REVIEW: "The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest" by Melanie Dickerson
About the Book:
✦ Title: The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest
✦ Author: Melanie Dickerson
✦ Genre: Christian YA medieval fantasy (Robin Hood retelling w/ romance)
✦ Series: Book #1 in the Medieval Fairytales series
✦ Recommend for: ages 16+
My Personal Rating
3.5/4 ⭐
📖 Synopsis
A beautiful maiden who poaches to feed the poor.
A handsome forester on a mission to catch her.
Danger and love are about to unite in Thornbeck Forest.
The margrave owns the finest hunting grounds for miles around--and Odette Menkels spends her nights poaching his deer to feed the hungry orphans of Thornbeck. By day, Odette is a simple maiden who teaches children to read, but by night this young beauty has become the secret lifeline to the poorest of the poor.
For Jorgen Hartman, the margrave’s forester, tracking down a poacher is a duty he is all too willing to perform. Jorgen inherited his post from the man who raised him . . . a man who was murdered at the hands of a poacher.
When Jorgen and Odette meet at the Midsummer festival and share a connection during a dance, neither has any idea that they are already adversaries.
The one man she wants is bound by duty to capture her; the one woman he loves is his cunning target . . . What becomes of a forester who protects a notorious poacher? What becomes of a poacher when she is finally discovered?
A handsome forester on a mission to catch her.
Danger and love are about to unite in Thornbeck Forest.
The margrave owns the finest hunting grounds for miles around--and Odette Menkels spends her nights poaching his deer to feed the hungry orphans of Thornbeck. By day, Odette is a simple maiden who teaches children to read, but by night this young beauty has become the secret lifeline to the poorest of the poor.
For Jorgen Hartman, the margrave’s forester, tracking down a poacher is a duty he is all too willing to perform. Jorgen inherited his post from the man who raised him . . . a man who was murdered at the hands of a poacher.
When Jorgen and Odette meet at the Midsummer festival and share a connection during a dance, neither has any idea that they are already adversaries.
The one man she wants is bound by duty to capture her; the one woman he loves is his cunning target . . . What becomes of a forester who protects a notorious poacher? What becomes of a poacher when she is finally discovered?
💭 My thoughts
Overall, this was an enjoyable and entertaining read! I really enjoyed the medieval setting, and it made me want to pick up more medieval books soon! I also loved that it is a gender-flipped Robin Hood retelling, and the nods to that were super fun.
I loved the theme of caring for orphans, and it made me like Odette more as a character-- though she was the very typical strong, sassy female lead. On that note, I will say that I feel like there wasn't a lot of character development and the characters weren't all that unique, but it is just a fairytale retelling and one shouldn't expect outstandingly eloquent writing.
The romance in this book was kind of instant attraction/"love at first sight", which is probably my least favorite style of romance. Thus, while I did enjoy certain aspects of it, the romance was not my favorite part.
In my opinion, the scenes at The Red House (a brothel) were unnecessarily prolonged, and I didn't care for that. Of course, there were no true details and it's certainly still suitable for teens, but it did make me personally a tiny bit uncomfortable.
I really liked trying to guess the little plot twists towards the end, and though it was a little too perfect, I did like the ending and the theme of forgiveness. So all in all, this was a fun read and I'm excited to hopefully continue the series. :)
⚠️ Some broad content notes
A lot of somewhat descriptive hunting/poaching/killing animals; people are shot with arrows; additional blood, injuries, pain, etc; a lot of romantic noticing and attraction; semi-descriptive kisses; scenes at a brothel and saving a girl from that life.
Bookishly yours,
Lottie M
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