I have so many conflicting feelings over this book.

The positives are Ava Reid's gorgeous prose and atmospheric writing and her ability to explore messy and morally grey female characters.

But this isn't a Macbeth retelling. So much is changed from the original play (at one point this even turns into a literal monster romance) and whilst some changes are interesting, the essence of Shakespearean play is lost (along with some of the most iconic lines and scenes). This story isn't a Macbeth retelling or even a retelling of the real history the play is based upon (although there are some nice nods to it along the way) - it feels like a fanfic about Macbeth where what if Macbeth had been the problem all along and his wife during these events hadn't been the complex murderous iconic villainess we all know but instead a French seventeen year old too-beautiful-for-her-own-good pick me girl (who is literally the only female character for 90% of the book) who is extremely xenophobic.
The xenophobia is the worst part of this book as it is so uncomfortable to read Scots described as all being barbarians and murderers and rapists with no redemption or revaluation of the main characters viewpoint. I am surprised this amount of xenophobia got passed the editorial stage and I really hope Ava Reids team reflects on the response to this and take a better approach going forward.

Overall, the two key issues with this book come down to the marketing not properly conveying how loose a retelling this would be (and deciding to call this book Lady Macbeth when the actual Lady Macbeth is barely in the book) and the xenophobia.

I just wanted to start of saying that I never read Macbeth or seen a stage production so I was going into this book partly blind. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to reading this but I was struggling to get through it. It had so much potential but kinda just felt a little flat. I often found myself skimming this just to get through it which is such a shame. I couldn't even really tell you anything that happened because my mind as just blanked this book out.

Don't get me wrong the actual writing itself is beautifully written but everything else I just couldn't connect with. The pacing was off and it didn't feel like much was happening in order to keep me entertained or wanting for me to continuing reading. I forgot that was considered a fantasy because there wasn't much fantasy elements within in the book, save from the witches towards the end of the book which was it's saving grace for me. Lady Macbeth has magical powers yet barely uses them? Seriously?

The characters were completely one dimensional and lacked any character growth whatsoever. Lady Macbeth is described to be clever, ruthless, ambitious and manipulative but yet we got none of this, she was just a highly unlikeable character. The only characters that were mildly interesting was the witches and they were barely in it. The romance was so out of place as well, I just didn't care for it at all. And on top of all of this, this version of Lady Macbeth is xenophobic where Scottish people are constantly viewed as violet brutes. Was the really necessary? No it wasn't. I don't get why any of it was added in the part.

Trigger Warnings: rape, sexual assault and gore

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Thank you the NetGalley, the author and publish for an ARC of this book.

I enjoyed the book overall. The characters were well developed and I enjoyed the world building massively and the supernatural elements. It was creepy and eerie where it needed to be. Roscile and the men in this book all have a power struggle both visible and invisible which was very well played out.

The plot just felt a bit disjointed and I didn’t feel completely hooked to see where it was heading

I've read one other Ava Reid book, and really enjoyed the gothic setting and writing style, so I was really excited to jump into this new one! Unfortunately I just didn't vibe with it - I was so bored and it extremely hard to continue on reading until I finally just decided to call it quits. I just didn't enjoy the main character, and felt let down since i expected so much more out of a retelling!

This review is for Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid which will be released in the UK on the 13th August! Thanks so much to Netgalley and Del Ray for giving me an eArc copy for this book in exchange for my honest review.

I will have to start off this review by saying that this was not what I imagined at all, but that is my own fault for believing people when they say it’s a Macbeth retelling. (It’s literally in the name of the book, why am I so dumb).
It’s definitely a Lady Macbeth retelling for sure, but done in a way I would have never thought. I also think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if I didn’t already have these super high expectations of what it was going to be, so again my fault for sure.

Let’s start with the great points. I loved the atmosphere Reid creates in this book, and they are so good at creating these gothic and beautiful scenes that can transport you to the time. You feel like you are truly there, watching this all happen from above. There’s a touch of paranormal and fairytale elements, which is Ava’s usual style, but it is effortless mixed into the well known Macbeth setting.

But I was honestly a little bored. The FMC was a bit meh, I was expecting this super cunning and strong female character, ready to do what needs to be done. But you get a scared and lonely 17 year old, sold by her father to a brute of a man, just trying to survive into the world she’s been thrust into. I still really liked this character though. You see her growth and learning to understand the limited power she has in the society she’s thrust into, and learns to use her mind and her cunning to get herself out. The book also felt really short and rushed towards the end, such a big build up for such a small ending.

