Lion Heart: A Scarlet Novel (Scarlet, #3)

by A. C. Gaughen

The thrilling final book in A. C. Gaughen's action-packed and romance-filled Robin Hood retelling.

* "A rip-roaring tale." --Booklist, starred review, on Scarlet

Scarlet hasn’t seen daylight in months--not since she sacrificed herself to save Robin’s life and watched one of her dearest friends murdered right before her eyes. Locked away and constantly moved from dungeon to dungeon, Scarlet manages to escape against all odds. She desperately wants to return to Rob, until she learns of a dangerous plot that puts everyone in the kingdom in jeopardy. Armed with the truth about her heritage, Scarlet is the only one who can stop it . . .

Don't miss these other books from A. C. Gaughen:

The Scarlet series
Scarlet
Lady Thief
Lion Heart

The Elementae series
Reign the Earth
Imprison the Sky

• ISBN10: 0802736165
• ISBN13: 9780802736161
• Publish Date: 19 May 2015
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 21 September 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Walker & Co
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[anastasia]

Full Review on my blog!

Wow, what a series! I didn’t even know how to write this review.

Lion Heart begins with Scarlet’s imprisonment by Prince John. She has been locked away for months and after she escapes she reunites with her Grandmother, rather than Rob, to figure out Prince John’s next move. This is the crux of what I didn’t like about this book. My favorite thing about Scarlet and Lady Thief were the interactions, and camaraderie, between Scarlet and Rob and in Lion Heart there was less of that.

I can’t say a lot about the plot without getting into spoiler territory, but I loved this book so, so much. I loved that Scarlet didn’t wait around to be saved, she didn’t sit around wringing her hands and feeling sorry for herself, she leapt into the action, and used her intelligence and her physical abilities to help herself and those around her. She and Robin made my heart ache in the best possible ways, and together, they were unstoppable. Scarlet is the kind of female character I like to see in YA. Scarlet is fierce, independent, loyal, and despite the odds being stacked against her she still perseveres and doesn’t compromise her own morals to reach her goals.

Lion Heart was the perfect end to a fantastic trilogy. I highly recommend it! I loved this series. If you haven’t read it yet I seriously suggest a binge read!

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[Amber]

This review was originally posted on Books of Amber

I really, really dislike - hell, I hate - this series, but I had to finish it. Apparently I hate myself too. I didn't like Scarlet because of the abusive relationships that were romanticised and brushed over, and I only read Lady Thief because I had it on my shelf. Who even knows why I spent money on Lion Heart, because I knew what I was getting into. Whatever, I'm here to call out the abusive and manipulative bastards, so here we go.

So, let's start with Robin. All of a sudden, Robin's PTSD has disappeared like the contrived plot point that it was to begin with. He's suddenly all better. It's a shame Gaughen didn't attempt to fix his personality flaws either, not that I would be interested in reading about that since I'm not here for abuse apologists. And boy, is Robin Hood fucking flawed. And not in a good way either. He has been abusive and manipulative and controlling towards Scarlet from the beginning, and in this one he seems to have chilled out a little bit, but that doesn't excuse his previous actions because they're NEVER FUCKING TALKED ABOUT. Plus, he gets shirty with Scarlet for no reason at all because he's a giant prat.

As a series finale, Lion Heart wasn't that great. Even ignoring the awful characters, the plot was bad. I'm not entirely sure what the point was. I was mildly looking forward to seeing more of Eleanor, and also King Richard. There was little of the former and none of the latter. Scarlet spent the whole book wandering from one place to another,like an incredibly dull rendition of the first third of the Deathly Hallows.

The historical stuff was also poorly done. Bits and pieces were barely mentioned, particularly the bits about Richard being held captive and his eventual return. Don't go into this series expecting a great historical setting, because that's not what this at all.

All in all, Lion Heart is on par with the previous two books in the trilogy, which is say, it's fucking terrible.

[ellieroth]

Original de: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Los finales de serie son bastante difíciles de leer, te llega la nostalgia y si eres como yo, eres capaz de dejarlo y leerlo dentro de muchos, muchos años. O quizá sea solo yo. Mi gran preocupación con Lion Heart no estaba en que era un libro final sino que su antecesor, Lady Thief, fue todo menos mi favorito, temía mucho que terminara la trilogía Scarlet con una una idea de lo que pudo ser. Pero sí fue, oh, kitten, lo fue todo.

Confieso que al ser un libro que leo un año después de su secuela, además que ésta se me hizo bastante pesada, estuve bastante confundida con algunos personajes, no recordaba muy bien quienes eran exactamente o no recordaba exactamente que los motivaba a ser lo que eran. Tuve un completo vacío mental con la Princesa Isabel, estoy segura que si se hubiera dado cuenta me habría dado una de esas miradas asesinas y me habría destruido entre la nobleza. O con la pandilla de Robin Hood. Recordaba claramente ese hecho de Lady Thief, es imposible no hacerlo, pero cuando uno de ellos aparece para ser personaje bastante importante en la historia, no tenía idea de quién era. Incluso ahora, no recuerdo haberlo visto antes en el libro.

Dejando de lado el detalle de memoria, porque seamos realistas, estoy más pa'lla que pa'ca.

Lion Heart, kitten, Lion Heart es todo, es todo todo todito TODO. Después de haber leído los tres libros, siento que el segundo, si bien no es mi favorito, fue perfecto para construir este tercero. Es hermoso, es cruel, es romántico, tiene acción, mucha angustia. Tiene algunas cosas que me hubiera gustado explicara más, la verdad, pero en total es un libro que los fans de la trilogía amarán.

