She gets it.


When I received an e-mail earlier today from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press giving me the opportunity to read Foul is Fair over the next 48 hours I was unsure whether I should read it or give it a miss due to the trigger warnings. Then I noticed that the author is Heather Capin. So I read it.

She gets it.


She just does.

CW: offscreen rape, violence and gore

For all those who rage-watched the news about rapists and would-be rapists who got off with light sentences, slaps on the wrists, or Supreme Court appointments, Four is Fair is the Macbeth re-telling set in high school that will fuel your revenge fantasies. An unforgettable, dark, cold, and murder-y story about a fierce and unapologetic villain protagonist unleashing bloody retribution on the untouchable golden boys. It is dark, fierce, and violent, so it may not be for every reader.

This book was super intense, aggressive, bloody, cutthroat, heartless, vengeful, and all around a great story. MacBeth meets the MeToo movement. A girl is sexually assaulted and vows, with the help of her three friends, to get revenge. It was very detailed, very bloody, very ruthless. Definitely not a light read, but very captivating. I loved it.

Trigger warnings: sexual assault(not actually depicted in story), teen violence and drinking, murder, gore

I've just spent the afternoon falling in love with Jade's coven of girls and fell into an ending bitter and sweet as almond. This is a brilliant book, aching and beautiful and smarter than I am, glittering and brittle as glass and twice as sharp. Yes it is Shakespeare; no, you won't quite notice. Is the price of vengeance always everything? Jade has already decided not only that it is, but also that it's a bargain. What begins with a thrill strips boneward with each reckoning until shock is subsumed into something that approaches grief. Also- because I would be remiss without the point- a Greek chorus is inserted into the story to wonderful effect. Fun enough for teens, and deep enough for a bookclub- it can be read on a few levels, all of them engaging. Cannot recommend enough. Five stars.

Timely, vicious, delightful. Capin's writing is only getting better and better and her interpretation of the iconic revenge story is an anthem for the angry teenage girls of today.

Just WOW!! Although I have to say this cover is not winning me over. The story inside it was awesome!! This was a dark story in the style of a Macbeth Feminist!! The authors writing and pacing worked wonders in this story that I could not put down!!! Its so out there and bold and doesn't shy away from being dark and raw! And wow just wow I loved Jade to the very last page and if anyone says anything bad about this book i'm just going to explode! I don't know if this author has any other titles out but I am going on the hunt for them right now. And OMG this book doesn't come out until next year I am so going to die right now.

“We’re magic. I can feel it right now in the dark. We’re invisible when we need to be and then so firework-bright no one can look away.”

This book truly is very much a “we are so tired, it’s time to commit murder” mood. And that’s probably the best thing I can say about this book. It encompasses a whole mood. It’s a Cell Block Tango and Nightmare by Halsey kind of book. I know that I get mad sometimes, every time I see the complete idiocy of the justice system ruling on sexual assault cases. The smug teen boys who get off easy because “what about their future?!”. This book spit in the face of the concept of justice and just says- they had it coming.

The writing of this book is the biggest component of this. The main character has incredibly evocative and striking internal narrative that build up the world around her to this Shakespearean level of drama, which is perfect for its Macbeth ties. Albeit, Jade, the main character, is super pleased with herself, but honestly? Good for her. It also makes for some really amazing quotes, I mean…yeah some/most are kind of Hot Topic slogans, but I think once you get into the feeling of the book, just lean into the theatrics, it’s easier to swallow.

Once I got into it, which only happened after I made the playlist for this book, I found that Jade and her friends were actually fun to root for. It’s just this book where I was constantly hoping for the worst? Like- I just got really excited about murder, as one does, and I got into touch with my villain side. It’s really fun over here, btw. I was always so resolved though, sometimes I would get torn over certain characters, which just adds to its complexity.

It was a bit of a set back that this wasn’t a book that I could start reading and like. I had to build up some anger to justify any feeling I had reading it. I had to get mad and listen to the right music and then I could get into the story, otherwise things seemed too middle school edgy. Just consider this book gasoline to your already burning fire.

In terms of the side characters, I really loved the witches. Honestly, they were so cool, but I also never trusted them. Just saying. As for the guys? Well, if they didn’t want to get hurt then they shouldn’t have dressed so hurt-able. I mean- they were asking for it.

TL;DR: This is a really fun read for when your as mad as these witches are. Though its a specific mood read, it’s also really just well-written, the suspense is killer and the ending blows you away.

