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leafblade's review
3.0
this book was so fucked up I don't even know what to say about it
#sapphicathon book 3
#sapphicathon book 3
dilchh's review against another edition
4.0
Let it be known that, (1) I have never read nor seen any Macbeth play, and (2) I didn’t even know that this book was a retelling of Macbeth, so yeah I was pretty confused by how the story seems to start and I feel like I’m missing a chunk of information about what the story was actually about. But, I knew I was going to like it. The mysterious aura that goes around the story the first time. I’m just glad I read the book on my eight hour train ride from Tokyo to Sapporo, because had it been any other time and day, I would have been too scared to finish it.
Now, please don’t expect that I can do this review by mentioning how it compares to the real Macbeth, for like I said, I have never read Macbeth before, so I’m just going to focus on the story that I’ve read. And I have to say, I like the fact that there’s no bullshit, like it just cuts to the chase. No necessary additional drama that serves only to eat away the pages and sore the eyes of the reader. I even like how at the end, the story acknowledges how unimportant some of the things we worry about in high school. I think in a ways the story pokes fun about how most people worry too much about what happens in high school, as if high school is literally your whole life. Because it’s not, if you manage to graduate from high school, believe you me, there’s plenty more to freak you out in the future, so stop sweating the small shit in high school.
Overall, I really enjoy the story, the writing, even how the characters are taking over the story. What I’m not a big fan of is that there seems to be no explanation about Maria’s supposedly “power.” Like, are we supposed to just act and pretend like we all know that Maria has some kind of “power” and just blatantly believe it without so much of a background? There were some backgrounds on the other characters, like how Lily is an atheist, Brandon is gay, Maria is adopted, yadda yadda yadda, and yet we’re not going to get any information about this so called “power”? I’m just fuming, you know? Because, this supposed power is kinda central to how the story progresses, so it baffles me that the author fails to give us a background, or even a glimpse of info. That being said, it irks me so much, I decided to drop down one star for my rating. But, other than that, the book is pretty good and entertaining, not a lot like young adult books I’ve read actually, so it was something fresh.
Now, please don’t expect that I can do this review by mentioning how it compares to the real Macbeth, for like I said, I have never read Macbeth before, so I’m just going to focus on the story that I’ve read. And I have to say, I like the fact that there’s no bullshit, like it just cuts to the chase. No necessary additional drama that serves only to eat away the pages and sore the eyes of the reader. I even like how at the end, the story acknowledges how unimportant some of the things we worry about in high school. I think in a ways the story pokes fun about how most people worry too much about what happens in high school, as if high school is literally your whole life. Because it’s not, if you manage to graduate from high school, believe you me, there’s plenty more to freak you out in the future, so stop sweating the small shit in high school.
Overall, I really enjoy the story, the writing, even how the characters are taking over the story. What I’m not a big fan of is that there seems to be no explanation about Maria’s supposedly “power.” Like, are we supposed to just act and pretend like we all know that Maria has some kind of “power” and just blatantly believe it without so much of a background? There were some backgrounds on the other characters, like how Lily is an atheist, Brandon is gay, Maria is adopted, yadda yadda yadda, and yet we’re not going to get any information about this so called “power”? I’m just fuming, you know? Because, this supposed power is kinda central to how the story progresses, so it baffles me that the author fails to give us a background, or even a glimpse of info. That being said, it irks me so much, I decided to drop down one star for my rating. But, other than that, the book is pretty good and entertaining, not a lot like young adult books I’ve read actually, so it was something fresh.
joana_stormblessed's review
2.0
Now I didn't hate this book, but for me, it was just ok. 2 stars on GR = it was ok.
Review to come
Review to come
mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
Re-read 2020. I was in a big mood to read something spooky during my camping vacation and so here we are! OMG, this was just so spooky and so awesome and I am glad that I forgot most of the details and could enjoy this book fully again. 5 stars again! I wasn't a fan of the characters, but I believe that is how they were written. The ghosts were terrific and spooky and OMG no thank you with your black eyes and I wonder why anyone still stays at the school with everything that happens. I would definitely have picked my bags and said BYE. :P I loved how everything spiraled down and how it went from jealousy to much more.
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Even though I absolutely detested all the characters, I also loved this book. :P
The book was creepy, scary, wtf-ish, and so much more. I even had a bad night sleeping thanks to this book. That says to me that a book is good. If it causes me to not want to go to sleep, and then later on not being able to sleep because I am creeped out, perfection. :P
And yes, I hated all the characters. At first I did like most of them, but in the end I just wanted to throw them all for the ghosts in Acheron and have those ghosts have some fun.
