I was reluctant to Start reading when I hit up against the authors warning - but it turned out to be a fast paced dark, twisty, bloody story that was so fucking good that I couldn’t put it down. High school absolutely sucks but to be able to cheer for the take down of the cruel ones while being supported by your closest friends is not something you come across every day. The story seemed like a mashup of Heathers, Cruel Intentions, Jawbreakers, Pretty Little Liars
and Mean Girls.

I think I may be one of the few people who didn't realize that Foul is Fair was a Macbeth re-telling until about 30% in when the names finally got to me. Suffice it to say, you can 100% enjoy this book without reading Macbeth. That being said, Foul is Fair is a five star re-telling for sure! It's a bloody story of revenge. Of girls having enough. Being told to be silent. And having the justice system fail. I fell in love with Foul is Fair from page one. It starts with a scene of revenge, black box hair day, and the claws we put on in the morning.

Foul is Fair takes justice into its manicured hands and enacts its blood revenge. When our dreams become nightmares and fear and doubt manifest in witches and prophecies. It's a story about how we process trauma balanced by our desire for justice and vengeance. The way fear and doubt can eat us alive. Destroy back room deals, silent nods, and a system that allows the crimes of men to go unpunished. At the same time, it's about the ones who watch from the outside, silent, waiting for an opportunity to break in.

Featuring a trans side character and sapphic side romance, Foul is Fair does a fantastic job at illustrating that Jade's sexual assault is not just the fault of the perpetrator. It's the ones who slip them drugs with winks, stand in front of closed doors, and watch in silence. It's easy to be on Jade's side, even if you are a little skeptical of the proposed plan, because not only is the tension palatable, but Jade is convinced on turning them against themselves. It is more than justice that is enacted through blades, but through manipulation, glances tossed, and timing.

Foul is Fair builds the pressure until you have to stop yourself from skipping pages. It's unlike other books because I think it honors its re-telling roots with precision as that carries the story. It becomes something that is not only gripping, but also cathartic (whatever that says about me). But it's also about the ways we see justice mishandled, bought off, and avoided because of big names, money, and sexism. Foul is Fair is the answer I'd been searching for without knowing it.

Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin
TW: Sexual Assault
Overview: Elle walks into a party with her squad. She walks out a new person. She cuts her hair and dyes it black, she changes her name, and she makes her friends swear to help her get revenge. Now named Jade, she transfers to St. Andrews Prep to stalk and systematically take down each of the lacrosse boys who drugged and took advantage of her at that party. She will make them destroy themselves and then escape with her hands clean. She knows just how to play all the boys against one another and exploit their weaknesses to destroy their hierarchy. Overall: 4

Characters: 3.5 The book is hard to break down and discuss because the style it's written in is very specific. I have a hard time figuring out the core of all of these characters because of it. The tone fits the story, but it also positions the reader very far away from all of the characters which makes it hard to see past their exterior. Jade is cold and calculating and feels like a complete ice princess. She's in a very understandable state of shock after what happens to her, but the way that she's immediately so focused on revenge and doesn't show much emotion at all makes it hard to connect with her. She is also very focused on herself and her plot which makes it difficult to really understand any of the other characters. There are some good hints through the actions Jade notices because she's very observant, but it doesn't hit the same way with the distance. They all feel more like paintings than people.

Plot: 3.5 The whole book is centered on revenge and the revenge plot. She works to slowly feed off the boy's powerful ego issues to turn the lacrosse team against each other. It's very calculated, but a lot of the meticulous planning slows the plot down. There's a lot of details and bits and pieces that sort of bogs down a lot of the action. My other issue is that it feels like some pieces are missing from scenes or is too deeply buried in subtext to fully understand what's going on.

Writing: 4 This is an interesting concept book. I think that's where it shines the most. It's written in a style that is very icy and removed from the main character which I think was the point. Jade went through an extremely traumatic experience and one of the most common reactions is to shut down and shut out so I completely agree with bringing the character in that direction. It just creates certain complications in revealing other aspects and nuances of the story. There are parts that are very poetic and there is a lot of showing that I appreciated and quick cut scenes, but I feel like stories also need to be told and that's what was missing here.
There also seems to be a real layer of fantasy here because a lot of the events don't seem plausible at all. Like fantasy under the guise of a contemporary world.

This book had so much potential. It was dark and i really enjoyed reading morally grey characters. Jade is an amazing strong female character and i loved her coven too. It was a very fast paced, dark retelling. 3.5 stars.

This book was so much fun to read. A modern-day Macbeth retelling, this was book is way better than what I was required to read in high school. Dark, engrossing and a page turner, I couldn’t get enough of this book. There are some triggers, but the author did an amazing job with handling them. I mean she got a website listing them, how awesome is that!

Site: https://www.hannahcapin.com/foulisfair.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing me with an ARC. Overall, I gave the 4/5 stars.

I'm sorry. I usually like everything but this was to violent for me. It also enforced bullying. I know a lot of people really liked it. Just not for me.

Like a High School Macbeth

TW: (date) rape / sexual assault (implied but not (heavily) depicted), murder, instance of transphobia

ok wow. THIS was f*cked.

