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Walk the Wild With Me #2
Outcasts of the Wildwood
This second novel of a historical fantasy series that reexamines the Robin Hood legend in medieval England.
Nick, an orphan raised at Locksley Abbey has made friends with the the Greenman, Robin Goodfellow, dryads, water sprites, and other paranormal creatures. He often hides in the nearly forgotten abbey crypt, where he found Elena, the goddess of sorcery, crossroads, and cemeteries. He carries her vessel and tries to learn from her wisdom.
Robin Goodfellow lives with a curse. Half of each day he must spend as a hideous gnome with a bit of magic and near immortality. The other half of the day he can live as Robin Hood, archer of legend. At the time of his curse sixty years before, an insane magician trapped Robin’s love, Marian in a secret chamber that keeps her in perpetual sleep. The only way Robin can break the curse is to awaken Marian in his gnome form and have her recognize his true face.
But the magic is breaking down. Marian will die if Robin doesn’t break the curse soon. He needs Nick’s help, his affinity for dark underground places, and Elena’s whispers to find Marian’s secret chamber and decipher the clues to breaking the curse.
Nick, an orphan raised at Locksley Abbey has made friends with the the Greenman, Robin Goodfellow, dryads, water sprites, and other paranormal creatures. He often hides in the nearly forgotten abbey crypt, where he found Elena, the goddess of sorcery, crossroads, and cemeteries. He carries her vessel and tries to learn from her wisdom.
Robin Goodfellow lives with a curse. Half of each day he must spend as a hideous gnome with a bit of magic and near immortality. The other half of the day he can live as Robin Hood, archer of legend. At the time of his curse sixty years before, an insane magician trapped Robin’s love, Marian in a secret chamber that keeps her in perpetual sleep. The only way Robin can break the curse is to awaken Marian in his gnome form and have her recognize his true face.
But the magic is breaking down. Marian will die if Robin doesn’t break the curse soon. He needs Nick’s help, his affinity for dark underground places, and Elena’s whispers to find Marian’s secret chamber and decipher the clues to breaking the curse.
- GenresFantasyRetellings
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 18, 2022
13 people are currently reading
361 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 11, 2024
I loved that I was reading a book not only inspired by British woodland folklore but there were also some recognizable characters from older tales the re-emerge in this story. The tale is of its own kind of course but it was kind of comforting reading a new story with well known characters. It's easy to get lost in this story and feels so cozy to read especially if you're a fan of the Robin hood story. I feel like I may have accidentally read this book out of order because I believe it might be a series but I never felt like I was missing out on any chunk of the story if that is the case
July 9, 2025
This story combined the characters of the legend of Robin Hood with Celtic mythology and actual history. It didn't work.
I didn't realize that this a second book in the series but I don't think enough of my confusion was caused by that.
This is not any of the Robin Hood stories. This is the Robin Hood characters turned into magical beings. They are not robbing from the rich to give to the poor. They are sulking in the forest trying to keep the political elite from talking it away from the cultural elite.
Nick is a young man trying to decide if he will become a Catholic Priest, be with the girl of his dreams or follow a goddess. The author makes critical comments about Catholic beliefs but never gives paganism any scrutiny, Hilde is the only girl around so it isn't saying much, and if he believes in a goddess there is no reason to be Catholic.
There is a love triangle between Nick, Hilde and Will Scarlett which has as much spice as baby food.
Little John turns out to be the Green Man but he's passing the torch.
Robin of Locksley has been cursed but he doesn't even try to save Maid Marian until the end when the author tries to make a dramatic ending that just falls flat.
There are several other minor characters that I could not keep straight, and I don't know why they were in the book at all.
There are no real villains in this book. Little John has a wayward son but who wants to hurt his feelings. There is a hunchback trying to turn the forest into charcoal, but he's disabled so nothing can be done. One of the sheriff's minions makes a raid on the camp but that is pretty much all that is done. Where's the suspense?
There is a graphic birthing scene for no reason. Neither the mother nor babe have enough impact on the story to justify it being there.
There are references to being gay/bisexual that has nothing to do with the plot or character development. Yet, the historical person who was actually gay doesn't get acknowledged as being such.
I finished to see if the ending would make the rest of the book make sense, but it was just as wispy as the rest of the book.
I didn't realize that this a second book in the series but I don't think enough of my confusion was caused by that.
This is not any of the Robin Hood stories. This is the Robin Hood characters turned into magical beings. They are not robbing from the rich to give to the poor. They are sulking in the forest trying to keep the political elite from talking it away from the cultural elite.
