Agh, I so wanted to like this!

I love Ava Reid’s other work and her prose remains beautiful and captivating. However, I feel that this adaptation unfortunately does injustice to the original work and is not the feminist story it strains to be.

In Shakespeare’s original work, Lady Macbeth is clever and cruel, the orchestrator of her husband’s downfall and the one pulling the strings. In this book, Roscille is meek, desperate, and seems to accomplish her ultimate triumph more out of luck than anything. I felt like her power was actually diminished from the original work, which I think is the opposite of the intent.

The Scots are unfortunately portrayed all as brutes and monsters with no redeeming qualities about them, and as many other reviews have said, the choice to make Lady M a French girl is just plain weird!

Not to mention the internalized misogyny was just plain EXHAUSTING. That and the blatant abuse of women was not enjoyable to read and I don’t feel that the revenge in the end in any way made up for it.

Big time bummer.

While I did end up liking the book, it took me entirely too long to start enjoying it. I did not know how I truly felt about any of the characters.

This was a beautiful book and an intriguing retelling. My first time reading a Shakespearean-style novel was truly captivating.

A big thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC of Lady Macbeth!

Though I’m not deeply familiar with Macbeth, I found Ava Reid’s writing style fascinating, especially how she blends play-like elements into her novels.

Please note there are some trigger warnings, including brief, non-graphic mentions of sexual assault off-page.

Reid addresses sexual assault with great care, and I appreciated how sensitively she handled the traumatic events in the story.

If you enjoy Shakespearean retellings and the style of the plays, you’ll love this book.

Let's start by saying that it would be interesting for a book club or a class to read this after the play, or compare against other adaptations of Macbeth. Ava Reid is excellent at creating atmosphere; again this would work in a classroom setting since she repeats some key visuals, this would be good for practicing literary analysis.
But comparing this lady Macbeth to the play's version, well I found this version of the character to be somewhat lacking, The plotting and pacing is consistent in this book, but the characterization is completely different. I kept reading, expecting her to take on the fundamental ruthlessness of the character, but it never really happened. I guess its to subvert the reader's expectations, but it meant that a character famous for her agency, lacked it.

Let me start by saying I have very mixed feelings about this one.

Let's start with what I liked: this book is well-written with beautiful descriptions. It's atmospheric. It's dark. It's a little bit magical. Every bit of Roscille's emotions trasnlate from the page and I felt every bit of it along with her. The ending, without giving spoilers, is also really well done and definitely an improvement upon that of the original play.

Which leads me to what I didn't like (which may include minor spoilers). This book should not have had anything to do with Macbeth. It shouldn't have used the names, it shouldn't be marketed as a retelling--it should have been its own entity, plain and simple. Calling it a Macbeth retelling and expecting everyone who is familiar with the play to know it is inspired by Macbeth was it's greatest downfall. The plot is muddled, the characters are assassinated, and only the barest hint of the plot comes through on the page. I can see where the author wanted to go with this, but I'll repeat what I just said: this shouldn't have had anything to do with Macbeth. She could have used the same plot and changed the character names, and I think only a few lines would have ever hinted at the play.

Another issue I had, which is where the spoilers come in, is that Lady Macbeth is, well, ruined. The badass, kind of crazy woman from the play is stripped here of all agency, all backbone, and made instead to be a clever yet cowardly young girl forced into a marriage she doesn't want. She is supposed to be a badass character pulling the strings, but really all her strings are pulled by the men in her life, up until the very end. The woman who orchestrated so much in the play orchestrates next to nothing in this book, and we're to believe that the play's version inspired this version? It's a loose inspiration at best--and a very, very disappointing one.

Taking away all affiliation with the Macbeth play, this book became much more enjoyable. It was a novel concept, and Roscille was easy to root for, especially by the end of the book. The writing is beautiful and the plot picks up a lot by about halfway through, with lots of action and even a surprising bit of romance.

I can't really tell you whether or not you'll like this book, but I can say one thing for certain: as long as you expect very little from the Macbeth side of things, it becomes a lot better.