Elle (now known as Jade) and her friends find themselves at a prep school party one night, during which she is drugged and raped by a group of “golden” boys from the school. Jade swears her revenge and her friends more than willingly agree to help her.

I was on Jade’s side. I couldn’t (didn’t/don’t) blame her for wanting revenge and making sure she was the last girl the golden boys ever terrorized. I was rooting for her so hard, in fact, that her vigilantism didn’t really bother me. I couldn’t help but feel that those involved in her assault deserved what was coming to them. Even though some may not have participated in the physical act, they were absolutely guilty for being bystanders - none of those who knew what was happening to her, fought for her. This book was thought-provoking in that sense and had me questioning myself throughout; was Jade right in the way she went about inflicting her revenge? Probably not. Did I care? No.

Jade didn’t victimize herself, nor did she use what happened to her as an excuse for why she should get away with what she was doing. She didn’t expect to get away with it and I admired that about her.

I was absolutely engrossed throughout this story and it didn’t shy away from the horror victims of rape and sexual assault experience. My deduction of stars stemmed from the ending; things seemed to end too quickly. I also wish the perpetrators had been fully exposed for what they’d done and I almost wish they’d gone down the same way Connor and Porter had...at the hands of their own paranoia.

3.75/5

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have always loved Macbeth, and so I thought this would be right up my alley. I might have enjoyed it more if I had brushed up on Macbeth before reading it, which would be my recommendation for potential readers.

While you can see the clear parallels to Macbeth throughout, both in terms of plot and character names, the story crafted by the other is very unrealistic for the time in which the story is set. I think the story might have benefited from not being set in today's world, especially in terms of technology. I get that these kids are rich, but there is only so much plausability that a teenage girl would be capable of wiping her entire online presence and enroll in a new school under a name which is not her own. I don't consider that a spoiler because it happens VERY early in the book, but I will hide the review in case somebody may want to go into the story completely blind. Not to mention the situation with the protagonist's parents being 100% oblivious, her friends being involved in everything, the circumstances of the various crimes, and, perhaps most of all, the disturbing idea that (regardless of what they may have done to "deserve" it) this many teens have zero hesitiation or consideration for ending the lives of this many people.

All in all, this was an okay read, but I strongly feel that reading the play in advance would increase your enjoyment of this story.

I loved Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin. It's such a great, empowering story and it's a perfect fast read.

I thought the idea of this book was killer- a girl gets roofied and gang raped at a party and teams up with her friends to murder them one by one but the writing was not for me at all. The rest of the story was just... insane, unrealistic, and unbelievable. I feel like I still don't know what even happened because it was just so weird. I don't mind things getting a little wild but it was a bit too much.

There was a lot in here that reminded me of AHS: Coven and of course Macbeth, which this is a retelling of. I do see people enjoying this if they like writing that is a bit like We Were Liars (but more dramatic) but this wasn't the book for me.

This revenge fantasy is everything I expected and more! It was dark, fast-paced, with complex multi-dimensional characters hurtling towards an inevitable end! I loved it and hated it at the same time. The characters are interesting and multi-faceted but there is a major plot hole in the premise. How did Elle/Jade get separated from her pack in the first place. If her coven was so powerful, where were they when the heinous crime was being committed on one of their own? This is the only problem I have with the story. Everything else was great. Characters, pacing, flashbacks, climax, and ending were all good! Would recommend this book to anyone who has been terribly wronged and seeks satisfaction in vengeance. Also, since this is Hannah Capin's debut novel, I can't wait to read what she writes next.

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

4.5 stars for this magnificent Macbeth retelling! This book bit me right in the soul and grabbed on and made me cry for all the women who have been hurt in the past, present, and future. Revenge is sweet sweet sweet when boys deserve it. If you are looking for a feminist story about well-deserved payback, look no further. I went in blind, sort of. I read the synopsis before but forgot so it was like going in blind. The writing style was cut and dry, which was perfect for this story. But it did leave me wanting more at times. A retelling that needed to be told.
tw: rape (not depicted), murder, attempted suicide.

Elle (Jade) goes to a St. Andrew's party for her sixteenth birthday with her friends, her coven. Expecting the birthday of a lifetime, Elle is instead met with a group of boys who rule the school and do the unthinkable.

But Elle is not every other girl. Elle is a with.

And Elle is now Jade.

Transferring schools, she attends St. Andrew's with an all-new look, a new name, and her coven at her beck and call. Jade is out for revenge, and she is not stopping until she gets it.

Foul is Fair is a Macbeth retelling for the Me Too movement. It has a bit of Kill Bill, showered with blood and lust and teenage boys trying to outwit each other. Jade does not stop until she gets the outcome she wants. Even when she falls for the boy who is supposed to take the fall for her, her priorities are elsewhere.

I really enjoyed Foul is Fair. The writing voice and the style of this book is so specific and unique. It's dark and modern and cruel, but a fast read, and clever. It's definitely not for the faint of heart, but if you're feeling a bit angsty and want a story that is utterly revenge, look no further.

