Scarlet (Scarlet, #1) in YA and Beyond

May 14, 2013 aimee (aimeecanread) rated it liked it

Shelves: love-triangles, ending-sucked, fluffy, holy-shit-endings, favorite-male-leads

“I know what it's like when you can't get no one to listen to you. When what you say don't matter. I half think every girl knows what it's like to be silenced.”

Will Scarlet's actually a girl.

To escape her past, Scarlet joined Robin and his band and became a thief who stole from the wealthy to help the poor. Of course, no one but the band knows about her secret.

It took a while to get into Miss Gaughen's writing style, since the story was written in kind of an old English manner, but the story

“I know what it's like when you can't get no one to listen to you. When what you say don't matter. I half think every girl knows what it's like to be silenced.”

Will Scarlet's actually a girl.

To escape her past, Scarlet joined Robin and his band and became a thief who stole from the wealthy to help the poor. Of course, no one but the band knows about her secret.

It took a while to get into Miss Gaughen's writing style, since the story was written in kind of an old English manner, but the story was fairly enjoyable once you get past that. The world building was decent; the general plot was entertaining and the scenes all left me wanting more! This is one of those books that I couldn't stop reading no matter how annoying some of the characters got.

I liked Scarlet and the other characters as individuals. I thought Scarlet had a lot of personality, wit and strength. There were times, though, where she flirted and led the guys on, which irritated me to no end. That aside, I love how she cares for everyone and is very kind to those in need. Robin was sweet, caring and so adorable! He also played the role of the leader very well. John Little was, although annoying, very charismatic and playful. Much was just an okay character for me. I think there was something lacking in him, but I couldn't pinpoint what it is.

Like I said--I liked the characters as individuals. This meant that I didn't really appreciate the romance. It was, sadly, a love triangle. At first, Scarlet kind of got together with John Little, who was the player of this story. As the end drew near, she and Robin confessed their love for each other. I thought the romance was odd and unrealistic. Before the whole thing with John Little, I rooted completely for Scarlet and Robin. After that, I just got pissed off.

The irritating romance aside, the non-romantic plot was interesting and quite enthralling. My eyes were glued to the pages (rather, my cell phone screen) and I read until morning came. There was a fair amount of action, politics and other things that were balanced well throughout the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book despite the problems I had with it. I'll now wait impatiently for the sequel! ...more

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Mar 03, 2012 Sherbie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Upon seeing that gorgeous book cover, I had no idea it was a retelling of Robin Hood. So I was really excited after reading the synopsis! Cross-dressing had always been one of my most favorite ingredients on my heroine. It just makes stories more interesting and different! Very well made!

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