1.5 Stars

One Liner: Good idea, underwhelming execution

Jane Crowe is a peasant girl with a huge responsibility on her shoulders. When things get dire, her beau of sorts takes her to Robin Hood. If she passes Robin’s tests, she will get a chance to prove her worth and make a living.

However, as Jane enters a new world, she wonders if everything is as it seems. There’s more to Robin than his charisma, and not everything is positive. What will Jane do when the situation gets complicated? What will she choose?

The story comes in Jane’s third-person POV (mostly).

My Thoughts:

Firstly, I have to thank my friend Rosh for advising me to go into the book with zero expectations. That certainly helped.

The idea of a manipulative Robin Hood is interesting. I’ve read about his not-so-clean image and the possible dark side, which doesn’t get highlighted often. So, the book’s premise appealed to me.

Here, I have to mention the author’s note. It’s the best part. It makes me wonder if she should have written non-fiction about it rather than this book.

Now, Jane is your typical YA character, but set in the Medieval Ages. She has flutters based on almost nothing. I still can’t understand what it was about Robin that infatuated her. His looks? His so-called persona, when all we see is him acting like a spoiled brat?

Midway through, I couldn’t help but laugh at Jane’s stupidity (especially when she is supposed to be highly observant and a good judge of human nature). Here’s a girl with zero comprehension who thinks she knows Robin more than his ‘colleagues/ gang members’. She sounds so pathetic that it’s hard to stay interested and continue reading.

The other characters were stereotypical. Fortunately, Ibota, the prioress, was marginally better. Honestly, she seemed like the only one to have a functioning brain.

I appreciate the details about the so-called men of the Church, or the gender bias prevalent in society. But, honestly, when your heroine is such a mess, it is hard to care about anything.

I did my best and plodded through the first 30% and then switched to speed-reading. The funny thing is that the pacing was still slow. And in the last section (around 80% or so), things move quickly, too quickly. Then, it’s over.

To summarize, The Traitor of Sherwood Forest has a worthy premise, but the execution feels all over the place. The intent is great. The presentation is not!

Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking Penguin (Penguin Books), for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

#NetGalley #TheTraitorOfSherwoodForest