This is unlike any YA book I've ever read (& I've read hundreds of them!). A 16-year-old girl is sexually assaulted by a group of boys at a party and in turn, she chooses to kill them. It is vicious. It is vengeful. It is astounding.

The writing is lyrical and gorgeous, with short sentences that reflect the urgency of the story. Some of the teenage girls are POC and one is trans, but their identities are not part of the plot, they just exist as who they are (a hearty hell yes to this). Apparently it's a modern day feminist retelling of Macbeth but, having never read Macbeth, I can assure you that you don't need to be familiar with it to appreciate this story.

I'm going to be thinking about this one for a long, long time.

A little bit Cruel Intentions and a little bit The Craft...Foul is Fair has all of the makings of the next huge cult teen movie! I was lured in from the first page. Privileged youth, underaged drinking, toxic masculinity, high school hierarchies, it’s all here. Themes of mysticism, girl power and revenge. How far is too far?

I was drawn to this book because of the synopsis (after Gretal told me to read it), but then, only two chapters into the arc, I was completely hooked.

This book is about revenge and justice. It's about four girls who form a pact against the wolves who targeted one of them. It's about friendship and loyalty. It's about guilt. And it's about what people let happen behind closed doors. It's dark and creepy and powerful. The writing is magical and ethereal, and it creates such a haunted atmosphere for this book. Despite this being a contemporary, there is something otherworldly about the way Hannah Capin words her sentences. It's done so well and really left me on the edge of my seat.

I love the message behind this book, though I probably wouldn't suggest going about revenge this way. Jade is such a strong, but also terrifying character. Watching her get into Mack's head and make him do what she wanted done was scary. Every interaction she has with the boys and Piper, left me in awe at her power. She is a witch, and her deception and her twisted way with words are perfect.

Mads was probably my second favourite of the girls. She's just so supportive of Jade, and while she speaks her mind and reminds Jade to stick to the plan, I didn't find her to be annoying like Jenny. I really didn't like Jenny at all, and while I get Summer has feelings for her, I think Summer could totally do better. Jenny just came off as argumentative and stubborn, and it just made me angry whenever she was arguing with Jade. Jade and Mads dynamic was so much more interesting to read for me.

Lilia was a bit of a surprise for me at the end there. <spoiler>I'm surprised the coven took her in so easily, considering she was aware of what the boys said and didn't do anything either. I guess because of the way Duncan treated her, made them more sympathetic?</spoiler). The scene with Piper at the end there left me with my mouth hanging open. I was not expecting that, but the twists and turns in this book were so good!

I do wish there was more though. I really want to see how things pan out at the end. There are things hinted at, but I really want to see how it all came to be.

Overall, highly recommend. It was such a quick and engrossing read! Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for sending me a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Foul is Fair was an incredible read that I absolutely savored. It’s a revenge fantasy retelling of Macbeth full of violence, murder, and manipulative people. But while it’s haunting, it’s also engrossing, absolutely beautiful, and ultimately very satisfying to read. Our main character, Jade, is brilliant and cunning and vicious and I rooted for her every single step of the way. I also adored her coven of friends, and I hope we get to see more of them in the future.

Since this was my first introduction to Capin’s writing, I’m not sure if the lyrical style Foul is Fair is told in is unique to this book, but it was definitely the right choice. I couldn’t put this book down and I reread so many passages simply because I wanted to savor the words.

However, potential readers be warned: this book is full of triggering topics and heavy language use. If you are sensitive to traumatic topics, please make sure to read the full trigger warning list and content advisory on Capin’s website before diving in: https://www.hannahcapin.com/foulisfair.

I’m still reeling from reading this book, and I will definitely be picking up more of Capin’s work in the future. Thank you again to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the privilege of reviewing an ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the eARC I received of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review.
I will admit that I was torn on this one. I really liked what it was trying to do in terms of playing off Macbeth in the way that created sympathy and interest in the witches. I also love that it brings in relevant topics (sexual assault) and handles that topic in such an empowering, strong way, For those reasons, I likely will use it in my class at some point soon, especially since I was considering a "reboot" theme and had wanted to use something that adapted classic lit.
On the other hand, the language didn't work for me. I think that there was meant to be a distancing and coldness because of what the protag went through, but it made it hard for me to relate or care. It had the effect, in essence, of distancing me from the character I was meant to be invested in. So while I think it's a strong and innovative book, it wasn't for me.

Whew! This book was a lot, but in a good way. It has some very disturbing content and the author's warning at the front of the book will be appreciated by many readers.

I recently reviewed another book where I complained about the level of suspension of disbelief the story required. The amount of unrealistic situations in this book were a lot more, but I thought it was key to the story. The whole book focuses on a teen girl out for revenge against a group of boys who did the unspeakable. Of course it was unrealistic. Capin's writing style is engrossing and made for a fast read. It's a story that will stick with me for some time.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

Completely enjoyed this revenge fantasy that is perfect for the #MeToo movement. The plot and characters are a mash-up of Heathers and Macbeth and the execution is pitch perfect for that. Very dark with a high body count but a strangely comic bent.