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kabrahams's review against another edition
4.25
Ava Reid is one of my favorite authors, so this was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024. That being said, I think this is my least favorite of their books, although that could change with time as I think about it more or if I decide to reread it. Definitely not a bad book though, I just have complicated feelings about it that I will try to articulate.
From the very beginning, Ava Reid's prose had me in a chokehold. There is something about her prose, both lyrical and concise, that captivates me and I truly think they are one of the best writers currently publishing novels. While sometimes the metaphors in this book got a bit overused (particularly with the ermine), I loved the writing style and was constantly underlining things in my eARC. That said, I struggled to read this for long periods of time because this book deals with some very heavy topics.
When Roscille is forced by her father to marry MacBeth, she is both terrified of getting trapped in the cycle of breeding and birthing that is the burden of married ladies and determined to do whatever it takes to escape that fate. She has found that her gaze can entrance me and she uses this to bend them to her will. Roscille is a fascinating heroine because she is both tragic and terrifying. Some readers will probably find her incredibly unlikable in her ruthlessness, and yet, I could not help but root for her in the end. Ava Reid has really turned this classic tale on its head and I cannot wait to devour whatever they write next!
Graphic: Sexism, Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Rape
Minor: Animal death, Torture, War, and Sexual content
auteaandtales's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
TLDR; I didn’t really like it, it’s not my cup of tea and I didn’t like the direction it went in but I will still read more from this author before I decide whether or not this author is for me.
Firstly, I knew I was taking a chance with this, as retellings are very hit and miss for me (and usually miss). The main thing is that the stories are something you’re very familiar with, so you know exactly where it’s going. Even if you don’t, you can easily guess where it’s going. It’s not impossible to write a story that’s interesting when you know exactly what will happen, but, unfortunately, I wasn’t interested here (although I do appreciate that Reid didn’t over explain events that were occurring, she trusted us to already know, which I did like).
The second thing about retellings is that we already have some sort of connection with the characters, and those characters can mean a lot to a lot of people, so it can be hard to navigate that and create your own interpretation while still appreciating the original texts. I don’t think this did that, in my opinion, but just because this particular version of Lady Macbeth wasn’t for me, I don’t think she’d be universally disliked. I can see why some people would really like this. I love that Lady Macbeth is so cunning, manipulative and intelligent but this version of Lady Macbeth is the complete opposite. We are told she’s intelligent but I didn’t see evidence of this. She was only defined by the men in her life, and that’s it.
I did really like the ending though. roughly the last 10% of the book, but I wish we had that for the rest of the book as well.
I also don’t like how feminism was dealt with here. It did a very shallow interpretation of it, in my opinion. Feminism is much more than “women are always good and men are always bad”. There was so much that could have been done there, such as showing Lady Macbeth as both the manipulated and the manipulator.
Saying all that, I didn’t hate it. I don’t think this is a bad book. It just wasn’t for me, a lot of it didn’t work for me, but that doesn’t mean it won’t work for other people. I can see why this would be loved, I especially think the dark exploration of a “behind the scenes” to Macbeth will be especially interesting to a lot of people.
Thank you to Netgalley & publishers for the review copy!
Graphic: Torture, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Misogyny
deekayfrey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Ava Reid breathes new life into the tragic tale of Macbeth. Through the eyes of Lady Macbeth, the tale of their demise deepens into the harsh sting of a blade. Reid's style is poetic and brutal. Devastating and delightful. The story unravels in Lady Macbeth's desire to survive the marriage bed to her foreign husband, saving herself a perceived pain; she accidentally sentences others to a grisly fate.
"Madness, of all things, is the most unforgivable in a woman."
Thank you, NetGalley & Random House Publishing, for the eArc!
Moderate: Murder and Rape
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, and War
princegene95's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Sexism, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicide attempt, Torture, War, and Violence
petit_lecteur's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, Blood, Violence, Suicide, Body horror, Sexual violence, War, and Torture
madlysoph's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
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.
Graphic: Misogyny and Violence
Moderate: Torture, Sexual violence, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and War
mikaelawithak's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Gore, Rape, and Confinement
bolte_books's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Torture and Xenophobia
Minor: Death, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Rape
bells__reads's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Domestic abuse
Minor: War and Torture
sydverse's review against another edition
- 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
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
Graphic: Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, and Sexism