Content Advisory.
The primary thematic material of Foul is Fair centres on 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.
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3⭐⭐⭐

A loose take on Macbeth and also a Riverdale vibe to it.
Elle and her friends decide to a crash St Andrew's Prep party for her sweet 16, but it end with Elle being raped by the La Crosse team. Not one to take things lying down, she decides to transfer to St Andrew's and make them pay.
What follows is some crazy scheming and everyone watching their backs wondering who is next.
I didn't like the writing style and the characters were all one dimensional but there were some good bits in there, for example her friends and parents are with her and look after her really well in the aftermath of everything.
Overall it disappointed me slightly.
Thanks Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the e-arc and the blog tour!
Let me know what you thought if you've read it?!

I knew about the Macbeth retelling within this novel. What I did not expect was the commentary on rape culture and vengeance. Nothing wrong with the latter. I look forward to stories about avenging one's pain. Capin nails my feelings through each page of this captivating story necessary for today's times.

I really didn’t know what to think while reading this - at times I loved it, and other times it was really not good (trying to phrase this nicely). The plot sounded so interesting, but the execution was quite poor - undeveloped characters, scattered and messy writing. There are definitely trigger warnings for sensitive people, and even not being triggered, I found many parts quite cringey. Overall, settled on a 3 star rating, but definitely not your typical 3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the free review copy!

What a fun book! FOUL IS FAIR by Hannah Capin imagines a group of teenage girls (or the “coven”, as they like to call themselves) who team up to take revenge on the boy who sexually assaults one of their own, along with his accomplices. BUT! To fully maximize the extent of their revenge, they decide to actually murder the boys. Yup, you read that right. While the premise sounds totally ludicrous, I found the writing style wholly entertaining precisely because it embraces the melodrama. And even though the plot is riddled with exaggerations on a surface level, the actual story poses serious and necessary questions about the nature of rape culture and how sexual assault victims grapple with the aftermath of the trauma. Definitely keep an eye out for this release in February 2020!

I wanted to hate this book. It was loud and way too much . . . at first. Then it became holy shit, they’re doing way too much for <b>revenge</b>, you’re going to get sloppy and caught.

Then I couldn’t stop reading it.

There are flaws. All books have flaws. It wasn’t perfect by any means. My main thing was I saw a take on feminism, and women standing up for themselves and taking matters into their own hands . . . but I don’t like how it was played out with the revenge.

And the ending was kind of a let down. We have this dramatic build the entire book, then the ending was rushed. I had to re-read a good chunk of it because I thought I missed something — I didn’t, it just wasn’t clearly explained what was going on. But ultimately . . . justice was served, in many ways.

This was what I’d call a mash up of all the classic movies from the late 90’s, pulling different elements from all the cult classics. Wealthy rich prep school kids. An almost slasher, even. Violent and gory, mean girls and revenge. I can honestly see this being done into a made for TV movie.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me a complimentary eBook of FOUL IS FAIR by Hannah Capin in exchange for my honest review.

You should know going in this is a dark dark story about revenge.

Positives: the loyalty between friends is foremost. There is an old saying (or question) that I’ve heard which is “Would you help me hide the body if I murder someone.” It’s really a question about loyalty and this group of friends have it in spades to the detriment of everyone involved. At least someone voices whether what they are doing is right. At least we see a bit of the consequences associated with their choices.

Negatives: The triggers are numerous and an extensive list is on the authors website but I’d like to include “foul” language, “untreated” issues from sexual trauma, and maybe this isn’t a thing overall…but an unwillingness to seek help or least have someone do an Intervention because said traumatized person needs it.

Overall, it kept me interested in what was going to happen, but it did not give me any warm and fuzzy feelings (FYI – it’s not supposed to).

YASSSSSSSSSS! So ridiculously good! Mean Girls, Heathers, Riverdale all rolled into one deliciously delightful romp! Vengeful, violent, over the top & fabulous! Just read it straight through; you won't want to put it down!!!

