Book Review/Rant: The Forest Queen by Betsy Cornwall

The Forest Queen

by Betsy Cornwall

Blurb: When sixteen-year-old Sylvie’s brother takes over management of their family’s vast estates, Sylvie feels powerless to stop his abuse of the local commoners. Her dearest friend asks her to run away to the woods with him, and soon a host of other villagers join them. Together, they form their own community and fight to right the wrongs perpetrated by the king and his noblemen.

The Rant: The tale of Robin Hood has always been one of my favorites. I've read some really great versions of this classic tale. This was not one of them. Thus I bring you my first ever book rant. If it works, maybe I'll do some more in the future.

Point 1. Way too feminist. I'm all for equal rights, but feminism takes it too far. I felt like this whole book was heavy handed with that, making all the girls seem strong and powerful and assuming that boys were going to be jerks. The main character, Sylvie, even takes about how she doesn't need a man because she's a strong, independent woman.

Point 2. Not really YA. While Sylvie talked like a thirteen-year-old and was supposed to be sixteen or something (a person pet peeve of mine), the book's content was closer to New Adult than Young Adult. In the first fifty pages alone there was an attempted suicide and discussions of rape. (I probably should have been more tipped off by that.) On top of that, there was also implied talk about abortion and lesbians (although what YA book doesn't have that anymore? I could write a rant on that alone) and a graphic birth scene. Oh, and Sylvie's brother, who she is definitely related too, is implied to be lusting after her.

Hard pass

Point 3. Sylvie was boring. She had no personality, skills, or anything. For a book with feminist ideals, you would think she would be practically a super-heroine could do everything under the sun. But there wasn't even anything to recommend about her. She was just there.

Me, looking at Sylvie

Point 4. Nothing like the original tales. Sylvie barely stole anything, or stood up to local authority. Most of the book was spent building tree houses in the woods and Sylvie almost learning to have a backbone. It shouldn't have been marketed as a gender-bent Robin Hood, if there was none of the original story in it. I could barely follow the plot as she jumped forwards and backwards in time and basically complained about John for the entire book.

Rating: 1 1/2 stars. I would recommend this book to nobody. If you want a good Robin Hood retelling, try Robyn Hoodlum or Rowan Hood.

I know this is pretty different from what I normally do, but it was kind of fun to vent for once. Should I do more in the future? Let me know what you think in the comments. And I'll be back on Thursday with a breakdown of a much better character for you to model people after.

What's the last book you read that you wanted to rant about? What's one of your favorite stories you never get tired of? Tell me in the comments.

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