I read an eARC of this book so thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley.

This was an absolutely fascinating retelling of Macbeth. The author has taken a very different tack to other female led Macbeth retellings I’ve seen recently, giving this a fresh perspective.

We follow Roscille, who is sent to Alba to marry Macbeth by her father. She realises she has no choice and is doing her best to survive in a world where men have vast amounts of control over her life. She is frequently called a witch and has to where a veil because she’s so beautiful that men consider her gaze bewitching. Even though this comes from men’s own desire, it’s seen as entirely her fault and she’s treated with suspicion. Male fear of women is explored in depth throughout this novel and there’s some uncomfortable content around men trying to control women, often with violence.

Macbeth is more of a villain in this than in other retellings. He’s not his wife’s great love and instead someone she must endure. He’s appears far more brutish in this and it’s his pride and narcissism driving his actions rather than the insidious murmurings of his wife. He is obsessed with his own legacy and convinced of his greatness. Roscille is trying to survive him using flattery and obedience but her actions are driven by a desire to survive, not a desire for power.

This really leans more into the witch elements of Macbeth than other retellings. Roscille herself has power of persuasion and can bewitch (some not all) men. We encounter other witches too, in line with the three who prophecy Macbeth’s fate. We also have curses and supernatural creatures. All adding a really unique and fascinating layer to this book.

This was another excellent book by Ava Reid and well worth a read. Fascinating, dark and a unique perspective. A lovely blend of historical and fantasy.

Well, this was a disappointment. Imagine having the most iconic, evil Scottish power couple at your disposal but instead writing about a xenophobic French teenager and a half-English twink. The character of Lady Macbeth was almost unrecognisable with little regard for the source material. Scotland was described like it's the ninth circle of hell and the MC's xenophobia was so overt it would have been funny had the author not doubled down on all of the character's prejudices. All Scottish men are evil brutes in this, apart from the half-English love interest (lmao), and there are only two women apart from the MC, who are unimportant overall. Just a lot of weird choices made, overall. 1/5 stars.

Unfortunately, I have had issues with my netgalley which has meant that two books, including this one could not be downloaded on to my shelf. I have contacted customer support and will update this review if I can read this book.

I’ve never read anything by Ava Reid before but I love Lady Macbeth as a character so I thought this would be a good place to start.

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!

[ARC provided by NetGalley and Del Rey. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review Lady Macbeth.]

Rating: 4/5

First of all, if you’re planning to pick this up because Macbeth is one of your favourite Shakespeare plays then it is important to keep in mind that this is a reimagining, and that many elements of the plot are altered to fit into a new narrative led by the Lady herself. A lot of the major plot points remain but characters are driven by different emotions here and although I thoroughly enjoyed this story fuelled by feminine rage and the downside of unchecked ambition, there’s some alterations that I couldn’t completely get behind.

Also just want to make a side note that there’s a lot of sensitive content in this book and I’d urge you to check out the trigger warnings before going into it. There’s nothing particularly graphic but we all have different limits so better to be safe before jumping in.

Going into this, my memory of Macbeth was patchy at best, but if you’re not familiar with the play and are still keen to check this out then I’m confident that you don’t need any prior Shakespeare knowledge to enjoy the story. I could go into more detail about how this differs from the source material, but I won’t focus too much on that here because I think you will enjoy this a lot more if you view it as its own story – all I’ll say in that regard is that it was interesting to find out more about the infamous villainess. Lady Macbeth is such a fascinating character and I enjoyed seeing a new side to the cunning and calculating wife of Macbeth.

One issue I had, and I may be focussing on this more as I’m Scottish, was that the brutish behaviour exhibited by the Scots was never challenged. It made the people of Scotland lack depth and come across as almost cartoonish, and it’s a frustrating stereotype to read about, even in feminist retellings. I also hoped that the Lady would be a little more unhinged and that she might hold her own against Macbeth better, but considering she’s a young, sheltered woman in this story then I can understand why that wasn’t the case here. We still see a strategic side to her character, but I would have loved to see more. If you’re expecting her to have more agency in this story, I’m not sure it fully delivers.

I still enjoyed this retelling but I’m not a die hard Macbeth fan so maybe I’d feel differently if I loved the play more. However, regardless of how you think Lady Macbeth should be portrayed, I think this story provides an interesting new insight to her character.

Drawing inspiration from the play "Macbeth," this dark historical fantasy recounts the tale of a young girl betrothed to a violent, ambitious lord in 11th-century Scotland. While Shakespearean purists may not favor this retelling, this version of Lady Macbeth seems more like a fresh character. It encapsulates the original play's superstition, darkness, and savagery, with parts of the writing being strikingly beautiful.
This was my initial encounter with Ava Reid's literature, and I believe it won't be the last.

My gratitude goes to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the ARC.

