OMG...this book. Dangerous, deadly hellfire right here.

This is a very particular book, for a very particular audience. And I loved it. Not everyone will. But that does not lessen my enjoyment of it, and honestly, the twist at the end had me reeling. I was not ready.

A contemporary, modern retelling of Macbeth that touches on an all too relevant issue for young women today. Rape. It is dark and wicked and violent. Giving power to a young woman society would all too readily label a victim, or worse, in some cases, a liar.

<b>The Ensemble:</b>
Jade, our dear heroine or anti-heroine, our Lady Macbeth, will not let anything or anyone stand in her way of teaching the monstrous boys behind her attack a lesson they will never forget. She is determined. She is beautiful. She is smart. And she is oh so twisted and dangerous.

<i>Those boys might be golden, but they're not invincible—all men can bleed.</i>

Mack, our Macbeth of sorts, is a decent person, but he lacks agency and is all too easily manipulated. He is not bad. But he is weak.

Jenny, Summer and Mads, Jade's best friends and the three witches of prophecy. Helping their fellow sister raise hell and bring down The Kings.

Lastly, The Kings.
Duncan
Duffy
Banks
Conner
Aka the pieces of human garbage, we all hate.

The story was compelling, dark, humorous and often ruthless. Though there were times it felt slightly unrealistic. Such as the overall timeline of events. It was just unbelievable how quickly things came to pass. Mack seemed to fall for Jade so quickly, ready to kill for her so easily, it was almost unnatural. And the fact that no one was able to track down any information on Jade during the before time, in an era where social media exists, and these students seem to have limitless amounts of money was baffling.

But that putting that aside, this book was addicting. The ending was not what I expected, but I am okay with that. If you are looking for a bloody tale of revenge, that holds true to its promise of blood, death, and mayhem, with a heroine who certainly had some questionable morals, then this is the book for you.

Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin
Available February 18, 2020 by Wednesday Books

CW: rape, suicide, domestic abuse
Foul is Fair is a fever dream of a revenge story. It’s wild, intense, and never takes itself seriously enough to put it over the edge.
Jade, Jenny, Mads, and Summer are best friends who wield their power of beauty and mystery with skill. Intent on enjoying every moment of Jade’s sweet sixteen, the four girls crash the party of a student at an elite prep school. But their night of celebration quickly turns into horror when Jade is drugged and raped.
Jade will not be a victim.
Jade will kill them all.
Her coven will seek vengeance.
I loved every wild minute of this intense and emotional novel. Jade constantly refers to her tight group of best friends as her coven, but they are a coven in name only. Seeing their beauty and intelligence as their power, the girls use the gift of cosmetics and technology to set a trap for the golden boys of St. Andrews Prep. Jade’s parents are wealthy enough to get her transferred to St. Andrews and after a new hair color, hair cut, and some colored contacts, she quickly gets herself in the middle of the clique that runs the school. Not only is she immediately accepted by the most popular girls, she is dating one of the boys involved in her assault. Her ability to channel her rage and pain to carry this out is pretty amazing to watch.
The way in which these teenagers believe they rule the school is a testament to the amount of hubris and ignorance teenagers truly have. There is no way any teenager would get away with what these kids did but that’s part of the fun.
Through a carefully choreographed set of text messages sent by Jade’s coven, the group of boys who assaulted Jade begin to question each other’s loyalty and those cracks lead to extreme violence.
If you’re looking for a wild ride that is full throttle from beginning to end-this is your book! I loved it and couldn’t recommend it more.
Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

This book was not what I expected. This is a wonderfully written thriller set in a posh and exclusive prep school where the most popular boys have been getting away with a crime over the last couple years, and one smart, fearless girl decides to take them all down....... permanently.
While this book deals with some difficult issues like rape and other issues, they are alluded to and written with sensitivity by the author. Overall I thought this was a great book. I've read it twice already!
Fair is Foulis out now. I recommend you go out and grab a copy!

After being attacked at a party on her 16th birthday, Jade vows revenge on the boys who raped her. With the help of her friends, The Coven, Jade infiltrates St. Andrew’s Prep and begins to take them down one by one. With the help of Mack, one of St. Andrew’s students, Jade gets the vengeance she deserves.

Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin is a retelling of Macbeth. I remember reading Macbeth when I was younger, but don’t really remember the story. Jade is not a very likable character which I think is true of Lady Macbeth as well. She is cunning and willing to do anything to get what she wants regardless of who gets hurt along the way. She encourages and helps Mack to murder his friends.

