A modern Robin Hood retelling set in the American South—Robyn Carter can't stand her sister's boyfriend, and for good reason. His mistreatment of her has Robyn’s patience wearing thin with each misstep. When her sister becomes impregnated, however, Robyn’s fight becomes more than just about her sister’s safety. She fights for her sister, other victims of domestic violence, and the less fortunate in her Black Southern community—vigilante style.
Her Robin Hood days take her down a spiraling rabbit hole filled with more questions than answers. She starts uncovering a supernatural side of herself she never knew existed. Blindly, she descends in the hopes of uncovering the truth behind her family’s mysterious past, the secrets being kept by the church, and her true identity unknown to even herself.
J. Clark is a Southern raised author living in the North!
She uses her philosophical background to write themes of social justice, feminism, and more in her work.
Aside from her debut novel her poetry publications include Contemplations of the Faithful, Fall Fancy, and “Barter” in the Poetry Leaves 2020 Anthology.
When she’s not writing you can find her gardening, practicing archery, spending time with her daughter, and supporting indie artists. She resides in Jersey with her family.
This was the third read assigned to me in the Indie Ink Awards of 2022. I've really enjoyed my reads within this competition so far!
To be honest, this one definitely grew on me as the story went on. The only information I really had going into this one was some kind of connection to Robin Hood and stealing from the rich to give to the poor. And I had my struggles trying to really connect that. I will say there is a very loose connection to that story in the first half but this book goes way beyond that with the author's imagination. And to this reader that was actually a good thing! I was interested through the first half but was truly gripped in the second!
The character development was done really well. We really get to know our protagonist and as the book continued on, we got to know more and more about some of the supporting characters as well. We see many of the characters grow throughout this book, not just Robyn, but her sister, her enemies and the little ones involved too.
The world building was interesting as we spend most of our time in a more traditional/modern Earth setting in the southern United States. However, we do get to explore some of the hidden societies in that world and even some of a different plane of existence too. Seeing the similarities in this other realm but also the differences (wonderful imagination by the author) was really interesting.
Pacing was fairly steady throughout. There is a lot of development needing done with our world and characters to get the book going which is to be expected. At the same time we have a lot of suspenseful or moments of anxiety early on before we start to feel some of the strength and character of our cast. Things settle into a good rhythm in due time. The flow of the book was smooth as the writing style of the author fit me well. This was an easy and fun read for sure!
I have enjoyed my time with these characters and the world that J. Clark has put into this book. I feel this will not be the last time I dip my toes into this world or this author's works in the future.
I'd recommend this book for any readers of a mix of urban fantasy with a sprinkling of mythology, spiritually and fantastical elements combining them all. I'd even go as far as in comparing this read loosely to some of the early Dresden books I've read.
Robin Hood is one of my favorite legends, so I was really excited to read this one and it does not disappoint! Set in Athens, Georgia, we meet main character Robyn as she's struggling to get her younger sister out of an emotionally and physically abusive relationship. When her sister finds out that she's pregnant, Robyn knows she has to take action -- but how? As she works to help her sister, a mysterious voice calls out, supporting her desire for justice. Clark reels readers in with excellent prose, realistic characters, and fantastic and unexpected world building. There were a few times where I was confused as to how much time passed in between some chapters, but this was a page-turner for me. A must-add to your TBR!
Holy shit this book is so poorly written. I honestly want to DNF it from the first chapter, it's that bad. I regret spending money on this. I wish I could get a refund.
Some examples:
* Describing domestic abuse bruises as "tragically stunning like the salvia guaranitica"
* Introducing her mother as "a woman", "older woman", and then randomly in a thought-sentence we get: "I feel for Terra, but she knows our mother Elane Carter does not hold back." You ever thought your mothers full name like that?
* "Murder isn't something I can just brush off. You should know how many nights I've stayed awake shaking as my morality shredded me apart."
* Random capitalization of nouns and verbs.
* Incredibly heavy-handed misogyny and racism. The kind that is so blatant it makes your teeth ache. I feel like I'm being walloped over the head with a mallet on every page.
* Scenes switch abruptly, there is barely any reflection on events, and what is there is often treading the same ground as other scenes. It ends up feeling incredibly repetitive even though events are different.
* Almost everything is told to us, not shown. Supposedly everyone is under a ton of stress, but we are told "Terra fainted the other day" or "I'm under so much stress". Their behavior is never shown to us aside from jolting from one scene to the next.
* An absolutely absurd moment when Henry is buried with an eagle feather, when its common knowledge that owning an eagle feather is highly illegal in the U.S.
* A third in, our secondary main character, Terra, is completely dropped never to be seen or heard from again, even though she's the protagonists sister.
* So much more but I got so tired of cataloging it all.