We have a whole cast. Maria, Lily, Mateo, Brandon, Delilah (well for a bit at least as she wasn't around much in the book for reasons I won't specify).
Maria, Lily, Mateo, I quite liked them in the beginning. Brandon and Delilah? I didn't particularly like them.
But then poop hit the fan, and I saw the true side to Maria. Lily also turned out to be a meh character. Mateo? Well I can slightly imagine why he was acting the way he was acting, but at times I found him unreasonable.
I think the character I disliked the most was Lily. Lily who kept playing the sad OMG-my-legs card, but in fact didn't want people to use that on her. Lily who was actually just a vile girl with vile ideas. It was her who planned the whole drugs in drink thing (though yes, Maria went along with it, but considering that Lily is quite manipulative....), she is the one who makes a mess out of everything. She is the one who tells her girlfriend not to say anything, she is the one who, instead of comforting, is trying to rein in her girlfriend so she won't do anything weird, strange.
Maria? Well she was quite a nice girl at the beginning, though I was a bit worried about her jealousy problem. But then stuff really happened and she really started going crazy. Certainly, I can vaguely understand why with all that happened, but really, isn't the first thing you learn that wishing can be dangerous, especially if you don't know who is doing the wish-granting? (Or well, she thought she knew, but come on, she must have felt it wasn't right from the start.)
It was quite interesting to see her tumble down the rabbit hole. From quite sane, to something so much worse that words can't describe it.
Delilah? Well, lets just say we see a different side to her and I really warmed up to her.
I was a bit sad that we didn't seem much romance from Lily and Maria. I was looking forward to that, but not including some kissing scenes, it was pretty bare and empty. It felt more like they were roommates with benefits. :|
I loved how the story went from high school problems, stress about exams, to ghosts, revenge, death, and much much more.
I am however a bit sad that we don't find out more about the school (we do find out a lot, but I still have quite a few questions), or see how stuff ended. I mean, there are vengeful ghosts in there, and you just let them be there? Continue with their things? Isn't anyone going to try and fix stuff? It felt a bit incomplete.
The ghosts were suppppppppppppeerrrrr creepy. Really, I am not one for ghosts already (they are already creepy), but black-eyed ghosts? Calling you, humming a song, luring you? Yeah, nope, I am out. :P
Even though it felt a bit incomplete, I still loved the ending. That we could see how it ended for those characters. That we could get a peek at the months after the whole thing happened.
All in all, this was a fantastic read, and I loved it to bits! It is the perfect read for this Halloween month, and I am glad I saved this book for this month (even if it was a struggle to wait).
I would highly recommend this book.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
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Even though I absolutely detested all the characters, I also loved this book. :P
The book was creepy, scary, wtf-ish, and so much more. I even had a bad night sleeping thanks to this book. That says to me that a book is good. If it causes me to not want to go to sleep, and then later on not being able to sleep because I am creeped out, perfection. :P
And yes, I hated all the characters. At first I did like most of them, but in the end I just wanted to throw them all for the ghosts in Acheron and have those ghosts have some fun.
We have a whole cast. Maria, Lily, Mateo, Brandon, Delilah (well for a bit at least as she wasn't around much in the book for reasons I won't specify).
Maria, Lily, Mateo, I quite liked them in the beginning. Brandon and Delilah? I didn't particularly like them.
But then poop hit the fan, and I saw the true side to Maria. Lily also turned out to be a meh character. Mateo? Well I can slightly imagine why he was acting the way he was acting, but at times I found him unreasonable.
I think the character I disliked the most was Lily. Lily who kept playing the sad OMG-my-legs card, but in fact didn't want people to use that on her. Lily who was actually just a vile girl with vile ideas. It was her who planned the whole drugs in drink thing (though yes, Maria went along with it, but considering that Lily is quite manipulative....), she is the one who makes a mess out of everything. She is the one who tells her girlfriend not to say anything, she is the one who, instead of comforting, is trying to rein in her girlfriend so she won't do anything weird, strange.
Maria? Well she was quite a nice girl at the beginning, though I was a bit worried about her jealousy problem. But then stuff really happened and she really started going crazy. Certainly, I can vaguely understand why with all that happened, but really, isn't the first thing you learn that wishing can be dangerous, especially if you don't know who is doing the wish-granting? (Or well, she thought she knew, but come on, she must have felt it wasn't right from the start.)
