one where Robin was a girl.  Since then there have been a lot more re-tellings with female Robins, but this is the first with a female Will Scarlet. (not a spoiler, it says Will is a girl in the synopsis)  It was super creative.

The plot was great too.  It kept all the Robin Hood vibes but was unique enough that it kept me on my toes.  There were some really great twists and turns.

Like I mentioned before I was completely engrossed in the book!  It was awesome.  (I also enjoyed the chance to use Robin Hood gifs)  There is a very real chance this book may re-start my Robin Hood obsession, but at least there are two more books in the series to keep me satisfied!