Reviews with content warning for Rape - Lady Macbeth

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

32 reviews

bells__reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I absolutely LOVED this book. I wish I could give it to my 16 year old self, who used to rant about all the misogyny in high school English books.

Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a 17 year old noble-woman who is trying desperately to take back some of her agency in a world where only men are allowed to be powerful. I loved her journey and growth throughout the story.

The writing was beautiful and filled with so much unique figurative language. There were so many little details illustrating the frustration of being a woman in a patriarchal world that resonated me to the point that it made me want to shout.

Full disclosure: I have not read the original Macbeth, so I cannot speak to how Ava Reid has changed the story. I was a little nervous it wouldn’t be as impactful having not read Macbeth, but it was amazing.

Content warning - SA (off page), DV, violence, torture (off page)

Thank you to Netgalley and the author/publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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sydverse's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.5

Ava Reid’s prose is beautiful as always, it was so easy to get lost in the atmosphere that she’s created here. I’ve never read the original play so if you’re approaching this book looking for a faithful retelling I cannot be the person who tells you whether it is or isn’t, my lens of this story is how it exists on its own.

I think that there’s some great stuff here and the story held my attention through to the end. The end did feel quite rushed, and it made the slow pacing of the rest of the book feel off in comparison. I wish the last chapter could have been expanded in another chapter or two, with that time being taken from somewhere in the middle of the novel which felt the slowest in my opinion. So much happens so quickly in that last chapter that I was left with a bit of dissatisfaction when I finished just because of how quickly everything seems to just wrap up so neatly after an entire book of twists and turns.

I have seen some other reviews saying that Roscille completely lacked agency, and while I don’t completely agree I do wish that her power in the story could have been stronger. She goes through most of the book appearing to outsmart all of the men around her and setting everything up for herself, only for that to not be the case and it makes all that she did before feel wasted, though perhaps that was the point. Overall there's a general lack of nuance narrative-wide that as I begin reflecting on the book after finishing it left a lot of room for interesting conversations that unfortunately didn't happen. I think especially the attitude towards the Scots as a whole paints them all with a very broad brush in a negative way, which is something I think could've been handled somewhat differently.

My other complaint is the romance subplot. I think that had this subplot been removed, the story would have still worked the same and that it wasn’t necessary. I feel that it was so underutilized and explored that it was more of a detriment to the story, and it either needed to be focused on more and given more depth than what we got, or removed completely. It could go either way and I would be happy, I was just again dissatisfied with the pacing of the relationship development/the male love interest’s development as a whole and to an extent their motivations, but I won’t go more in detail to avoid spoilers.

Overall, this is not my favorite Ava Reid book but still a good read despite the qualms I may have with parts of the story. I wish I could give it five stars as this was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, but the pacing problems in particular took it down to a four for me.

Thank you the NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review

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theresahasread's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

4.5

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1aura_reads's review

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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folkofthebook's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

A witch does not need a reason, only an opportunity...
Most men do not need a reason, either. Only an opportunity.

ava reid's macbeth retelling is dark, gothic, haunting, and even more brutal than its source material. while the scottish play examines lady macbeth in tandem with her husband, taking on (what was then seen as) masculine traits so they may succeed, this lady macbeth leans in to her strategy, her careful tactician in hopes of staying ahead of her husband.

"And now you are the dagger in my hand."

this marriage does not resemble shakespeare's couple who are typically revered as the most loving couple of all his work. lady roscille is sent to a wed a violent warrior as a peace offering for allegiance.

To cause lustful madness is one thing - any beautiful woman has that power, if she wishes to exercise it, even if she doesn't, even if such a thing can be called power. To mold a man to her will is another.

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

ava reid examines a woman's role in these harsh times; their duties, their roles as pawns, their powerlessness, their sufferings. this was an excellent addition to the evolution of witches in storytelling from cautionary tales & embodiments of sexism to icons of feminism and women's reclamation of strength.

Vengeance is not a wooden cup that empties. It is a jeweled chalice which endlessly spills over.

i appreciated her choice in the juggling of languages; she chose to be more true to the time period, where language was more fluid and constantly changing in domination. her vivid imagery and details truly set me right there in that damp, cold castle with piercing, briny winds. She calls in the symbolism of the iconic bloody hands as well as her own new ones: the unicorn, the eels, the necklace, the snake.

"I prefer a monster that shows itself openly."

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jessica_burns's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I had such high hopes for this book. I have loved everything else by Ava Reid but this one was a miss for me. Maybe I went into it with the wrong expectations but it felt as though the story kept building to something that never happened. Like we were always on the precipice of some twist or character development that never paid off.

That said, the writing is gorgeous. It’s dark and gothic, gritty and languid. Everything is tinged with sea water and grime and I love that Reid was able to so effortlessly take me to Scotland with Roscille.

I would look up any trigger warnings before going into this because the themes are definitely dark.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

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thesnowqueen's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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a1ana_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-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? Yes

4.5

I am neither an e-book person nor a historical fiction person, and yet Ava Reid has enthralled me once again.

Seeing all of the characters slowly being broken down over the course of this book was captivating, and I cannot express how happy I was to see the Lady Macbeth get her well-deserved revenge. She really grew as a character, both internally, with what we saw, and externally, with what she allowed other characters to see of herself.

You can really tell how well-researched this whole thing was, and I was honestly fully transported back to this time for the two endless days that I couldn’t put this down for.

I have not read Macbeth, but out of my new-found love towards this book, I will.

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pagesandtales's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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_serena_'s review

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Ava Reid consistently knocks it out of the park with her beautifully written prose in this gothic fantasy retelling of Lady Macbeth.
The methodical and clever maneuvers.
The feminine rage.
The twists of magic.

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