Scarlet (Scarlet, #1) in YA and Beyond

Jul 26, 2012 Brigid ✩ rated it liked it

Shelves: romance, historical-fiction, young-adult

Okay, my review situation has gotten totally out of hand. I read this book almost two months ago and I still haven't reviewed it. ... Plus I have like ten other books to review, and it's just insane. GAHHHH.

Well, at this point I've probably forgotten some of the things I was going to say about this book. And, I have to do homework and whatnot. So, I'll just keep this as brief as possible.

Basically, I liked this book, but I didn't love it. Will I remember reading it in a few years? Eh, I don't k Okay, my review situation has gotten totally out of hand. I read this book almost two months ago and I still haven't reviewed it. ... Plus I have like ten other books to review, and it's just insane. GAHHHH.

Well, at this point I've probably forgotten some of the things I was going to say about this book. And, I have to do homework and whatnot. So, I'll just keep this as brief as possible.

Basically, I liked this book, but I didn't love it. Will I remember reading it in a few years? Eh, I don't know. But it was at least fairly entertaining to read at the time.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting take on the Robin Hood story (which, admittedly, I don't know as much about as I probably should). The book had its exciting parts and was able to hold my attention most of the time. I just had some issues with the execution.

First of all, it felt short and a bit rushed to me. I wanted there to be more character development, because I never felt like I quite connected with anyone in the book. Also, the love triangle felt forced and unnecessary.

The other major thing that got on my nerves was that A.C. Gaughen attempted to write the book in dialect––but, it didn't work for me. I love it when an author can effectively pull off a dialect and make it feel natural––for example, how Patrick Ness wrote The Knife of Never Letting Go or how Moira Young wrote Blood Red Road. But Gaughen's only attempt was to replace the word "was" with "were" ... and that was pretty much it. If an author is going to write a book in a dialect, I want him/her to just go all out with it. Make it constant and consistent. Just replacing one word here and there isn't enough of an effort, in my opinion. It just comes off as strange and kind of annoying.

So anyway, I thought this book was okay. As I said, it was an interesting spin on the story. For the most part, it was fast-paced and entertaining. I just wish the characters had been more fleshed out and that more effort had gone into the writing style. ...more

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May 12, 2012 Heidi rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2012

3.5 stars. Very fun light read. Interesting take on an old story (warning if you like the original story you may want to steer clean because this one takes some license with it). I liked Scarlet and the entire band of four. I will note that Scarlet could get a little angsty and played the martyr a little too much for me at times. The writing style also jumped around here and there and I was not much into the love triangle. All that said I did find myself staying up to read through more pages eac ...more

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Sep 28, 2014 Lindsay rated it really liked it

Shelves: library-read, 4stars, ya, read-in-2014, cover-to-cover-2014

4.5 stars

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Jul 15, 2011 Sarah (Catching Books) rated it liked it

I'm not going to lie, the first few chapters of this book were really hard for me to read. I really didn't like the writing style and I wasn't sure where the plot was going. After putting this book down and going back to it after a few days, however, I was able to get more into Scarlet and I was able to enjoy the last half of Scarlet.
Like I mentioned above, one of the hardest parts of this book for me to read was the writing style. I liked how the author made the book more authentic by making th ...more

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Nov 25, 2011 Haley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classic, back-when, 2012debut-author-challenge

*Spoiler Alert*

The story of Robin Hood. To tell that truth, I had never before read a take of Robin Hood. Heard of it, of course. But never read it. And my oh my was I impressed with this book! Scar is the perfect main character, and the best tough girl female lead I've seen yet this year! We all know a little of Robin Hood’s tale. A monarch who collects to much tax from his people and a man rises up to give back. Or something like that. This was much the same.

I have read, and reread this book *Spoiler Alert*

The story of Robin Hood. To tell that truth, I had never before read a take of Robin Hood. Heard of it, of course. But never read it. And my oh my was I impressed with this book! Scar is the perfect main character, and the best tough girl female lead I've seen yet this year! We all know a little of Robin Hood’s tale. A monarch who collects to much tax from his people and a man rises up to give back. Or something like that. This was much the same.

I have read, and reread this book in the past few days. I can’t get past the way this story moves me. Not in a, “OMG MY LIFE HAS CHANGED FOR FREAKING EVER WAY,” no not like that. But more of a subtle scrub of a healing wound. I find myself gripped by the sheer impossibility of hate so vile as to dampen the soul and love so strong as to bring light to life. This story is that.

Scar has plenty of secrets. As she should. But she is a dang good thief, and she know it. The gang-of Robin Hood-is comprised of four people. John, the charmer, Much, the one handed trickster, and Robin, the lovable lump. (Those sound funny, don’t pay attention to it!) And of course, Scarlet. They steal and plunder trying to get money for the villagers to pay taxes.

Oh, I want to tell you so much! But I can’t. It was so mind blowing to read it first hand. I loved the secrecy. I loved the way this was written. I adore Scar, and her toughness. Although it was nice to see her vulnerability. But maybe that has everything to do with her men and their overreactions. (I love men overacting when it’s not about ME;) And plus, I love the name Robin. Robin Hood. *deep breath, then in a sing song voice…* Rooooooobin Hooood.

But honestly, there is not one thing I would change about this book. Not one thing. It was truly like a little excerpt into the life of Robin Hood and his gang. It did kind of leave off at a cliff hanger, and I wonder if there's to be a second one? For those who like thrills and secrets, daggers and hidden love, go for Scarlet by Miss Gaughen. She won't disappoint.
...more

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