How I love unreliable narrators.

This confirms my theory that Ava Reid can simply never miss.

Ava Reid specializes in twisty, weird, gory, fairytale-like story with a hint of romance. The monsters are complicated characters, the narrator is disarming yet unreliable, and the scenery transports you to the equivalent of dreary gothic paintings washed with dust and cobwebs in dark castle corners.

Lady Macbeth is no different. You question the narrator’s status as heroine or villain, doubt the intentions of those around her, and lose yourself in yet another cliffside manor with a vengeful ocean waiting below (à la A Study in Drowning). Highly recommend! Perfect rainy day autumn read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the digital ARC of “Lady Macbeth” by Ava Reid.

While reading, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy and anger toward both Roscille and Macbeth. She’s young and fearful over the situation she’s found herself in, which is understandable. Her upbringing and rigid rules surrounding men also impacted her reactions and thoughts, and she too was manipulated. The manipulation she enacted on Macbeth and others out of spite was not something I could condone, since it led to unnecessary death and violence. She blames Macbeth for the deaths and seems shocked to realize his violence, but also overlooks that her hands too are red with blood. It seemed unfair to Macbeth since despite his past dalliances, and proclivities, but he still holds responsibility for the violence he carried out - his desires pushed him too far and corrupted him. He too was manipulated though… not only by his wife but by the witches whispering the things he desperately wanted to hear. They too seeked their vengeance.

This honestly leads to this story being the almost perfect tragedy. Lady Macbeth was always the perfect Shakespeare villain, she too shares just as much blame for the death and violence. In this story she's also painted as a victim of machinations, as well a heroine.

4/5

I was really disappointed with this book. I've lived Ava Reids previous works but I feel like she did not have an understanding of Lady Macbeth and her characterization was disappointing

This is a highly anticipated read for a reason. We have the stunning writing we know and love from Ava Reid and a twist on a classic tale. This one has original language that can be difficult to learn but a glossary is included. This wasn’t full of big epic dramatics but it was spooky and gory and probably exactly what you want.

Ava Reid is quickly becoming a favorite of mine and I loved this chilling, unsettling take on Shakespeare. The atmosphere Reid creates and the feelings she evokes are so visceral and I could not put this down. Also there's a dragon, as a little treat. A fantastic read.

Great story! I love retellings and this one is definitely top tier! A classic play retold in Lady Macbeth’s POV? Loved it! 😍

Wow wow wow. I went into Lady Macbeth a little nervous because I had seen some mixed reviews, but I absolutely loved it.

This is a reimagining of Macbeth told from the perspective of Lady Macbeth. As someone who isn’t super familiar with the story of Macbeth, I can’t speak to how closely it follows the original story.

Our protagonist, Roscille, is a seventeen year old French girl who is sent to Scotland to marry a man she doesn’t know and is afraid of. She is very prejudiced towards the Scots and views them as quite barbaric. In order to appease Macbeth, and keep him at a distance she is forced to use her wit and makes some horrifying choices in the process. She is a flawed character who is doing what she has to do to get by.

I came for the cover and stayed for the gorgeous writing, gothic setting, and feminine rage. Expect: curses, gore, witches, dragons, rage, vengeance, light romance.

Lady Macbeth was a fantastic read that will be perfect for fall and winter.

I loved the idea behind this book a retelling of Macbeth from Lady Macbeths perspective but it didn't live up to the expectations I had for it. While I enjoyed the book and am glad I tried a book out of my comfort zone I just felt there was a lot potential that fell flat. I enjoyed Ava Reid's writing style and would read more from her in the future. Would recommend this book rating it 3/3.5 stars. I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Disappointed to say the least. I DNF’d at 30%. I think Ava Reid’s writing is just not for me. Her prose is beautiful, its the structure that’s lacking.

The issues I had are similar to the issues I had with A Study in Drowning. There were some weird false starts that left me confused. I also felt like the writing was a bit lazy and repetitive at times.

My main issue is, this book is A Study in Drowning but Shakespearian. Reid took Shakespeare’s strongest female character and made her into Effie, a scared frail girl. What’s worse is the consequence of Lady Macbeth making the same claims about men as Effie (though without the backup or proof as to why) is deadly for others. There’s also absolutely no winning with Reid’s female characters. There is a scene where Lady Macbeth makes a request of Macbeth: when he pauses, she thinks ‘he’s not going to let me have this because he’s arrogant’ and then when he says yes, she’s like ‘see he’s so arrogant’. She says he would be violent toward her with absolutely no evidence of the such, and allows her judgements to fuel decisions that end up being catastrophic toward others. In this book, Lady Macbeth should have a gold Olympic medal for the mental gymnastics she does to make these judgements.

I honestly think this book would have been better if it wasn’t a character study or interpretation of Lady Macbeth. Firstly, it would just be A Study in Drowning if that were the case. Secondly, calling this character Lady Macbeth is such a stretch. I understand writing an interpretation, but taking a strong female character who was one of the few Shakespearian females to be as strong and powerful as a man and turning her into a scared, oblivious, and weak girl feels like such an insult. Maybe it’s just me, but I am so sick of the weak female stereotype, so seeing Lady Macbeth reduced in this way was rage-inducing.