I try not to do a lot of deep diving into the books I read, as I don’t want to fall into the deep, dark hole my English Lit A levels installed in me so I also feel I’m probably missing a lot more subplot and under the surface themes.

It’s definitely worth a read, and I think I would pick this up again in the future.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

The story of Macbeth is so important in English Literature and so many cultural references come from it so I had always been aware of it but have never read or watched the original play. So I came to Lady Macbeth with little idea of what to expect.

The first chapter was a little slow and I wasn’t sure I would be able to connect with the main character but once I got into the story and the pace picked up I found it hard to put down.

I really enjoyed Roscille coming into her own and harnessing her power. The fantasy element was something that I wasn’t expecting but really worked for me.

Although it took me a little while to get used to the writing style, once I did I found it beautiful and engaging.

I thought this was a great perspective on the Macbeth story and it has made me want to read the original text so I can see what inspired

This book was a massive disappointment. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so disappointed in a book. Reid took a strong powerful Shakespeare character and took away pretty much everything that was powerful about her. And what did she replace it with? Abuse from all the men around her. Also, as someone with OCD, I really wanted to see her explore the madness of Lady Macbeth which she just removed from the book entirely.

The whole point of Lady Macbeth is that she’s the strong one. When Macbeth is unable to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth steps up and does the dirty deed. She’s the power behind Macbeth. She pushes him and pushes him. Taking that away, takes away pretty much the entire point of the character. It might as well have been an original story, because that just wasn’t Lady Macbeth.

I’m also getting a bit fed up with books that torture women and call it feminism. Rising up against your oppressors is all well and good, but there has to be a point to the suffering in the story. For me, it has to make a point about society we live in or raise awareness of domestic abuse, or just do something other than watch a woman suffer on the page for most of the book.

I am just extremely unhappy with what Reid did with this story. It could have been a beautiful story about a strong woman and the ways she takes power for herself, but it was not.

TWs for Lady Macbeth: rape, sexual assault, gore, violence

As someone who wasnt really familiar with Macbeth prior to reading this book, i had no struggle understanding the motives behind Avas words. After finishing the book and looking at sparknotes and essays about Shakespear's Macbeth, I can tell that Ava put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into writing this work of art. I really want to read the orginal text and then reread this one, to compare the way Lady Macbeth gets portrayed in both.

I truly loved Ava's prose! The way she crafts the atmosphere is truly magical. It was so easy to get lost in her words.

I am definitely joining the ava reid cult after this one and i can't wait to explore her previous works!

Unfortunately, this was not my Lady Macbeth I was expecting. I really love Shakespeare's Macbeth but this was just lost on me, but I genuinely felt blindsided by this. I adore the original character and play, I thought this would be so great from Ava Reid but it fell so short and not fully fleshed out. I'm heartbroken because I really thought Reid made one of the most interesting women very flat

The one thing that is absolutely indisputable when it comes to Ava Reid is that she can write the most gorgeous and grotesque gothic imagery. That is absolutely still the case with her latest novel Lady Macbeth. Reid’s ability to so clearly paint you a picture with her words is unparalleled, and I always, always enjoy highlighting sections that take my breath away with their beauty. She is a truly gifted writer whom I look forward to reading each year when she brings out a new novel, and I am slightly devastated that the one I was most looking forward to let me down greatly.

I don’t know how else to summarise Reid’s Lady Macbeth other than catastrophically wishy-washy. There was no substance, no grit. I am all for authors having their own take on an already established story - I LOVE retellings that truly bring something new to the table - but taking one of the most beloved and interesting female literary characters and reducing her to a meek child without agency (or brain cells…) feels offensive in some way. The original Lady Macbeth is so fascinating because she breaks the traditional mould for women - she is self-centred, conniving, ruthless, ambitious. She is a brutal middle-aged Scottish woman, She is the original gatekeeping, gaslighting girlboss who answers to no man, and I was SO excited to delve deep into her psyche. Instead, I got a 17-year old French girl (???) who constantly talks about how bright and sneaky she is, but that is never shown whatsoever. Her prejudices towards the Scottish characters felt very heavy handed and lacked any nuance, and she just came across as ridiculous. Her romantic subplot was entirely nonsensical to the point where I convinced myself I’d somehow made it up. She has no character arc - starts and ends the novel none the wiser and remains under the thumb of all the men around her. It was equal parts incredulous and upsetting. Complete and utter character assaination.

