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.

In the spirit of transparency, I want to start with a disclaimer that I have seen <i>Macbeth</i> performed — one time, when I was in middle school — and have a SparkNotes-level familiarity with the plot/characters/etc., but I have not read it on my own nor would I recognize most quotes from it. (Except "Out, damned spot" and "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" ... that's this one, right? But I digress.)

But based on what I do remember, Capin preserves the spirit of The Scottish Play while adapting it through the lens of modern adolescence. The blame and motives and freewill are shifted from the original, which only makes things all the more interesting. Certain recognizable motifs and themes come through particularly clearly, a little heavy-handed for my taste but they are memorable and thus effective in their way.

The storyline is fairly engaging, even if it contains few surprises; however, the pacing felt a bit uneven. While may have been intentional since so much happens over a relatively short period of time, it was a little disorienting. I also wasn't totally convinced by the relationships — the individual characters are nuanced and believable, but their group dynamics and one-on-one interactions felt a bit more performative or tropey than organic.

All that said, as retellings go this is a fairly solid one. Capin strikes a good balance between homage and originality with captivating storytelling and a vivid cast.

--------------------------------

Prose: 8 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 7 / 10
Emotional Impact: 8 / 10
Development / Flow: 6 / 10
Setting: 4 / 10

Damn that was good! Just, so goddamn good.

Witchy and tense and suspenseful. Trans* inclusive. Has content and trigger warnings.

I love how sparse and tight the writing is yet I could picture everything perfectly. Builds wonderfully while still managing to surprise.

Didn't want to stop reading, but when I had to, I could slip right back in with none of the magic lost.

And no, I don't feel a damn bit of guilt for enjoying every minute of it.

As the Feminist Giant Mona Eltahawy says, how many rapist need to be killed until men stop raping?

Her book 7 Necessary Sins is next up for reading actually. :D

I was avoiding reviews of this book like they were the plague, all I knew was everyone loved the books and were left speechless and it upped my anticipation for it, and I am all for the hype because this is a book that will not disappoint, it lives up to its hype.

Foul is Fair, and Fair is Foul

I thought I was picking up a book of simple but harsh revenge but, that's not what I got. I got a gore-filled and pretty crazy story that left my heart aching, because of how haunting yet beautiful the writing is.

I shall not be properly reviewing this book because I would start typing and will never stop. This book will hook you from the onset and you won't put it down until you're finished if you can stomach all the things that go on within its pages.

Dark. A twist on AHS Coven, Heathers and the Craft. After being raped Elle plans revenge. How far will she go and how will she execute those plans? Disturbing and terrifying but a thrilling read.

Thank you NetGalley, Hannah Capin and Wednesday Books (MacMillanusa.com) for this advanced reader edition and hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partners

“Tonight Jenny and Summer and Mads and me, we’re four sirens, like the ones in those stories. The ones who sing and make men die.”*

Elle and her coven of best friends are the mean girls who rule the school, but when they crash a prep school party on her sixteenth birthday, four boys take try to strip Elle of her power. She reinvents herself as Jade, dyes her hair “revenge” black, and works to destroy everyone who had a hand in hurting her.

FOUL IS FAIR is all about the power of women, the strong bond of friendship, and bloody vengeance. Elle/Jade is fierce, yet vulnerable, both in her attraction to one of the prep school lacrosse players, who she influences to do her bidding, and in dealing with emotional aftermath of the party. Her friends Jenny, Summer, and Mads are well-drawn and unique. Each uses her beauty, confidence, and privileged upbringing as a weapon. My favorite is Mads, who also reinvented herself. I really enjoyed the backstory of how the women became friends and “it girls.”

The pacing is brisk with short, titled chapters and Elle/Jade’s relentless agenda. Details such as her makeup, accessories, and wardrobe add glitter to the tale. I hope the story catches the eye of a Hollywood producer, because this would make a super fun movie.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to the NetGalley and Wednesday Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing, for providing an Advance Reader Copy.

*Please note that my review is based on uncorrected text.

Foul Is Fair was an ok read. I liked the dark story line. The delivery was somewhat poetic, which I usually love. However, I found it took me out of the story in many places.

Macbeth meets Romeo and Juliet in this intense young adult thriller. High school can be a scary time in a person's life, all the more so when your classmates suddenly start dropping dead. Especially when those classmates have always been considered untouchable. When the gods of the school start dying off, how can anyone feel safe?