Foul is Fair is a Young Adult Revenge plot that kept he hooked from start to finish. I enjoyed the grittiness of this book as I followed Elle/Jade in her journey for justice and revenge with the help of her friends. I found that this book did not hold back, it kept me wanting to know the next stage of her plan even though at times I felt that the narrative was a bit scattered and repetitive, but I think that was the authors’ way to evoke emotion. I also found the dialogue to be very true to a 16 year old because throughout the book I felt like I was talking to my dagger obsessed 17 year old sister and her friends, minus the whole revenge plot in the background 
I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading more from Hannah Capin in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this ARC for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in advance. Foul is Fair is a Shakespeare retelling of Macbeth but told with a present-day Me Too Movement presence. Foul is Fair is about how far should a person go to get revenge. If the wrongdoers are the most popular people in school and everyone is socially aware of what happens at the parties but no one says anything. What happens when the “Golden Boys” who are known for hurting “chosen” girls that come to their parties choose the wrong girl. Enter Jade and her coven of witches (with a B). They crash a St. Andrews party to celebrate Jade’s sixteenth birthday. They were ready for a night of fun but what happened set off a chain of events that the “Golden Boys” did not see coming. This book takes you on a thrill ride that you can’t get off until the very end. Hannah did such a good job of bringing Macbeth to the 21st center in this contemporary setting. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. Please also be warned that there are some trigger warnings in this book. Hannah has them listed on her site so check them out before reading this book.
This high thriller and the bone-chilling tale will leave you breathless. Although I like this book I found some faults within the story. The character development was really lacking except for Lilia and Piper. I guess was on purpose because the other characters weren’t people you should be concentrating on. The boys aren’t really differentiated except The King. Once you start reading you don’t really care about the others anyway because you just want to know what happens next. Outside of Jade’s friends being a coven, I didn’t really care about them. I thought Lilia was going to crack eventually because of all the things that girl had to endure but surprisingly she hung on. I admire her and pity her. Piper, however, I was waiting for her downfall because I disliked her so much. She was very bitchy for no reason.
Overall, the thrill ride writing is what carries this story making it so intense you don’t want to stop. Sadly if you stop reading to think about things you might get annoyed with a few things.

So what exactly just happened? A big ol dumpster fire....that’s what.

This was not the book for me. Not. At. All.

Before you @ me let me explain. I’m 44 years old. I have two adultish sons. I do not handle crazy well. I feel like with this novel...I received an extra dose of crazy.

The girls were viscous.....did the boys deserve the viscousness....yes, yes they did. Is this an accurate portrayal of how things should have gone down. Nope. Sometimes in reading I can suspend my level of believability. In this case, I was unable to do so.

I was about 1/2 through when I looked up and thought, what the actual Hell have I gotten myself into? If I had not already invested so much time, I would have walked away. Alas, I kept reading until the end.

The writing was not bad. The premise was good. It just seemed like maybe the author was trying to prove to the reader...look, I can be a bad ass too.

As a parent I was appalled. I mean. No, just no. While we are on the subject of parents where were they? They were alluded to...but very, very background. I would hope my (fictional) daughter would know that I am there for her. Helping her. Navigating through the anger. Counseling anyone?

At the end of the novel, I was just glad it was over if we are being fair...pun intended 😉. Nope, not for me. I’m sad to say this was the worst book of the month for me.

This novel was also an example of why I DNF. If I don’t, then I just get mad at myself for ending a sucky (yea, that’s the word I’m using) book 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Moving on my friends. I will not be recommending this title.

Well, this was not what I expected! Dark, gritty, and violent story of how sweet (and bloody) the revenge can be when getting even consumes your whole life, including your heart and soul. Elle, a.k.a. Jade, wants a payback, and she is willing to do everything possible to get her revenge. With the help from her three best friends, “the convent”, Jade starts her journey to destroy everyone involved in “the incident” that turned her from a popular and vivacious girl into a dark and “vengeful queen” who wants her power and control back.

Told in a beautiful and poetic prose, this story will keep you up late at night reading. It will make your skin crawl, your heart pound, and you will not be able to stop flipping pages until you know how this, almost Shakespearean, play ends. So get ready to suspend disbelief and enjoy this wild and over the top story.

Thank you Netgalley, Wednesday Books, and the author for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The plot of this book is very interesting. It’s like nothing else I’ve ever read. All of the characters are pretty horrible - I didn’t care about any of them, but had to know what happened next. The end was really good, all questions were answered and everything was tied up nicely. The only thing I didn’t really like is the writing style of the author. It is very fragmented. I will definitely look into other books by this author though, based on the uniqueness of this story.

This book has teeth! Watch out for Hannah Capin, a rising YA star in the business of writing heroines who are kicking butt and taking names! I am seriously impressed by everything about this novel. Foul is Fair is everything I want to read: a Shakespeare retelling written for wronged girls with elements of the fantastical.

I loved the unbridled violence of this story. The plot is over-the-top dramatic and owns it, and when I was reading I truly felt like it was a dream, which alludes to the episodes of “visions” seen in the original play. Readers must choose to imagine a world in which this story is possible, and I enjoyed the surreal aspects at play.

The plot follows that of Macbeth, and the cast are the privileged students of an LA private school, especially the “golden boys” of the lacrosse team, who saunter around with unchecked power, taking advantage of whoever they choose. That is, until they hurt the wrong girl. Elle-turned-Jade is our masterful Lady Macbeth, and wow… those boys do not know what’s coming for them. She’s ruthless and hurt and bloodthirsty, with only one goal in mind. She’s going to take down their king, and his whole court too.