I did not know what to expect from this book and genuinely I was sceptical about reading this one and honesty was procrastinating a bit haha. Once I started reading, I was hooked. Was it the writing? Was is the vibes? Was it Roscilla? Well yes it was everything. Great book, and even if you are not interested in Macbeth this book was gold.

Thank you NetGalley & Cornerstone Publishing for approving my ARC request.

“I am nothing but the dagger in my husband’s hand.”

Lady Roscille, wears her viel as she must be a witch because any man who looks at her beautiful face and into her hypnotic eyes ends up enchanted to her bidding which is how her father has used her even up to the point where he sends her to Scotland to be marred to Macbeth.

Scared and alone this story tells us how Roscille became Lady Macnrth by using the way men underestimate woman, and often dont believe they can be much more than just a wife/mother. Is she a victim or a villian, is she surviving or dangerous.

I loved this book, my first Ava Reid and won't be my last. She writes so beautifully and haunting, I felt this story in my bones.

I decided to sit with this for a few days just to make sure that my emotions weren't clouding my judgement but I have to be honest, I really didn't enjoy 'Lady Macbeth'.

To begin with, anyone who reads this needs to be warned that it does include quite a bit of SA. It's not graphic but it really took me off guard and I'm not usually someone who reacts strongly to SA in books. I'd really suggest that a trigger warning be included in the beginning of the book.

The prose was just as beautiful in 'Lady Macbeth' as Ava Reid's other works. My unpleasant experience with this one won't put me off from reading her future works. Ava Reid is so unbelievably talented as a writer and her writing style is just so lyrical. There are so many lines that just seemed to cut right through to the heart.

Unfortunately, this was one of the most unpleasant reading experiences of my life. At every turn our MC was degraded, raped, insulted, beaten, whipped and more. She had her sight taken away at one point and was essentially told that she didn't need to see because what would a stupid witch need to see for? Being inside her head was sad in a way I can't even fully express in a review like this. Watching her second guess herself, think less of herself, contemplate suicide, and shrivel up on the inside was one of the most depressing things I've ever read. She was like an ant under a boot being stomped on over and over and over again.

Lady Macbeth in the original play was a character with agency. She was cunning and manipulative and the Lady Macbeth in this story maintains those qualities in the beginning but they are almost completely decimated by the end. It was sad to see such an amazing character completely stripped and degraded. It felt less like a retelling and more like a bastardisation of the original play.

Other than just my personal enjoyment, there didn't seem to be a strong enough connection between plot points throughout the book. We'd jump from point A to point B and I'd just always feel like I was missing.... something? Despite being completely focused, I oftentimes couldn't understand how we'd gotten to where we were. Additionally, the romance was really lacking. It was undeveloped and made almost no sense for the story. I think the overall plot would've been stronger without it. Not to mention, it was in poor taste to have a rape scene and a sex scene within 20 pages of each other.

On paper this book should've been my favourite book of the year but it just didn't deliver and only succeeded in making me uncomfortable.

Lady Macbeth is a unique retelling focusing on the story of Roscille as she is sent to Scotland to be the bride of Macbeth. I initially found the story a little bit difficult to get into and found it was slow in places but overall enjoyed reading it. It does a good job of setting the dark and dreary scene of 11th century Scotland and original Macbeth. It is a long time since I read Macbeth so the story is not too fresh in my mind but I do not think you need a full knowledge to enjoy this book although I am sure I may have missed some references that others may appreciate more than I did. To me this character felt more like an original character with a loose inspiration from Shakespeare's Macbeth. Overall an enjoyable and unique read!

Roscille is a bride gift to the Lord Macbeth to secure an alliance, her unearthly beauty called death-touched. Poisoneyed. Witchkissed.
Roscille knows that there are the two fundamental aspects of wifehood: Open your legs to your lord husband and bear a child.
Yet, she is determined to survive as a foreign bride in a place where she is hated as a suspected witch.

Can the canny mind of a weasel exist within a bird's fragile, feathered body?

This is unlike anything Ava Reid has written before. It encapsulates feminine rage and power and wiles, and what men will do for power to feel strong and in control. Whilst the story is more akin to Juniper and Thorn in terms of themes, the prose was more similar to a Study in Drowning. I think this will make it appeal to all her audiences.

Roscille is extremely clever, wry, and coldly strategic. However, as she becomes her husband’s weapon, she is stuck between disgust at her own guilt and her desire for survival.

Roscille isn’t physically strong, yet her manipulative wiles and the way she uses her mind makes this a riveting, psychological, haunting and dark read.

This is the greatest of men's aspirations, to — whether through love or through violence —draw screams from women's mouths.


I do think however, I wanted more. It felt too short. I could see the percentage ticking up and I couldn’t see how Ava could wrap this altogether in the time she had left. It didn’t end in the middle of the plot or anything, but it did feel rushed and incomplete. Maybe this is me saying I really wanted MORE.