Elle is a bright, shining girl with a close circle of friends and a sense of being invincible. To celebrate her Sweet 16th, she and her girls go to a St. Andrew's prep party - the first they've ever attended. Elle's a shining star, which catches the attention of the most elite group of athletes at St. Andrew's. They see this bright and vibrant girl and decide to take her for themselves. Asking, of course, is out of the question.



In the aftermath, Elle transforms from the free-spirited girl she was before to a vengeance-driven mastermind. With the help of her girls, they target her attackers-turned-victims one by one.



What I love about this book is that it highlights certain realities of this world. Though Elle and her friends are only in their mid-teens, they've each lived through more than some adults ever will. Sadly, that's something more and more teens - and younger children - are actually experiencing these days. In the 21st century, "child" and "childish" do not go hand-in-hand.



Elle empowers herself to handle the trauma she experienced. She believes in herself, and she has the support of her parents to exact her vengeance. While in the real world what happens in this story would be way out of line, the concept has merit.



Many parts of "Foul is Fair" are absolutely chilling. While Elle and her friends come across as heartless at times, when the reader bears in mind what those St. Andrew's Prep boys did, it's easy to empathize with the girls. Who wouldn't want to make sure those who did them wrong were punished? Who wouldn't want to ensure that serial-attackers were stopped, and not able to hurt anyone again? There is a great deal about Elle that is relatable, even though her actions are extreme.



The book itself is well-written. Every character is thought out and easily visualized in the reader's mind. The interactions between various characters are sharp as a razor's edge. I found myself with chills over and over again.



This is not a short book, but I could not stop reading it. Once I started, I devoured every single page in a single sitting. I thought it was a fabulous book, and one I highly recommend to others.

Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin is a story of revenge and retaliation.⁣
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Release Date: Feb 4, 2020⁣
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𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐞/𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬⁣
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Sypnosis: Elle and her coven (Mads, Summer, and Jenny) are young socialites in the glittering city of LA. They have it all....they come from wealthy families, they are the IT girls at their schools.....On the night of Elles sweet 16, they crash a St Andrews Prep party....then everything changes. Sworn to vengeance, Elle transfers to St Andrews, she plots to take them all down one by one, Golden boys beware.....something wicked this way comes...⁣
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3.75/4🌟⁣
Most of the reviews for this book compare it to cruel intentions, Macbeth and Heathers, which is what drew me in. I can say that’s pretty accurate. The concept of revenge fantasy in a novel is not something I’m used to reading, however I can tell you that this was WILD. From the beginning of the story it dives right in to plotting and executing vengeance. The one thing i wish there was more of was character development. The story dives right in to revenge that we don’t actually get to know anything about our character outside of that situation. Also I wish the coven would have been explored more, the girls are a part of the story, however again, the backstories are non existent. We get a few flashbacks to past scenarios but that’s it. Hannah Capins writing is absolutely beautiful and poetic, I mean I found myself rooting for murder people, I wanted the revenge our main character needed to heal. ⁣
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Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday books for this E-Arc

I hadn't read too much about this book before being approved to read the arc by net galley. I had liked the blurb and the cover. Boy, was I in for a ride!

This book is a wild and insane ride. I'm still reeling from it. In a good way, of course! I love the idea of a well-plotted revenge story and this one was quite entertaining.

Plot - Elle and her friends Mads, Jenny, and Summer rule their glittering LA circle. Untouchable, they have the kind of power other girls only dream of. Every party is theirs and the world is at their feet. Until the night of Elle’s sweet sixteen, when they crash a St. Andrew’s Prep party. The night the golden boys choose Elle as their next target.

They picked the wrong girl.

Sworn to vengeance, Elle transfers to St. Andrew’s. She plots to destroy each boy, one by one. She’ll take their power, their lives, and their control of the prep school’s hierarchy. And she and her coven have the perfect way in: a boy named Mack, whose ambition could turn deadly.

The story is unapologetically gritty, dark and wickedly deadly. It is supposed to be the retelling of MacBeth and it's all there. Macbeth meets American Horror Story meets Mean Girls meets Cruel Intentions. The best kind of combination.

Hannah Capin's writing is really good. It's bold and cuts like a sharp sliver of glass piercing you finely.

I would like to thank NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If I were to summarize this book in one word, it would be "WOW." This one is such a difficult book to review!
On one hand, "Foul is Fair" was an amazing book. Lyrical, haunting, and beautifully written.On the other hand, "Foul is Fair" is grotesque and the content was often difficult to read.

