Re-tellings. The latest fad.
While they can be successfully pulled off, so long as the world is drastically different (ie: Lunar Chronicles), it's awfully hard to do well. This re-telling of Robin Hood has some great little anecdotes and moments; but for the most part it feels like recycled scenes, characters and concepts. Right down to the time travelling aspect.

While there is action, intrigue, teeny bit of romance and all the things that generally make up a good story; I just couldn't help but feel like I'd read this book before or at the very least seen the movie.
Now I know the scene of Robin Hood having a battle with staffs over the river is a classic moment in lots of Robin Hood lore and/or stories. However, the reality is that all I could imagine during this scenes description was the scene from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Now maybe it's not fair as I've seen that movie almost 100 times in my life (it was my Mom's favourite movie when I was a kid; and while we couldn't watch Simpsons or other shows on TV apparently violent movies were okay...). I suppose I'm bound to imagine similar moments in any Robin Hood story to scenes from the movie... even still it would have been nice for something interesting and different to have been thrown in the mix.

As with any retellings Kara Connolly choses to focus on a couple of things and drop out other things. There is no Maid Marion (but is a Templar knight that our main gal is blown away by every time he dons his armour) or damsels in distress (unless our lead gal counts). Given that our gal is Robin Hood I suppose it was too much to hope for a lesbian romance. But we do get Little John, Will Scarlett, Alan Dale and (sort of) Friar Tuck. The characters themselves are not well fleshed out, but most of us don't need them to be as we know the players. The most disappointing character of all for me was the Sheriff of Nottingham. I adore this character usually but here it felt like he was far less important that others in Nottingham. It's almost like Connolly's story was too vanilla for the sheriff's black and morbid personality.

The basic plot
Like any good time travel story, girl is plunged into medieval times (luckily she's an amazing archer), screws a bunch of stuff up, concerns herself with trying to survive and get home; whilst not changing history... there's really not a lot else to say here except that I am really tired of reading time travel books where the character has to "fulfill" some task or event in order for the door to open back home. Let's not kid ourselves, this is a cheap, easy way for the author to write their way into a perfect ending at the perfect moment. I'd rather it be elaborate, magical or scientific. Pretty much anything but convenient would have been better.

So are you wondering why I gave this three stars yet, given that I seem to have rolled my eyes at a lot of it and didn't really enjoy it? (lol)
The ending. In any 'fairy tale' I'm a sucker for a good ending (not necessarily happy I'd like to point out). No Good Deed ends in a way I was not really expecting. Connolly takes what could have been a super mushy, annoying and overly romantic ending and makes it just... well perfect. It's plausible, cute and lovely all at once.

So, is the ending worth the read?
Not really. If you love Robin Hood then maybe. Perhaps a tween or pre-teen would love this but it's not even really a teen book (even though it's classified as young adult). In my opinion, you could read this to an 8 year old and honestly it would be less violent and offensive than most saturday morning cartoons.

Overall you're not missing anything if you skip this one. I'm sure there will be dozens more re-tellings just like it tomorrow.

This review comes in two parts. Part one was posted on July 31 for the blog tour. Part two was posted on August 8 when I finished the book.

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Original Review: July 31, 2017
I’m REALLY loving this book!!! Unfortunately, life has been a little hectic lately and I haven’t been able to finish reading it yet. That said, I’ve read 50% and feel confident I can write a partial review that will honestly reflect my thoughts and do the book justice. Once I finish the book, I’ll update my review.

I’m getting a lot of different vibes from this book: Robin Hood: Men in Tights vibes. Xena/Hercules vibes. The Witch Hunter vibes. I think these comparisons come from the similar time periods and settings, rather than plot – except for the Robin Hood vibe, the reason for that is obvious!

I really love the characters in this so far. Ellie reminds me of Emily from Make It or Break It – mostly because of the short hair and “Olympic hopeful” thing. James seems swoony so far! The Will Scarlet and Little John characters have me cracking up! I have a feeling I shouldn’t like Guilbert, but I kind of do really like him because I have a feeling there’s more to him than meets the eye!

