Genre: Historical fiction
Series: Nottingham #1
Page Count: 496
Publication Year: 2019
Publisher: Forge
Special Notes: I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: The story of Robin Hood, but different.
Yes. Yes. Yes and yes. Is this my new favorite retelling? Did this book provide moral quandaries in exciting ways? Would I recommend it and will I read more from this author? You know the answers.
I am ridiculously excited about this book. Anyone who likes the tale of Robin Hood should read this book. READ IT.
Okay, let’s calm down.
What a wonderful rendition of a classic story. Familiar yet groundbreaking. Straightforward but deep. It unfolded like a tapestry beautifully stitched with battles and betrayals. So much action took place but I never fully knew where it was headed. An obvious goal needed to be achieved, but which side would win remained a mystery until the very end.
Multiple POVs enriched the story by showing both sides. You got a feel for why people thought their side was right and how much they hated the opposition. By hearing their arguments (and listening to the sheriff) it became clear to me that the real villain wasn’t any of them, it was Richard the Lionheart. They were put in impossible situations while the king went off to his war and made everyone pay for it.
The story takes off when Richard sends Robin and his friend William back to England to search for missing war supplies. They meet the outlaws (who have the supplies), get separated and after a bit of juggling they decide to tackle their problem from both sides. Robin stays in Sherwood while William goes to the castle and sheriff.
Robin went through a lot in this book. He handled it well sometimes, but other times he missed out on an opportunity to get his point across. And at critical moments he had an attack of I-can’t-listen-to-you-because-the-story-demands-it. Several other people did too, and it got a little annoying and convenient. Anyway, he struggled to get things right and in the end he didn’t pull it off as well as he could have.
William, on the other hand, was my favorite. He got the wisdom of the sheriff, he saw how things were headed and he wanted to help. I rooted for him until the end of the book.
I’m gonna lump Marion, Arable and Elena together since they all shared several characteristics. They all thought they knew what was right and that men were incapable of ruling. Men have it easy and we can’t be heard and blah blah blah.
AND YET, THEY WERE ALL CATALYSTS OF DESTRUCTION. Intentionally or not, this book showed why women shouldn’t be in charge. And now, a mini tangent:
I get that women (for some reason) have to be modern now. But since every woman is modern, it would be more challenging and interesting for authors and readers if we saw something different. Maybe the women don’t complain about how men have it easy and instead work on having an ordered household. (That takes brains and planning, so I don’t think they would bemoan how restricted their life is.) They’re content to let the men fight things out while they live peacefully at home. I’m sick of women before the 1900s acting like suffragettes when that idea only came into being when the kids were no longer there and the husband had to go get a job, leaving the wife alone at home with nothing to do. The implication that, before they got the vote, women hated their life, is dumb. I wouldn’t care if I couldn’t vote, be a policeman, own a company or be the president. I know I’m not alone in that, so maybe authors should consider that not all women feel the need to be in charge, and make some new character arcs.
Back to your regularly scheduled program:
When I read Guy’s first perspective, I thought he was great. His banter with his friends put a smile on my face. And then it got dark. Really dark. That Guy made some very questionable choices and became fixated on taking down Robin and his men. He wanted to uphold the law when the law was what made them outlaws in the first place. His narrow-mindedness stabbed him in the back.
BEST. SHERIFF. EVER. I loved de Lacy. The way he explained both sides of the situation and how he went about dealing with conflicts was so brilliant to watch. I want a whole book dedicated to his journey to becoming the sheriff.
As for the other characters, they were fine. John Little and Will Scarlet were there and Prince John made a brief cameo. I’d like to see more of the latter in the next book.
The writing style made this book stand out. Sometimes sarcastic, sometimes archaic, the book really drew me in with Guy’s first chapter. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it’s noticeable from the beginning.
The dialogue clipped along nicely and there were good lines. Occasionally someone had the perfect opportunity to defend their position and they blew it. I’d be fuming inside thinking, “Say something!” and they’d just sit there in silence. Another thing that bothered me was the modern swearing. The author said why he did it but every time it happened, it jerked me out of the story. When stories set in pre-WWII or fantasy worlds use 21st century swearing, it bothers me. Maybe it’s just a personal preference, but I don’t want Robin Hood to sound like a millennial.
This book surprised me. I’d just seen the 2018 Robin Hood movie and wasn’t sure if I wanted another rendition of the story. But this book subverted my expectations and I’m happy about it. Parts of the classic tale were examined in a more practical light and familiar events were thrown aside in favor of reality. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, despite how it ended.
Check out my rating here.
My review for the sequel.
Check out my review for the BBC Robin Hood show.
SPOILERS AHEAD
I’m nervous about the next book, especially now half the main cast is dead and I don’t care for any of the remaining people.
The current set of characters lack a leader and I’m hoping for a new main character since Will isn’t gonna cut it. Will is too unstable to play the convincing leader. I know there’s such a thing as character growth, but I don’t want to see him grow to replace Robin/William.
Perhaps some of Prince John’s chaotic neutrality is what’s needed.
When de Lacy started helping Robin’s cause, I was so happy. And then he was murdered and I became supremely upset. It’s the worst kind of death when someone is finally helping and they’re killed by the very people they’re helping. Honestly, I’m still mad.
I didn’t like Elena but the reactions to her suicide touched my cold heart. Is it paving the way for Will to get with Marion or Arable?
I assume Jacelyn will get a bigger part in the next book since she didn’t do anything important this time. And I can see Gideon making a surprise return.
I’m disappointed Guy died. I’d have liked to see a redemption arc for him. His line about how only tyrants kill messengers reinstated my belief that Richard is the real villain. (In case you forgot, Richard killed a messenger at the beginning of the book for no reason.) Such beautiful parallelism.
You know how I said people didn’t say things at the appropriate time? Yeah, so why didn’t William tell Robin it was Marion’s idea to get married? Robin might have gone charging after her and you know, avoided dying.
I do see William’s reasoning for killing Robin. He would have opposed William every step of the way and turning Robin to his side would have taken away precious time he needed to spend getting everything in order at Nottingham. And by that time the tantalizing power of being sheriff had taken him in. But when it happened, I had to reread it because I did not believe it had actually happened. Even as it played out I thought it was one of those moments that’s only in the person’s head. Before I knew it, William also dropped dead and I could only sit there in shock and denial for a moment. It’s a bold move to be sure.
I don’t know what I want to happen in the next book. Maybe a trip to London to drum up sympathy for the cause. Or everyone dying horribly and Richard coming back to a country in flames (literal or figurative).
A simple list of how the women ruined everything:
It was Elena’s idea to kill the sheriff, thus destroying his helping hand.
Arable let Elena and Will out of prison, leading Guy to Robin in the woods and setting Robin on the path to the castle and death.
Marion didn’t make her plans clear to Robin. Trusting someone with a message is always risky. Why didn’t she write a letter? But earlier than that, she kept John, Will and the gang together. If she hadn’t, they probably wouldn’t be outlaws, and the weapons wouldn’t have been stolen, so Robin and William wouldn’t have come back to get sucked into the pits of entanglement. It’s all Marion’s fault and I’m sure she’s just gonna stick her foot in it again.
Please get someone else to lead the group. Please. They desperately need a wise, logical and levelheaded man to guide them.