I’m an avid reader of retellings and certain histories and by the blurb of Lady Macbeth, I thought this would be a slam dunk of a read. Sadly that wasn’t the case. The writing of Lady Macbeth was an A+ and delivered excellently, Roscille (aka Lady Macbeth) the main character didn’t feel right. There were times when she was just kind of there and the scenes or happenings didn’t seem to affect her at all, she also fell a tad flat to me. The best part of this book is definitely the writing, Ava Reid delivered an enchanting and magical adaptation of a well-known historical play and while it didn’t hit all of my marks for 5 star retelling it is a decent book to check out if you are a lover of historical fantasy, retellings, or gothic romance.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing the eARC.

I have very mixed feelings about this one. It was my most anticipated read of the year, and though it wasn't terrible by any means, I still find myself disappointed. Maybe my expectations were just too high, but I found myself wanting so much more from the story. All of my favorite elements were there—a gothic atmosphere, a compelling protagonist, gorgeously evocative writing, heaps of imagery, a tender, chivalric romance, an exploration of morality-but they all fell flat. Firstly, I think the book was too short-all of the elements needed to be further fleshed out, not just strung together and laced with motifs. Also-and this is perhaps my biggest grievance-the protagonist, Roscille, was written to be exceedingly clever, but most of the time she came across as naive and dull. For all of her magical allure, she never had the wits or capability to use it when she needed it most. So many of the terrible situations she found herself in, I feel, could have been cleverly avoided by her if she had just taken initiative. I think the book's main failing is posing as a retelling of Macbeth-for a character based on Shakespeare's cunning, manipulative, and ruthless Lady Macbeth, I was expecting much more from Roscille. If I had gone in with the right expectations, I think I would have enjoyed the story more than I did, as I definitely still appreciate the rich literary merit of the book; it is still suffused with meaning, but it just wasn't what I wanted or expected from the story.

Ava Reid elevated Lacy Macbeth to be a fierce and clever heroine. i love the incorporation of the dragon (very fitting to today's literary demands) and the feminine rage the seeped through the pages and into the reader. I LOVED THIS BOOK
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book before pib date.

I absolutely adore Ava Reid's writing and this story did not disappoint. From its strong reinterpretation of the classic play and its unique view on the importance of languages, this story is one I am still thinking about months later and can't wait to have a physical copy in August

Thank you so much to @delray for the #gifted early copy of this book! It has already found its dearest friends upon my shelf.

I may be biased since Ava Reid is one of my most favorite authors and Shakespeare one of my greatest loves, when I say this book was written just for me.

No one likes a mad woman but I sure love to read about them. One of my favorite things in this book was the duality of Roscille. She was both a girl and a woman. She went back and forth on her choices, she was vengeful, struggled with guilt, was scared of doing what she wanted and taking her life in her hands. I loved the the indecisiveness of her, it made her real to me. The weaving of storytelling and folklore, something that to me is one of Reid’s greatest strengths was immaculate.

This is an incredibly immersive book, I was completely captivated by its atmosphere. I was in the dungeons, I heard the ocean crashing into the castle, I saw the three witches shouting “all hail Macbeth!”

Do you have to be well versed in Macbeth to read this book? No! While it does play homage to the original play it stands separate. However I will say that having knowledge of the play does help you appreciate the twists and turns Ava Reid has added and how she’s utilized the play to craft this unique story. I reread Macbeth alongside this and had the most wonderful time.

What more can I say except that if I loved it less I might be able to talk about it more?

Thank you to netgalley for this arc!

This book was phenomenal, Ava Reid is one of my favorite authors and this book was her best work yet. Reid captured the essence of the darkness of Shakespeare's Macbeth so perfectly. This was such a great take on one of literatures most infamous villains, Lady Macbeth was a prominent character in the original writing, but to see her really come to life and have a more three dimensional character was so well done. The darkness of being a young bride being shipped away to a new country to be a part of a culture she has never want to be in and taking those circumstances and becoming a wonderful monster was so poetic. Reid's capture of her made her feel more human and gave Macbeth himself a much more villainous character approach, because the chaining of the witches (who are the old wives) in the murky basement waters was such an insane twist. I read this book in one sitting and felt that it was the perfect length to refamiliarize oneself with the original Macbeth while also introducing Reid's own personal touches.
This book was so atmospheric to the original play and I felt myself wanting more the entire time I was reading, Reid is proving to be quite the force in dark storytelling.

