Review: Scarlet - A.C Gaughen

Title: Scarlet   

Author: A.C Gaughen

Release Date: February 14th 2012

Publisher: Walker Childrens

Pages: 304

Source: Bought (Kindle) 

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.

Would you believe that I don't/or can't remember that much about the tale of Robin Hood? *Buries head in shame* Obviously I've seen the Disney movie (hell, who hasn't?) but anyway, back to Scarlet. This fascinating and intriguing historical retelling of Robin Hood will stay with you after you read it.

I really can't do this book justice in my review, because the world that A.C Gaughan created (or rather, retold) is just simply mind-blowing. I love retellings and (only recently) historicals. I missed reading such a good book before (okay that was a lie- I've read so many super awesome books this month alone). Who would have thought about this? To write about Will Scarlet as a girl? And not to mention, who can create Robin Hood as this young, HOT, fearless man? 

Scar (or Will Scarlet, if you will) is everything I ever wanted to see in a female lead character. She is just so cool. She's courageous, selfless, sarcastic and broken. I think every person should thrive to be her. 

The character developments were outstanding. I love every single one of the band, John Little (swoon) , Robin Hood (double swoon), Much (awwhh) and Scarlet (yay for strong protagonist!). Rob was so calm, collected and EVERYTHING a woman wants. John Little was so charming (and a bit of a player *giggles*) and Much was so sweet. A.C Gaughan created them with such vivid and vibrant personalities, that I felt like I knew them and I didn't want the book to end because I wanted to hold on to them and read more of their adventures together. They were like a family, except a very cool family. 

There is a love triangle present in this book, but it was in my opinion, handled beautifully. Both men love Scarlet, but it's blatantly obvious to everyone (including Scarlet) who she loves and who she wants to be with forever. I kept going back and forth between them, finally settling on the hottest one *wink wink*. Bet you couldn't figure out who that is.

The action scenes were enticing, heart-pounding AND I love that Scar is so bad-ass! The mysteriousness surrounding Scar's past identity made it all very exciting and stunning (even more so!), to be honest I kinda guessed fairly on who she was,but it was still worth it in the end!

If I have to find any faults (which is hard because as you can see, this book is as radiant as the sun *oh geez did I really just typed that?*), then it would probably be the language. Sometimes, it grabs you lot like hell and doesn't intentionally let go, then there are times when it simply doesn't grab your attention. Nevertheless, you my friend, will be so enamored with Scarlet's world, you probably wouldn't even notice it. 

The ending ended a bit too abrupt, and I was SO sure this would have a sequel, but I asked A.C Gaughan on Twitter and she said 'As of now, it's a stand-alone but we'll see!' NOOOOO.... I want the sequel now,PLEASE WRITE A SEQUEL. Even just for me, hhehehehe. This book played out like a movie in my head, and I would LOVE to see this as a film. It would be so magical and raw. Grr. I really want this to be optioned to become a movie!!