The three witches also make an appearance, helping Elle along her bloody path. I thought it was funny that they simultaneously acted as Elle’s support system following her assault, but then aid her in committing even more violence. They often spoke semi-prophetically, and I loved them as the witches. Each girl had her own struggles, but the bonds they forged with each other and Elle were so clearly powerful. As much as this book is a scream of rage, it is also a testament to the grip of female friendship.

Capin’s prose is where the novel truly shines. Poetic and striking, it will knock the air out of your lungs. Her rendering of incredibly violent events is raw, yet lyrical, and invites readers to suspend disbelief and live fully in the revenge fantasy of tired girls. I can’t stress enough how enthralling I found the novel. I could not put it down, and Capin kept me fully on the hook the whole way through. Each chapter brought something new to Jade’s character as well as the plot, and I so wanted to read more of the lovely quotes the book is filled with.

All in all, I loved Foul is Fair. 5/5 stars. I’m glad to start off the new decade with this bloody novel, and I hope it’s an indicator that the world will do better by all women very soon. I highly recommend you pick up a copy today, and discover the magic yourself.

I was provided this copy in order to do an excerpt blurb on my blog. I will be releasing that blog post later this month and will update this review.

This book is NOT for the faint of heart. There is a lot of trigger warnings, one you'd have to know of before going into it. This is a very bloody, but exciting book - all about revenge! This is something I could see as a horror movie for teens seeing that vengeful death of those who wronged them. I get this Cruel Intentions feeling from it, very dark, but definitely an exhilarating read. I was rooting for Jade the entire time!

I definitely recommend to those looking for a cathartic release through anger, taking down the patriarchy one jerk at a time - Kill Bill style!

I had higher hopes for this book than it ultimately delivered. While I really love the idea of a power fantasy in which a rape victim gets to take bloody revenge on her abusers (especially these days when it sometimes feels that justice is hard to come by in this regard), I thought that the characters were all very flat and static, and that the writing sometimes felt like it was trying very hard to be edgy and badass, and just came off as a little cringey. I also felt like Capin picked and chose the themes from MACBETH that were convenient to the story she wanted to tell, and left other just as important themes by the wayside. If you're going to do a retelling or a twisting of a story's source material, I think that you have to commit more than to the convenient parts or the parts that suit your narrative. You need to try to fit your narrative into the original story a bit, and FOUL IS FAIR feels like it's doing the opposite.

There is certainly an argument to be made that making your point with a sledgehammer is necessary when it comes to themes about misogyny and sexual violence and that there may not be room for nuance. But when you take a play like MACBETH that does have a lot of grey or ambiguity for a number of it's characters, I think you have to try and keep some of the nuance there. FOUL IS FAIR wasn't for me.

Macbeth retold as a dark, horror filled school story.

Elle and her friends are the queens of the school. Until Elle is drugged and raped on her sixteenth birthday. She turns to revenge, infiltrating the perpetrator's school and setting them against each other, driving them crazy with paranoia and killing them off one by one. Anyone familiar with Macbeth will know where the story leads.

I've seen a lot of reviews describe this as a feminist book. I can't say I agree. Feminism, as I understand it, is not about seeking revenge on men. Elle was absolutely entitled to justice for what was done to her, I'm not arguing that in the slightest. And obviously part of the setup was that the boys have rich parents with good lawyers so they couldn't go the legal route. But this story is revenge porn, it's not feminist.

Having said that, though, it's a really good read. It took me a while to get into the chopped, staccato narrative style, but within a few pages I was absorbed. Jade knows what she wants and no one gets in her way. Her coven don't really have personalities; they're devoted to her, and one is in love with another one, but that's about it. It works because focus is largely on the boys and the revenge plots.

This is a great read. Just not for the reasons it's being lauded.

This is a story mainly of vengeance, an everyday retelling of a classic story. I think lots if readers, especially younger readers will identify and emjoy this.

WOW.

A story of vengeance and revenge if I have ever heard one.

After things take a serious turn for Elle on her 16th birthday, her and her "coven" take revenge into their own hands. Elle enrolls into the school of the enemy and an instant whirlwind of events are enacted on the perpetrators, to their demise. The work of Elle and her coven tick names off of the list one by one.

No mercy. No regrets.

This story had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Can't wait to see what comes next!

[Review will be posted on 1.28.20.]

This book has rended my heart and spoken my soul. Its prose flows freely, layers of meaning shrouded behind every word. This won't be a book for everyone, but it certainly was for ME. I loved it with my whole heart and loved the feeling of empowerment that I got from reading this feminist retelling of Macbeth. This book is dark, twisted, and powerful.

"Fair is foul and foul is fair - another spell."

So much of what I love about this book is how it retells Macbeth. How it lends itself to analysis and comparison. But I don't want to spoil any of that for you, dear friend. Making those connections was a delight for me, but I think that the story will stand on its own so that people not familiar with The Scottish Play will enjoy it too. But there are countless references sprinkled in as well.

