What this book has:

Themes of social rebellion, found family, class, gender roles, and the impact of creating a story/legend versus the reality for those involved. Subversion of many of the tropes of traditional Robin Hood stories (Robin himself was not at all what I expected, and I loved that). Well-written female characters with agency and their own POV chapters (Marian is fantastic, and I promise some of the others have character arcs that are worth waiting for). Well-written romance, one of the best dramatic battle scenes I have ever read, exploration into the motives and personalities of the secondary characters, and (at least in the edition I read) an afterward by McKinley talking about her influences and the decisions she made about the historical setting! I wish I had known about this book when I was younger, because I think I would have been completely obsessed.

What this book does not have:

Unsurprisingly, diversity. This is an issue that I knew I would find with Robin Hood retellings in general. I would love to learn more about what society was really like during this period of history, because surely there was more diversity in medieval England than the stereotypes would suggest.

The writing style was also an acquired taste for me. At the beginning I found the prose a little hard to follow and felt that the dialogue was too formal for the situation. But by the end I found I was appreciating it more and enjoying the witty conversations between the characters. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it really suited McKinley's storytelling style.

I also wish that this book had gone on for longer. It felt like the first half was all buildup and character introductions, then in the second half the story began to wind down right as it was starting to develop into something great. I found myself wanting to spend more time with the characters. The ending felt rushed, and for a number of reasons (that I won't go into here because this review is long enough already 😅) I was a little disappointed by it.

You'll probably like this if:

If you are also a fan of Robin Hood stories but want more character depth and better female characters, I would give this a read. At times it reminded me of The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones and even The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet. I found the book immersive and exciting, and it was fun to see how McKinley put her own twist on familliar stories. Just don't go into this expecting the Disney version, and if you're cautious about certain content it might be worth checking CWs first.