Official Synopsis: ‘You aren’t merry,’ said Clem to her captor. ‘And you aren’t all men. So there’s been some marketing confusion somewhere along the line.’
Mariel, a newly blooded and perpetually grumpy captain of the Merry Men, is desperate to live up to the legacy of her grandfather, the legendary Robin Hood. Clem, a too-perky backwoods healer known for her new-fangled cures, just wants to help people.
When Mariel's ramshackle band of bandits kidnap Clem as retribution for her guardian helping the Sheriff of Nottingham, all seems to be going (sort of) to plan … until Jack Hartley, Mariel’s father and Commander of the Merry Men, is captured in a deadly ambush. Determined to prove herself, Mariel sets out to get him back – with her annoyingly cheerful kidnappee in tow.
But the wood is at war. Many believe the Merry Men are no longer on the right side of history. Watching Clem tend the party’s wounds and crack relentlessly terrible jokes, Mariel begins to doubt the noble cause to which she has devoted her life. As the two of them grow closer, forced by circumstances to share a single horse and bed, one thing is clear. They must prepare to fight for their lives and for those of everyone they’ve sworn to protect.
I was a really big fan of Croucher's first young adult book, 'Gwen and Art are not in Love' that came out last year, and was excited to see the same thing done with Robin Hood. There were definitely some moments where I felt like I wasn't sure what was going on, which when the chapters were focused on Clem it made sense, but it felt sometimes like even Mariel wasn't sure what was happening.
Clem is a really fun character, she is kidnapped, but insisted on helping them because of her dream of being a healer. Her 'help people and ask questions later' mentality is really commendable, though it definitely leads to issues later in the story. Even though she starts out being their prisoner, she slowly makes friends with each of Mariel's merry men, to the point where when she is free to go she doesn't leave because they still need her to heal them.
Mariel is definitely hardened by the way her father, and the woods, treat her. She wants to be the commander one day, but the other older men in the group don't agree. Her group of merry men is very ragtag, but they are loyal to her. Mariel's biggest fault is her blind loyalty for her father, which leads her to miss the signs that he might now be as good as her grandfather, the original Robin Hood, was.
Clem and Mariel end up on this sort of messy adventure, that leads both of them to finding out the truths about the world around them, while also letting them explore their feelings. Clem is less guarded than Mariel when it comes to romantic emotions, but they work together to figure those out in the middle of the chaos around them.
For being young adult, there is also definitely some violence and death mentioned in the book, as the merry men are still against the 'law' and things happen. Overall, I did enjoy the story but sometimes thought Mariel was a bit too 'tough' for her own good. I wish there was a little more told about the world around them, or even a call back to Gwen and Art. I'm excited to see if there are more books like this in the future.
I rated this book 3.5 out of 5 stars!
It is scheduled to be published November 26, 2024!
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