Give me a Robin Hood retelling any day of the week and I will drop what I am Doing and devour it. Another fun take on the legend of Robin Hood and his merry men, I ate this book up!

I enjoy returning to the storyline of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. It wasn't the best version of these tales, but it was entertaining.

Started the book in hopes that it would be a little more in depth character wise about halfway through i decided to stop the story seemed to be moving so slowly and i just couldnt continue

I love a book about Robin Hood. This one was okay, a fairly straightforward tale with a lot of focus on Marian and Little John's backstory and a more realistic tale of how Robin Hood may have actually been in real life.

Young Marian is rescued from the Sherriff of Nottingham's murderous soldiers by Little John when her entire village is killed off simply for poaching a deer to feed their families. The two flee to the woods, but quickly find that they aren't safe there either. The outlaw Robin Hood catches them and takes them prisoner. The legendary outlaw doesn't quite live up to the stories told about him. He is more man and less myth. Little John and Marian must prove themselves and gain Robin's trust, and ultimately friendship, if they want to make it in his not-so-merry band.

It didn't necessarily stand out from other Robin Hood books, but it was an enjoyable read. There were some minor flaws with the writing, lots of POV switching mid-paragraph, some clunky moments in the dialogue, and there weren't any major twists or changes to the story as we know it so sometimes it wasn't holding my attention but it would be one that historical readers of high school age and up will enjoy if they love the tale of Robin Hood.

I love a good retelling, and Tilman Roehrig's "Robin Hood - The Shadows of Sherwood Forest" did not disappoint. I've been reading retellings and fantasy for years, and I've always wanted a novel from the perspective of someone who is on the outside looking in. Little John did just that as our narrator, but also had his own personality and cunning to stand on throughout.

This book is a retelling of Robin Hood in what I would describe as a fairly traditional way. We understand the story, it’s laid out well, the character’s back stories are nicely examined. The language the author uses feels true to the time of the story without making it difficult to read at all. What I felt like this book is missing is a significant enough twist that makes it surprising and different from the story we already know.

Got halfway thru this before finally pulling the plug & I was genuinely surprised to see I'd started reading this in November, which says a little bit about how it felt. I typically love Robin Hood but I truly could not get past the writing, I'm sorry. I don't want to lay this at the feet of the translator, maybe the source novel was also abrupt and weirdly phrased - it was definitely flitting between characters and POVs with alarming frequency - but anyway it turned me off even more than the grimdark aesthetic which had me going :( throughout. I don't hate grimdark on principle! But this iteration of it depressed me. Also the line: Marian and I are not street dogs. Everyone we meet can’t give us a kick. seared itself into my brain. It made me go :(

Firstly I would like to say thank you to the publisher and the author for allowing me a copy of this book to read and enjoy. I personally really like this retelling of Robin Hood as I have read many Robin Hood retellings before and I thought this was very good it was reimagined and I enjoyed the plot action and the characters progression between the start and the end of the book I think this was well paced and I didn’t feel like my interest in the book was dipping so I thought overall it was a really good book and would rate this for a five stars

I enjoyed this book, not as much as I hoped I would but after reading this I realize I like a more serious Robin Hood, whereas Robin was more of a constant jokester and flighty. He did grow into the type of Robin I more enjoyed towards the end of the book though. Little John and Marian were by far the stand outs in this book and I loved them, which is good since we are reading from Little John's perspective. Overall it was well written and enjoyable!

I really wanted to like this book because I usually love all things robin hood but I really couldn't read this, had to DNF because it didn't hold my attention. Thank you to the publisher for providing me a copy to review though

I'm a fan of Robin Hood and this is the first time I've read a retelling from Little John's point of view. I enjoyed a familiar story with a fresh perspective. The characters were easy to rally behind!

It definitely highlights the struggle of Robin and his merry men as they fight injustice. While a battle that is heroic to fight the grit of it behind the scenes is rough at times. Imagine always being on the run and being hunted, I worried so for them all.

It was a fun read and I believe fans of Robin Hood would enjoy it.

Thank you to Arctis Books and NetGalley for the review copy.

When peasant John Little witnesses the Sheriff of Nottingham’s men destroying his village for John’s crime of poaching deer to feed his people, he flees into the tangle of Sherwood Forest with the only other survivor, his young foster daughter Marian. But dangers lurk there, too: the outlaw Robin Hood soon catches them and takes them prisoner.

Robin Hood does not quite match the heroic stories that are already told about him. For all Robin’s dazzling bravado and clever tricks, the reality of his fight against oppression by the Norman nobility is a rough and dirty life in the forest, outlawed and constantly hunted.