It was quite interesting to see her tumble down the rabbit hole. From quite sane, to something so much worse that words can't describe it.
Delilah? Well, lets just say we see a different side to her and I really warmed up to her.
I was a bit sad that we didn't seem much romance from Lily and Maria. I was looking forward to that, but not including some kissing scenes, it was pretty bare and empty. It felt more like they were roommates with benefits. :|
I loved how the story went from high school problems, stress about exams, to ghosts, revenge, death, and much much more.
I am however a bit sad that we don't find out more about the school (we do find out a lot, but I still have quite a few questions), or see how stuff ended. I mean, there are vengeful ghosts in there, and you just let them be there? Continue with their things? Isn't anyone going to try and fix stuff? It felt a bit incomplete.
The ghosts were suppppppppppppeerrrrr creepy. Really, I am not one for ghosts already (they are already creepy), but black-eyed ghosts? Calling you, humming a song, luring you? Yeah, nope, I am out. :P
Even though it felt a bit incomplete, I still loved the ending. That we could see how it ended for those characters. That we could get a peek at the months after the whole thing happened.
All in all, this was a fantastic read, and I loved it to bits! It is the perfect read for this Halloween month, and I am glad I saved this book for this month (even if it was a struggle to wait).
I would highly recommend this book.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
theirgracegrace's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
As I Descended is a diverse, queer but still tragic retelling of Shakespeare that does not hold back from the horror. María and Lily are the school's rising stars, if only Delilah Dufrey wasn't in the way. When they have a séance with their best friend Brandon, they unleash a supernatural force that inhabits their Southern boarding school. And the ghosts say that blood will have blood...
I adore how Robin Talley recontextualizes the setting from the nobility of early medieval Scotland to a group of queer teens at a Southern boarding school, and how the themes do not change. It legitimately is impossible to tell if the characters are hallucinating the supernatural occurrences in the school, or if they are really happening. The relationships between the characters mirror those between their Shakespearean counterparts, but they also are their own people and show the effect of fate and the supernatural on their psyche.
I adore how Robin Talley recontextualizes the setting from the nobility of early medieval Scotland to a group of queer teens at a Southern boarding school, and how the themes do not change. It legitimately is impossible to tell if the characters are hallucinating the supernatural occurrences in the school, or if they are really happening. The relationships between the characters mirror those between their Shakespearean counterparts, but they also are their own people and show the effect of fate and the supernatural on their psyche.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Bullying, Addiction, Blood, Drug use, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Outing, Racism, Confinement, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Fatphobia, Ableism, and Violence
Minor: Domestic abuse and Body horror
eliseblackburn's review
3.0
Although the premise of the novel is quite exciting, the writing somewhat stumbles in the execution.
The diversity in the book's cast certainly is something to be relished, including how modern conversations about privilege can be seen in Shakespearean work. The author certainly excels at portraying the Macbeth parallel character's descent into madness. For readers with no interest or prior knowledge of the Scottish play, the book definitely falls a little flat. On the other hand, avid thespians might find their cherished elements of Macbeth, such as the manifestation of the witches, boring.
The diversity in the book's cast certainly is something to be relished, including how modern conversations about privilege can be seen in Shakespearean work. The author certainly excels at portraying the Macbeth parallel character's descent into madness. For readers with no interest or prior knowledge of the Scottish play, the book definitely falls a little flat. On the other hand, avid thespians might find their cherished elements of Macbeth, such as the manifestation of the witches, boring.
barefootmegz's review
4.0
As I Descended is creepy enough that I slept with the night light on while reading it, but not so creepy that I had nightmares - which is perfect for my skittish mind. If you intend to academically analyse the successes of the author in drawing parallels to Macbeth, you may miss out on its sinister delight. If you are keen on a twisted Southern Gothic with private school brats, a diverse cast, dark magic, and some good ol' fashioned back-stabbing, you're in for a ride.
eletricjb's review
3.0
Gay Book Reviews by Me, a Gay
What is this?
It’s a modern-day retelling of Macbeth at a fancy prep school in Virginia, with lesbians! And about seven thousand more ghosts than Shakespeare’s version, which. Why were you slacking on the ghosts, WILLIAM? Actually, basically all the main characters are gay, not just the Macbeths. And able to see ghosts. It’s madness.
