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Scarlet took a bit getting used to - her voice is that of a lower class English girl and A.C. Gaughen writes in completely in first person, from Scarlet's point of view. Once I could read fluently without lamenting her accent, it was a delight to read. Who is Scarlet and why is she so fearful of Gisbourne? What secrets does her past hold that makes Robin Hood fearful of trusting her? All valid questions, all artfully dodged by the cunning and clever Scarlet.

Scarlet is a love story, an adventure tale, a re-imagining of a tale the English speaking world grew up with and it is crafted with love and is masterfully told. I, like A.C. Guaghen, never really cared for wimpy, washed out Marion - her character was never fully developed and always full of insipid flaws. Why should the beloved Robin Hood be stuck with a fair maiden he has to save over and over? How can she be a real partner to him if she can't manage to do anything more than cower behind him or run away? Scarlet is the answer - a strong female character for the testosterone filled bardic tales of Robin and his Merry Men. It's always all about the men but hopefully Scarlet can change that!

What I truly love about her, though, is she is completely female. When she gets upset, she's not above tears (though she tries to avoid them) and sometimes, she just wants a little comfort. She doesn't seek to play games with the guys, she'd honestly prefer they just ignore the fact that she's a girl, but when push comes to shove, she must admit what she truly feels, to both herself, and the band. And she does it in a way that isn't sappy and is thoroughly courageous. I cannot wait to read the sequel! ( )

My first and major introduction to Robin Hood was the Disney version which doesn't look like had mention of William Scarlet. Who was William Scarlet? In this rendition of Robin Hood William Scarlet is a girl disguised as a boy. She goes by the name of Scarlet.

I liked this rendition. I liked Scarlet. The author made the choice to have the book in first person from Scarlet's POV in awful grammar. To me it gave me the impression of a less intelligent character.

Though that intelligent girl sure was good as hiding. How she managed to jump through trees and sneak around prisons without anyone noticing really stretches the imagination.

Labeled as a teen book, if someone said it was a book for adults, I would believe them.

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Reseña completa: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Todo se resume en esto:



Una de las primeras cosas que pensé al terminar el libro fue: ¿Cómo es posible que este libro no haya sido adaptado al español? Por alguna razón veo a Oz Editorial trayéndola (Si no son ellos, al menos alguna otra editorial debería hacerlo). En últimas traducciones, al menos las pocas que he leído últimamente, no hay personajes femeninos como el de Scarlet, me gustaría leer más personajes así.

Empecemos por la portada. Hay muchísimas portadas, infinitas de ellas, con un rostro como tema, pero esta en especial tiene algo que me hace quedarme prácticamente enamorada de lo que veo, quizá sea el hecho que en realidad es un retrato o los detalles del personaje bien hechos, la decoración de los hojas ¿han visto sus cejas? Son preciosas, sin duda una de las portadas con rostro que no me parece aburrida.

Como han visto con mi nuevo sistema de rating (las estrellitas azules bien bonis) le he dado cinco.

Este libro fue por recomendación de mi representante/relacionista pública/¿publicista? (no sé si son lo mismo ._.) Rele, la condición era "Tú lees este que me ha gustado un montón y yo leo ese que te ha gustado un montón". Aunque al final terminó siendo el libro de nuestro club de lectura interno (¿les gustaría participar en un club de lectura con el gatito? ¡Díganme en los comentarios!) el cuál nos dejó completamente maravilladas. Sé que te estarás preguntando por qué, ya que hasta ahora me las he ingeniado para hablarles de otra cosa y no de la reseña en sí. Esas habilidades que tengo.

Muy pocas veces podemos encontrar una heroína como Scarlet, al menos en literatura juvenil, alguien del cuál el oscuro pasado no la dirija exclusiva y únicamente a los brazos de su contraparte masculina. O sea, sí, hay romance, pero el libro es mucho más que eso. Para empezar Scar no es la damisela en apuros, los "damiselos" son Robin y su pandilla. Sin contar su envidiables habilidades con los cuchillos. O la manera en la que por ser una guerrera pierde su feminidad. La chica no solo es... ¿Genial? ¿Cool? (no encuentro una palabra que la defina mejor), está en el Top-Top de mis personajes femeninos favoritos. Scarlet demuestra que no toda la literatura juvenil está compuesta con personajes femeninos clichés y sin gracia.

Es un excelente retelling de Robin Hood, dándole un buen giro a la historia, le da más importancia a algunos personajes . La narración es bastante particular, ojalá si alguna editorial apuesta por este libro, no se pierda. ( )

3.5 stars but I'm rounding up.

Growing up, I loved Robin Hood. I had a children's edition of the stories and I read it over and over again. I have great memories of putting on Robin Hood as a play in middle school. That made me very excited for this retelling and I mostly enjoyed it.

I definitely liked this more as it went on. This book is not very long and the font is really big. I wasn't expecting so much of this to be about a love triangle. I found those parts to be a bit dry even though I like romance. I didn't really like John as a love interest at all but Robin was so angsty and also quite mean to Scarlet. I liked Scarlet as a character for the most part but I definitely found her frustrating at times. I also wish we had heard more from Much in this book. He felt very much like a background character.

Probably my biggest complaint with this book is that it felt a bit underdeveloped in some parts. I never really felt like I understood any of the main characters beyond Scarlet. The world was familiar to me but I think that was mostly because I was familiar with Robin Hood before this book. I just wanted a little more focus on the adventure part and on the world-building rather than the love triangle.

This book definitely intrigued me and I may end up reading the sequels. I liked the authors writing style and I hope the world and characters may be developed in later books. I thought this was a fun retelling. I always wanted to see more Robin Hood retellings so maybe I'll read more in the future. ( )