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babeybel's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
This review contains mentions of sexual violence, so please be mindful of yourself if this affects you.
I really wanted to like this book. I have heard great things about Ava Reid’s A Study In Drowning so as soon as I saw this months before release I had it in my TBR pile and picked it up when I was browsing my local bookshop. Despite feeling excitement to finally read this retelling of Macbeth, I was very disappointed with what I was reading.
Lady Macbeth is considered a powerful female figure in classical fiction who doesn’t take shit from anyone and pushes her husband to act on the Three Witches prophecies. In this book, she is a timid 17 year old girl who feels guilty about doing bad things to bad people and girlbosses her way into killing Macbeth so she can marry a sexy younger prince who is also a dragon.
I was just angry at the blatant misogyny in this book. The complete lack of female characters as a means to show how brutish the Scottish are (which I will continue in a moment) is an abhorrently insulting way to push the narrative. It speaks volumes that Roscille only becomes motivated to kill her husband once another man enters her life. The repetitive descriptions of rape and sexual assault and coercion that she faces only to be saved by one of the “nice guys” who is the only man not to be outwardly sexist. I don’t think being able to just “walk off” constant sexual violence is as powerful as Reid thinks it is here — Roscille doesn’t acknowledge what comes after being raped, and how her body feels. In fact, the book is written in a way that it barely affects her. If you are going to go to the trouble of writing sexual violence into your book, at least have the decency to spend time writing about how it would actually affect the character. I’m not a fan of rape in any media I consume, but at least don’t just throw it in there for the misogyny tab of your world building.
As for the setting, it is extremely stereotypical and xenophobic towards Scotland, Scottish people, and the Celts. You’d swear that Reid googled what Romans thought of the Celts and chose to depict them no other way. She has no true grasp on Scottish history, culture, or language and has decided to just create her own version of them to suit her attempt at a girl-power narrative, particularly falsifying that there were no women whatsoever in Scottish courts. The amount of sexual violence that is mentioned over and over as a means to show just how “evil” this new “miserable land” is to the reader is so hamfisted to the point that I just became numb to it. Reid would have been better off just changing the setting into a made-up world and replacing the characters names with a couple of refreshes of Fantasy Name Generator.
Slow paced, insultingly xenophobic, and a main character that is trying to pander to feminism that it becomes almost entirely satirical with its misogyny. I’m going to either sell or donate my copy of this book because I really do not want to see it again.
I really wanted to like this book. I have heard great things about Ava Reid’s A Study In Drowning so as soon as I saw this months before release I had it in my TBR pile and picked it up when I was browsing my local bookshop. Despite feeling excitement to finally read this retelling of Macbeth, I was very disappointed with what I was reading.
Lady Macbeth is considered a powerful female figure in classical fiction who doesn’t take shit from anyone and pushes her husband to act on the Three Witches prophecies. In this book, she is a timid 17 year old girl who feels guilty about doing bad things to bad people and girlbosses her way into killing Macbeth so she can marry a sexy younger prince who is also a dragon.
I was just angry at the blatant misogyny in this book. The complete lack of female characters as a means to show how brutish the Scottish are (which I will continue in a moment) is an abhorrently insulting way to push the narrative. It speaks volumes that Roscille only becomes motivated to kill her husband once another man enters her life. The repetitive descriptions of rape and sexual assault and coercion that she faces only to be saved by one of the “nice guys” who is the only man not to be outwardly sexist. I don’t think being able to just “walk off” constant sexual violence is as powerful as Reid thinks it is here — Roscille doesn’t acknowledge what comes after being raped, and how her body feels. In fact, the book is written in a way that it barely affects her. If you are going to go to the trouble of writing sexual violence into your book, at least have the decency to spend time writing about how it would actually affect the character. I’m not a fan of rape in any media I consume, but at least don’t just throw it in there for the misogyny tab of your world building.