Honestly, I could excuse a lot of this clunky writing if it wasn't also so depressing. But it's an incredibly depressing book. Terra has the biggest victim complex I've ever encountered. She must be incredibly stupid to not be able to reconcile her thoughts of "I really shouldn't have this toxic man's baby at 18" and her love for him. I understand the mentality of abuse victims. But this is far, far, far beyond that.
Robyn seems like the only real character, and even her characterization is superficial, focused on her anger-yet-submission to all the men around and the circumstances of her life. She takes petty revenge where she can, until she gets demon powers, which she masters in a few weeks, and then becomes an avenging avatar of justice? Well, not really, since she only focuses on her own issues and problems. Which she fixes with violence and killing. In modern day America. It's actually impressive that she can get away with it all tbh.
The plot wouldn't be quite so bad if the writing was better (and she didn't master advanced demon powers in a few weeks). The characters wouldn't be bad if they were more than just caricatures. The whole book wouldn't aggravate me so if it would just mellow out a bit, stop shoving itself into my face.
This book is a riot. I almost wish it really leaned into the absurd, as then it would be so bad it would be good again. But as things stand it's just bad. Really really bad.
This probably was the authors cathartic tale to finally gain some power in her life. I don't think it should have been published. The writing is atrocious. The plot makes no sense at all. The character change as the plot needs them to (when they're not entirely superficial annoying flat place holders). This thing jumps from one location to one time frame to another. We just drop entire characters, places, etc. with no explanation. It's incredibly bizarre.
Anyway, I was not a fan. I am disappointed I paid money for this book. I want a refund from the universe.
While reading a previous collection of poetry from J. Clark, I realized the author has a talent for being able to reach out to her audience, regardless of any difference in perspective or experience. When I heard she was readying to release a novel, I was excited to see if this held true to it as well.
It absolutely did!
'She Steals Justice' surprised me from start to finish in the very best of ways. Set in an atmosphere of angels, demon-hunting Christians, and creatures of the Underworld, there is an abundance of real-life parallels and great messages.
The story starts off with Robyn, the strong female lead, as she struggles to protect her newly legal little sister from an extremely abusive boyfriend. Stuck in the cycle of abuse after grooming, her sister refuses to acknowledge the danger she's in and how he does not honestly care for her (even though there are enormous red flags). Robyn's determination despite her sister's reluctance attracts an odd business that offers assistance to women in need...whether they are able to ask for help or not.
At this point, the supernatural aspects of the story come into play as things start getting more and more intense. Said business puts Robyn to the test in many ways, but it is a sudden, strange voice that begins spouting dubious thoughts in Robyn's head that really challenges her own moral convictions versus the moral standards of those around her. She must choose to what lengths she will go to protect her sister and other innocents...and deal with retaliation from the sexist, misogynistic, and racist society around her, regardless of her choice.
None of this is helped by the church who Robyn was already at odds with, due to their adherence to harmful traditional values as opposed to the true love and equality that the gospel teaches. When her body and soul begin to morph into something inhuman, those strenuous ties only worsen, giving her another injustice to conquer: the church's prejudice against those who are different, including herself.
As Robyn learns secrets about the father who abandoned her as a child, she also uncovers mysteries regarding her mother's family. She has been thrust full force into the world of the supernatural and as the countless complexities of the situation unravel, Robyn must fight to keep her wits, her life, and her freedom. Nevertheless, she continues to fight for justice for all, moving to bridge the gap between the church's (and ultimately, society's) blanket judgment of what is right and wrong so that all creatures may know peaceful equality. Even in the most extreme of circumstances which have by all accounts robbed her of free will, Robyn meets every challenge with intelligence and strength (perfect time to note she is an expert archer).
The book highlights many issues that women (and Black women in particular) face in our society today. From familial obligations to societal expectations, lack of resources, and even the added pressure from the church, it is a painful yet enlightening outline of the sexism women endure, which for Black women is compounded by the addition of racism. (Speaking from the point-of-view of a (white) man, this makes it really feel like getting a glance into what (Black) women deal with on the daily. Things that some of us are privileged enough not to have to worry about.)
Although this social commentary is clearly a major point, reading the book does not feel like merely a social lesson or sermon. The world is well-built, the adventures fully intense, and the characters either endearing or emotionally trying, whichever they are meant to be, respectively. Even if you take nothing new from the similarities to real life, 'She Steals Justice' is amazing by perspective of entertainment value alone.
J. Clark has a powerful voice and has no qualms about challenging the unfairness of the world she lives in. She also displays pure expertise in crafting a story that is packed with entertainment, from tragedy to challenges, and action to romance. I'm beyond eager for more people to read 'She Steals Justice'; not only for its ethical/moral value and social insight, but for how fantastically alluring a fantasy novel it is.