Ava Reid has proven herself time and time again to write exquisitely crafted books, and Lady Macbeth is no different. Taking a different approach to the bard’s tale and focusing on the elusive and enigmatic Lady Macbeth, it’s a story of manipulation, fear, longing and discovery set in the claustrophobic and changeable atmosphere of medieval Scotland.

Despite not being anything close to a Shakespeare scholar, I really enjoyed the fresh take on the classic play and loved looking at it from a different perspective. Ava took a character commonly seen as bloodthirsty and sly and built her as a young woman far from home, with plans and powers she is just starting to understand. I loved the atmosphere above all else and could write this whole review on the beauty of Ava’s prose alone. The vibes, as they say, were immaculate. I truly felt like I was right there alongside Roscille in the frigid, damp confines of that Scottish castle. Although I can see this being a divisive book, as the best books are, I truly adored this Shakespeare homage and turned it into a delicately wrought quest for vengeance and belonging. Absolutely loved it!

Review based on vibes alone. I was pretty much predestined to like this based on the rough gothic setting and “historical” time period. I liked the detached, almost passive style of storytelling implemented here as well as the more formal language.

As a loose retelling of Macbeth, I can’t say whether this hit the mark. It has been so long since I read the original. I did like the wheeling and dealings of Lady Macbeth but she really frustrated me a lot of the time. As far as plot and characterization goes, I didn’t feel like this was super in depth, but the vibes honestly carried me through to the end feeling quite satisfied.

I’m sorry. I was not into this at all. A Macbeth retelling from Lady Macbeth’s POV. It tries to present a more feminist approach, but I could not get over the lack of characterization and development beyond a handful of their defining traits.

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

Lady Macbeth is author Ava Reid's reimagining of Macbeth- but from a woman's perspective. Reid's writing made this a super fun read, albeit dark. Roscille is sent away by her father to be married to Lord Macbeth, in a completely different country with a different language, customs, without the support of her handmaiden. We get a glimpse into Roscille's secret, which the reader knows more and more about as the book goes on.

The best part of this book is Roscille's intelligence, masked (no pun intended) behind her position as a mere Lady. Ava Reid's A Study in Drowning was one of my favorite reads of last year, and the writing style does not disappoint in Lady Macbeth. I really enjoyed her reimagining of the classic, and this book contained the perfect touch of fantasy.

Parts of the plot are a bit muddy, but this could be due to Ava's writing style (which I enjoy regardless of the content). Others may say that her writing is pretentious and too flowery, but her take on this Shakespeare classic will definitely wow her fans!

Thank you to Del Rey for an e-arc of this book.

I have always been hit and miss with Ava Reid’s books. The Wolf and the Woodsman was fine, Juniper & Thorn was…not. I ADORED A Study in Drowning.

I had such high expectations for Lady Macbeth, and maybe that made the book underwhelming. I’m going to start with the good:

- the prose. Ava Reid is supremely talented at writing. Her writing is absolutely stunning.
- The gothic atmosphere was so well done. I loved the feeling of the book.
- The overall idea of the book

Unfortunately, this is where the book started to lose me. I was bored — I barely remember Macbeth, but this Lady Macbeth was nothing like I remembered? I don’t think this was a retelling as much as it was a reimagining.

Within the context of the story good points are brought up such as violence against women and other aspects, but one of the issues is that there seemed to be a lot of hated towards Scotland and it’s people?

It was weird, how like these two ideas were so opposite? I found the Lady Macbeth absolutely unlikable, like — to an extreme. And the romance — why? What was that?

Anyways, I really wanted to love this book, but it didn’t end up working for me.

Ava Reid is quickly becoming a top author for me. Her remaining of a classic story truly stole my breath away. Reid has a nice way with words and her storytelling to be able to give you everything you need and want while wrapping it up in a pretty standalone bow!

I will admit to finding the plot to be rather boring and the characters not half as interesting as they themselves claim to be. I appreciated that Roscille thrashed against the bounds of womanhood, but it honestly felt more than a bit heavy-handed - particularly since she interacts with so few other characters (most of this book is bound inside her skull rather than in her interactions with other people, which I personally would have preferred)

However, Reid writes beautifully, weaving the archaic style befitting the setting with enough detail to appeal to a modern audience. There simply wasn’t enough movement for my tastes.

Sadly, i could not get into this book. No worries, didn’t books satisfy different people! That’s the beauty of reading.

Thank you so much to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing me with an Advance Reader Copy of Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid. Ever since I first read Ava's work I've absolutely loved how she writes such haunting tales yet not too much so that you are disgusted. Her words create the perfect combination of eerie yet alluring. Lady Macbeth is, once again, a perfect example of this. The only way I could describe it as a stunning magical retelling of Macbeth, one of Shakespeare most controversial plays, displaying feminine rage and a descent into madness forced by a word catering to men. As you sit in Roscille's head, you begin to question... What is real? What is not? And this is exactly as the author intends it to be. The prose and stunning. This will absolutely go down as a favorite for 2024.

I DNFed early on, because the writing here was so painful. It was trying hard to emulate “Old” English, and the multiple variants of names frustrated me.

Thanks so much for providing me with a review copy of this book but unfortunately it was a DNF for me.

I found it lacked atmosphere and I was incredibly bored while reading. Lady Macbeth is such an interesting character but she felt so watered down here it was painful to read. It’s possible it got better but it felt like too much of a chore to keep picking this one up.