I'll be honest, while the writing in the "first look" excerpt was really great, I still had a bit of hesitancy starting into this book, because I felt like the Robin Hood story has been told and re-told, and I didn't expect to glean anything new from it. But wow, this book does a great job. The characters are complex and surprising, and the story veered in unexpected directions. I was also worried that this book would veer too heavily into "grimdark" territory, which is okay in small doses but is so oversaturated lately and can lead to lazy tropes/storytelling. I was so relieved that it wasn't that at all! There is real danger and there are real consequences, but it never turns into misery/torture porn, or unnecessary details of physical/sexual violence. Turns out that when you know how to write compelling characters and put together a good plot, you don't have to lean on those things as crutches! This was a really fun read.