The story is violent and can be gory at times. If that isn’t your thing I wouldn’t recommend this book. It’s hard to read a book when you don’t like the main character, but that didn’t really bother me. I liked Mack’s character, and since I didn’t remember Macbeth, I wanted to see where it went and how it ended. I do think it was a bit too long and drawn up, but overall it was an entertaining read.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

DNF. I was seduced into requesting this book by the rave reviews of my Goodreads friends, even as I thought to myself, "Hmmm, maybe something being compared to both Kill Bill and Heathers is not really up my alley, since I'm not a fan of either of those..." And indeed, this didn't turn out to be my kind of thing either. Beyond the storyline, the writing style put me off from the very beginning. It wasn't bad--in fact, I think it will be a big draw for many readers, but it just wasn't the kind of writing that appeals to me. I'm not sure how to describe it except to say that it felt very distant to me and I prefer more plain, down-to-earth language. I can see why other people liked it, and I think a lot of readers will really love this book! If everything this book is compared to makes it sound really fantastic to you, definitely read it.

Content/Trigger Warnings (From the Author): sexual assault, rape culture, violence, abusive relationship, a suicide attempt, and a brief scene with transphobic bullying.

I read this book a few months ago and I still think about Jade. This books still haunts me. The book opens up with the aftermath of Jade being raped at a party she went to so she could celebrate her sweet sixteen. Something was slipped into her drink and it happens. Now she wants revenge on the boys who did it. It’s your modern day Macbeth story.

This book was intense like I knew it would be after reading the author’s note at the opening of this book. Be prepared to be filled with feminist rage. It’s brutally brilliant! If you’re into beautifully written dark unapologetic fiction this book is most definitely for you!!!

Thank you to Wednesday Books for my advance physical copy in exchange for my honest review!!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

All I can say is wow. This book has left me speechless. In here is everything - good vs. evil, victim vs. survivor, and the power of female love and friendship. Oh, and did I mention the parallels with Shakespeare? I could not put this book down, and it was a struggle to opt for sleep over finishing it in one night. Add this to your TBR pile right away.

WOW! Don’t you love coming across a book that takes you out of your comfort zone, is meticulously devious and perverse, and is unlike any other you’ve read before.. FOUL IS FAIR is THAT book. It’s one dark and twisted wild ride you can’t look away from. Needless to say I read this in a day!

*Sexual assault (not depicted), violence

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this arc with me in exchange for an honest review!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. This did not affect my rating.
*4/5*

Elle and her friends Mads, Jenny, and Summer are queens of their L.A. social circle. They’re rich and pretty. Elle celebrates her sweet sixteen by crashing a prep school party. That’s the night her entire life changes. She is roofied and raped. Her and her friends (aka her coven) are sworn to revenge. They will do anything for each other (“They are mine and I am theirs”), including to help plan and orchestrate murder.

Elle becomes Jade and transfers to St. Andrews Prep. She enmeshes herself with the group (who all either let this happen or participated in it…) Jade quickly gets accepted into the group and seduces Mack, a teammate of the golden boys of St. Andrews. Jade is a master puppeteer with Mack, just pulling all the right strings to get him to do her bidding. One by one, they start to fall. Jade is actually diabolical. She never waivers or hesitates. She savours it right up until the very last page.

The writing was a little too flowery for me. It was super dark, but I found myself getting taken out of the story because the writing was just a little too over the top for me. Also, it was a little hard to believe the ages of the characters.

This book was compulsively readable, wanting to know who was the next to go down and how it was going to happen. It was dark and twisted and disturbing in the best way, verging and almost toppling over the edge of being too much.

As a Macbeth retelling, I think the author nailed it. I loved the Coven, and want to read more about them.

“Fair is Foul, Foul is Fair."

Foul is Fair was SO MUCH FUN. Super dark, brutally violent, and all about revenge though. Lots of blood in this book. It was a teen retelling of Macbeth and a revenge fantasy for all the girls who’ve been wronged by guys who get away with doing wrong because of who they are.
It was like a mash up of Macbeth, Cruel Intentions, Mean Girls, and the witches from American Horror Story: Coven and Apocalypse.
The writing was superb. I felt like everything was over the top, but in a way that made it fun and exciting, like how a horror movie can be funny but still totally serious. I don’t know that a girl could get a boy she just met to kill all of his friends for her out of love, but it worked in this book and we already know it’s a Macbeth retelling, so I just went with it. I was drawn in and had no choice but to buy in because it was so much fun to read.
I want this to be a movie so bad. It would be so amazing.
I definitely recommend this book.

This book will suck you in from page one and never let you go. It’s a fast-paced, hold on to your seat story, a modern-day gender-flipped Macbeth retelling. It’s everything I never knew I needed in a book.

