Sarah's Reviews > The Sherwood Ring

Seventeen-year-old Peggy Grahame is sent to live with her only living relative, cold Uncle Enos. The ancestral upstate New York mansion, Rest-and-be-thankful, has barely been altered since its eighteenth-century heyday, and Enos himself is likewise stuck in the past, when his forebearers were heroes of the Continental Army.

Enos has no time for Peggy, but the lonely girl does make some friends. One is a dashing English lad named Pat, who is determined to woo Peggy despite her uncle's mysterious grudge against him. The others are ghosts from the Revolution: Richard Grahame, a brave and arrogant Patriot colonel; Eleanor Shipley, Richard's feisty sweetheart; Barbara Grahame, Richard's clever and sarcastic sister; and the misnamed Peaceable Drummond Sherwood, a charming Redcoat outlaw and nemesis to both Grahame siblings (for entirely different reasons).

The ghosts are not damned souls. Nor are they unhealthily attached to the old house. So why are they here, and what do they want with Peggy?

This is one of, if not the, most delightful books I've read so far this year. The plot is a winning mix, half a paranormal mystery, half a historical romance with a generous dollop of swashbuckling. The characters are so vivid I could almost see and hear them. The pairings were perfect . And the writing is so smooth and graceful that forty-page-long chapters sped by like the two-page staves of a James Patterson thriller.

Also, this is the first book I've read in ever so long that doesn't need a content advisory. It's a war story that contains only one violent incident (a minor character gets a face full of broken glass, but will heal) and no deaths. It's a YA romance with no sensuality, innuendo, or even kissing. Yet the war part is still exciting, and Sherwood and Barbara could start a forest fire in Washington State just by making eye contact.

Great plot, wonderful characters, strong setting, ships to die for, and high class prose. Recommended for everyone, especially fans of The Princess Bride, Johnny Tremain, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Howl's Moving Castle, The Queen of Attolia, Crown Duel and Court Duel, Labyrinth, The Secret Country, Wildwood Dancing, My Lady Jane, Still Star-Crossed, The Blue Sword, and Star Wars , especially if (view spoiler)[ you like Han/Leia or Kylo/Rey (hide spoiler)].