3.75 rounded up
I love Ava Reid’s writing and beautiful imagery. Her talent in providing such a vivid word, does show throughout this book. I found myself having trouble getting started. The first 50% of this book drags a bit, the second half is much faster paced. I am not overly familiar with the original story of Macbeth, though I thought it was an interesting switch to make Lady Macbeth the protagonist. From what I remember Lady Macbeth is not innocent from Macbeth’s crimes, she is a driving force for them, so the juxtaposition found here is truly an interesting choice, here Lady Macbeth is a victim of her circumstance, trying to have power in a world where women have none. The take on the witches was a really poignant touch, and cemented the feminism and sisterhood of women theme throughout the story. Thank you netgalley for an e arc of this book.

I truly contemplated on how I should rate this novel. Upon serious consideration, I'm giving this a 3.5. This is not a long story, but swallowing its contents felt like chewing on a very fatty steak. This book was very ambitious for what it was trying to achieve.

Obviously, Lady Macbeth is a reimagining of Shakespeare's Macbeth with a refocus on the titular character. In the play, her identity is solely Lady Macbeth and Reid gives her more substance in her version. Yet, this attempt at a female-centric take on one of the greatest plays in history, struggled under its own weight. Some aspects held well, but others crumbled.

The writing. This is truly Reid's shining moment here. Reid goes to great lengths to transform the nature of Shakespeare's verse and translate it into prose that resonates with the past while still comprehensible for the reader. And Reid excels at this truly. Her skill in writing well is prominent through this novel.

As for the plot and characterization, this is where it started to get rough. It tries to divert and honor the source material, but ends up ripping the script in half. Reid's Lady Macbeth has far less autonomy than Shakespeare's even though the narrative pushes for her freedom. The love interest can barely be called that as they share all of 5 scenes together. It didn't feel real, more like a tryst if anything.

The magic was fascinating in concept but it felt too clean--to convenient for the alternate plot. Lady Macbeth was not a character I was necessarily rooting for, but to be fair, all of the characters were villains in their own right--which was satisfying when vengeance was obtained.

Macbeth served as a tragedy and this was startling not so. I still question what this version offers in comparison. Nonetheless, I felt like this was a solid concept that just fell a little flat to my expectations.

I would like to preface this by saying, I have not read Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth so in this way I'm unsure how it holds up. From my understanding though, this is a very loose retelling with magic. So I don't think a side-by-side comparison would even be right in this case.

But I more than enjoyed this book! It was very slow paced at the beginning but picked up in the last 40%. For this it redeemed itself entirely. Ava Reid writes very passively maybe part of that was me getting used to this style once again.

First what I didn't enjoy so much:

Roscille has a very narrow and unfounded view on the Scottish men in her purview. She hates them with a passion and thinks very little of them although, they actually treat her well in the beginning. Other than a new environment and a culture she is unfamiliar with, there was nothing that was layed out as to why Roscille hated them as she did. So I could not hate them as she did. I only moved past this as, she is young at 17 and her only knowledge of men has been in a controlling and abusive sort of way. So I took it as her just hating her situation and therefore the men in her life.

What I loved:

I loved that everything in this book, every action, was unintentionally or intentionally brought down by Roscille. She was scheming and plotting away. She wanted her husband to die, and accidently set him on a course to become king. She wanted an ally, and accidently made an enemy. She finally met a man she liked and it ended up almost being her downfall. Every action she had taken to better her life in someway ended up being a thorn in her side or helpful.

I actually liked Lord Macbeth, and could not understand why she hated him so. He was nice and included her if a bit rought around the edges and power hungry/mad. I lowkey wished she ended up loving him.

I also enjoyed the magic aspect. I loved the analogy of her powers to what is going on. How she isn't supposed to be powerful or want power because she is a woman and yet, concealed behind her veil is just that. The power to bring men to their deaths if she pleases.

