Review: No Good Deed by Kara Connolly

No Good Deed

by Kara Connolly

July 18, 2017

352 pages

Goodreads   Indigo

Goodreads Summary:

Fans of Dorothy Must Die will love this reimagining of the legend of Robin Hood. Girl power rules supreme when a modern girl finds herself in the middle of a medieval mess with only her smart mouth and her Olympic-archer aim to get her home.

Ellie Hudson is the front-runner on the road to gold for the U.S. Olympic archery team. All she has to do is qualify at the trials in jolly old England. When Ellie makes some kind of crazy wrong turn in the caverns under Nottingham Castle—yes, that Nottingham—she ends up in medieval England.

Ellie doesn’t care how she got to the Middle Ages; she just wants to go home before she gets the plague. But people are suffering in Nottingham, and Ellie has the skills to make it better. What’s an ace archer to do while she’s stuck in Sherwood Forest but make like Robin Hood?

Pulled into a past life as an outlaw, Ellie feels her present fading away next to daring do-gooding and a devilishly handsome knight. Only, Ellie is on the brink of rewriting history, and when she picks up her bow and arrow, her next shot could save her past—or doom civilization’s future.

Review

No Good Deed was an all around fun story. It was a surprise read as I hadn't planned on it but I'm really glad I did. The book transported me into another realm with delightful characters and subtle humour. 

I really enjoyed the Robin Hood retelling aspect. I'm not a fan of the English legend so I don't know the details of it but I loved the Sherwood Forest setting and how the author was able to mix it up with a present day heroine. I could only see a faint parallel of the other characters but it did not deter me from enjoying the story. They were all so much fun to spend time with. 

It's such a pleasure to follow Ellie into the past. So many times I wanted to laugh out loud at her. She gave off such an easy-going vibe with her hilarious thoughts and clueless remarks. It was impossible to ignore her- a born leader. I loved her interactions with the other characters especially Guilbert. They had a good rivalry ;) 

There isn't really a romance in this Robin Hood retelling. There were mutual good feelings but Ms. Connolly doesn't go into depth exploring any of them. I usually prefer books with romance (even the slightest bit would do) but I was surprisingly fine with the lack of it in this story. The focus was on Ellie's adventures which I thoroughly enjoyed. 

The ending to No Good Deed was one I wasn't expecting but fully appreciated. What Ellie worried most about actually worked in her favour. By playing a part in the past and "changing" history, she's reunited with her missing brother and even meets the future Sir James. I'd say her trip through time was well worth the trouble and emotional toll.

Readers who like a fast-paced story with real action and hilarious escapades should not miss out on the fun that is No Good Deed!

*I received a finished copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinion are my own and not affected in any way.