As the newly dubbed Little John gets an education in how to fit into Robin’s dangerous band, Marian, too, grows into a force to be reckoned with. Thrust into life in a world of fearless bandits, uncertain allies, and merciless vendettas, Little John and maid Marian earn their place—and build an unshakable friendship with Robin Hood.

Told with earthy historical detail and unforgettable characters, this is a must for any young reader fascinated by knights and fights, kings and peasants, or who wants to delve into the many tales that built the Robin Hood legend.

I love Robin Hood retellings and I wanted to like this one so much, but I just couldn't get into it. I ended up DNFing it because it just couldn't hold my attention.

I tried several times to read this and I just can't get past 20%. I'm not sure whether this is the fault of the translation or the writing but it is very disjointed, switching tenses mid-paragraph and I'm just bored. This is also marketed as a young adult novel and the way it is written I can't see it holding a teen's interest. I love books about Robin Hood so I was excited to read this one so I'm sorry it just wasn't to my liking. Also, it is told from the point of view of Little John. Marian is a child in this one as well, which was kind of weird to me, as Robin Hood is grown. Not a bad concept, but just not my cup of tea and the disjointed writing/bad translation didn't help.

2.5/5
Normally when I read a good book I devour it quickly and while I really wanted to love this one, unfortunately, it was a struggle to read even a chapter at a time. The writing did improve as I progressed past the first few chapters and I found myself really getting into the plot, but every now and then it would suddenly change about in the story with no distinct change of scene and I was left wondering what was going on. I'm not sure if some things got mixed up during translation but there were quite a bit of grammar errors which is just something that really bugs me when I'm reading. I do think I would recommend it to those who are really interested because if you're able to look over the mistakes then I think you could really enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

All credit to the author for giving a different flavour of the famous hero of Sherwood Forest, although this reader is still uncertain over just how effective is the imagining of Robin Hood that Tilman Roehring has given us. Part of the problem is that the Robin Hood in most UK readers’ minds is an amalgam of, perhaps, the Ladybird version first encountered as an early reader, through the various TV versions and, finally, taking in Kevin Costner’s manifestation. So, full marks for wrapping our hero in a fully imagined forest life, but - for this reader, at least - it felt like a few too many liberties had been taken.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for supplying me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Its wonderful to return to the world of Sherwood Forest and Robin Hood and his Merry Men. A well crafted story that revisits all the stories we know and love from the perspective of Little John, Robin's right hand man, as opposed to Robin himself. The characters are brought to life so vividly and you cannot help but cheer for them as they fight injustice throughout Nottinghamshire.

The only negative I can say is that there are a number of grammatical errors that can be quite jarring, however I believe this to be due to mistranslations from the original German text.

Normally when I read a good book I devour it quickly and while I really wanted to love this one, unfortunately it was a struggle to read even a chapter at a time.

I first attempted to read it on my kindle but it was too confusing to read. Scenes would suddenly change despite no hint at a new chapter or even a new paragraph. It felt rather choppy and stilted.

I then attempted to read it through the NetGalley app on my phone. While it was frustrating having to zoom in and move the pages about as it showed 2 pages at a time, it was tolerable and the chapters were clearer. The writing also improved as I progressed past the first few chapters and I found myself really getting into the plot, but every now and then it would suddenly change about in the story with no distinct change of scene and I was left wondering what was going on.

So overall for myself, while I really enjoyed the plot, I couldn’t get past the writing style. I’m hoping that it was more so the formatting rather than the actual book itself.

Thank you though to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC by Tilman Roehrig.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for providing me this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows John Little (better known as 'Little John') who flees to the forest with his young foster daughter, Marian after they witness the Sherrif of Nottingham's men destroy their village for John's crime of poaching deer to feed his people.

Taken prisoner by the one and only Robin Hood, John realises that for all the heroic stories about him, the fight against oppression is rough and dirty; constantly sought out and hunted for.

Now known as Little John and Maid Marian, the two begin building their strong friendship with the notorious Robin Hood and learns how to fit into the group of bandits.

This was an amazing book. Everything about this was *chef's kiss* My only critique is that the book was horribly formatted and I found it extremely difficult to read on my mobile device (I tried to not let my experience influence the review).

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC by Tklman Roehrig. All of this review is my opinion only. My opinion may differ from others.


This book was a hard one for me. Not because I hated it, it was a good read. It's just that the ARC itself was formatted so horribly I legit couldn't read it correctly on a mobile device. The book itself was amazing. A retelling from Little John's POV was a good story and I loved it. Just wish the formatting didn't ruin my expirience.