Nick is a young man trying to decide if he will become a Catholic Priest, be with the girl of his dreams or follow a goddess. The author makes critical comments about Catholic beliefs but never gives paganism any scrutiny, Hilde is the only girl around so it isn't saying much, and if he believes in a goddess there is no reason to be Catholic.
There is a love triangle between Nick, Hilde and Will Scarlett which has as much spice as baby food.
Little John turns out to be the Green Man but he's passing the torch.
Robin of Locksley has been cursed but he doesn't even try to save Maid Marian until the end when the author tries to make a dramatic ending that just falls flat.
There are several other minor characters that I could not keep straight, and I don't know why they were in the book at all.
There are no real villains in this book. Little John has a wayward son but who wants to hurt his feelings. There is a hunchback trying to turn the forest into charcoal, but he's disabled so nothing can be done. One of the sheriff's minions makes a raid on the camp but that is pretty much all that is done. Where's the suspense?
There is a graphic birthing scene for no reason. Neither the mother nor babe have enough impact on the story to justify it being there.
There are references to being gay/bisexual that has nothing to do with the plot or character development. Yet, the historical person who was actually gay doesn't get acknowledged as being such.
I finished to see if the ending would make the rest of the book make sense, but it was just as wispy as the rest of the book.
February 8, 2024
"No wonder Will and Nick vied for her attentions, and her temper grew shorter and sharper. In the past few weeks she had become a woman. Ripe and nearly ready to mate."
Never mind how pointless the narrative was, how aimless the characters and stilted the prose. Never you mind the absolutely ludicrous notions and unsupported conclusions, nor the fever dream that is characters wandering in and out of scenes they have no reason to be in. No. I hated all of that, but this line quoted above? Twenty-eight pages before the limp balloon that is the ending?
That's what did me in. This misogynistic trio of sentences about a girl no older than seventeen. This book is complete trash. A Robin Hood retelling with influences from Shakespeare has every right to be awesome as a concept, and yet Atwood evidently has no idea what to do with it except meander like a senile ass between disconnected scenes. The editor should be ashamed for letting this atrocity get to print in this state when it was in clear and desperate need of a developmental edit, or several.
Never mind how pointless the narrative was, how aimless the characters and stilted the prose. Never you mind the absolutely ludicrous notions and unsupported conclusions, nor the fever dream that is characters wandering in and out of scenes they have no reason to be in. No. I hated all of that, but this line quoted above? Twenty-eight pages before the limp balloon that is the ending?
That's what did me in. This misogynistic trio of sentences about a girl no older than seventeen. This book is complete trash. A Robin Hood retelling with influences from Shakespeare has every right to be awesome as a concept, and yet Atwood evidently has no idea what to do with it except meander like a senile ass between disconnected scenes. The editor should be ashamed for letting this atrocity get to print in this state when it was in clear and desperate need of a developmental edit, or several.
January 21, 2023
In this sequel to Walk the Wild With Me, Rachel Atwood continues her delightful mash-up of the Robin Hood legends, Faerie, the Wild Folk, and characters from British and Celtic pagan folklore. Like the first book, this story begins slowly, which allows the reader to settle in to a world that defies some but not all assumptions. Each of the many viewpoint characters has his or her own backstory and goals. Yet even when the pace seems slow, the intricate connections between the ordinary world, Faerie, and the world of magic unfold like a tapestry. Characters grow and change, secrets are revealed, and the wonderful way in which Atwood upends expectations all create a personal and unique approach to the stories we thought we knew.
Now the focus is on Robin (Goodfellow/Hood) and his lost love, Marian, and it’s great to see them take center stage. For the past 60 years, Robin has lived under a curse. For half of each day, he is a hideous gnome (Goodfellow) with a bit of magic and near immortality. The other half of the day, he is human, the legendary Robin Hood. Marian is locked in a secret chamber in perpetual sleep. The curse can be broken only if Robin awakens Marian in his gnome form and she recognizes who he truly is. This is a reverse of the old ballad, Tam Lin. Then it is the woman who, seeking to rescue her lover from the faeries, must pull him from horse and hold onto him as he is transformed into a variety of beasts and other dangers. Only when he is in his true form can his enchantment be broken.
As in the previous volume, Atwood spins a new take on traditional folk elements.