So far, the plot is incredibly intriguing and I can’t wait to see what happens next! The writing is epic, too – I’m really getting sucked into the story because of it and the plot. I think Kara Connolly is going to be an author to watch and I’m already excited to see what else she does!

So far – and assuming this book continues being epic – I definitely do recommend it to those who love retellings! Also, I was told it has a similar vibe to Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen, so if you’re a fan of that book, I recommend checking this one out!

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UPDATE (8/8/17):
So I FINALLY finished the book. I’ll admit, I struggled with it a little – the middle dragged a bit. But I’m not sure if it was the book or because of life being hectic and my reading slump, so I’m not going to blame the book. It really picked up at the end and I ended up really enjoying it. My favorite parts were the ones with Eleanor of Aquitaine, especially the part that took place at 76% (in the US eARC version – I think it was chapter twenty-one). I also REALLY LOVED Will Scarlet. He was hilarious and I loved his friendship with Ellie.

The ending was a bit rushed, but adorable and fun. It wrapped up nicely, but it left room for my mind to wander and imagine what happened AFTER. In my opinion, the best standalones are the ones that end in such a way – nicely and with no loose strings, but with enough leeway to picture the “after” however I like.

I still highly recommend this to anyone who loves Robin Hood and retellings.

I gave it 3.5 stars

NO GOOD DEED was an imaginative spin on the Robin Hood story.

Did you ever think that Robin Hood would be totally kick-butt as a girl? Well meet Ellie Hudson, U.S. Olympic archer extraordinaire, who finds herself transported to middle age Nottingham. It was extremely easy to like Ellie. Not only did I find her to be both strong and smart, she was fun to follow during her adventures.

The different cast of characters was introduced at a nice pace to keep you from being overwhelmed. I thought the world building could have been stronger, but the storyline moved along nicely. I really enjoyed how events turned out and it was fun to see enemies turn into secret allies when you least expected it.

NO GOOD DEED is a standalone and ended on a great note, but I would read more of Ellie's story if there happened to be a sequel.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

If you've been following my blog for a while, you know that I'm a big fan of fairy tale retellings. I especially like when they are looking at actual historical events and people, which this book does that as well.

When the book starts out, Ellie has just had a strange experience at a tournament, one that almost caused her to get disqualified. She sees a man in a white monk's habit in between her and the target she is aiming for. No one else sees him, and he disappears. Later on she goes with her mom for lunch, and then while her mom is working, Ellie goes to see the Nottingham castle. When she's getting ready to buy her ticket to go see the tourist attraction, she spies the monk again and so she goes to follow him, trying to figure out who he really is. This leads her through the tunnels under the castle, but when she comes out of those tunnels, suddenly she seems to be back in time. And being there is a crime, and she is immediately on the run from the sheriff and other law of the time. She ends up being saved by a knight, James, who is also a member of the Templars.

Along the way she ends up with her own little merry band of friends, who turn out to all kind of fit the characters that were supposed to be Robin Hood's band of outlaws. So not only is she trying to find her way back home, she's also trying to keep from being put to death for her suppposed crimes of the time, as well as help out those who are suffering under the horrible taxation that seems to be happening at the time. You know, she kind of becomes Robin Hood.

What I really enjoyed was all of the different historical facts that were woven into the story, making it so much more than just a fairy tale/time travel story. There was King Richard, and Prince John, as well as Eleanor of Aquitane, and so much more about that time period. I loved learning where the word sheriff actually came from.

This was a very fun read, and hard to put down. There were some things about the Robin Hood story I was unfamiliar with, but it was fun to do the research on those things as well, when I would google as I was reading.

No Good Deed follows a girl who time-travels back to become Robin Hood. Cool premise, right? Well. I thought this was fairly mediocre, to be quite honest. There were sections where I was entertained, but nothing stuck with me. It all just felt like a fairly typical action movie-type book.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy we have action-movie-ish books like this starring badass girls. But maybe this was a case of not for me? I really love my action-y books to be character driven, and this just didn't hit the mark.

I really don't have much else to say - the writing is fine, there are a few snippets of good banter but it's not incredibly funny, the characters aren't hateable but they're not amazing either. Just... fairly okay. I'd maybe recommend this more to fans of the Gone series by Michael Grant.