I need more pages to read! I must find out what happens with this strange romance between Robyn and [name redacted]. I wanted to only hate that they were together, but by the end of the book, I was in love with their very unusual situation.
This book starts in the normal, mundane world, with the main character trying to protect her younger sister from an abusive boyfriend. The main character (Robyn) is a Black woman, her sister is barely legal and newly pregnant, and they're living in Athens, Georgia (Translation for non-US readers: Deep South, stereotypically racist & racially divided area). There is racism and misogyny aplenty in the background, occasionally moving into the foreground to be faced and dealt with as events unfold. The worldbuilding here is rich -- and worldbuilding it is, because as a sheltered white person I simply don't know her world.
320 pages later Robyn is trying to build a peace between humans and demons, and drawing explicit comparisons between how demons are depicted & treated by the Church, and how Black people have historically been depicted & treated by white people, especially in America.
And yes, we do get something that feels like an ending, even as it points towards events in future books.
There's obviously a lot that happens along the way, in relatively a short number of pages. I do feel like it could have easily been divided into two full-length books, possibly three, but the author is skilled enough that covering everything in one novel it just feels very fast-paced, not "next day as they climbed out of the pit" hand-wavy.
I want to stay relatively spoiler-free, but there are a couple of themes I noticed worth mentioning:
The first theme is "If you're in a shitty situation, keep your head down and do what you need to, to survive until you can get out." Getting more powerful doesn't mean she doesn't face these types of situations - it just means the forces opposing and surrounding her are that much more powerful.
The second theme is that nothing is all good or all bad, including Robyn herself. At one point she honestly goes a bit power-crazy and starts hurting people that don't deserve it, and it's a demon that tries to make her stop and realize what's happening.
Overall, I would gladly read more by this author, and look forward to seeing her craft develop.
Sightly spoiler-ish content warnings - The main character kills a few people: at first to defend someone else from an immediate threat, then deliberately to end a longer term threat. As her power grows and she gets options other than killing, she chooses those other options whenever possible. - There are depictions of physical and emotional abuse, which the main character tries to stop. - There is a prolonged situation of extreme consent violation. The person in control of the situation doesn't abuse his power, but he still has complete control if he chooses to exercise it.
It's always neat to find other Georgia authors and read books that take place in Georgia! I had a very different expectation coming into this book and didn't realize how much of it was actually urban fantasy. Robyn was an interesting character and I liked her botany skills and her devotion to her family. Clark does a good job of showing Robyn's motives and showing her sort of switch to an antihero almost as the story progresses. The pacing of the book was confusing to me and I didn't know how much time passed from chapter to chapter, and even from scene to scene. I wanted a clearer understanding of Robyn's powers, the demon world, and about soul separation. There were also some inconsistencies I felt came out with the characters later in the story. I wanted a bit more of Robyn processing all the things happening to her and a bit more time growing the relationships between some of the characters. While the world of the Netherworld was cool and colorful, I felt it came a bit too late in the story and I almost wanted more of it earlier. There was so much creativity there in those chapters and that was my favorite part of the book. While this book wasn't really for me, those who love Robin Hood retellings (with a twist) and urban fantasy stories with a lot of supernatural elements to it, this is the book for them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
As someone who went to high school with Ms. Clark, I must say that as soon as she said that she was being published I knew I had to support!
A fun but dark tale of Robyn, a 25 year-old Black woman who is torn between not caring about what people think of her and caring deeply about her family and the social Justice of the times. This is a wonderful urban tale with a splash of fantasy, Wiccan folklore, demonic spirits (in the sense of being a split soul), and the civil unrest of the American culture.
When misogyny threatens to destroy her family, Robyn discovers powers she never knew she had...
Loved the characters and the unique world-building. Thought it got a bit preachy at times, but the story was strong enough to be enjoyable despite that.
She Steals Justice follows Robyn through Athens, Georgia as she wrestles with the fact her sister, who has an abusive boyfriend, is now pregnant. She soon finds herself stuck between a choice with a bow in her hands: to shoot or not to shoot. And that decision leads her down a rabbit hole as she uncovers the supernatural truth about her heritage, the church, and more.
The story goes in so many directions that I couldn’t predict. The author loves to keep the readers on their toes as the world becomes more magical with the page. The concepts of angels versus demons and much more were fun to follow. I also liked the descriptions of magic throughout.
The characters were great as well. They were all memorable and complex, which brought them all to life. I especially liked Robyn’s and Pandora’s relationship. They had a great bond.
My main critique was that this story felt a bit rushed. It sets up a book two, but this book itself could’ve been two. Some scenes skipped ahead. Other parts could’ve been expanded upon to dive into Robyn’s consequences. We don’t see much of a dive into her emotions before she’s off to her next decision. I would’ve liked to explore that more.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and diving into this unique world.