Scarlet [Hardcover]

A.C. Gaughen (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 14, 2012

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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A. C. Gaughen is a freelance writer and regular blogger who has had several stories published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. While attending college in Scotland, which she believes to be the most romantic and naturally beautiful place in the world, AC became enamored of the country's rich history and folklore. She now lives in Massachusetts with her two-year old goldendoodle.

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Walker Childrens; 1 edition (February 14, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802723462
• ISBN-13: 978-0802723468
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (134 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #396,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been madly in love with writing since I was in kindergarten. Not kidding-some of my earliest memories revolve around books and writing, like reading in front of the class, reading with my mother, and writing a story in first grade that was so funny (it dealt with a gorilla finding someone naked in the shower, and was, sadly, the culmination of my humor writing skills) it got me kicked out of class. Which was also the first and last time for that.

No that's a lie. In third grade I got detention for ripping bark off a tree.

I know, I'm a rebel.

From there, it was a long road. I wrote all through middle school and starting submitting novels (I hope I still have those very kind, gentle rejection letters somewhere) when I was thirteen. ACK you have no idea how bad those novels looked. All through high school I was writing in a notebook instead of taking class notes (explaining the less than perfect GPA). It was always novels for me-the first time I seriously wrote short stories was at the end of my college career, to get into my graduate program, and it felt awkward and weird.

But I got in to grad school, wrote like a fiend, and when I graduated I spent three miserable years as a freelance writer while working on several different novels. I wrote them, prepped them, submitted them, and kept on working, because as far as I can tell, the actual writing is the only thing that i can control, and it's the part that really makes me happy.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Romantic, Action-Packed Robin Hood Retelling! February 14, 2012

By Eve Marie Mont

Format:Hardcover

I was never a huge fan of the Robin Hood legend, but Gaughen's voice and storytelling had me from the first page. The dialect feels appropriate for the post-Crusades historical era, and yet everything else feels very fresh and almost contemporary without feeling anachronistic... not quite sure how she managed to pull that off. Scarlet is a lovable and sympathetic MC. On the surface she's tough as nails and holds her own with Robin's band, but underneath it all, she's wounded by her past and by the secrets she must keep, especially her feelings for Robin. And Robin... swoon! Enigmatic, protective, and wounded himself, he's my favorite kind of leading man. Their fellow mate, John, a cocky swaggering rogue adds some tension and simmer to the proceedings, but this isn't all about romance. Gaughen deftly balances the character-driven piece with some rousing action and adventure sequences and a scurrilously evil Guy Gisbourne. I smiled through most of this book and raced breathlessly through the last 50 action-soaked pages. Loved it!!!

62 of 78 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Frustrating on so many levels. March 21, 2012

By Bekki

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This review contains some bad words and some spoilers. You have been warned.

There were things about this book I really loved, and things I really hated. Unfortunately, I think I hated more than I loved. All the same, I am giving the book 3 out of 5 stars because it did keep me coming back to it, even if only out of frustration for how things were going.

I would also like to say that I found the tone, language, and most of the characters of this book to be very, VERY Joss Whedon-esque. This thing had Firefly written all over it. Rob was Mal, John was Jayne, Much was Kaylee, and Tuck was Wash. Scarlet was sure as hell no River though.

Things I liked:

Robin. This was a really, really good depiction of a younger Robin Hood, and I really liked him.

Little John. It was nice to see John being a sweet, older-brother type character!

Scarlet's eating problem. This gave Scarlet so much depth and it really added to the story. Unfortunately, it disappeared half way through never to be mentioned again.

Much. I just wanted to hug him. All the time.

Things I didn't like:

The Language. Once I got used to it, the language was usually fine. It's told from Scarlet's POV, so the narration is mostly in slang and it was really distracting at first but I got the hang of it. However, there were times when it felt very contrived and some words felt really out of place. This sort of language felt much more at home in outer space in Firefly than in crusades-period England.

They called Scarlet "Scar" for short. This annoyed me. Why? Couldn't say. But I cringed every time.

Character Interaction. The dynamic of the band was weird at the beginning. I found it really hard to believe that they had been functioning like that for any length of time. There was so much sexual tension you could cut it with a knife, and with the exception of Much no one's relationship with anyone else really seemed sustainable. If we had come in just after they had met I could have believed it, but that wasn't the case.

What that little wench did to Little John. Rob was right, she was whore. It was obvious from the start who she was going to end up, so the whole "who do I like" thing was like watching a train wreck. A very painful, irritating train wreck. What a bitch.