I won't be posting this review because it's not really either good or bad, just kind of not for me.

This was a very fun, light-hearted read. I adored Ellie. She was a feisty and fun character. The only thing I didn't like about was the world-building confusing, and I wanted more romance. Still, I recommend this for fans of Defy, Graceling, and Into the Dim.

Wonderful retelling of Robin Hood with a female antagonist! I enjoyed this book more then actual Robin Hood! I'm gonna recommend this to all my friends and family!

Kara Connolly re-creates Robin Hood with a twist in No Good Deed

NO GOOD DEED, by Kara Connolly, Delacorte Press, July 18, 2017, Hardcover, $17.99 (young adult)

Who doesn’t like a good Robin Hood story? No Good Deed, by Kara Connolly, is an exciting adventure a la A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.

No Good Deed opens with Ellie Hudson — an archery phenom and Olympic front-runner — mid-competition. All Ellie needs to do is qualify at the trials, which happen to be held in England. Everything is going fine until a strange man in a monk’s robe starts across the field of play. Ellie’s the only one to see him, and people start to worry the stress is getting to her.

The next day, Ellie visits Nottingham with her mother, and gets turned around. When Ellie finally makes it through some crazy caverns, she finds herself smack in the middle of medieval England.

Confused and a little bit scared, Ellie immediately gets off on the wrong foot with the locals, including the sheriff. Thanks to her athletic prowess and some quick thinking, Ellie escapes into the arms of a handsome knight.

Ellie quickly discovers that life in the Middle Ages isn’t pleasant, especially when you aren’t part of the aristocracy. After seeing so many people suffering, Ellie can’t help but wonder if she shouldn’t put her skills as an archer to use. After all, Sherwood Forest could use a Robin Hood.

As Ellie immerses herself in a new life as an outlaw, she must travel a fine line between what may and may not alter history. After all, she could change the future with just the tip of an arrow.

No Good Deed starts a little slowly. It takes a few chapters before I settled into Kara Connolly’s story. This is in part because the book starts with a setup before getting into the meat. Once Ellie lands in the past, however, the pacing picks up substantially.

In order for No Good Deed to work, there needed to be a reason for Ellie to be good with a bow and arrow. I’m just not sure I really believed her backstory. There are some elements with her brother that just felt a little too convenient, which was unfortunate because though he plays a role in Ellie’s story, it’s a small one.

The positive side of Ellie being a super star archer is that she gets to become a super star outlaw. This is where, you as a reader need to think of this No Good Deed as a popcorn movie and ignore the historical inaccuracies. This is, after all, an imaginative piece of time traveling and legends and not historical fiction. I enjoyed the scenes where Ellie gets the best of her foes. She has just the right amount of present-day snark to add a delightful contrast to ye olden time guys.

When all is said and done, I would read No Good Deed again. I’d even recommend it as a light, quick-paced escape. Just don’t think too hard when reading it.

I enjoyed this book a lot until really the end. There was just a weird trope that happened there I was not a fan of. Aside from that, I liked it. This book is a lot better than the cover would suggest, and if you're searching for a fun and fresh Robin Hood tale, check this one out.

A retelling of Robin Hood with a female lead? I am in! That''s the first thing I thought when I read about No Good Deed. And honestly, I was right to be. I was not disappointed by this book at all. the author took a young archer from the 21st century and send her 800 years before, in a very different context. Ellie, your hero, will learn the hard way how different the world is under Prince John regency, and the difference she can make. She will make strange encouters and befriend quite special people... and she will become a legend!
First thing I loved with this book is the narrator being Ellie. We discover this strange century with her, her comparisons with her own world, her struggles and most of all, her humor. You will feel comfortable with Ellie, like if she was a friend telling you a story, modern, full of life and compelling.
I also really enjoyed how the author turned history into her story. How Robin came to be, to become the legend we know. Half by accident, half by creating himself.
All the characters were also built interestingly, from James to Isabel to Guilbert.
Overall, a story full of humor, lead by a teenage girl you can only love and sweat for, and so different from the classic Robin Hood story!

