Hawksmaid: The Untold Story Of Robin Hood And Maid Marian (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
This was an okay but not brilliant revisiting of the Robin Hood/Maid Marian legend. It was a little unfocused, as I wasn't sure from time to time whether it was a book on falconry, gender inequity in old England, or tyranny. It was a quick read (completed in a 12 hour period that included 7 hours of sleep) which I needed after the reading projects I've been currently undertaking, but it isn't anything I'd revisit, and I'm not much interested in any of the owl books or historical fiction by this author. the very fact that this piece of dung exsists bothers me. this is a slap in the face to robin hood fans, falcons, and men the world over. first off, there were NO potatos in england in the middle ages! that was just terrible research on everyone's part. i can hardly believe the editers allowed it to go unchecked. secondly! it is not realistic for Matty to suddenly become so great at falconry, arechery, fencing and fighting. I'm not saying that girls aren't capable of these things. of course they are. but theses are talents that are built up over years and years of training. there is no plausable way for this little girl to become so damn good in as short a time as she did. on top of that, the fact that no one was truly making an effort to make her sit in silently in a corner and do needlework is appauling. this is the 1100s! they were supposed to think that woman were objects! so why is a lord teaching his duaghter about falcondry in the first place? why are all the "merry men" allowing her to boss them around? someone explain that to me. it doesn't make sense! Matty is the completely perfect mary jane hero and it pisses me off. She can do no wrong! she is the mastermind of all Robin Hood's success! SHE is oh so brillent and smart and strong and pretty and she can run around in the forest in men's clothes and no one catches on that this is a girl! what happened when she started developing breast huh?and that brings me to her and Robin's relationship. he is a sexist dog! one second he's going on about how much better men are than women and saying completely asine things, and within the next few pages, he's flip flopping to being all apologizing and sorry, and how Matty's so great. and she forgives him everytime even if when its painfully obvious that the fool's never going to change in the long run. plus, their relationship never developed into anything more than a badly discribed puppy dog love. And Matty treats him and all his friends like dogs that she whips about to do her bidding and somehow, no one tries to put "the woman in her place" like men of the 1100s should have. yes, it was wrong of them to treat woman like that, but that was the way they lived. she was trying to write a strong heroine, but she really just made a much to perfect idiot. All Robin's flip flopping and the fact that NO ONE bothered to really question the fact that a woman was "fighting" and hunting and being a great war mind is really annoying. Why din't her family lock her up or send her to a church or marry her off like they should have. that way she could have at least run away to sherwood and then she might have at least had a logical reason to learn to fight and hunt and defend herself.the falcons were just stupid. She can talk to them? no. just no. the auther was trying to shove in her stupid obessession witrh birds into a story that didn't need them and it work. falondry wasn't even popular durning the time period! why didn't matty freak out? or wht didn't she blabber about it like the child she is and get burned as a witch? the passing of time was impossible to follow and i could never really figure out how old anyone was, which just added to the impossibleness of the "love" of matty and robin. And The NAME CHANGING! pointless, confusing crap! yes, robin eventually takes on the "hood" title, but flynn to robin? not needed! i could keep going on, but it's been a while since i had the displeasure to read this and i don't want to make a bunch of confusing mistakes. i do not recommend this to anyone. not the middle schoolers it was intended for. not for people who like birds. and never, never, ever for anyone that loves Robin Hood and all that he stands for.>:( >:( >:(P.S. they never became outlaws! they just declared themselves outlaws! that is not how it works! they have to defy the sheriff n he makes them wolfheads! no one with half a brain would EVER say "hey im an outlaw now!" that's like walking up to the gallows, putting your noose around your neck, and kicking the stool out form under you!!!!1
What do You think about Hawksmaid: The Untold Story Of Robin Hood And Maid Marian (2010)?
I LOVED THIS BOOK SO FRICKIN MUCH. It was very adorable.
—alane
I quit early on because it was too young for me.
—lesliehall