(There was an attempt at a plot twist that could’ve been exciting if it had been well crafted, but alas, it fell flat and only got an eye roll out of me.)

I am still excited to read her future work, but for me this book was such a let down, especially with ASID being one of my top three books of last year. I am sure others will enjoy this one, but if you’re a fan of the original Lady Macbeth, I would personally recommend giving this one a miss.

Thank you to Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC. All opinions are my own.

"Lady Macbeth" gives the titular character a backstory and voice that Shakespeare's play did not. I wouldn't call this a retelling as such, there are elements of Macbeth which are familiar but many key plot elements are changed and the story didn't feel as recognisable as I had expected it to.

Reid's writing paints a murky, ethereal atmosphere which shrouds Macbeth's castle in mystery. There are clearly sinister elements at play and the whole castle and its inhabitants seem gloomy. The writing is in places slightly disjointed, which in some ways did help to keep the sense of murkiness but also at times made it seem disjointed and underdeveloped.

I found Roscille to be an unlikeable character who only at the very last moment showed agency and strength. Her immediate meddling upon her arrival into her husband's affairs didn't make sense as Reid failed to build up a motivation for this move and to me it felt unexplained. This meant it was hard to trust Roscille as a main character and I didn't feel I was on her side until right at the end where she killed Macbeth.

One element of the book that I did enjoy was the dragon. It was wholly unexpected and a brilliant twist on the "not of a woman born" prophecy.

This wasn't a book I'd recommend to others as I feel Roscille's motivations and the disjointed writing could do with some more fleshing out to make the story flow better and make me want to keep reading.

I have adored and previously devoured Ava Reid’s writing but, I’m sad to say that I neither enjoyed nor devoured Lady Macbeth. I was not hoping for slavish adherence to Shakespeare's Scottish play, in fact I wasn’t disappointed that this wasn’t a retelling from the lead female character’s perspective of the same events but, IMO young Lady Macbeth in this book wasn’t what I was expecting or hoping for.

The story is inspired by Shakespeare’s work but, that’s where the similarities end, which I really liked as it meant that I had no idea how the story would end. This kept me reading until the end!

There are aspects of this version of Lady Macbeth that didn’t particularly appeal to me but, I recognised that this was something she became and that comes from the experiences, trauma and fears that she went through and has, and that is shown throughout the book.

Even though I didn’t love this book, I’m still an ardent admirer of Reid’s writing. She captures the world and characters with such beautiful and evocative prose that I can feel characters’ emotions almost as well as I can view a piece of artistry.

However, despite all of this I still struggled to engage with Lady Macbeth but, that won’t stop me from trying this book again in the future- perhaps it’s a state of mind thing. Either way, Lady Macbeth remains a vivid and evocative reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s Scottish play.

Thank you Penguin, Random House UK & NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

After stopping at a certain point as I was not connecting with the story I decided to give it another chance..and I’m so happy I did.

I picked Lady Macbeth back up and straight away got swept away with the gothic vibes and just became so engaged I couldn’t stop reading. It’s a very different take on the Macbeth story and after taking some time I can fully appreciate what this story is. Lady Macbeth is a feminist reinvention of the story from the POV of a young beautiful girl who is married off to a lord of a foreign land and what you have is a tale of toxic relationships and a rather dark and gothic story.

I love Ava Reid’s writing there is always such a beautiful way she can pull me in and keep me engaged this is more along the lines of Juniper and Thorn and The Wolf and The Woodsman rather than A Study in Drowning so please be prepared for a dark tale that I personally needed to be in the right frame of mind to read and I am so happy I took another chance as I throughly enjoyed it and will always love how Ava writes such thought provoking stories.

DNF @35%

I'm SO SAD!!

I love Ava Reid but this just really isn't for me, which is such a shame because I love her writing style and how she's not afraid to take on more serious subject matters and display of characters but wow I'm SO bored.

I can't bring myself to pick this up any longer and trust me, that's something I'd NEVER thought I'd say about Ava Reid.

I hope others love this a lot more than I do!

-Sarah

*Thank you to Random House UK + Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

4.5 stars

LADY MACBETH is a gothic tale of survival.