I am shocked at the positive reviews this book has been receiving from early reviewers. All the characters, including Jade/Elle, were terrible people. I did not enjoy reading about them, and I found it very difficult to get behind the revenge story because it was so ridiculous. Although I can completely empathize with a sexual assault victim wanting justice, a murderous rampage certainly does not seem like the answer and I did not find it at all gratifying. I would be extremely hesitant to promote this book to teen readers, because it glorifies murder and manipulation through sex. None of Jade/Elle’s coping mechanisms for her assault were positive, and I personally feel this book would be very unhealthy to put in the hands of someone who has actually been sexually assaulted.

this book made me sick. To basically promote revenge killing. I understand rape was involved and everyone should be punished but to plan and execute multiple murders by four 16 year old.’s .what are a we thinking. I finished this book and could not wait to find something else to fill my brain with then this horrible story. Skip this book. I hope this author rethinks her writing

I requested this book because of the fact that it's a Macbeth retelling as well as the angry revenge fantasy contemporary. And boy, did this book deliver on that!

I was immediately drawn in because of the witchy aspect and that is so freaking cool. Elle and her friends are in a coven that you really don't want to mess with and some of the male characters find this out very soon as they terrorize them. I'll add here that there are content/trigger warnings attached to this book, which can be found here.

Aside from these, this book is far from a victim story. It's about revenge--and at an extreme case--and girls who literally take no crap. I definitely felt empowered after reading this book but not in the violent sort of way. It made me angry and reminded me of what I wished the Handmaid's Tale would have been, in all honesty. I felt for the characters in the story and it felt so real and relatable even though I haven't been in that situation or in high school for a little while.

My favorite part was the inclusion of the Macbeth tale. The parallels were well-done enough that I wasn't rolling my eyes at how close it was but I recognized the parts from the play as well as the similar characters. I loved that part and it was a really amazing retelling, which I completely and utterly appreciate, if you know how much I like retellings!

Recommended: YES
For those who are not faint of heart, for an incredible parallel to Macbeth that still retains it's own integrity, for darkness and viciousness in many forms, for complexities of vengeance and fate and evil

Thoughts:
The language: vague yet beautiful. It's almost poetic, which is a nice match to the story (play) it's inspired by. Sometimes you're not sure what's real and what's figurative, and that uncertainty works so well with the story to make it hard to trust your narrator. It's a very powerful technique, and draws the story down so deep.

The inspiration: I can very clearly see the parallels to Macbeth, and for me it added so much to the story. It was such fun to see how events were similar, but interpreted in the modern context and with the situation that started it all. With that said, though, it wasn't so much the same that it became a foil to the original. This book stands all on its own, and someone with no knowledge of Macbeth will get a lot out of it as well as someone who's become a Macbeth Master.

The witchiness: I did not anticipate this, and a lot of the time characters who are not literal witches and refer to each other as their 'coven' can really turn me off for feeling childish. But this, this worked. Partly because these girls are fate, reflecting their other sides found in Macbeth.

The ending: I wasn't sure how that would play out, and oh my god. Just.... oh my god. ♥

I'm DEFINITELY going to be using this in classes in the future. It's quite dark though, so it would have to be with older students. There were times while reading where I had to take a break and read something lighter (I Love You So Mochi served me well) to detox a bit from the brutality. Might be a good idea to have one on reserve to break it up when you need to come up for air.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Foul is fair and fair is foul. This story is a bit supernatural in the minds of teenage girls and the way they behave. The things they do or cause are horrible and the way they set out for revenge is a bit dramatic.

I don’t condone or excuse what happened to Elle, but her revenge is way over the top. The thing is though, these days with media how it is, they tend to think the way she does and it’s really sad.

I did find it strange the girls kept referring to themselves as a coven.

Grab it and dive in.

I thought this book was just great. I would love to have it in any of my high school classrooms as a companion text for Shakespeare. This book is a modern re-telling of Macbeth, if Lady Macbeth was a high school student and was part of the coven of witches. After a party goes terribly wrong, Jade and her friends vow to get revenge on the boys who hurt her. The names and main events of the story are so clever and well-done, and I think it helps us get a new understanding on the classic and enigmatic character of Lady Macbeth.

This good is a great way to engage teenagers to read more about Shakespeare, and caused me to look at this classic in a new light. I would love to see more modernization of classic stories, especially Shakespeare.

Foul is Fair is a knockout. This is easily a recommended first purchase for all YA and HS collections.

I thought I'd enjoy this book like a lot of other reviewers did but I added it to my "do not finish list" because I just couldn't. I got 34% in so I gave it a decent chance.

I did like the beautiful, at times, lyrical writing. I also appreciated the attempt to modernize Macbeth, for teens who can never quite see the brilliance of the original play.

But, in the same way, I didn't like the drastic parallelism to Macbeth, one of the Shakespearean plays I actually enjoy. It felt too forced, down to the character names. From the summary, I knew Macbeth was a parallel for the book but I didn't realize to what extreme and it was too much for this gal.

