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magicalreads 's review for:
Foul Is Fair
by Hannah Capin
4.25 stars
read on my blog
**I got an ARC through a giveaway from the author (thank you, Hannah Capin!) and from Netgalley. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**
I adored Hannah Capin’s debut and I was so excited to see what she would do next. Foul Is Fair is a clear departure from The Dead Queens Club but it is similar in that Capin is so good at using source material (Henry VIII then, Macbeth in this case) and transforming it into a completely new story amidst a new backdrop. Foul Is Fair is such a powerful, poignant read with incredible lyrical writing. (View the trigger warnings here and cw for rape mentions in this review.)
Now, I’ve never read Macbeth (I was in the class that read Othello), so I’m quite sure I missed a few things. I did look it up on Wikipedia, so I know the gist of it. Capin masterfully transforms this medieval play into a bold stance on sexual assault in the contemporary time. Jade is Lady Macbeth, Mack is Macbeth, Jade’s friends are the witches, and so on.
I do know the more popular quotes from the play, so it was exciting to read some of them here, such as “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (obviously), “Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it,” and “What’s done cannot be undone.” There’s also a parallel of the “Stars, hide your fires” scene, which was brilliantly done.
Capin writes in a mix of straight prose and interspersed poetic lines, which adds a jaggedness to the tone, a dagger to the reader’s throat. I could perfectly picture this book as a film, specifically one of those camp teen indie flicks that are cult hits. Jade’s voice narrating, the interspersed lyrical lines as flashbacks, brief flashes of the night of that party, all of the imagery is so vivid. The writing creates a foggy atmosphere as we read Jade’s tangled thoughts; really, the only thing that is clear is this: revenge.
The short phrases of Jade’s thoughts evoke a rawness that gives way to revenge. Her rage is potent, and her schemes show that “just a girl” can mean so much more than what they expect of you. In taking her revenge, she takes back what the boys who raped her think they took, and then some. Foul Is Fair is potent in this way; much like Jade says, the boys didn’t make her something she wasn’t before. As the author signed my ARC, “All the power is yours,” Jade definitely took back the power.
I adored the female friendships in this book. Jade’s friends (Jenny, Summer, and Mads) would do anything for her, as Jade would for them. They support her as she sets out to do what she wants. I also liked how Jade’s parents also supported her, letting her know that they’re there for her without being overbearing.
There’s some casual representation in this story that I really liked. Jade is biracial (Indian and white) and Jenny is Korean-American. Summer is wlw and Mads is a trans girl.
Foul is Fair is such a powerful novel. This is a book about a victim becoming, a girl transforming into something more than what is expected of her. It tears down “boys will be boys” and quite literally destroys golden boys. It condones rape culture and sexism and tells girls: Take what they consider vulnerable about you and use it as a weapon. Become the one with the power. After all, all the power is yours. And when fair is foul, foul is fair.
original review:
powerful
read on my blog
**I got an ARC through a giveaway from the author (thank you, Hannah Capin!) and from Netgalley. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**
I’m ten times stronger than they’ll ever be.
A thousand times more ruthless.
I adored Hannah Capin’s debut and I was so excited to see what she would do next. Foul Is Fair is a clear departure from The Dead Queens Club but it is similar in that Capin is so good at using source material (Henry VIII then, Macbeth in this case) and transforming it into a completely new story amidst a new backdrop. Foul Is Fair is such a powerful, poignant read with incredible lyrical writing. (View the trigger warnings here and cw for rape mentions in this review.)
Now, I’ve never read Macbeth (I was in the class that read Othello), so I’m quite sure I missed a few things. I did look it up on Wikipedia, so I know the gist of it. Capin masterfully transforms this medieval play into a bold stance on sexual assault in the contemporary time. Jade is Lady Macbeth, Mack is Macbeth, Jade’s friends are the witches, and so on.
I do know the more popular quotes from the play, so it was exciting to read some of them here, such as “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (obviously), “Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it,” and “What’s done cannot be undone.” There’s also a parallel of the “Stars, hide your fires” scene, which was brilliantly done.
They’ll never make me anything I wasn’t before.
Capin writes in a mix of straight prose and interspersed poetic lines, which adds a jaggedness to the tone, a dagger to the reader’s throat. I could perfectly picture this book as a film, specifically one of those camp teen indie flicks that are cult hits. Jade’s voice narrating, the interspersed lyrical lines as flashbacks, brief flashes of the night of that party, all of the imagery is so vivid. The writing creates a foggy atmosphere as we read Jade’s tangled thoughts; really, the only thing that is clear is this: revenge.
The short phrases of Jade’s thoughts evoke a rawness that gives way to revenge. Her rage is potent, and her schemes show that “just a girl” can mean so much more than what they expect of you. In taking her revenge, she takes back what the boys who raped her think they took, and then some. Foul Is Fair is potent in this way; much like Jade says, the boys didn’t make her something she wasn’t before. As the author signed my ARC, “All the power is yours,” Jade definitely took back the power.
I can take every single thing they tried to ruin and make it mine again. Make it a weapon that cuts them down and bleeds them dry.
I adored the female friendships in this book. Jade’s friends (Jenny, Summer, and Mads) would do anything for her, as Jade would for them. They support her as she sets out to do what she wants. I also liked how Jade’s parents also supported her, letting her know that they’re there for her without being overbearing.
There’s some casual representation in this story that I really liked. Jade is biracial (Indian and white) and Jenny is Korean-American. Summer is wlw and Mads is a trans girl.
Foul is Fair is such a powerful novel. This is a book about a victim becoming, a girl transforming into something more than what is expected of her. It tears down “boys will be boys” and quite literally destroys golden boys. It condones rape culture and sexism and tells girls: Take what they consider vulnerable about you and use it as a weapon. Become the one with the power. After all, all the power is yours. And when fair is foul, foul is fair.
original review:
powerful