While I found Scarlet to be an excellent character in general, and initially thought Gaughen's decision to give her an eating disorder was very interesting, the way this eating disorder seemed to disappear by the end of the book was rather strange.

I never felt the love triangle between Scarlet, Robin and Little John was particularly convincing (apart from anything else, Much the Miller's Son seemed so much more likeable than both of the other two put together that surely Scarlet should have seen this and taken more of an interest in him!) Robin, in particular, comes across as less of the tormented soul which seems to be the intent and more of an annoying control freak who needs to make up his mind about what he wants.

The action scenes stand out as very well written and engaging, even if Scarlet seems to be improbably acrobatic at times. Her history with Guy of Gisbourne (surely a front runner for the most despicable villain in years!) was especially cleverly plotted. Most notably, Scarlet's voice is captured wonderfully well, and her background is revealed at just the right pace to be completely intriguing. It's a little bit hit and miss, to be honest, but the parts that do hit are pretty spectacularly great. It's an intriguing question, and debut author AC Gaughen has real fun answering it. But what if they weren't all men? What if Will Scarlet, the violent youngster who can throw a knife with the same accuracy as Robin shoots a bow, was a girl? Gaughen made Scarlet into a local hero, as well, as the local townsfolk see Scarlet as a source of hope.Everyone knows the story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. I like that Scarlet was a tough character that needed little rescuing from Robin. I thought it was funny that Scarlet was grumpy about having to always rescue Robin and never get the credit for it.

Later on, when Gisbourne's men have given up, they are heard to say how Robin Hood is part fey, part spirit of the trees. My favorite part of the story was when Gisbourne almost captures Robin when he was at Tuck's Tavern but Scarlet successfully leads him astray into the woods. It fills in certain blanks int he Robin Hood mythos in a very interesting way. Gaughen made Will Scarlet into a girl who was actually Lady Marian in disguise. I like this story because it is an excellent re-telling of the Robin Hood tales but from the point of view of Will Scarlet.

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