I had been wanting to read this book for some time. I love Robin Hood retellings and this was an excellent one. Gaughen does some interesting things with the story and Scarlet is a very compelling character.

Will Scarlet is the best thief in Robin Hoods gang, Will is also a girl that the band calls Scarlet...however everyone outside of Hoods band thinks Scarlet is a boy. When the Sheriff of Nottingham calls in Lord Gisbourne to deal with Robin Hood and his band, things get complicated for Scarlet. Her and Gisbourne have a past. Robin Hood struggles to save the surrounding towns from Nottinghams taxes and dodge Gisbourne. Scarlet helps as she can, but her sordid past is finally catching up to her.

The whole book is written in slang, which was a bit hard to read at first. After a couple chapters I got used to it and didn't have any more trouble reading this book. Theres a good reason for why the book is written that way.

I loved what Gaughen did with Robin Hood and his merry men. The story will be familiar to those who are fans of Robin Hood. This is basically a tale about oppression of the area Robin Hood is supposed to be ruling, but his rule has been taken away by the Sheriff of Nottingham by edict of Prince John. Robin and his band do a lot of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. In the case the poor are the townsfolk that Robin should be ruling.

Scarlet drives a lot of the planning and thievery. She is an expert at thieving because of her past life in London as a thief. Scarlet is a bit bitter and quick to anger. She is constantly very defensive and constantly feels like she has to prove herself over and over. Part of this is because of how she feels shes wronged people in the past, part is just because she is hot-tempered. I did find some aspects of her character a bit unbelievable. For example once we learn her past I was curious as to how she became so good at acrobatic stunts, fighting, and thieving in such a short time.

Scarlet also has a problem with eating enough. This is talked about a lot in the beginning of the book, as the men in her life try to get her to eat more. The problem seems to stem from the fact that Scarlet thinks other people are more deserving of food than she is, so she is constantly giving her food away. It was an interesting dynamic to add to a historical fantasy like this one.

There is also a lot of action and thieving and sneaking. Scarlet is an excellent thief, agile and daring. However she has a lot of issues to work through. The band nicknames her Scar, both for the scar on her face and the scars on her soul.

There is also quite a bit of romance in the book. Scarlet is the only woman in an all man band of thieves. There is a lot of tension between her and Little John (who she thinks of as an older brother) and Robin (who she wishes was something more). It was very well done and the characters have excellent chemistry together.

I did have a bit of a problem with all the tension between the characters being believable given the timeline though. Supposedly Scarlet has been part of Robin Hood's band for a couple of years; you would think in that time the characters would have worked through most of the issues together and been a cohesive team. Still I enjoyed reading about it all, so if you can get past the timing of it all its well done.

The book is very well written and engaging and I breezed right through it. There is a nice afterward explaining Robin Hood and what is confirmed and unconfirmed as far as history goes. There is also a list of references for those who would like to read more about the Robin Hood history and background.

Overall, despite a couple small inconsistencies, I really loved this book. I love Robin Hood retellings and this was a good one. Robin Hood and Scarlet are both moody and complex characters that were very engaging. The world is well done and I loved how Gaughen twisted the mythology of Robin Hood around some. Recommended to those who love historical fantasy and the tale of Robin Hood.

If you love Robin Hood retellings I would also recommend The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley and Lady of the Forest by Jennifer Roberson.

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Most people think he is Willbut Will Scarlet, an infamous member of Robin Hoods band, is in fact a fiercely independent young woman running from her past. When the Sheriff of Nottingham hires the fearsome Guy of Gisbourne to catch Robs band of thieves, Scarlet is forced to confront her past, as well as her long-ignored feelings, if she wants to save her friends and loved ones.

Not having grown up on Robin Hood tales of adventures and his Merry Men (I seemed to be more of the Brothers Grimm type), SCARLET was really one of my first introductions to this Robin Hood. And SCARLET is indeed a delightful book, featuring unusual dialect prose, sympathetic characters, and plenty of action and romance.

The star of SCARLET is undoubtedly the books eponymous heroine. SCARLET may be set in the early Middle Ages, but Scarlet is definitely a 21st-century kind of heroine: spunky, stubborn, and loyal to perhaps a fault. There were times in the beginning when her forcible resistance to accepting help was irritating to me, but as the story unfolded, it was easy to see why Scarlet always holds herself at a distance and is stubbornly determined to be completely independent of others. SCARLET also offers plenty of actionsometimes of the bloody type. The constant movement of characters allows us to see and get to know their different personalities.

The one thing that perhaps bothered me about SCARLET was, I felt, the books eventual descent into the love triangle that is all-too-often characteristic of any type of YA novel nowadays. I wanted the book to focus mostly on Scarlet and her friends increasingly dangerous troubles, in the way of my favorite fantasy novels; however, it felt too me like a good part of the last two-thirds of the book revolved around Scarlets dealings with two men who may or may not be interested in her: Little John and Rob. Its not too much of a surprise who Scarlet ends up with, but I couldnt help but feel that the other side of the triangle was rather unnecessary, and even uncharacteristic to Scarlet. Ah, another book sacrificed to the altar of YA love triangles.

Overall, however, SCARLET was an enjoyable and action-packed read that will appeal to a wide age range of readers. It definitely inspired me to read more about the Robin Hood myth afterwards, and its a refreshing new take on the legend for avid Robin Hood or historical fiction devotees.

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