I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

No Good Deeds by Kara Connolly is a fresh take on the Robin Hood legend involving a little time travel. For me, retellings are a recent love. I’ve not always been a fan, but I really enjoyed this one. And Robin Hood, well he’s one of my favorites. I love the myth and legend surrounding this outlaw who stole from the rich to give to the poor. It’s nice to think the man existed at some point in the Middle Ages, fighting the people who were drunk on power to save the little guy. Robin Hood is iconic, which is why I thought it brave for a debut author to tackle this myth. However Kara Connolly does a fantastic job with it.

The entire story is told from Ellie’s perspective. She’s a nineteen year old, Indiana girl who happens to be a good archer and at the opening of the story is participating in some tournament to qualify for the Olympic team (at least that’s what I gathered from her descriptions). I like and dislike Ellie. She’s immature for her age, makes rash decisions, and doesn’t seem to question the consequences of her actions until after the fact.

When by some twist of fate she finds herself in medieval Nottinghamshire, Ellie embarks on a journey that puts her at the center of the Robin Hood legend. Ellie gives herself two rules for the past: don’t die and don’t change history. I thought those were pretty basic and covered everything that could possibly happen to her. Yet she becomes the center of the sheriff’s attention when she arrives making herself an instant target. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out while reading that Ellie’s actions in the past are what create the Robin Hood legend, even when she is trying to stick to what she knows of the myth. I actually liked this twist! I liked Ellie being the iconic outlaw.

Aside from Ellie are the people she encounters in the past. I wound up liking the all! Much the Miller’s son, Little John, Will Scarlett, even Friar Tuck make appearances, though their names are not what Ellie know them as. She easily connects who the people are in the legend and I loved reading as they came to life on the pages. Will was my favorite (even if I did keep confusing him with the Will Scarlett from Once Upon a Time).

My only dislike was a bit of plot hole with the time travel. It is never really explained. How did Ellie get to the past? How will she get home? How do her actions change the future or will they change the future? It’s all very: “Oh look I’m in the past, I’ll just roll with it,” instead of the panicking I’d expect. There’s no explanation about this aspect of the book and I really wish there had been. It felt like a glaring hole.

Overall I enjoyed the story and Ellie grew on me as I read. The gender twist of the original Robin Hood made for an interesting read, and I was pleasantly surprised at the historical aspects that were included. If you enjoy alternate history or retellings, I highly recommend grabbing a copy of this book. It doesn’t disappoint.

When I heard there was a Robin Hood re-telling I was just excited. But then I heard it was going to be a Robin Hood re-telling with a female Robin Hood and I was more than super excited. I love r-tellings that make the story their own in some way and I love re-tellings of rare told stories even more, so No Good Deed was right up my alley.
Ellie Hudson is making her way to the U.S. Olympic team. She must qualify for the team while she's in England. But as she's following someone, she ends up making her way all the way to the Middle Ages. She wants to get back as soon as she can, but there's so much suffering going on in Nottingham and it would be rude not to do all she could to help first. And with that, she finds hersekf falling into the role of the legandary Robin Hood.....
To say this was a historical fiction book, I actually enjoyed this one. I'm known to DNF them, (and sometimes really early on lol) but this one kept my attention the entire way through. There was a bit of time when it got too heavy with the history, but it was mostly at the beginning so it wasn't that bad.
Another reason this isnt a typical "Nikki" book is the time travel aspect. I'm not normally a fan of time travel because they're normally either heavy on the history or heavy on the science. I tend to get annoyed with info-dumpy time traveling, but this one wasn't like that at all. She literally just went from one place to the next and I thought that was pretty cool. There wasn't a need to complicate it and for that I was glad.
However I was not a fan of the plot. There were too many "coincidences." Like her parent's were both professors of history and physics. All the tools she needed to throughly think about time travel and all the people she would know. I guess I would have liked it better had she been thrown into it and just had to survive. That sounds harsh, but it's what I wanted lol
Although this isn't my typical book, it was still something that I throughly enjoyed. I love finding books that I don't think I'll like and end up liking them. It really helps open my eyes as a reader and tells me not to give up on certain genres.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2050201453?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

I received this book for free via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love Robin Hood retellings, so when I started this book, I was really excited. I loved Ellie, James, Much, Will, and Little John. The characters were wonderful, and I loved how Ellie was just a girl trying to win an Olympic medal, but ends up time traveling to the past. There, she meets her new friends and starts an adventure of her own, with two goals: Don't get killed. Don't change history.