I also didn't like the repetitiveness of the narrator. Okay, I get it. You're evil and conniving and seeking revenge with this twisted plot but do I need to be reminded of that every other paragraph?

I'm sure some of my students would still enjoy it as it's an angsty, dark teen thriller that deals with the aftermath of rape and then rape culture. I'll still tell them about it because it might then interest them in Macbeth at the end of the day!

Such a cool retelling of MacBeth! Seriously could not put it down and I'll read anything Hannah Capin writes in the future!

MEAN GIRLS + KILL BILL + THE CRAFT

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

I said, I spat, I swore: You picked the wrong girl.
They did.
They had to.
It could only be me.
Not the first—
—but the last, the last, the last.
They picked the right girl.

“We’ll be the witches they don’t believe in until it’s too late.”

Elle, Mads, Summer, and Jenny: young, wealthy, powerful, privileged. The quartet of besties rules their LA social circle: “We were middle school six months early, wearing our shiny new crowns before anyone else knew a monarchy was coming.” They are as ruthless as they are rich. Summer ruins starry-eyed boys for fun; Jenny can kill with her saccharine sweetness. Mads is the daughter of a crime boss who taught her and Elle to defend themselves when Mads came out as trans and was bullied at school. Ride or die? They coined the term, b****es.

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.


Elle arises from the ashes like a phoenix transformed: she is the same hard, cruel girl she was, but *more*. Now she is Jade with the razor-sharp claws, hair shorn and colored REVENGE black, eyes obscured by contacts that match her new name. She promptly enrolls in St. Andrew’s Prep and vows to get her bloody satisfaction before the week is out, before her bruises (and their scratch marks) have a chance to heal. Jade and her coven hatch a plan to take the golden boys (and one flock girl) down, all at the hand of one of their own.

FOUL IS FAIR is wild and audacious, in the best way possible. I almost passed on it, because Jade and her crew seem like characters I’d otherwise loathe: part of the 1%, kids who use their parents’ influence to get away with all sorts of transgressions, including bloody murder. (Think: the Drumpf kids, but with more panache and intelligence.)

But I do love me a good rape revenge story, and this one is in a class of its own: KILL BILL (which is of course I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE + Bruce Lee) meets MEAN GIRLS meets THE CRAFT. Plus, for all her casual cruelty, the objects of Jade’s malice usually have it coming, for one reason or another. She is an avenging angel, if a fallen one at that. (Summer, though – Summer I wonder about. Spin-off, please? And a sequel for Lilia, I feel like that chick could be going places.)

I also found myself falling in like with the parents, again in spite of myself. I mean, these are some pretty terrible people: Jenny’s dad is a sleazy defense attorney who gets paid to victim-blame girls like Elle, and did I mention that Mads’s dad is a literal organized crime boss? Yet, despite their many flaws, these adults support their kids unconditionally – and not just monetarily, e.g., by buying their way out of trouble. Instead of putting a hit out on his daughter’s tormentors, Mads’s dad taught her how to fight…and then didn’t bat an eye when Elle casually mentioned that they were going to kill the bullies, not just kick their asses. Ditto Elle’s parents when, upon learning of their daughter’s assault, were content enough to let Elle handle it, her way. Murder heavily implied.

Is FOUL IS FAIR in any way, shape, or form believable? Nah. Unlike with THE SWALLOWS – another recent book tackling rape culture and sexual assault in an insular and privileged high school community – I can’t with a straight face insist that I can picture this playing out outside of the big (or little) screen. And that’s okay! FOUL IS FAIR is a deliciously savage rape revenge fantasy. One hundred percent, complete and total escapism and wish fulfillment.

I mean, if we can’t get justice in the real world, we deserve to see it with compounded, payday loan-esque interest in the fictional realm, right? (Trust me, patriarchy, you’re still getting the better end of the deal.)

I received a copy of FOUL IS FAIR from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to the author and publisher.

FIVE STARS and here’s why:

This book really opened my eyes to the world of teen revenge served cold. Holy moly. It’s a disturbing and suspenseful #metoo story with sophisticated venom that will make your head spin and your mind whirl. The story shows us that no one should assume anything at face value and that no one is safe from prejudice or misunderstanding or judgment. Each character in this book is well written, the dialogue realistic, and the witchy plot kept me up all night to learn what happens next. I could not put it down. I believe this is book should be required reading in high school.

From the beginning to the end this was an amazing read. It had flowery language that made everything seem more fantastic and magical, the revenge plot had me on the edge of my seat. I ended up going to bed so late because I couldn't put this down and I don't regret it. This was an amazing read that I need on my bookshelf ASAP.

A modern day retelling of Macbeth. Beautifully written. It’s very vivid, and colorful throughout. It’s full of revenge and girl power. It is exciting and I would love to see a movie made. It is somewhat dark but it’s really well done. I love the imagery used.