This is very much a gothic tale, blending horror with elements of romance. It has the gloomy atmosphere that presses in, very much suffocating at times. It's a bleak tale of survival in the face of violence, particularly violence against women in all its forms.

The writing very much builds this atmosphere of unease. It's quite a sparse prose at times, focusing on certain details and letting you fill in the rest. The use of third present (which I personally really like in general) here creates a slight separation as if you are seeing it all through Roscille's veil.

This is a retelling that deviates a lot from the source material. In the same way that Shakespeare took a few minor elements from history (mostly names!) and wrote his own story, Ava Reid has written her own tale. It does at least stick closer to Shakespeare than Shakespeare did to history.

I don't think stories should have to stick to their source material and this is a book that makes it clear very early on that it's not. The source material is a spring board for a new tale that takes certain elements and explores the theme of villainy - what makes someone a villain and what makes them a hero within a society's expectations.

There is also some influence from the Lais of Marie de France - one of the epigraphs is from the lais as well as a section taking its name from one of them. It is a less obvious influence, more the thematic side of how those poems approach the subject of different types of love (and "love") and their consequences.

It is set in a fantasy version of early medieval Scotland, between 927-939 based on references to Æthelstan as king of England. For reference, the real Macbeth reigned from 1040-1057. There are bits and pieces of real history in the story - for example, Roscille's father is Alan II of Brittany - but there are plenty of anachronisms in service of the story. For example, they're living in a stone castle two centuries before the first stone castle was built in Scotland. This is definitely a book where the setting is vibes more than accuracy, leaning into tropes that fit the gothic intents of the story.

This is not a Macbeth retelling from Lady Macbeth's perspective as I initially thought, and I was left slightly disappointed. This is a haunting reinvention of the story of Macbeth from the POV of the FMC, Lady Macbeth, a 17-year-old beautiful girl who is married off to a Lord in a foreign land.
Ava delves into the struggles of women in medieval times, exploring mature themes through some dark and grotesque scenes.I enjoyed Ava's writing style and gothic world-building which, as usual, is captivating; immersing readers in a vivid atmosphere. Ava is especially gifted at evoking a range of emotions like hope, despair, disgust, and fear as the plot unfolds.
I loved the role the three witches played in the story and thought they were the most accurate to the source material. However, the depiction of the FMC in this story falls short of Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth’s ruthless, conniving, intelligent, and ambitious nature. Roscilla’s actions seem to lack agency and her schemes are predominantly influenced by Macbeth or driven by her survival instincts, with her 'redemption' emerging too late in the plot. I wanted more from the final act and felt Roscilla's actions could have been more substantial.
The romantic subplots did not really work for me; there was no depth to either beyond lust and possession. The second romance plot, which was of the FMC's choosing, felt forced and uncomfortable.
Had this book not been tied to a character named Lady Macbeth, I might have appreciated it more for its own merits. However, Lady Macbeth as a character comes with its own connotations and the weight of expectations heavily influenced my perception of the story.

The style of this book is lyrical and beautifully written, I was just the wrong audience for it. I was intrigued by this book as Macbeth was one of the few Shakespeare plays I didn't hate when studying English at school, but sadly the historical setting just wasn't for me. Regardless I still think this will be a fantastic read for those who do like this genre

This just wasn’t for me unfortunately. Every Scottish character was a horrible brute, and “Lady Macbeth” was absolutely clueless. Really disappointed as this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year.

DNF.

I really wanted to enjoy this as I loved A Study in Drowning but I just couldn't get into it. The book bored me and the relationship was just toxic. I'm hoping her next book will be better!

I loved Ava Reid's book A Study in Drowning so was so excited to receive an e-arc of Lady Macbeth.

This was a fantastically tense and beautifully written Macbeth retelling. The way that Reid seamlessly melds fantasy with historic fiction makes it easy to fall deeply into the worlds she creates, while still feeling the magic imbued throughout. I did find this book hard to get into, with a slow start and a lot of language and plot to quickly get a handle on, however after a couple of chapters I was fully engrossed. I loved the different take on the classic story.

I'm always a fan of morally grey FMC's so loved Roscille's perspective. Her rise into her own power and coming to know herself, while facing down her fears and trauma was wonderful to read. I just wish that at the end we could have seen more of what happened after the final battle.