Overall, I thought the book was very well written. The only part I didn't like was the ending. It seemed a little abrupt and confusing. Other than that, I really enjoyed this story.

This book takes us on a lighthearted romp through time and lands us straight in Nottingham—where we get to spend time with a certain band of merry men. I hate to overuse the word “fun,” but that’s exactly how I’d describe the book. It twists the tale of Robin Hood quite nicely and never takes itself too seriously.

There are lots of elements of the book that I don’t want to give away, so I’m going to have to be really general in my review. You’ll just have to experience the book yourself to get more!

What Fed My Addiction:

Ellie.
Ellie is fascinating because she’s goal oriented enough that she knows what she wants (an Olympic gold medal) and she’s willing to work hard for it, but she’s also somewhat reckless—especially once she finds herself in Nottingham. She makes it through most of the peril in the book by simply winging it—so she’s a girl after my own heart. Ellie doesn’t pretend to know what she’s doing, but she does end up in a leadership role of sorts, mostly because she has certain moral values that she holds to strongly and she doesn’t compromise on them. She’s the type of girl who will fight for what’s right even when it’s hard. It’s practically impossible not to get behind that!

Robin Hood characters with a twist.
Connolly does a fantastic job of weaving in the characters that we know and love from Robin Hood (and from history) but making them surprising in some way. Ellie never knows what to expect from them and she’s quite surprised by many of the “characters” that she meets because they don’t quite match with what she knows of them. I thought this was a really fun way to liven up the story a bit. There were some interesting surprises!

Just plain fun.
Like I said, this is the best way I can explain this book. The pacing is great and there’s action and plenty of danger, but the overall feel of the book is lighthearted and fun. It keeps you guessing as well, which is always a plus!

What Left Me Hungry for More:

No Maid Marian.
Okay, I have to admit that I haven’t read the original version of this story (or any classic version, for that matter), so I was mostly basing my expectations on my foggy remembrances of the Robin Hood movies I’ve seen at some point or another. Since Maid Marian usually seems to be a focus in those, I expected her in this one, but she doesn’t appear (unless I missed her?). In fact, while the characters are fun takes on the Merry Men, I didn’t recognize any of the plot as really matching anything I’ve seen from Robin Hood before (but, again, my memory of the Robin Hood folklore is very sketchy at best!).

If you’re looking for a fun new take on an old tale, I highly recommend No Good Deed. It delivers. I give it 4/5 stars.

Seriously, so much fun! I loved every minute of this and the whole time travel aspect was super easy to understand and didn't get into the way of the rest of the story, instead it was just a fun side element to the story that felt completely a natural part of it.

My Thoughts:

No Good Deed was a lot of fun! This book has a classic world-time travel feel - like a Narnia or Alice in Wonderland, where the main character travels in time (or to a fantasy place) by going through a secret passage, with no explanation of why or how it happens. Without all the science-y explanations that accompany most time travel books I've read recently, this story felt very nostalgic. It also allowed me to focus right onto the plot without a lot of info dumping to explain everything.

In No Good Deed, Eleanor (Ellie), a modern day competitive archer, goes through underground caves at Nottingham Castle and travels back in time to, you guessed it, Sherwood Forest when good King Richard was on crusades and crooked Prince John ruled the land. Ellie has no idea how any of that happened but she's determined to get back to her time. In the mean time, she's going to shake things up, including bringing the legend of Robin Hood to life.

Weaving the well-loved legend of Robin Hood into a fresh tale, one of my favorite parts of this book was the way Robin's supporting cast of characters was introduced, from Will Scarlet to Friar Tuck, all in unexpected ways. Several of them really surprised me, as I got to know them better. And to carry it all, is our Robin Hood, Ellie whom constantly amused me and wowed me with her fearlessness (except about things like the plague) and her ability to adapt to the strangest of circumstances. No real romance, the focused is very much elsewhere, but there are some nice underlying hints that made me smile.

