Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Lady Macbeth

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

92 reviews

clovetra's review against another edition

3.0

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

now my expectations were already astronomically high because i adore macbeth. it’s probably my favourite shakespeare work because i studied it so intensely in high school to the point my teacher literally made me read lady macbeth. i was on crack when we read macbeth, having the time of my life.

i think i went in with my expectations so insanely high this book was never going to be able to live up to what i was expecting. i do think this book did have some wins.

for one, hello roscille!!!! she’s such an interesting character. i loved how cunning she was, even for something as small as wishing for the coat to the end. i will say her motivations didn’t feel authentic to me reading this, so at times where i should’ve been rooting for her, i was instead trying to work out why she was doing something.

i don’t really like what was done to macbeth in this either. idk i liked how in the original they were very clearly madly in love until the story begins, whereas this story paints him to be like every other man. yes yes i know this is a “feminist” retelling so therefore macbeth kind of needs to be a bit more brutish, but i wasn’t a fan. lady macbeth going along with macbeth’s plot in the original felt realistic, as they were a power couple and went beyond the classic representation of shakesperian relationships. roscille and macbeth here just felt like a cliche, and it was honestly a bit boring and predictable at times.

the overall plot was decent… until fantasy elements enter which are so immersion breaking it actually annoyed me a bit. the witches’ were adapted well to this story and i like the depth that was added to them, but their ending felt stupid and rushed. and don’t get me started on lisander. this book did not need that addition to his character and completely changed the tone of the story.

the ending was also incredibly lacklustre. we have built up to this big battle for so long and it just….. fizzles out. like seriously when we spend most of the book with roscille pissfarting around and then the ending happens in the span of like 5 pages. what are we doing here.

as with any retelling, there were changes to this adaptation. some of them were great! i loved the element of roscille and her veil, although i don’t really think it added much to the plot, but hey it seemed cool. some deaths were changed, and some new characters were added, like senga. senga has my heart baby grill u can ride with me. but the changes to the story felt a bit surface level for me, and honestly ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’. i will say however that my little autistic brain did a little dance whenever trepanation was mentioned. my ass loves old timey medicine!!!!!!!!

finally, ava reid the woman you are. god her prose was so addicting. the style she writes in is so unique yet so fascinating. i loved it.

i really think feminist retellings are overdone. the market is incredibly oversaturated, and at times it feels cliched and boring. the new plot elements added to this book certainly help set it apart from the rest, but i really don’t think this lives up to its original inspiration.

Content Warnings

i_will_sing_no_requiem's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

samanthaleereads's review against another edition

2.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

aidareads's review against another edition

3.75

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

this may be my least favorite ava reid book… but i still highlighted a lot of it and think it was beautifully written. i just didn’t connect that much with the story or the characters 😕

Content Warnings

alexijai98's review against another edition

2.5

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Almost cannot believe I’m giving an Ava Reid book less than 4 stars but man am I disappointed. There’s a really well-written 1 star review here by witzelsucht that encapsulates basically all my thoughts.

I was so so excited for this book, because I love Ava Reid and Macbeth is the only Shakespeare play I actually enjoy. Lady Macbeth’s perspective? Amazing, sign me up! But she falls completely flat until the last 60 or so pages of the book. If we’re gonna do the feminine rage thing, we’ve got to actually DO it. This book does not give Lady Macbeth a voice - she had one in the original play. To me this comes off as a shallow attempt at a feminist retelling. Guess what folks, the feminist retelling should actually be something meaningfully feminist!

Content Warnings

perth_is's review against another edition

4.0

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

justkrissy's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

"Most men do not need a reason, either. Only an opportunity."

A dark and gritty, atmospheric tale that hits deep.
If you're a woman who has fallen victim to the mistreatment from men, I think there will be a lot of understanding of this story. Let it be a reminder though, that we are much stronger than we're made to think. I wish we all could have compulsion powers to save ourselves...

Content Warnings

chloeburton's review against another edition

2.5

dark

This was a big let down for me. I wish it was just separated from Macbeth entirely or just…a different story. It just doesn’t have any true semblance of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. There’s a lot of issues I have with this but I don’t want to write an essay. There’s a lot here I really like though, too. I really love Ava Reid’s prose. The way she writes about the impact of trauma on the mind is truly remarkable. I really enjoy her writing style. I plan on trying one of the other books.

Content Warnings

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I heard about this book and thought it sounded really interesting, so I picked it up.

"Lady Macbeth" is a reimagining of Shakespeare's infamous play. In this novel, the Lady knows everyone's dirty secrets, and she is hellbent on exacting her revenge. She thinks she will have the upper hand, but she does not know that her new husband has his own supernatural gifts, and that he will not go out without a fight.

I really enjoyed that this novel was a retelling/ reimagining of one of Shakespeare's most beloved plays. I felt like this novel did the play justice, and stayed authentic to the original storyline and characters. However, this novel does take a new-ish approach, and it follows a different character, which was fun.

Lady Macbeth was a powerful character and point of view to read from. I could not help but root for her, even when I knew she was doing things that were not great. I do think there were moments that she was so blinded with her mission to bring down these people that she did not see clues that were right in front of her that could have helped her avoid some of the challenges that she did ultimately face. It was frustrating to read, but I do think it made her character feel more authentic. As much as I enjoy a strong, female character, I do think Ava Reid was a little too fixated on how to make this a feminist retelling. Because of this, I do think the story and the character development of Lady Macbeth suffered slightly.

Because this is a reimagining of a very famous play, I did know where this story was going. I do not know if that is why I struggled through some parts of the plot, but regardless, there were moments of the story that did drag for me. It took me a little longer than I would have liked to finish this story. I do wish the author would have taken more creative liberty and elected to do something more creative, but that is more of a personal preference, and not a reflection of the author's work.

Overall, I think this was a fine novel that has an audience. This was my second novel from Ava Reid, and I am left feeling very much how I did after reading the first: this is fine, but did not blow me away.

I would still be willing to read Ava Reid in the future if she writes something that really captures my attention, but I am not dying to pick up anything new from her either.

Content Warnings

agw622's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is intense. I love how it does make Lady Macbeth much more sympathetic than the play makes her. However, she is bound to her fate, and it does get dark. Personally, I do not think it's as strong of a feminist reclaiming of her charecter as some suggest. While I think she is more her own person, she is very much limited in what she does. Also make sure to check trigger warnings

Content Warnings

More...