Robyn Hood Outlaw Princess

I can already see this is going to be one of those books that is going to upset someone if not outright offend because they took a beloved male icon and turned him into a woman. If there’s anything that irritates people in this decade it’s changing the gender or race of their icons.

Then there’s the group that will be upset because it’s yet another reboot of a fairytales, legend, myth, etc so where’s the originality?

Can you tell I read a lot of reviews? I often do so after reading something myself to see where my opinion falls against the general consensus; sometimes it’s entertaining, sometimes it’s annoying.
As a woman I liked that a book was put out to give girls their own hero in the woods, a champion to get behind who will stand against social injustice.

It’s not a perfect story. Immediately I was irritated that the main character gets punished by having to write an essay on three famous men, why specifically men? Women have contributed a lot too but then I guess that’s kind of the point of this gender bending story so deep breath taken. Then there was the female teacher actually stereotyping girls as having a problem with talking too much. Another deep breath taken. The female history teacher says that “History is mostly about men” which is only true if you teach it that way as women have played some great roles as leaders in various countries and stories but since we live in male dominated society their parts are often overlooked for men. It just surprised me you’d have a female character, in what seems to be a modern story, continue that charade. But I’m trying so continuing I go.

The main character, Roby, is supposed to be 17 but the way she’s portrayed is closer to a 2 yr old. Her dialogue, bad attitude, temper tantrums all seem a bit immature for that age however I’m reading this as an adult so in all probability if someone in their teens or younger read this they could probably identify with a girl being angry at parents who don’t get it and a school more concerned with rules than making education fun.

Once I got through those initial chapters it actually turned into a great story I had fun reading with my elementary school age daughter. She loved the action scenes and it gave us a chance to talk about social injustice on a level she could understand.

The conclusion felt REALLY rushed like they were pressed for time and just needed to end it which was disappointing. Even my daughter felt surprised and asked me to flip through some more because she thought we had lost pages.

I let my daughter rate this because if I did it would be unfair as it was obviously not written for my age level and since she’s more of the target audience it seemed only right for her opinion to take precedence.

I did read that this was actually a musical which I had never heard of and would be curious to see if it translated better on stage at least as far as being able to enjoy it more on an adult level. I’m curious to hear what kind of music was done to accompaniment it.

Thank you so much to Booksgosocial via netgalley for sending me an ARC copy of Robyn hood outlaw princess by John Reynolds.

Robyn Howard is bored of her mundane life, mundane school, mundane people. Robyn is rebellious and always says whats on her mind. Robyn is the kind of girl that every girl needs as a best friend.

Robyn soon finds out that she comes from a long line of outlaws one of who is Robin Hood. Once she discovered her heritage she knows that she too must make a difference!

When going into this book I assumed it was going to be just a gender swap of Robin Hood but it is set more modern and had its own unique style.

A short and interesting new rendition of the legend of Robin Hood, with time travel and an amazing protagonist: in this little jewel, the mythical outlaw is a girl from our time who travels in time in a lightning storm making a thunderous arrival on Sherwood as the leader of a band of women.
You can find in this story action, a little romance, the traitorous Prince John and his minion the Sheriff but you can also find more actual issues that troubles our youngs: a bully with all the power in the person of the school's director, a parent absent, power concentrated on one gender only, among others.
This is a short and fast story you couls read and enjoy in an afternoon.

Interesting take on the story to feed the imagination. Great characters

This book would be perfect for any pre-teen who loves girl power themed books. There were a lot of funny and witty scenes I really enjoyed and I just wish there was a bit more to the story.

A scintillating retelling of the Robin Hood story with a teen girl at the helm Feminist at its core, Robyn Hood is a great role model for girls. Robyn believes women should stand up and have a larger part of history - be it the pastor history in the making.

I received an advance ecopy of this book from NetGalley. My heartfelt thanks.

Going in, I did not know that this book was based off of a musical. So, I was shocked at how short and basic this book read. The first few chapters were a bit dull and teenage angst-y, but they were short and really just served to set the scene and stage for the main meat of the book.

The idea was fun (though some knowledge of the original Robin Hood story is helpful for fullest enjoyment), easy to read and comprehend, and in this day and age everyone appreciates a female-centered, girl power plot.

The "girls are just as capable as boys" message felt a bit too heavy handed for me, but I'm going to let that slide on the grounds that this is adapted from a musical and stage plays have different needs than novels to get their point across sometimes.

The voice is very young - I didn't realize the protagonist was supposed to be 17 or 18 for a while. The content is light and relatively easy to comprehend - kids as young as 11 could probably read and enjoy this with little or no trouble.

Overall impression: cute, light, fun, easy read, but not fantastic, and a bit heavy-handed on the "girls are important too" bit.

I was surprised that this was a short story. It made for very quick reading that could pass a lazy summer afternoon. It filled with fun characters. I also loved the time travel element. I just wish that it could have been shorter. This is because I could be more immersed in the world and get to know the characters better. Overall, it’s a sweet story that is perfect for fans of the Robin Hood legend.

I love a good retelling and who doesn't love the story of Robin Hood. It was a quick and enjoyable read with a genderbent premise which I found quite refreshing.

I would recommend this to all.