"You brought the storm with you, new girl."

From the author: the primary thematic material is sexual assault, rape culture, and violence. Please take care of yourselves and make sure you are in the right space before picking this one up. It's an intensely feminist retelling and one that I found especially empowering. Our main character Elle went to a party with her three best friends on her sixteenth birthday. The golden boys of St. Andrews Prep, drunk with power and unchecked privilege, choose her as their next conquest. But she is no victim. She and her best friends will stop at nothing to destroy them all.

“My beautiful deadly girls with their loyalty so strong nothing could break it.”

Honestly, I couldn't stop thinking about Jade and rooting for her success despite the fact that she and her friends being horrible bitches in their own right before everything happened. But I love how unwaveringly supportive not only her friends are, but also her parents. The latter of whom don't have a big role in the book, but considering so many victims of sexual assault experience the antithesis of support, it was really nice to see everyone close to her believe her story and want to help her.

"Every mark they left, everything they did, didn't even get close to breaking me. I'm ten times stronger than they'll ever be. A thousand times more ruthless."

I absolutely loved the writing style of this book, poetic and layered with metaphor. It won't be for everyone, but it evokes a similar tone to Macbeth that I couldn't help but be captivated by. The words are sharp and biting and Capin makes use of foreshadowing and repetition - particularly lines of importance from the play - to drive the point home. Like the source material, Fair is Foul centers on the inversion of morality and signals this with the title (one half from a crucial line from the play).

"White lilies blossom thick under my words. A snake weaves through their stems, but no one will see if until it's wrapped itself around them and choked their breath away."

This book reads like a classic but is set in modern-day Los Angeles. I'll admit that I had a difficult time suspending my disbelief at first because for some reason it felt almost jarring to read about a group of girls set for murderous destruction. Which got me thinking about how odd that is? Why do we hold contemporaries to a standard of reality? Heck, look at the news. Horrible and outlandish things happen every day. So why do I feel like I need to justify the actions or prose in spite of the setting? It's still a story, and it's an important one. I don't know why modern-setting must equate believability and this is something that I want to challenge with myself moving forward.

I really loved Foul is Fair. Its powerful prose is laden with meaning and I was captivated from the very beginning. While I did struggle a bit to settle into the narrative flow, I absolutely loved it and am tempted to write a spoiler-y analysis for my blog because I just want to dive deep into textual analysis. This book won't be for everyone, but I do recommend it if what I described sounds like something you would enjoy!

Content warnings: (from author) sexual assault (not depicted), rape culture, and violence, abusive relationship, suicide attempt, and a brief scene depicting transphobic bullying
Representation: lesbian and transgender secondary characters

Many thanks to the publisher for providing me an electronic ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. Quotations taken from an uncorrected proof and may change upon final publication.

A Novel
by Hannah Capin
Wednesday Books

A reminder to all, You should not be silenced. But vengeance is has its ultimate consequences.

An unapologetic modernized, MacBeth retelling a dark tale of revenge and tragedy set at a California prep school. Foul and Fair takes its ruthless inspirational revenge from iShakespeare’s Macbeth, positioning Elle’s friends as the three witches, Elle assumes the role as that of Lady Macbeth, and Mack as Macbeth. Rather than convincing him to kill out of ambition, though, Elle convinces him he is killing out of righteousness.  Elle’s murderous rage slashes through the entire book.
Ruthless with a heavy dose of lyrical writing. Foul is Fair offers an unapologetic modernized MacBeth retelling. A ruthless, absolute carnage of an avenging story that centers on a dark bond between friends, and how far they're willing to go for one another. A reminder to all, we will not should not be silenced.

A dark and bloody retelling of Macbeth at a relentless pace all the way to its violent crashing ending

When they crash a party at St. Andrew’s Preparatory School to celebrate Elle’s sweet sixteen, the golden boys on the lacrosse team separate Elle from her pack, like so many wolves on the hunt. Duncan, king/captain, singles Elle out for slaughter; his younger brother, Malcolm, slips Rohypnol into her drink; and Porter guards the door while teammates Duncan, Duffy, Connor, and Banks take turns raping her. Duffy’s on-again, off-again girlfriend Piper witnesses the assault, but does nothing to stop it.
This is only the beginning, this book is not for the faint of heart. Please understand this novels examination of ones self-destructive power through vengeance.
What they will find, after they leave their moral compass at the door, is a steadfast sisterhood. This devastating and emotionally charged intense book is ultimately finding the strength and rising above being a victim. It also sheds a the light on being a vigilante has its moral and mental consequences to us all.
A dark and bloody retelling of Macbeth at a relentless pace all the way to its violent crashing ending

Trigger warning for violence against women, including rape and domestic abuse, as well as murder and suicide.