Review: Lady Thief by AC Gaughen

Book: Lady Thief by AC Gaughen

Series: Scarlet #2

Released: February 11, 2014

Publisher: Walker Childrens

Pages: 320 (Kindle edition)

Stars: 5+ and ALL THE FLAILS

Goodreads

From Goodreads:

Scarlet’s true identity has been revealed, but her future is uncertain. Her forced marriage to Lord Gisbourne threatens Robin and Scarlet’s love, and as the royal court descends upon Nottingham for the appointment of a new Sheriff, the people of Nottingham hope that Prince John will appoint their beloved Robin Hood. But Prince John has different plans for Nottingham that revolve around a fateful secret from Scarlet’s past even she isn’t yet aware of. Forced to participate at court alongside her ruthless husband, Scarlet must bide her time and act the part of a noblewoman—a worthy sacrifice if it means helping Robin’s cause and a chance at a future with the man she loves. With a fresh line of intrigue and as much passion as ever, the next chapter in Scarlet’s tale will have readers talking once again.

*As with all books within a series, there will be spoilers for previous books. Ye be warned.*

The very first review I wrote on The Broke Book Girls (way back in November....) was for Scarlet by AC Gaughen. Little did I know that this series would quickly become one of my new favorites. I discovered it on a whim, and man did I fall in love. So when Lady Thief, the second book in the series, came out at the beginning of February, I read it immediately (it's taken me this long to get my feels in order to be coherent enough to put words down).

The FEELS this book gave me. I was all over the place. Ecstatic, happy, thrilled, worried, terrified, distraught, depressed, curled up in the fetal position and huddled in the corner, you name it, I probably felt it over the course of this book. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED it. So very much. Just be prepared for the feels. Gaughen will give you hope and then rip your heart out.

Oh Scarlet. I love love love her so much. She's so damaged and flawed while still being crazy awesome. Only this time she has even more to deal with. Rob is suffering from serious issues. I still love Much, maybe even more so. John as some truly heartbreaking moments. And Gisbourne still sucks. 

But maybe not as much Prince John, the new reigning d-bag. His mom-Eleanor of Aquitaine-is totally awesome and the most amazing royal to ever be royal.

Lady Thief picks up shortly after Scarlet ended (huzzah!). Scarlet finds herself still married to Gisbourne, while longing to be with Rob. And Rob. Poor Rob is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. He wakes up from nightmares every night and attacks whoever is nearby. Even if that person is Scarlet (welcome to book 2!).

Prince John is coming in to Nottingham to name a new sheriff, with Gisbourne pretty much being the main, and only, candidate. With him comes his entourage, and his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine along with him. I adore her by the way. She's rather fabulous. Due to the Prince's arrival, Gisbourne strikes a deal with Scarlet. In exchange for Scarlet coming to the castle to live with him and acting the part of his wife-and a proper lady of the court, Gisbourne will grant her an annulment. All of this happens at the start of the book. We also get to have the famous tournament (sadly no fox on stilts), meet Alan-a-Dale, and learn more about Rob's time in the Crusades.

Gaughen created a masterpiece. She takes you for a ride in the most wonderful and imaginative way possible. She yanks you back and forth and your feels will never be the same. Rob and Scarlet's relationship is back-and-forth and ridiculously complicated. But I will ship this ship until the very end. There are so many twists and turns, and even though I figured one of the major ones out, it was still the most amazing thing ever. There are parts, seriously depressing parts of this book. I bawled my eyes in a couple of places. And the ending. Your heart will be ripped into shreds by the ending, if it isn't in tatters already. You'll just want to huddle in the corner until the pain goes away.

I wish I could tell you more, but you must definitely go into this book blind. Trust me, it would not have the same effect if you knew what was going to happen.

A thousand times yes. I will push this book on to anyone I possibly can. I honestly think this book should, and will, be adored by anyone who reads it.

Review: Splintered by AG Howard

Book: Splintered by A.G. Howard

Series: Splintered #1

Released: January 15, 2013

Publisher: Amulet

Pages: 384 (Kindle)

Rating: 4.5

Goodreads

I love this cover. Gorgeous font. Love it all.

From Goodreads:

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence.

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on.

There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

First things first, I have an insane amount of books on my kindle waiting to be read. So many, in fact, that I made my husband choose my next book since I was feeling even more indecisive than usual. He scrolled through all the choices and summaries and immediately decided on Splintered. He's a big fan of Lewis Carroll and the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland. I'd been meaning to get to reading this for a long time, and thanks to my husband I finally did. I'm very glad I read this book. I really enjoyed it and even more exciting is upon finishing the book and reading the author bio, I discovered that A.G. Howard lives in my hometown (I live in a small-ish town. So yeah, this was super exciting for me as it never happens). So down the rabbit hole I went.

