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kefink's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
4.5
Ava Reid is such an extraordinarily talented author, and her ability to bring nuanced feminist perspectives to dark and dreamy retellings of the classics of the Western canon are on full display here.
I am sympathetic to complaints that she isn’t particularly faithful to the original Macbeth, but one of the reasons the play is so enduring is that it gives space for multiple interpretations. I suppose I always read the original Shakespearean Lady Macbeth less as one half of a twisted power couple and more as a misogynistic portrayal of what goes wrong when you give a woman power: OF COURSE she directs her husband to wicked, disastrous ends… she’s Eve all over again, with some better monologues. And OF COURSE she goes mad— her lady brain wasn’t made for high-level political scheming. And so I was far more sympathetic to a retelling of her story in which she begins as a tool of her father and then her husband— a convenient excuse for Macbeth to unleash his ambition. That’s how she functions in the original as well, only the man writing her story made it all look like her fault. And then Reid’s deft portrayal of how Roscille can only claim true power once she leaves off her attempts at masculine scheming (that way lies destruction and abandonment of self) and instead embraces feminine relationships as the surest route to her own power… *chef’s kiss*. This is not Macbeth retold, it’s Macbeth reimagined.
And yes, there’s a dragon and a little bit of romance, but it doesn’t detract from the main thrust of the story. It saves the masculinity of the book from unrelieved toxicity by offering an alternative— mythical— masculine character who is able to compliment Roscille’s power rather than coopting it or fearing it.
I am sympathetic to complaints that she isn’t particularly faithful to the original Macbeth, but one of the reasons the play is so enduring is that it gives space for multiple interpretations. I suppose I always read the original Shakespearean Lady Macbeth less as one half of a twisted power couple and more as a misogynistic portrayal of what goes wrong when you give a woman power: OF COURSE she directs her husband to wicked, disastrous ends… she’s Eve all over again, with some better monologues. And OF COURSE she goes mad— her lady brain wasn’t made for high-level political scheming. And so I was far more sympathetic to a retelling of her story in which she begins as a tool of her father and then her husband— a convenient excuse for Macbeth to unleash his ambition. That’s how she functions in the original as well, only the man writing her story made it all look like her fault. And then Reid’s deft portrayal of how Roscille can only claim true power once she leaves off her attempts at masculine scheming (that way lies destruction and abandonment of self) and instead embraces feminine relationships as the surest route to her own power… *chef’s kiss*. This is not Macbeth retold, it’s Macbeth reimagined.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia