Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Published: February 14th 2012 

Publisher: Walker Childrens 

Pages hardcover: 292 

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. 

Can I first say that I love Robin Hood? Because I do. Ever since I was young I have loved the story about the young noble thief that lives in the wood and steals from Prince John. I have watched the Disney movie several times and therefore I just had to read this book. And it was good, it was, but not amazingly perfect. However, I still enjoyed a whole lot.

In this book one of Robin's merry men is Scarlet, who goes by Will Scarlet. She is the real thief of the group and very secretive about her past. Only Robin, John and Much, the members of the band, know that she really is a girl. When her past is catching up to her, she has to start to open up to her band, and letting people in is the last thing she wants.. or think she deserves.

The writing style of this book is brilliant. Scarlet's voice is very rough and brave and it fitted her and the story perfectly. While I normally don't like it if a book isn't written in normal English (I could not get into Blood Red Road), for once it didn't bother me. Instead of 'of course' it would say 'course' and instead of 'was' it would always say 'were', but it fitted and made the story extra good. Scarlet needed to be rough in order to keep it all together and it fitted the time in which the book takes place.

 I loved the setting of this book - I felt like I was there with them in the woods - and I loved the adventure. I thought Scarlet was an amazing, very well fleshed out character. She had flaws which made her even more real. I also really liked to sweet Much who stood at Scarlet's side. Robin Hood was pretty amazing and also Little John gave the book a funny twist. Only Robin could lighten up a little at times, but I still loved him. He was noble and caring. 

The romance was pretty good. You know from the start that Scarlet has feelings for Robin and even though he likes her too, nothing happens for a really long time. There is a lot of miscommunication in this book and sometimes I just wanted to scream 'Kiss already!' at them. However, it fitted the story of Scarlet and Robin, who are more similar than you might think.  

 The ending was to abruptly for my taste. I wanted to know what would happen next and it just ended. I was left with some unanswered questions.I also felt Gisbourne, the villain, could have been fleshed out a little bit more, but overall I really liked the story. If you like adventure, you should definitely give this one a try. 

 3,5 out of 5 stars.

 This book needs a sequel. Why isn't there a sequel? A.C. Gaughen, write a sequel!