Thank you to Del Rey for providing an arc in exchange for a review!

This was dark and calculated throughout. It had game of thrones vibes and I mean that in the best way.

Lady Macbeth was quite the character, she got what she deserved and she gave everyone else along the way exactly what they deserved also. It had me hooked, I was mesmerised by her cunning and misunderstood ways. Lady Macbeth was a foreigner married off to a husband she didnt want, and she battles her way through new customs and an archaic misogynistic minefield of politics and power plays.

Inspired by the play Macbeth, this is a dark historical fantasy telling the story of a young girl sent to marry a violent, ambitious Lord in 11th Century Scotland. Shakespearean purists would probably not appreciate this particular retelling, this Lady Macbeth feels more like an original character, evoking Bluebeard's Castle as much as Macbeth. But it captures the superstition, darkness, and brutality of the original play and the writing was beautiful in parts.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Lady Macbeth' by Ava Reid.

So first, Ava Reid insults the Welsh by making 'A Study of Drowning' and now she insults the Scottish by making 'Lady Macbeth'
'Lady Macbeth' is not great if you have read the play by Shakespeare. This felt like a "retelling" from someone who read the cliff notes of the play and wanted to spice it up a bit. As someone who loves 'Macbeth' I just felt heavily conned. This is probably my third Ava Reid that I've thought was a bit poor so maybe I should stop giving her a chance.

Writers will be re-writing Shakespeare for ooh, the next five billion years. This novel is positioned as a ‘bravura reimagining’ of Shakespeare’s play. And yes, like any work of fiction it’s perfectly acceptable to reposition, retool, retell. Sadly, this falls between two ‘big’ genres

The big twist (as hinted by the cover) is Lady Macbeth is actually a witch called Roscille, plotting to rule Britain. Macbeth has been under supernatural control for quite some time, with the witches locked in his castle cellar like Norman Bates’ mum. This leap - Dunisane as Bates Motel works, but it begins to lack credibility as the plotting thickens.

And yes, Macbeth itself is loosely based on historical events, the author reinterprets them and characters in such a confusing fashion, it causes the reader cognitive dissonance. Midway through, there is the big leathery wingbeat of fantasy, which is where the novel really jumps the life to come. An act of sexual violence is followed by a sex scene and it’s the kind of sexposition that George RR Martin deals in and even other writer in that genre deems necessary. Really, just stop.

Not quite a historical novel, not quite a fantasy novel and not quite enough for both. It’s published by Penguin on 13th August and I thank them for a preview copy.

Macbeth has always been a favourite of mine so I was so excited to delve into Lady Macbeth being reimagined, amazing read.

I found this book disappointing as a reintroducing of the Shakespeare play. I didn't find the characters very strong at all. This is a novel about a French teenager that was a slow and in places boring read. Definitely not for me.

An interesting take on the character of Lady Macbeth. So beautiful that she has to wear a veil, else no immortal man can look into her eyes and live. She is a ‘hagseed’. This concept blends well with the Wyrd Sisters from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. But in this book, Macbeth keeps the three witches (Lavandiers) locked in his castle to phrophesise for him.
This Lady Roscille/Lady Macbeth is the murderer of King Duncane. And here, his sons, the Princes, are Evander and Lisander.

Do you have to have read Shakespeare’s Macbeth to be able to follow this story? I don’t think it’s necessary, but it is interesting to see the continuation and alternative explanations of some of the themes from the play.
However, I did feel that Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth’s descent into mental disturbance due to her guilt was woefully missing from the plot.

I didn’t expect the book to be quite as fantasy-heavy as it was. I expected witches. But dragons and unicorns?!

My mid-range rating is due to the reason that I did have some very uneasy feelings about the portrayal of the Scottish as being barbaric, brutish, uncouth and generally base.
And the dragons and unicorns…

Thank you to NetGalley, Del Rey UK, and Ava Reid for a galley of this book.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I really wanted to enjoy it, and I did for the most part, but there are just some things I struggle to get on board with. Let's start at the top, if you are looking for a Macbeth retelling, that is relatively true to the play, this is not for you. If you are looking for a Macbeth reimagining with some changes, and don't mind a few historical inaccuracies, then this might be right up your alley.

As a book that isn't a Macbeth retelling, this has some strong moments. I enjoyed the way Reid employed varying names and spellings to reflect the flexibility of language in Medieval Britain. Don't be put off by the list at the front, the changes are relatively few, and largely understandable. I liked this attention to detail, although there are some historical inaccuracies I'm going to come back to. I also thought this idea tied in the play nicely, and gave us a sense of who we could expect to see.