But mostly, I enjoyed that she just wanted better for herself than the man-ruled life she was in. A life where she was just supposed to produce a son, where she had no say, and was only an extension of her husband whom could do whatever he liked. She tried her best to not only survive but ensure herself a better future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for my arc in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Okay, I am going to keep this short because I'm still in disbelief over just how bad this book and Ava Reid's writing are. For reference, "Lady Macbeth" is supposed to be a "feminist reimagining" of the character Lady Macbeth from Shakespeare's "Macbeth." Now, I have not and am now definitely not a fan of Ava Reid's brand of feminism and writing. I've always found her writing to be pretty weak and incredibly reliant on buzzwords and this "reimagining" is no exception to that. I am so annoyed because all of the marketing for this says that this version of Lady Macbeth is supposed to give her agency and power in a way that the men in the play and the man who wrote her never did...ironically Reid's portrayal is incredibly xenophobic and misogynistic. Instead of a strong, intelligent, and bold (because that's what I associate with the canon Shakespeare character), we get a very delicate, weak-willed, racist, and honestly, dumb teenage girl. Right from the start, Lady Macbeth isn't even Scottish. She's French who sees the Scottish as animalistic and hulking idiots. Oh and for that extra Reid punch, she can't help but look down on the few women we see in this book as ugly and rough. I mean this is all just the basic issues with the book, I'm not even getting into the basic narrative issues that I always find with Reid's books either (don't ask me why I keep reading her books just to be disappointed...she has cool ideas...just poor execution...every single time). This reimagining feels like peak Reid to me because of its use of buzzword marketing, the shallow and lazy writing, the poor characterization, and the poor and lazy reinterpretation of an iconic Shakespeare character. Don't even get me started on Reid's interpretations of the men in this. UGH.

I'm keeping this review short because if I get TOO into it, I just get annoyed. Overall, this book was a MASSIVE disappointment. I would not recommend it if you are in any way a Shakespeare lover. Definitely not if you're like me and have studied Shakespeare constantly.

very very sad to say I am DNFing this. as an unapologetic shakespeare geek and villainous woman lover, I was absolutely ecstatic about this - I also really love Ava Reid and her writing style. but I got 39% in and just couldn't do it anymore. lady macbeth gives 'very woe is me' tiny girly energy and immediately writes off macbeth as a scottish brute, leaning into some gross stereotypes. character issues aside, I ran into a similar problem as when I read Juniper & Thorn. Reid's writing is incredibly unique but at the same time... repetitive? take a shot every time 'lamprey' or 'ermine' is mentioned. also i'm sorry but this whole chain of events being set off because she doesn't want to consummate the marriage, and her consistently harping on that... many things adding up to the novel just not working for me. and it breaks my heart to admit it.

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Ava Reid truly can do no wrong in my eyes and Lady Macbeth was no exception. This was just stellar. I can’t get enough of the way Ava pulls you into the world so quickly and you’re reluctant to leave long after you’ve finished. Absolutely incredible. Highly recommend!

Going into this blind (only familiar with Macbeth through the Zach & Cody episode where they perform it at school) felt like such a uniquely fun experience.

As a retelling, I can't measure it due to that unfamiliarity. However, from the perspective of someone with no knowledge of the tale, this was bloody brilliant.

I read this in 3 sittings over the course of 24 hours because I simply couldn't get enough. The balance of magic versus feminine wiles was fascinating, and I just loved the gloomy and suspenseful setting. Incredibly well-done.

Ava Reid can do no wrong. This is an incredible reimagining of the story of Macbeth that feels simultaneously fresh and different while staying true to the story. Absolutely phenomenal.

There’s a lot to love here, but there’s also quite a bit to find frustrating. I will say, if you are looking for a straight up Macbeth retelling, this is not it. This takes familiar characters and creates a new story with some recognizable milestones.

As always with any Ava Reid story, this is gorgeously written. There are some lines that can make you gasp with how beautifully and hauntingly they are rendered.

As far as Roscille/Lady Macbeth herself…I wanted more. I wanted a powerful woman, using her power, wielding her influence. We got some small flashes here and there. But overall, she finds herself miscalculating, not as clever as she thinks, or just plain cowed by the men around her. I didn’t want to see her shrink in upon herself.

I won’t spoil it, but I actually really enjoyed the romance subplot and how the book ended.

Not my favorite of Reid’s, but still one I would recommend, especially if you can go in with an open mind.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview. All opinions are my own.