Boy Drama. Overall there was WAY to much boy drama. It really overshadowed the rest of the plot, which was actually decent most of the time.I will say that the plot was really predictable. The good thing was that, while the author never said outright what was going on, it became clear that she assumed that reader had put the pieces together already. The action really only picks up at the end, and when it does it's really good, but before that it's mostly just boy drama.

The ending. It left me so very angry. Mostly just angry at Scarlet for being such a bitch to Little John. She had what she wanted, and he saved her life so she could have it, and he was left with nothing, and she just treats him like dirt. Honestly, I hated Scarlet. And yet spent the whole book wanting her and Rob to get together. But still feeling like she wasn't good enough for him. And mostly just hating that the whole book revolved around those feelings and not actual plot tension.

After writing this I wonder if I should rate the book lower. But I can't because for some frustrating reason I still liked the book. I will probably never read it again though.

An Edit: Her eyes!!! The writer never actually described her eyes, but just kept saying they were weird!!! This made me SO MAD! WHAT IS UP WITH HER FREAKING EYES?!

34 of 43 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars The only thing Scarlet's good at stealing is money from the readers August 9, 2012

By Duckie

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is the first time I've read a version of the Robin Hood story where by the end I wanted the sheriff to win. Flimsy characters, bad writing and gaping plot holes mangle what otherwise might have been a decent YA novel.

The narrative is in Scarlet's voice but it's pretty hard to tell what that is, exactly. It's vaguely British and vaguely working-class but is rooted in neither Yorkshire nor London, where she claims to be from at different points in the novel. Like the plot, it also shows up when it feels like it and then fades away when it thinks no one is looking. Scarlet's voice is distinct from the other characters only because they all speak like Americans, which is another problem altogether. I don't have a problem with first-person narratives that use bad English, if it's in character, but it doesn't work if the grammar is sometimes bad and sometimes perfect, or if none of the other characters are speaking in dialect.

Also, Scarlet showers her narrative with tense changes like Robin Hood scattering gold to the villagers. She jumps from past tense, to past perfect, to present tense and back again; there's so much jumping around in time, I expected to see a TARDIS pop out of Sherwood.

Scarlet is whiny, annoying and a consummate Mary Sue. She prattles on about how she's great at stealing and the only proper thief of the bunch, but her thieving skills are on par with an unattended toddler in a toy store. She sees something she wants, waits until the owner is looking the other direction, and grabs it. Wow, mad skillz yo.

Scarlet also boasts that she's needed because only she can pick out the good marks. Like she can spot nobles traveling in disguise because they're riding destriers instead of farm horses. Destriers are freaking huge. Farm horses aren't. The average person living today could see the difference, but apparently a bunch of dudes born and raised in a farming community can't. Presumably Scarlet then went on to remind them how to breathe.

Scarlet also has ninja skills. This is never explained. WTF.

The writing careens between being too vague and channeling Captain Obvious. Take this quote for example:

"The man pulled out the knife as his counterpart unsheathed his big sword. Swords are terrible. They are naught but big, heavy knives that most don't know how to use right."

I read that twice thinking "Well yeah, swords are terrible, that's why you try to avoid the pointy end" before realizing she meant "swords are terrible weapons for other people to use." I'm not even going to discuss the fact that this guard pulled out a sword (short-range weapon) while she was throwing knives (mid-range weapon). That's like being charged by someone with a pistol and hoping they get close enough for you to use your bowstave.

And then there's this:

"I walked down slow, seeing the rough, carved-out wall. It were wet with water."

Wow, and here I was thinking it was wet with a nice 1196 Bordeaux from the kegger upstairs.

This was followed later by:

"John looked to me, and I felt his eyes on me."

Probably because he was looking at you. Which you just mentioned. Right there. I mean, it's in the same freaking line.

And then there's Robin Hood's line:

"I had nothing. I hadn't a soul. And then you appeared with your magic eyes, and you just changed everything."

OK there's nothing grammatically incorrect with that, but- Magic eyes, people. MAGIC EYES.

The plot moves at a decent pace, but even this puts me in mind of the joke about mail delivery: "If you want to send something, FedEx will get it there by 10AM tomorrow, UPS will get it there, and the Postal Service will get it...somewhere." This novel is the USPS of YA literature. It moves, yes, but it's not sure where it's going, and I'm not even sure I'd like it to arrive there.

It honestly surprised me when I read that the author had attended a graduate program in creative writing. I've seen fanfiction written by high schoolers that was better than this.

Bottom line: If you've seen the 2006-2009 BBC Robin Hood series, you've already seen everything in this story done, and done better. If you haven't seen it, save yourself a few bucks and hours of facepalming and watch that instead.