I had no idea what to expect from the ending, but it wraps everything up very well, and the story reads as a standalone (which I assume it is). My only question is [ how Rob was in the present when Ellie returned. That wasn't explained at all. (highlight for spoiler)].

This was a quick read that surprised me with how much fun it was.

Love Triangle Factor: Very little romance
Cliffhanger Scale: Standalone

I have always loved a good retelling. There is just something slightly magical about someone else putting a spin on an old childhood favorite and Robin Hood has always been one of my favorites. I think there is something so fun about the underdog succeeding and of course the good always triumphing over evil.

When I saw the synopsis for No Good Deed and saw that not only was it a retelling of a classic story we all know and love but with a slight twist to it, I was all over it. What better time to go stomping through Sherwood Forest than in the summer time right?

I loved the twist the author did with this not only because I have family members who are huge in archery but because, hello a girl narrator! It was just so much fun and I couldn't help but love all the characters.

A flamboyant Will, a softy John, and a fun eager sidekick Much not to mention a knight in shining armor and even one of the bad guys that you couldn't help but love and other bad guys you wanted to reach through the pages and give a good spanking too.

Seriously, so much fun! I loved every minute of this and the whole time travel aspect was super easy to understand and didn't get into the way of the rest of the story, instead it was just a fun side element to the story that felt completely a natural part of it.

Truly a fun read for any fans of the story or anyone just looking for something fun for summer that you will thoroughly enjoy and be entertained by. I just couldn't put this one down.

No Good Deed features a gender swap/time travel re-telliing of Robin Hood. To be honest, I don’t remember much from the original to be able to attest to how close the author stuck to the source material but the key players are all there.

Ellie Hudson is an archer, competing in England for a spot on the Olympic team. Her father puts a lot of pressure on her and Ellie’s brother, Robert, who is also an elite archer, has gone missing on a Peace Corp mission. All of this throws off her concentration and during an important shot she sees a man walk across the field. Unfortunately, she’s the ONLY person who saw him. She thinks everything is finally getting to her and goes off exploring the caves and tunnels of the area, hoping to find the strange man but instead finds herself back in the Middle Ages of Sherwood Forest accused of trespassing. About to thrown into be thrown in a lake with rocks tied to her as a test of her innocence, Ellie makes her great escape that leads to a series of adventures as Ellie finds herself at the center of the legend of Robin Hood with her own Merry Men.

Ellie’s quest to help the villagers of Nottingham, save herself and find a way back were a lot of fun! Connolly keeps the action moving at a brisk pace. Ellie is such a kind, likable, kick ass kind of girl with mad archery skills that makes everyone want to follow her.

No Good Deed has very little in the way of romance – which I know a lot of YA readers are looking for. There are a few glances and sweet touches but that’s about it. I think I was supposed to be shipping Ellie and the noble Knight Templar, James, that’s teased in the summary, but I’m all about the hate to love vibe I was getting from Ellie and Guilbert – but honestly, that’s all irrelevant – because this is just about the adventure and less about the relationships – or even character development.

And that lack of character development and world building would be my one nitpick about this book. The bones are all there – the complex relationship with her parents, the missing brother, the *maybe* connection to James, the friendships, the time travel…it’s all just a surface type backdrop to get Ellie where she needs to be for the story to take place. There are no explanations or follow through but it’s fun nonetheless. The mix of authentic and modern day language from the medieval times characters was also a tad distracting.

A creative, modern day twist on the Robin Hood legend, relatable heroine who has action packed adventures that don’t involve a romance and great banter between the merry band of misfits make this a good pick for someone looking a for a light-hearted action packed read as long as your willing to let those adventures stand without explanation.

The publisher is comparing this one to Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige, and I have to agree. I have some of the same quibbles with NGD – innovative but with lack of follow through – as I did with DMD, but if you liked Dorothy Must Die, then this should be right up your alley.