Obviously this book appeals to people that enjoy Carroll's story and the movie(s), but be prepared, this book is CrAzY and messed up. The world Howard creates in her version of Wonderland is fantastically creepy, and I mean that in the best way possible. She takes the well-known characters and twists them and makes the much darker. The White Rabbit is actually the Rabid White-an antlered creature that is mostly skin and bones. Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum are actually two spider-like creatures in charge of the dead. The Mad-Hatter is still mad, but he has no face. Creeeeep-y.

But in the midst of all the creepiness, there's Alyssa. She's a descendant of Alice, THE Alice, from Carroll's stories. We meet Alyssa before she ever steps foot in Wonderland. She lives with her dad and her mom Alison is in an insane asylum. She's a skater girl who works in a vintage clothing shop. What I love so much about Alyssa is how level-headed she is. Even when the world is going bonkers around her she is able to think clearly (well, almost always. coughhuggingMorpheuscough).

Let's take a moment to discuss the two guys in Alyssa's life. Morpheus and Jeb. Ahhh Jeb. He's Alyssa's best friend/crush since she was in 6th grade. He follows Alyssa through the mirror into Wonderland and helps her through all her trials. He's sweet and kind and caring, but also daring. He does everything he can to help her. But then there's Morpheus. He's the one who came to Alyssa in her dreams to teach her about Wonderland. He's all dark, mysterious and has this kind of power over Alyssa.

There were so many twists and turns in this story. I'm usually pretty good at figuring out plot points, but this one kept me on my toes the entire time. Every time I felt I finally had something figured out, BAM, wrong. I loved it. I really enjoy stories that surprise me.

Most of all, the writing in this is absolutely breathtaking. Howard does a magnificent job of balancing the writing to sound like Alyssa and maintaining the beauty of the story. The visuals that are created are stunning. I would LOVE to see a graphic novel of this. The world and this story would lend itself fantastically to one.

Review: Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Book: Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Series: Scarlet #1

Released: February 14, 2012

Publisher: Walker Childrens

Pages: 287 (Kindle Version)

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

GoodReads

 

From GoodReads: 

Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance.

Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in.

It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.

     I've never really been a huge Robin Hood fan. I know the basic story, but beyond that I've never had a lot of interest in the story. When you say Robin Hood to me, this is the first thing that comes to mind:

I like when Fiona punches him. He deserves it.

     With that being said, I was hopefully optimistic. I generally love historical settings, and this definitely fit the bill. Even not knowing a lot of the background of the story, I still knew the major locations discussed like Sherwood Forest and Nottingham, which helps constructing a map in your head of locations mentioned throughout the book. (sidenote: I LOVE when authors include maps in books. It makes me happy and automatically adds half a point to the rating.)

     The story moves at a fairly quick pace, which I really enjoyed. At only 287 pages, it was a really quick read for me. More importantly, I never felt like it was dragging on, nor did I feel like I was missing any details. There's enough world-building that you don't miss out by not knowing the history of the story. I was immediately engrossed in the storytelling, and it definitely drew me in right from the beginning. There's some mystery surrounding Scarlet, which I did figure out rather quickly, but it was still interesting to read the details of the how and why. She's a strong and complex female character, not a doormat, which I always enjoy.

     And Robin Hood? I adore how he's written. Strong, responsible and good looking. Everything a hero and love interest should be. I like the choice Gaughen made of having all the characters younger (Rob is only 21), but faced with seemingly insurmountable tasks of taking care of the villagers. The other two members of the Hood's band are Much and John. We don't get a whole lot of information about their backgrounds, Much in particular-I'd really like to know more about him-but they still feel like fleshed out and fully-realized characters. You can't help but want them to succeed.

     My only *slight* complaint is the grammar and syntax used in the story. Reading incorrect grammar and spelling absolutely drives me crazy (I'm looking at you facebook!). Scarlet commonly uses "were" instead of "was" and other grammar mistakes, it was clearly intended to be that way and it serves the author's purpose of Scarlet sounding uneducated and like a thief. I didn't mind it as much by the end, but it definitely took me a while to get used to reading it.

    
     So to sum up there were lots of things I liked: Pretty cover? Check! Historical Setting? Check! Strong female character? Check! Gender bending? Check! Swoon-worthy love interest? Check! Drama & Intrigue? Check!