Target by Darci Cole

Description From Goodreads:

The fairytales never mentioned this.

Pressured to choose a bride before his eighteenth birthday, Prince Lex is determined to do things the way he's read about in legends: run away to find his true love. But soon he is at the mercy of a band of outlaws who know more about his kingdom than he does. Traveling with them, he is forced to face the reality--and naïveté--of his privileged palace life. His people suffer at the hands of greedy nobility, and they look not to Lex's parents for help, but to this band of outlaws led by a girl named Robyn.

Their problems grow worse when they discover a plot to assassinate Lex's parents. But while they race to save the kingdom, Lex's heart begins to race for Robyn. And the more time he spends with her, the closer he gets to falling. But when she finally shares her story, Lex finds himself wanting something he's never wanted before: revenge.

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My Review:

Not going to lie. I had different expectations or different ideas on how this book would play out before reading it based on the description. So it took me a second to get rerouted lol. Once I found the groove of this book I found it pretty enjoyable. There were times that dragged on a bit but overall the story wasn't bad.

While I expected Lex to have his point of view be a main part of the story, I was really disappointed that Robyn's wasn't. With this being a Robin Hood retelling it seemed like a missed opportunity. Robin Hood is one of my favorite stores that I like to see retold so this was a bit different to be. Not that Lex was a bad character or anything. He was pretty likable albeit a bit awkward at times. I thought the romance between him and Robyn was awkward for the most part in general. It didn't flow very well or felt natural.

One thing I also wish was this book wasn't a young adult novel. While I absolutely love the young adult genre, I think this book would have been better if Lex and Robyn were older. Robyn is the leader of an outlaw group, but they are all older than her. I mean I guess it is possible for her to garner respect still but just felt a bit unrealistic even if this is a fantasy novel. Personally, this should have been like New Adult as I think the story would have benefitted from it.

Carina was hands down my favorite character. At first, I was like, "why should I care about her point of view?" I liked seeing her grow throughout the book and making her own decisions despite the tough situation she was in. At some points I even found myself skimming Lex's chapters just so I could get to Carina faster.

The plot itself isn't bad. I do like that royalty is involved instead of the typical Robin Hood vs Sheriff of Nottingham. It was definitely a different take that I enjoyed. Some things were a bit predictable but there were enough surprises that it was still enjoyable.

Overall, If you're looking for a different Robin Hood retelling you will definitely enjoy this but if you're looking for Robyn to be at the forefront, then try not to be too disappointed like I was. I haven't decided if I'll read the next book. I originally wasn't until I fell in love with Carina. I may just read it solely because of her.