Now the focus is on Robin (Goodfellow/Hood) and his lost love, Marian, and it’s great to see them take center stage. For the past 60 years, Robin has lived under a curse. For half of each day, he is a hideous gnome (Goodfellow) with a bit of magic and near immortality. The other half of the day, he is human, the legendary Robin Hood. Marian is locked in a secret chamber in perpetual sleep. The curse can be broken only if Robin awakens Marian in his gnome form and she recognizes who he truly is. This is a reverse of the old ballad, Tam Lin. Then it is the woman who, seeking to rescue her lover from the faeries, must pull him from horse and hold onto him as he is transformed into a variety of beasts and other dangers. Only when he is in his true form can his enchantment be broken.
As in the previous volume, Atwood spins a new take on traditional folk elements.
April 26, 2024
Man, what to say about this book?
“Magic carried no logic that she could fathom. Will changed from man to bird on a whim. He magically pulled musical instruments from his pack. Robin changed from tall and handsome man to ugly gnome frequently, bringing his two personalities to the fore as he needed. Little John used to spend half his life as a tree. ...
Now Nick, her best friend, had disappeared inside a hill for half a day and an entire night, but couldn't remember how or why, or what happened to him in that eerie darkness.
Best if she didn't question it, just accept it as a part of her new life away from the convent.”
This kind of sums up how I feel about this book. Did I like it? Yeah, for sure. I’m in the target demographic, I think, and I really enjoyed it. It’s well-written and engaging.
It is also a baffling fever dream of a book in which characters repeatedly maid-and-butler both massive revelations and insignificant details, explanations are repeated over and over and over (yes, I know Friar Tuck was once Abbot Mæson) to the point of being Homeric epithets, plot points meander and are glossed over and straight-up don’t exist, characters say and do things without much logic or explanation, the central event of the book is dealt with almost exclusively in the final 20 pages, and the ending is a bizarre left-field melancholy cliffhanger that I don’t quite understand.
I liked it. I’ll read the sequel if one comes out. I’m glad I read it. But I’m not sure who I’d recommend it to, and I’m not sure how else to describe the reading experience except that it was dreamlike, in various applications of that term.
“Magic carried no logic that she could fathom. Will changed from man to bird on a whim. He magically pulled musical instruments from his pack. Robin changed from tall and handsome man to ugly gnome frequently, bringing his two personalities to the fore as he needed. Little John used to spend half his life as a tree. ...
Now Nick, her best friend, had disappeared inside a hill for half a day and an entire night, but couldn't remember how or why, or what happened to him in that eerie darkness.
Best if she didn't question it, just accept it as a part of her new life away from the convent.”
This kind of sums up how I feel about this book. Did I like it? Yeah, for sure. I’m in the target demographic, I think, and I really enjoyed it. It’s well-written and engaging.
It is also a baffling fever dream of a book in which characters repeatedly maid-and-butler both massive revelations and insignificant details, explanations are repeated over and over and over (yes, I know Friar Tuck was once Abbot Mæson) to the point of being Homeric epithets, plot points meander and are glossed over and straight-up don’t exist, characters say and do things without much logic or explanation, the central event of the book is dealt with almost exclusively in the final 20 pages, and the ending is a bizarre left-field melancholy cliffhanger that I don’t quite understand.
I liked it. I’ll read the sequel if one comes out. I’m glad I read it. But I’m not sure who I’d recommend it to, and I’m not sure how else to describe the reading experience except that it was dreamlike, in various applications of that term.
August 24, 2025
Picked up this book because I loved the cover and the premise of Robin Hood mixed with the folklore of the British Isles.
The story meandered a lot. I didn't hate the characters, but a lot of scenes felt unfinished and lacking in tension, and the resolution for many character arcs was unsatisfying or nonexistent. I 100% agree with another reader's spice-less love triangle assessment.
The book synopsis also made it seem like Robin and Marian's story would play a more central role...but everyone spent the first 80% of the book barely giving Marian a thought, so the ending felt random and anti-climactic. At one point Robin states "This feels too easy," and yet nothing got harder AND a major deus ex machina still appeared.
I didn't realize this was the second book in a series until I had already started reading, so I can't comment on the character arcs and plotlines across books. Not sure I would seek out any other parts of the series.
2.5 rounded to 3 because I wanted to see what might happen and wasn't turned off enough to stop reading before the end.
The story meandered a lot. I didn't hate the characters, but a lot of scenes felt unfinished and lacking in tension, and the resolution for many character arcs was unsatisfying or nonexistent. I 100% agree with another reader's spice-less love triangle assessment.