"Foul is Fair" starts off with an off-screen gang rape on Elle's 16th birthday. Elle, now calling herself "Jade," vows to take revenge on the boys who raped her or were involved with the rape. She and her group of friends (known as her coven), make a plan to kill everyone while putting the blame on another boy in the class (who they consider is guilty by association).

This was such a hard read because of the content. Obviously, rape is bad. In this book, it is not so obvious that murder is bad, especially because the purpose is to root for Jade as she causes the death of the boys. Some reviews compare this book to a Quentin Tarantino film, specifically "Kill Bill." It is not a bad comparison. For those who have seen Kill Bill, remember that moment where the character played by Uma Thurman murders the man that raped her while she was in a coma in the hospital? This whole book IS that scene.

For me, this was not an easy or particularly fun read. In "Kill Bill," I am able to applaud the main character because the story is so far removed from reality. In "Foul is Fair," the story reaches that level of being unbelievable. I think the two biggest reasons it doesn't feel believable is because the characters are pretty stagnant- they don't grow or develop and there is never enough about them to really make them feel like real characters. Also, with all of the death going on in the story, it is unbelievable that the authorities wouldn't be more involved. Another quick movie comparison: As the characters started dying, I was reminded of "I Know What You Did Last Summer." Bloody and inevitable.

This is a very graphic fantasy revenge story. If you are looking for predictable, angry, bloody and poetic, this may be the book for you.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was definitely quite a kicker of a read to start off the year!

Oh, man. This book. THIS BOOK. All while reading it, I had never been more proud of a woman taking her life back and seeking glorious, bloody revenge. Not just saying she was going to do it but actually DOING it. I love Jade and her coven. Foul is Fair is one of the best books I have ever read.

While --in theory-- this is a story I could really get behind, the final product just didn't work for me.

I read and loved Hannah Capin's debut novel so I was pretty excited to check this out, especially because of the way it was marketed: A feminist retelling of Macbeth that tackles rape culture and doesn't hold back any punches. I'm all in. Well... theoretically, anyways.

I think the issue for me with this one right from the start was the writing style. While I've previously enjoyed Capin's story-telling, it was quite different this time around. It certainly has a poetic and haunted feel to it, and I get why she went that route for this story, but I just found that I had a hard time following it.

Additionally, the story is disappointingly unrealistic. I was excited to see how these four girls would wreck havoc on the boys who assaulted Elle, and while I wasn't surprised with the path they decided to take, I was taken aback by how... simple it all really was. I couldn't suspend my disbelief and therefore often felt like I was too separate from the story. I generally enjoy books that really pull me into the story and this one just never did.

It's a pretty quick read and a lot of people who enjoy this type of writing style seemed to really like it, so definitely still check it out if you're at all interested. It wasn't my cup of tea, but it might be yours! Heed the content warnings; this is not for the faint of heart.

Wow. Okay...so I was unprepared for this book. LOL! Which is fine...different strokes for different folks and all that. And I can appreciate <I>Foul is Fair</I> for what it is, even though it's not necessarily what I ordinarily would pick for myself...if that makes sense.

This book felt like a full-tilt, no-holds-barred, girl power, slasher novel. The intensity started at 9.5 and just never came down...and I felt on edge the entire time I was reading. There's copious violence and trigger warnings abound... Please heed them, the author doesn't pull any punches. It's well-written and grabs you, kicking and screaming for every wild turn. 3.5 stars for keeping my attention, even though I wouldn't have picked this one for myself. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the courtesy copy in advance of release.

electric viscous disturbing well written though it dragged a bit last two third until the end. i wish everyone was so popular so gorgeous so rich.............. can't every girl and her friends get revenge without putting down all the not as important in crowd. but worth the ride

This book I read in two days it was so spellbinding. The wrong girl was ruthlessly raped and now she is out for revenge. This book shows the damage and then the strength of a friendship between four girls that goes beyond normal boundaries. Elle has just turned sixteen and wants to party. She puts on a new persona and goes out with her three best friends to crash a party. Her life will never be the same however, was it normal before? Elle becomes Jade a girl bent on retribution to all involved. Her parents are rocks of support and will do anything to support her through this even let her decide for herself what needs to be done.
Thank you NetGalley, Hannah Capin, and Wednesday Books for allowing me to read and review this ARC. This opinion is all mine. The subject matter is brutal and real if you are faint of heart this might not be for you. It's all about a burning need for revenge and how it's done. I like this book for its depiction of how deeply someone feels and how shallowly another.