I enjoyed the way Roscille's magic came to be, and for the most part I found her an interesting and sympathetic character. She was younger than I expected, and not Scottish, but she seemed smart and slippery. I was surprised so few of her schemes seemed to come off in the end, but overall I think she was an interesting woman, with a unique outlook on the world. I think she also has the potential to be an excellent leader, and I think Reid showed rather than told the reader that. For the most part I liked being in Roscille's head, and I enjoyed witnessing the relationships she built with potential friends, allies, and love interests.

I thought some of the symbolism and motifs Reid used were really strong, and as a piece of Gothic fantasy fiction it had some excellent beats. I think another intertext for this was the Bluebeard myth, which is also a related intertext for books like Gone Girl, so you can imagine the themes that are struck on here. In terms of Gothic fiction conventions, Reid ticks all the boxes. Spooky castle? Check. Creepy magical goings on? Check. A hot / cold, never-know-where-you-stand, much older husband? Check. Really strong when you look at it through that lens, and enjoyable to read.

I struggled, however, with it's ties to Macbeth. I think beyond the setting and the character names, they didn't bear that much similarity. If this had been Gothic fiction with Macbeth as a clear intertext, I think it would be stronger. But instead, attention is drawn to the fact that this is a 'retelling', and in my opinion it just is not similar enough for that to hold true. If you ignore the play, then I think this is really great. If you want something that is the play, then this might disappoint you.

With regard to the historical inaccuracies... It's hard. The thing is, I studied medieval literature at MA level, and I can tell you there were women. Everywhere. I can tell you that women had better lives than you probably think. I'm not saying it wasn't hard to be a women in Medieval Britain, but it was hard to be anyone in Medieval Britain. The larger issue is that Æthelstan was ruling in the 10th century, and Macbeth is traditionally set in the 11th. So these are things that just are not happening at the same time, and the languages they spoke would have been very far apart. Æthelstan would have spoken Old English, which is much closer to Norse than it is Middle English. Scots did not exist until the 13th century, so Macbeth should be speaking Gaelic, Middle English, or a Norse base language like Brythonic. I just think when such a point has been made of the language thing at the beginning, then that should be reflected in the narrative. If this is set when Æthelstan is King, then no one is speaking Scots.

This actually brings us to the only thing I had a real genuine problem with.

Here is probably a good place for me to stop and say that 1) this is a well written book, and I think that if you want to read it you will get a lot out of it. It was an exciting, twisty, dark narrative, and it had a lot of things to say about the role of women, and the way that society puts us down. 2) Ava Reid, and I would suspect a lot of the people who were involved in the editing process, is / are American, and probably did not speak to many, if any, Scottish people during the editorial process.

Personally I think that was a bit of an oversight, because the way Scottish people are present in this book actually borders on the offensive. There are no women in the castle, so it is all men, all of whom are a mix of brutish, stupid, easily manipulated, cruel, ugly, and predatory. The only Scottish women we meet are ugly, monstrous, or victimised, if sometimes kind and well-meaning. These things would maybe be less of an issue is Roscille was Scottish, but she isn't, this Lady Macbeth is a 17 year old girl from Brittany. Similarly, if any of the good men we interact with where Scottish, then it would be less of an issue. But they're not. The only 'good' men we meet are half-English, and even then one of them inherits monstrous traits from his Scottish side. What that leaves us with is very strange, borderline xenophobic, representation of all Scottish people (in this book) as brutes who are less civilised, and much crueler, than the rest of the world.

Now, to be clear, I do not have an issue with Roscille the character having negative experiences with people who happen to be Scottish. That isn't what's happening in this book. This is not presented as a personal xenophobia, or even as a cultural xenophobia relating to her own upbringing. We do see that in her early responses and thoughts about 'Northmen'. Instead Reid simply represents all the Scottish characters as these things, it becomes objective rather than subjective in the narrative. All the Scots are, objectively, bad people. Their customs and behaviours are, objectively, antiquated, violent, and unpleasant. That is the problem I have. I don't think any culture would want to be represented that way, and I think bringing in things like Scots (which did not even exist in this time period) makes it harder to draw a line and say 'no, this is history, this is fictional history.'

Overall... I don't really know what to say about this book. I didn't not like it. It was enjoyable. it's well written. Reid is a master of Gothic fantasy. But I struggled with it. I worry it could be incredibly polarising. 3 stars, to me, I think presents that struggle. For some, for those that don't care about how Scottish people are presented, and don't mind a historical inaccuracy, this could be an easy 5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the early access to this book.

I overall enjoyed this book, but didn't fall in love with it - hence the 4 stars instead of 5.

I really loved Lady Macbeth's character development, and slowly grew to despise Macbeth. I also really enjoyed the twist on the witches,

The only point I'd add is that the US cover is much nicer than the UK one, so I'll probably pick that one up as a finished copy.