.5/ 5 stars

Foul Is Fair is a contemporary YA retelling of Macbeth!

This is a Young Adult book. But I am not really sure what age the target audience would be. This story is about revenge. And it is quite violent.

The narrator is 16 year old Elle/Jade (1st person POV). She is assaulted. And she holds a group of guys responsible. She is in a gang of four friends. They want to make those who are guilty pay.

I feel bad for any girl who is attacked. But Jade and her friends were extremely unlikable. And maybe it would be fun to see the guys get what they deserve. But these girls were out for blood. I just found the whole thing to be very unbelievable and way too violent.

I did like a male character named Mack who befriended Jade. And I liked the idea of the story being a Macbeth retelling.

But Jade was just too vindictive and cold. And the revenge theme was just so over the top. There were a few wow moments. But overall it was too dark and disturbing for me.

*The assault mentioned above is not shown in the book. Also the violence is not overly graphic or gruesome.

Jade is a girl that was abused during a party. And she makes her life mission to make the boys involved in the rape pay back for what they did. She won’t stop until all of them pay for what happened. It’s a dark YA book. I understand her motives, but also feel that maybe she goes too far in her quest to revenge what happened.

Violent retelling of MacBeth mixed with Mean Girls and Cruel Intentions, this book will mess you up, in all the good ways. It is like reading Kill Bill but with Heathers, teenage girls taking revenge and not giving a crap.

Jade and her friends are celebrating sweet sixteen with glitter,vodka and short skirts.her hair is platinum for the first time and she wears contacts.tonight they are sirens.tonight they are going to st Andrews prep party. Jade washs her make up off after the party and cuts her hair short and dark.she still has bruises and scratch's on her. everyone used to call Jade Elle.Duncab,Duffy,Connie and Banks are the boys war is waged after. There's also mack. Intense read

Witty, biting, imaginative. Also completely and totally insane. Loved this story from start to finish.

On her “sweet sixteenth” birthday “Elle,” Khanjara flashed out into the night dressed to kill. She exuded glitz and glamour, the shortest of skirts, lipstick, green contact lenses, and hair dyed platinum blonde. With her are her best friends, her coven, Mads, Summer, and Jennifer, all equally sharp. This night they will venture out to a party hosted by a wilder set of affluent teens from the exclusive St. Andrew‘s Prep. They are welcomed in.

Later “Elle” will awaken in a bed of white sheets after being drugged and gang-raped by Duncan, captain of the St. Andrews lacrosse team, and his wolves, Duffy, Connor, and Banks. She sheds no tears. Before the night is over “Elle” is gone, along with the long blonde hair and the green contact lenses, in her place is Jade, hair dyed “Revenge” black and cut short with a knife. Jade will enter St. Andrews with one goal in mind, to kill all those who raped her and destroy the lives of their accomplices utterly. She will use her coven and manipulate her parents to achieve her ends. And for Jade, the ends justify any means whatever. Disguise and lies are just the beginning.

Obviously, “Foul is Fair” is a modern cautionary tale. It is well written, and the story, while highly unlikely, is impressive. What it lacks is a character that even comes close to being likable. If you can enjoy reading a book while simultaneously hoping that every actor in it goes straight to hell, then this is the novel you have been waiting for.

I received an eGalley of this novel from Wednesday Books, New York, via NetGalley in exchange for this review.

The writing style of this book is very poetic and at times doesn’t feel modern at all. Once I got used to the style I really started falling in love with this book. The story is definitely fantastical, which isn’t surprising considering it’s a retelling on Macbeth. I loved the Gossip Girl series while I was growing up and this felt very much like that if Shakespeare had written those. All in all it’s great though I’m not sure it feels very modern regardless of the presence of modern day technology and trends throughout.

"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."

Foul is Fair is described as a contemporary feminist retelling of Macbeth.
While the main plot of this book is interesting and well executed, I couldn't get into the writing style and felt that for something set in our current time and described as contemporary it still felt very much like a play and melodramatic. The dialogue is very poetic and metaphorical to the point that some sentences don't make sense anymore.
Additionally, the are multiple instanced in which Jade, our main character, does things to go through with her plan that were problematic in my eyes.

Trigger Warnings for sexual assault (not depicted), rape culture and violence. Additionally, the book includes an abusive relationship, a suicide attempt and a brief scene with transphobic bullying.

I received an eARC of this book by Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review

Absolutely loved this book! it contained the great amount of revenge, goriness and it was simply fabulous. As a lover of Shakespeare and Macbeth, I definitely recommend this.