As for the setting, it is extremely stereotypical and xenophobic towards Scotland, Scottish people, and the Celts. You’d swear that Reid googled what Romans thought of the Celts and chose to depict them no other way. She has no true grasp on Scottish history, culture, or language and has decided to just create her own version of them to suit her attempt at a girl-power narrative, particularly falsifying that there were no women whatsoever in Scottish courts. The amount of sexual violence that is mentioned over and over as a means to show just how “evil” this new “miserable land” is to the reader is so hamfisted to the point that I just became numb to it. Reid would have been better off just changing the setting into a made-up world and replacing the characters names with a couple of refreshes of Fantasy Name Generator.
Slow paced, insultingly xenophobic, and a main character that is trying to pander to feminism that it becomes almost entirely satirical with its misogyny. I’m going to either sell or donate my copy of this book because I really do not want to see it again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Violence, Vomit, and War
Minor: Abortion
graveyard_guenther's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and War
kingcrookback's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
There's a quality to this that, ideally, should have felt ethereal but ended up falling closer to incorporeal. It feels intentional that we only ever see Roscille's story in detail while she is in Alba, not before and not after, like her life as Lady Macbeth is a cage around her. But consequently, the way we learn about Roscille as a character feels much more like telling than showing. I wanted so badly to love this, but I didn't.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and War
Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Abortion
teejaywhy's review against another edition
dark
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Self harm, Suicide, and Abortion
coffeenquotations's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“And there is nothing more dangerous than a creature who pretends to be one thing & is in truth another.”
Lady Macbeth was a hauntingly beautiful read, adding depth to an important but little fleshed out character while also providing commentary on societal norms, patriarchy, & misogyny.
Review:
I went into it with decently high expectations & was not disappointed. I loved the background & personality it gave a generally one dimensional character in the play. I always liked Lady Macbeth but wished we had more information about her.
This was my first book by Ava Reid that I read & I found the writing to be engaging. I had so many quotes that I underlined & had stick with me even after finishing the book. Also, why have I not seen more love for Lisander?!
Some people seemed to not enjoy Roscille’s character or found her weak but I did not feel the same. I found her sly & doing what was needed to survive while always keeping an eye on ways to improve or escape her situation. I did wish she was a little older than 17 but also, probably pretty accurate for the time (ick).
4.5 🌟
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Abortion
glaistigsgarden's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Abortion
Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide attempt
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
epomeroy8's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Abortion
kkopacetic's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, and Abortion
madlysoph's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I was lucky enough to read this as a digital arc from Edelweiss, an important thing to note as there is a note at the beginning that says some things may change in the book by the publication date, so take my commentary with a grain of salt.
As always, Ava Reid's writing is beautiful. I wouldn't say I liked this as much as I thought I would, I did like this book, but it wasn't life-changing for me. I will honestly say that I haven't read Macbeth which might have impacted my appreciation of this story and some of the themes and references.
For me, it felt like there was a lot of buildup throughout the book without a proportional payoff. The romance felt underdeveloped and there are moments where the story feels both fast-paced and slow-paced. The overall themes were executed well and were present throughout the whole story. The setting was interesting and new from Ava, the weaving of history, Shakespeare, and fantasy was done fairly well and the world was believable.
Roscilles character is very much a 17-year-old girl, she's smart and cunning, yet fearful and unsure of herself. I loved reading about her character and watching her grow throughout the book. This is a good book worth reading, I fully intend to reread it once it's released as a physical copy, and I will likely like it more once I reread it.
As always, Ava Reid's writing is beautiful. I wouldn't say I liked this as much as I thought I would, I did like this book, but it wasn't life-changing for me. I will honestly say that I haven't read Macbeth which might have impacted my appreciation of this story and some of the themes and references.
For me, it felt like there was a lot of buildup throughout the book without a proportional payoff. The romance felt underdeveloped and there are moments where the story feels both fast-paced and slow-paced. The overall themes were executed well and were present throughout the whole story. The setting was interesting and new from Ava, the weaving of history, Shakespeare, and fantasy was done fairly well and the world was believable.
Roscilles character is very much a 17-year-old girl, she's smart and cunning, yet fearful and unsure of herself. I loved reading about her character and watching her grow throughout the book. This is a good book worth reading, I fully intend to reread it once it's released as a physical copy, and I will likely like it more once I reread it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Abortion, Sexual harassment, and War
scarfsa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Miscarriage and Abortion