Uno de las tantas cosas que me gustó de este último libro fue la confianza entre Robin y Scar, luego de todo lo que pasaron. Se me hace resaltante porque yo no podría jamás confiar tanto en alguien y hacer lo que Scarlet hace en Lion Heart. Fueron los dos o tres capítulos más alegres y estresantes para una persona tan desconfiada como yo.

¿TIENE ALGUNOS FALLOS EL LIBRO?

Sí, no es tan perfecto, siendo sincera. Varias veces tuve que recordarme que por ejemplo Rob no sabía todo lo que había pasado Scar cuando estuvo con Gisbourne, algo que dije en mis actualizaciones en GoodReads. O que Rob fuera tan desesperante a veces, él tiende a caer mejor cuando se queda callado.

Otro punto es que Gaughen me da a conocer a un personaje bastante interesante como lo es Kate para luego no tenerla más metida en la historia, salvo unas pequeñas apariciones. Estaría bastante contenta si la escritora anunciara en un futuro algún spin-off con ella como protagonista.

Luego está esa sensación que tengo por Allan & David... pero es algo que tendrán que descubrirlo cuando lean el libro.

Conclusión: Todo es cruel y maravilloso al mismo tiempo. Me gusta el trabajo que A.C. Gaughen se tomó para que los tres libros tengan bastante relación con la historia real de Inglaterra, aunque ella misma aclara que sí, se tomó algunas libertades.

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[ladygrey]

I read this so long ago, it's hard to remember everything I loved about it specifically. Except I love the trajectory of the characters and where they end up. I loved the new challenges as Scarlet's world became more sophisticated and how she adapted to it but didn't change. I love her and Robin. And I love Winchester. I just love it all.

[jnikkir]

This review can also be found at my blog, There were books involved...

-----------------------------

I have a problem. Well, okay, I've got two problems. First, the normal "how does one even write a review of the last book in a series?!" problem. But my bigger one is this: "How does one even begin to do the last book in a series justice when it is this freaking good?

But I desperately need to figure out how to answer those questions. Because Lion Heart is that freaking good.

If you haven't read Scarlet and Lady Thief, and you're curious whether this concluding volume does the series justice, and whether you should pick up the first book...

...the answer is, unequivocally, you should.

Everything amazing about the first two books in this series -- the characters, the emotion, the plot -- all comes together, and it basically amounts to an entire book of OH GOD PLEASE LET THIS TURN OUT OKAY's and YES OMG FINALLY's. Lion Heart is the culmination of so much hard work, so much heartbreak and sacrifice, and it is pure payoff.

Scarlet earned her spot as one of my favorite characters of all time before I even finished reading Scarlet -- which might have been jumping the gun a little bit, because she only ever got more and more amazing as the series went on. And Lion Heart continues this trend. Here is a girl who has been through things that would have ended many people, or made them give up and take the easy path out -- but not Scarlet. She's smart, fierce, she knows what she wants and how she (and her people) deserve to be treated, and she won't let anyone else make decisions for her.

Scarlet gets so many shining moments of strength and clarity in Lion Heart -- how could she not, with that title? The baddies in this series have been truly horrible, and they continue to be; but watching Scarlet face them in this book was just... glorious. Yes, there's the usual OVERABUNDANCE OF FEELS, and bad stuff happens (ow, my heart), but there were also so many moments when I just wanted to stand up and cheer, because Scarlet is just... ugh. Utterly flawless. I mean really, this book and its formidable ladies (not just Scarlet)... I cannot even.

"You think I shouldn't act for one boy?" I demanded. "You think that England is some higher thing? One life is England. Every life is England."
ARC, pg 35

And of course, I can't not talk about Scarlet and Rob... or as I call them, ROBLET (capslock is required). These two are my EVERYTHING. They went through so much pain in the first two books, and I won't lie, everything is not all sunshine and rainbows for them in Lion Heart. They are both scarred, literally and figuratively, from all they've been through, and neither of them are exempt from their own fears and self-doubts. But everything they've gone through, everything they've worked for, everyone and everything they've fought to protect... it's not for nothing. They are both such driven, idealistic, almost-isn't-good-enough sort of people, and this is absolutely reflected in their achievements in this book, and in their relationship, in the best way possible.

Rob's and my love had always been made in the cracks, the jagged little edges that came from the ruin of something else. It were a place that weren't supposed to be filled with love, but that's how it had always been. Our love filled the broken bits and made us whole again. There weren't no perfect time to love him, not ever, and it had always been with the threat of death and hurt hovering round us. And we'd love each other anyway. Sure, and true.
ARC, pg 61

I can't say much about the plot of Lion Heart, because it would imply spoilers in the preceding titles; however, I can say that I was absolutely glued to this book from start to finish. It was excellently balanced between the excitement and action that we've grown to expect from these adventures, and slower, sweeter, character-driven moments that are no less gripping.

No matter what was happening, I was a mess of emotions.




In conclusion...

"There is no safety to be had. Death has walked this far with me as a shadow just behind me, and all I've ever had, chained in a dungeon or hiding in the forest, is my ability to fight. To never give up. To never let this awful world win."
ARC, pg 82

I can't even explain to you guys how amazing this trilogy is. I mean, I've tried in these reviews (I'VE TRIED SO HARD omg). But with the great ones, you always end up feeling like you've fallen short. There's always something you just can't explain until someone has read the books -- and even then, the "explanation" usually goes something like, "Oh my gosh, right?" "RIGHT?!" "Seriously."

These books are like that. They'll make you smile and cheer, laugh and cry. They'll rip your heart into a million pieces, try to tape it back together, stomp on it some more, add some more tape -- and then it'll be over. And, yeah, your heart might be shaped a little differently after all that; but really, it's just made room for all the love you've developed for these characters and their stories.

And it is so worth it.

--

There were books involved...