Sherwood

Meagan Spooner

Mar 2019 · HarperTeen · Narrated by Fiona Hardingham

About this audiobook

Fans of Danielle Paige, Marissa Meyer, and Alex Flinn will devour New York Times bestselling author Meagan Spooner’s next fierce fairy tale-inspired story, which Illuminae author Amie Kaufman calls “a kick-ass, gender-flipped feminist retelling.”

Robin of Locksley is dead.

Maid Marian doesn’t know how she’ll go on, but the people of Locksley town, persecuted by the Sheriff of Nottingham, need a protector. And the dreadful Guy of Gisborne, the Sheriff’s right hand, wishes to step into Robin’s shoes as Lord of Locksley and Marian’s fiancé.

Who is there to stop them?

Marian never meant to tread in Robin’s footsteps—never intended to stand as a beacon of hope to those awaiting his triumphant return. But with a sweep of his green cloak and the flash of her sword, Marian makes the choice to become her own hero: Robin Hood.

Ratings and reviews

4.5 stars — Wow, that took me through all of the emotions. I had all these desires for the first half of the book, and then things started shifting and I started shifting with it…and feeling conflicted. And so confused. Needless to say because of all that, this is going to be a vague and confusing review, b/c I just don’t want to spoil anything. Ms. Spooner gave me a really rich story with a lot of shades of gray. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about that, but I really enjoyed it in the end. It wasn’t just the “bad” side either, it was Marian and her motivations and what she learns and the decisions she makes. Just wow. I loved that there were a lot of different sides, and a lot of different reactions, and that it wasn’t always simple black and white/good and evil. Marian was ridiculously spirited, and I couldn’t help but love her. I could feel the way she chafed against society’s expectations for women in her time. I loved that she was so bold. BUT. It could be a bit of a downfall at times, b/c she was very good at convincing herself to keep her blinders on wrt certain people or motivations or situations. She was so stubborn. Allen, Little John, Will Scarlett, Elena, Much — great characters. Loved the way they added colour to the story, and she had different relationships with some of them. They all gave different perspectives. The narrator was pretty solid. I enjoyed listening to her voice, though I will admit that sometimes her voices didn’t always feel super consistent…maybe some were too similar? Great emotion and pacing though. My only other meh is that in the end her choice of voice for one particular character kind of worked against that character, and in hindsight I wish they sounded differently. So yeah…this one surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. Some parts were totally not what I was expecting, but I was won over completely by the end.

About the author

New York Times bestselling author Meagan Spooner grew up reading and writing every spare moment of the day while dreaming about life as an archaeologist, a marine biologist, or an astronaut. She graduated from Hamilton College in New York State with a degree in playwriting. She’s traveled all over the world, to places such as Egypt, Australia, South Africa, the Arctic, Greece, Antarctica, and the Galápagos Islands, and there’s a bit of every trip in every story she writes. She currently lives and writes in Asheville, North Carolina, but the siren call of travel is hard to resist, and there’s no telling how long she’ll stay there. She’s the author of Hunted and Sherwood and the coauthor of the award-winning Starbound Trilogy (These Broken Stars, This Shattered World, Their Fractured Light) and the Skylark Trilogy (Skylark, Shadowlark, Lark Ascending). In her spare time she plays guitar, plays video games, plays with her cat, and reads. meaganspooner.com