Meagan Spooner

Sherwood

Fans of Danielle Paige, Marissa Meyer, and Alex Flinn will devour New York Times bestselling author Meagan Spooner’s next fierce fairy tale-inspired story, which Illuminae author Amie Kaufman calls “a kick-ass, gender-flipped feminist retelling.” Robin of Locksley is dead. Maid Marian doesn’t know how she’ll go on, but the people of Locksley town, persecuted by the Sheriff of Nottingham, need a protector. And the dreadful Guy of Gisborne, the Sheriff’s right hand, wishes to step into Robin’s shoes as Lord of Locksley and Marian’s fiancé. Who is there to stop them? Marian never meant to tread in Robin’s footsteps—never intended to stand as a beacon of hope to those awaiting his triumphant return. But with a sweep of his green cloak and the flash of her sword, Marian makes the choice to become her own hero: Robin Hood.

Gisela Ayala 

2.5

I would like to divide the book into two acts. Act I was kind of boring. Too much information I think. I guess sometimes I want ALL THE DETAILS. But other times, if not done well it's just too much. My brain was getting confused. 

Act 2 was much much better. It was kind of like watching an action movie and I was getting into the character development. But still not enough to save the star rating of Sherwood. It is an interesting concept though! Girl Power.

Charmaine

So damn good! An eloquent tale of competition, deceit, legend, and above all, surrender. Surrender to the arrow, to love, and to your true, wholly self. 💚💚💚

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I bought this book on my own (in a book box)!

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Publication Date: March 19, 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy Retelling

Recommended Age: 13+ (violence, death, grief)

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 480

Amazon Link

Synopsis: Robin of Locksley is dead.

Maid Marian doesn’t know how she’ll go on, but the people of Locksley town, persecuted by the Sheriff of Nottingham, need a protector. And the dreadful Guy of Gisborne, the Sheriff’s right hand, wishes to step into Robin’s shoes as Lord of Locksley andMarian’s fiancé.

Who is there to stop them?

Marian never meant to tread in Robin’s footsteps—never intended to stand as a beacon of hope to those awaiting his triumphant return. But with a sweep of his green cloak and the flash of her sword, Marian makes the choice to become her own hero: Robin Hood.

Review: This book was everything I wanted in a Robin Hood retelling, especially from Maid Marian’s point of view. We almost never get to hear anything from her point of view and she’s always been the Peach character of the Robin Hood tales. I loved that this book was very focused on her and I feel like this book did well by her and Robin. It showed a strong female from the get go, someone who had already discovered who they were with Robin, but then someone who had to discover who they were after Robin, which is something that I feel anyone who’s dealt with a huge loss can relate to. The character development was spot on, I wish I had more info on the band of merry men, but for what we had it was adequate. The writing was amazingly well done and the world building was great as well. I also feel that the pacing was very spot on.

My only complaint about this book is that I feel like the ending was not satisfactory. I expected something entirely different from what I got. I’m not saying that the ending was bad, it was good, but I feel like the turn of events was a bit too tied up perfectly and I would have preferred a messier ending. Also, not a fan of the big cliché at the end, but that’s a spoiler.

Verdict: Meagan did well by Robin Hood in this Marian centric retelling.

b.andherbooks

I received a free copy in exchange for a free review! Thank you to the publisher!

Marian's betrothed, the boy she grew up with, learned the bow with, and who she could be herself with, is dead. Robin of Locksley, who had only just begun to be Robin Hood, will never return to marry Marian or champion the people. 

So Marian does it herself. Donning the green cloak, the mask, and the bow, Marian chooses to pretend Robin is still alive, his death but a ruse to confuse the cold-eyed Guy of Gisborne and the Sheriff of Nottingham.

But Gisborne is smart and may prove to be Marian's biggest challenge as his eyes seem to see right into her soul.

It looks like Robin Hood tales will be on the upswing again, especially those with "feminist" twists. Well, this is the first I've read in the new batch and it was amazing. It is a very cerebral story, set mostly in Marian's head as she plays a deadly game of misdirection. I thoroughly enjoyed the back-flashes in Robin's POV and there is an awesome slow-burn romance you can see building throughout the story.

So much fun.

Elize van Heerden

I wanted to like it, I really did, but it was just drawn out and only started picking up around the archery contest, and then it felt so rushed

Meg K

I honestly don’t understand why this book is receiving so many negative reviews! Personally, as a Robin Hood fanatic (in any form of the legend) I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this retelling! Marian is a bold yet flawed heroin, which I thought worked well to round out her character... she’s not all warrior woman and not all dainty damsel; she uses both sides of herself to her advantage. She’s not the untouchably perfect legend, as some of the tales make the Robin Hood character out to be, but also makes mistakes and has her doubts throughout. An added twist, of course, is that Robin is dead, and not only that, but Marian is possibly hearing his voice in her head. Definitely a unique idea!

Spooner does a great job of bringing characters to life while unveiling vivid settings through her beautiful prose. This story is real, it’s gritty, it’s enchanting, and I tore through it! 

I liked the nuanced differences that Spooner brought to this retelling... how she built up the characters of the “merry men”, and especially her handling of Guy of Gisborne. I felt this Gisborne was reminiscent of Richard Armitage’s portrayal in BBC’s Robin Hood tv series, which is my favorite version of the character! Like Marian, he has his darkness and his light. His character arc was one of the most compelling in this story. It’s nice to see Gisborne get his shot at redemption for a change!

I saw another reviewer mentioned the 1938 film “The Adventures of Robin Hood” starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland (one of my all-time favorite films)... I would argue that this retelling was just as charming! You get that magical feel of the beloved legend, while still taking in a new perspective that is fresh and interesting!

If you’re looking for a Robin Hood retelling that completely breaks from anything you’ve read before, this isn’t going to necessarily be the book for you. If you simply enjoy anything related to the legend and well-written prose, then I’d highly recommend giving it a try!

Manon van Heumen

I really enjoyed this, such a great retelling!

Ashlee

I was obsessed with watching Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (as well as Men in Tights 🤭) when I was a kid and this book was so fun and brought back a lot of nostalgia I have for the story of Robin Hood.

I quite liked the gender-bent spin placed on this story, seeing Marian step into the role of Robin and do what she can to help her people. In fact, this book went a completely different direction than I had anticipated, which I loved about it. The cat-and-mouse aspect, as well as Robin/Marian’s band of friends made this story even more enjoyable.

I am also a sucker for romance and initially felt as though this book wouldn’t have any at all. I was resigning myself to that outcome, but was surprised to discover there actually was a romance on the table! And I really liked the way that romance played out and who it was with, I think it helped make that character more dimensional. If anything, I wish the romance would have begun to flourish earlier in the book, but alas I am satisfied with how it came to be, too!

Sherwood is a easy to enjoy and refreshing spin on the tale of Robin Hood and I’m quite delighted to have enjoyed it.

Lisa Beasley

I had such high hopes for this book. I loved Hunted and adore Robin Hood so when I heard this would be a gender bent tale I was excited. Sadly it did not live up to my expectations. Marion I found incredibly annoying, she couldn't plot for shit and how nobody discovered it was her masquerading as Robin I honestly don't know. Guy was an odd one for me too but obviously after the author killed off Robin she decided the book still needed a romance aspect so let's just throw them together even though there isn't really much chemistry there and they're both, at times, incredibly horrible to each other. Such a let down. And I am very sad about it.

Liz Griffin

3.5 stars. Enjoyable reimagining, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it memorable. And the ending sat oddly with me.

Sherwood

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