Reviews with content warning for Racism - Lady Macbeth

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

I think this was Ava Reid's best written novel (see the quotations below - they are a master of their craft!......says the non-author, lmao who am I??? no one!), but still wasn't particularly my cup of tea. I'M SORRY! Please remember that I am but a peasant, and my review shouldn't impact your reading experience if you loved the book. Kthxbye.

I am not a Shakespeare or "classics" elitist by any means & I am not here to argue against departures from original texts. I deeply adore and eat up retellings and reimaginings; they are my catnip!!! However, this one felt lacking in the feminine rage and general badassery that I was expecting?

I'm quite confused about the dragon element lol. I may need to re-read but I felt taken aback by how out of place that entire thing felt. The romance itself was lackluster and left me wanting, which is sad.

Overall, the gothic atmospheric vibes were immaculate, but I guess I just expected more from this historical fantasy. I still love Ava Reid and will continue to read her future work; this one just wasn't my favorite.

Quotations that stood out to me:

“And there is nothing more dangerous than a creature who pretends to be one thing and is in truth another.”

“If she were a man, he would not ask her this. For men there is no debt of blood which goes unpaid. If the world tips in another's favor, it must be made to tip back again. But the world is never in a woman's favor. She cannot tip the scale. The only choice is: live the same mute, unjust life you have always lived, or tear apart the world itself.”

"You have been made to fit a shape that confines you. That does not serve you,”

“Madness, of all things, is the most unforgivable in a woman.”

“You may succeed in convincing others of this, others who luxuriate in the idea that women have no power except that which men grant them.”

“But it only takes a crack in the foundation of the world to bring careful architecture, strong with centuries, crumbling down. A small blade cuts the water and ripples outward like an echo. And then the world beneath shows itself, first as green shoots in the dirt. And then comes a woman, a witch, tearing her way through the green with her teeth.”

“This is power. With a single word, a single look, she had arranged the world to her liking.”

“Has she been transformed? Or merely revealed? All she knows is that she is not Roscille of Breizh, not Rosele, Rosalie, not even Roscilla. She is now only Lady Macbeth.”

“This is a man's first, last, and greatest fear: a world that exists empty of him.”

“Roscille will never stop marveling at the stupidness of men when the order of their world is disrupted.”

Content Warnings

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