A review by katwolffcreates
Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I thought this was gonna be my vibe but it wasn’t for me, sadly. 

A few banger one-liners from Reid throughout, but mostly felt empty and like the “moral” lacked subtlety and…not unearned per say cuz Roscille did go thru it but idk I just found myself generally not caring throughout this book. 

The cold prose, while great for setting a mood for Scotland in this era, kept the characters at arms-length for me and I struggled to feel passionate about our protagonist :/

Also if you’re coming to this book hoping for a deeper look at the psychology of the unapologetic lady villain & fierce manipulator from Shakespeare’s play…you won’t find that here. I get what the author was trying to do with a whole “that’s the story as told by a man, she wasn’t actually like that” but Lady M in the play was significantly more interesting bc she was using her agency the best she could. Roscille does too but this interpretation of Lady M was nooot it for me.
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