The book synopsis also made it seem like Robin and Marian's story would play a more central role...but everyone spent the first 80% of the book barely giving Marian a thought, so the ending felt random and anti-climactic. At one point Robin states "This feels too easy," and yet nothing got harder AND a major deus ex machina still appeared.
I didn't realize this was the second book in a series until I had already started reading, so I can't comment on the character arcs and plotlines across books. Not sure I would seek out any other parts of the series.
2.5 rounded to 3 because I wanted to see what might happen and wasn't turned off enough to stop reading before the end.
April 4, 2025
This is what I get for grabbing an “Atwood” book from the library shelf without checking closely. Maybe this book is decent if you are looking for immature Sherwood Forest/faerie/King Arthur fanfic. But if you were expecting Margaret Atwood quality….its like drinking Gatorade when you were expecting wine.
I read two chapters and had to stop. It’s just a bit too…like you don’t need to try to randomly mention every character in the first twenty pages? Without a driving plot yet? Maybe because this is a sequel and I haven’t read the first I’m missing something. But I wanted an adult book today, this feels like something a teen might like.
If you just want to spend time in fairytale forests, this might be for you.
DNF
I read two chapters and had to stop. It’s just a bit too…like you don’t need to try to randomly mention every character in the first twenty pages? Without a driving plot yet? Maybe because this is a sequel and I haven’t read the first I’m missing something. But I wanted an adult book today, this feels like something a teen might like.
If you just want to spend time in fairytale forests, this might be for you.
DNF
October 1, 2024
The continued story of Nick, Robin, Tuck, and Greenman Little John!
The second book is the tale of Robin saving his love, Marian, trapped in a ageless slumber by the same magician that cursed Robin to be a gnome half of each day.
Both books of the series ended pretty abruptly. Since I had the second book checked out, and started it immediately, it wasn't as much of an issue with the first story. But after finishing the second, I do see the criticism I saw in reviews of the first book.
Still a great read!
The second book is the tale of Robin saving his love, Marian, trapped in a ageless slumber by the same magician that cursed Robin to be a gnome half of each day.
Both books of the series ended pretty abruptly. Since I had the second book checked out, and started it immediately, it wasn't as much of an issue with the first story. But after finishing the second, I do see the criticism I saw in reviews of the first book.
Still a great read!
February 17, 2022
I didn't read the first book in this series but I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
I like the retelling of Robin Hood saga and this one worked well. Excellent world building, well developed characters, a gripping plot.
I will surely read the first book in the series and other books by this author.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I like the retelling of Robin Hood saga and this one worked well. Excellent world building, well developed characters, a gripping plot.
I will surely read the first book in the series and other books by this author.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
April 10, 2023
I must say that I didn’t know this book has a prequel until a couple of days ago.
I found this book quite boring with the exception of some details. It took me too long to finish it because it just didn’t catch my attention most of the time. The plot was fine, I did like the characters but I just couldn’t fell in love with the way they’re written. And I felt like it took them way too long to get to the main issue, which was the rescue of Marian. I’m giving it 3/5 stars because of my boy Will Scarlett, who was my favorite one.
I found this book quite boring with the exception of some details. It took me too long to finish it because it just didn’t catch my attention most of the time. The plot was fine, I did like the characters but I just couldn’t fell in love with the way they’re written. And I felt like it took them way too long to get to the main issue, which was the rescue of Marian. I’m giving it 3/5 stars because of my boy Will Scarlett, who was my favorite one.
May 25, 2025
I enjoyed this almost as much as I did the first book— Atwood’s prose is lovely and the imagery is serene and fantastical. A LOT of cliffhangers and empty questions. But I had a great time reading it!
April 22, 2022
Inventive and imaginative. Feels like a brand new story I like one I’ve ever read. Would have been 5 stars but the ending felt abrupt.
June 30, 2024
I couldn’t finish the dang book, the story was just not something I’m interested in, I didn’t really care about the characters and tbh…I don’t even remember what I read so far so I just tapped out
July 10, 2024
Wish I had realized this was a sequel before I borrowed it. May revisit again once I read the first
July 28, 2024
Why you should read: An interesting take on the tale of Robin Hood.
Why you shouldn't read: A great idea but poor execution on plot and character development. I also didn't know this was book 2.
Why you shouldn't read: A great idea but poor execution on plot and character development. I also didn't know this was book 2.
January 7, 2025
DNF this book, too boring, nothing going on to keep my attention
February 3, 2026
Very imaginitive.
March 28, 2022
Wonderful re-telling of the Robin Hood legend.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews