Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen

Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen
Series: Scarlet #1
Genre: Historical
Release Date: February 14, 2012
Source: Gift
Add it: Goodreads
Rating:

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.

Well, wasn’t this book just sunshine and rainbows? Scarlet is a widely popular book in the book community, which is the reason I put it on my wishlist in the first place. I was dying to read it because it’s a Robin Hood retelling and I totally had a crush on that fox when I was younger. But if you’ve been following me on Twitter for the past couple of weeks, you’ll know that I bloody hated this book.

Or, rather, I hated every single character apart from Scarlet and Much. Especially Robin. Fucking. Hood. with his arrogance and abusive attitude.

What Scarlet is is a thinly veiled tale of abuse, which Gaughen has tried to sell as a romance. Lady Thief, the sequel, is even worse but I’m going to review that later on this week so I won’t get into that.

There is an awful love triangle in this book between Scarlet, Robin Hood, and John Little (Little John). John pursues Scarlet even after she tells him to stop, and Robin calls Scarlet a whore and treats her like crap for keeping her past a secret, even though those secrets are the only thing keeping her alive.

Aside from the romance, I did enjoy a couple of aspects of this book. Scarlet herself was a wonderful character when she was away from those two men, and I liked the setting. Nottinghamshire under the paws of Prince John is my favourite thing.

And that’s the only reason why I’ve given this book three stars. I would have rated it a lot lower but Scarlet was precious and I liked the rest of the story. The same can’t be said for Lady Thief, though.

All in all, this book isn’t as great as the book community led me to believe, and I am absolutely disgusted by the love story and the way it evolves in the sequel. But more on that later.