How good is this?
It is…NOT not good? I mean. It’s overwrought and ridiculous, and some of the modernization stuff is cringe-worthy. For example, to fit in the famous place names of the play, Talley has named the school’s football field Dunsinane, as if that is a totally normal thing to do: name your football field. Wait, is it a totally normal thing to do? My high school didn’t have a football field, and our football team played at the city’s public stadium, which had a name. But I thought that was because it was a city stadium.
Woof, sorry for that tangent. Anyway, this book is straight bonkers, which shouldn’t surprise you. The kids are gay; the ghosts are evil, and teenagers die over trying to win a fucking college scholarship (the Cawdor Kingsley prize—GET IT? Cawdor? KINGsley? I know, this shit is mostly unavoidable in Shakespeare modernizations, like how Heath Ledger’s character in 10 Things I Hate About You is named Patrick Verona, but it makes me die a little every time.)
So anyway, my main problem with the book is that it felt rushed? Like we were just trying to hit all the plot points of the play without really exploring any of the characters. I think it suffers from having each of our main characters: Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, and Macduff each getting their own point of view. I would have been more interested if this went a little deeper with just one of them.
In conclusion (finally), this is not what I would call fine literature, but it was nuts reading it, and I had a good time. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
How gay is this?
Now, listen. I know I just said everyone in this crazy book is gay, but like… That barely seemed important? Lily, the girl who is in the Lady Macbeth role, is hella paranoid about anyone finding out about her and Maria (Mr. Macbeth), but I never really understood…why. The school has a GSA; the queen bee is its vice president; no one really seems to care that much. So I don’t know. Anyway, there’s one kind of sweet moment between the two of them and between Brandon (Banquo) and Mateo (Macduff), but both were mad brief. And certainly you should not expect any actual romance here, since these poor idiot teens are playing out the plot of MACBETH. So let’s say 3.5 out of 5 high fives for its gayness.
What is this?
It’s a modern-day retelling of Macbeth at a fancy prep school in Virginia, with lesbians! And about seven thousand more ghosts than Shakespeare’s version, which. Why were you slacking on the ghosts, WILLIAM? Actually, basically all the main characters are gay, not just the Macbeths. And able to see ghosts. It’s madness.
How good is this?
It is…NOT not good? I mean. It’s overwrought and ridiculous, and some of the modernization stuff is cringe-worthy. For example, to fit in the famous place names of the play, Talley has named the school’s football field Dunsinane, as if that is a totally normal thing to do: name your football field. Wait, is it a totally normal thing to do? My high school didn’t have a football field, and our football team played at the city’s public stadium, which had a name. But I thought that was because it was a city stadium.
Woof, sorry for that tangent. Anyway, this book is straight bonkers, which shouldn’t surprise you. The kids are gay; the ghosts are evil, and teenagers die over trying to win a fucking college scholarship (the Cawdor Kingsley prize—GET IT? Cawdor? KINGsley? I know, this shit is mostly unavoidable in Shakespeare modernizations, like how Heath Ledger’s character in 10 Things I Hate About You is named Patrick Verona, but it makes me die a little every time.)
So anyway, my main problem with the book is that it felt rushed? Like we were just trying to hit all the plot points of the play without really exploring any of the characters. I think it suffers from having each of our main characters: Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, and Macduff each getting their own point of view. I would have been more interested if this went a little deeper with just one of them.
In conclusion (finally), this is not what I would call fine literature, but it was nuts reading it, and I had a good time. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
How gay is this?
Now, listen. I know I just said everyone in this crazy book is gay, but like… That barely seemed important? Lily, the girl who is in the Lady Macbeth role, is hella paranoid about anyone finding out about her and Maria (Mr. Macbeth), but I never really understood…why. The school has a GSA; the queen bee is its vice president; no one really seems to care that much. So I don’t know. Anyway, there’s one kind of sweet moment between the two of them and between Brandon (Banquo) and Mateo (Macduff), but both were mad brief. And certainly you should not expect any actual romance here, since these poor idiot teens are playing out the plot of MACBETH. So let’s say 3.5 out of 5 high fives for its gayness.
ajb24's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
I don’t have much to say about this book. I liked it, it was entertaining, the writing was well done. It’s Macbeth but with gays and a haunted school.
I don’t have much to say about this book. I liked it, it was entertaining, the writing was well done. It’s Macbeth but with gays and a haunted school.