Lion Heart by A. C. Gaughen

Lion Heart by A. C. Gaughen
Series: Scarlet #3
Genre: Historical
Release Date: May 19, 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens
Source: Bought
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Imprisoned by Prince John for months, Scarlet finds herself a long way from Nottinghamshire. After a daring escape from the Prince's clutches, she learns that King Richard’s life is in jeopardy, and Eleanor of Aquitaine demands a service Scarlet can’t refuse: spy for her and help bring Richard home safe. But fate—and her heart—won’t allow her to stay away from Nottinghamshire for long, and together, Scarlet and Rob must stop Prince John from going through with his dark plans for England. They can not rest until he’s stopped, but will their love be enough to save them once and for all?

I really, really dislike – hell, I hate – this series, but I had to finish it. Apparently I hate myself too. I didn’t like Scarlet because of the abusive relationships that were romanticised and brushed over, and I only read Lady Thief because I had it on my shelf. Who even knows why I spent money on Lion Heart, because I knew what I was getting into. Whatever, I’m here to call out the abusive and manipulative bastards, so here we go.

So, let’s start with Robin. All of a sudden, Robin’s PTSD has disappeared like the contrived plot point that it was to begin with. He’s suddenly all better. It’s a shame Gaughen didn’t attempt to fix his personality flaws either, not that I would be interested in reading about that since I’m not here for abuse apologists. And boy, is Robin Hood fucking flawed. And not in a good way either. He has been abusive and manipulative and controlling towards Scarlet from the beginning, and in this one he seems to have chilled out a little bit, but that doesn’t excuse his previous actions because they’re NEVER FUCKING TALKED ABOUT. Plus, he gets shirty with Scarlet for no reason at all because he’s a giant prat.

As a series finale, Lion Heart wasn’t that great. Even ignoring the awful characters, the plot was bad. I’m not entirely sure what the point was. I was mildly looking forward to seeing more of Eleanor, and also King Richard. There was little of the former and none of the latter. Scarlet spent the whole book wandering from one place to another,like an incredibly dull rendition of the first third of the Deathly Hallows.

The historical stuff was also poorly done. Bits and pieces were barely mentioned, particularly the bits about Richard being held captive and his eventual return. Don’t go into this series expecting a great historical setting, because that’s not what this at all.

All in all, Lion Heart is on par with the previous two books in the trilogy, which is say, it’s fucking terrible.