Lady Macbeth is a gothic reimagining of Macbeth from the viewpoint of Lady Macbeth with a dash of fantasy. It takes a lot of the characters and elements of Shakespeare's play and tells the story in a fresh way with new stakes, delving deeply into the mindset of Lady Macbeth.

Instead of a villain, Reid has created a compelling, sympathetic protagonist--a teenage girl who's dealing with the horrors of her time and is trying to cope as best as she can in an arranged marriage and a new land. As with Reid's other books, her prose is gorgeous and the setting is vivid and atmospheric. The feminist theme woven throughout the narrative is another strong point, and I especially liked how this impacted Reid's interpretation of the three witches. I also liked the way Reid handled Lady Macbeth's shifting name. In a note, she mentioned how she wanted to keep name pronunciation true to historical accuracy. This also fits the protagonist's shifting identity as she figures out who she is and what her place is in the world. Is she French or Scottish? A bastard daughter of a duke or a lady? Is she witch-kissed or powerful in her own right? Because this is a coming-of-age tale at its heart, I do think it's properly classified as young adult. However, given the themes and writing, it has a lot of crossover appeal.

Two issues kept this book from being a five-star read. One, the love story subplot was a little underdeveloped and rushed. I'm not super bothered by this one as it wasn't the main focus of the story. The other is that I didn't connect with Lady Macbeth the way I did with Effy from ASID. That may be an unfair comparison that other readers aren't bothered by--I had such a strong connection with Effy and ASID is one of my all-time favorite books. It did make me feel less emotionally connected to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Ballantine/Del Rey for giving me an ARC. All thoughts are my own.

🌊A feminist retelling of Macbeth from the perspective Lady Macbeth.🌊

I’m always up for Shakespeare retellings. I love the expansion of his stories and characters and deeper dive into their motivations, etc.

I have seen Macbeth, but only remembered the witches. I read the Macbeth plot summary after finishing Lady Macbeth. It seems to vary significantly from the original source material... but honestly I’m a bit confused overall.

Reid’s writing was poetic and full of symbolism and comparisons to the native animals of Scotland. But the story and characters had me wanting less metaphorical writing. I was confused about what was happening and why.

I mostly understood why Roscille (Lady Macbeth) did what she did ... but I did not understand her overall plan. What was her next step going to be? No idea.

It was a slow start and then the end lost my interest too.

I can see why people will enjoy this book. I’d like to read another book by Reid. But this didn’t help me understand the story of Macbeth any better and the story on it’s own felt underwhelming.

I’m really disappointed because I was so excited to read this one. Look at that cover! Ugh. I want to like it so much. 😭

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid reimagines the bloody tragedy of Macbeth, but this time with the ever-iconic Lady Macbeth holding the reins. Reid delves deeper into the mind of Lady Macbeth, showcasing her cleverness and motivations and twisting this, usually male-dominated, story into one of feminism and power in the face of seemingly all-powerful men. This tale is one I would recommend to any fans of the original play.

I personally didn’t love this book, but that was mostly because the writing was, in my opinion, complex and somewhat dense, causing me to struggle to get into the story. However, this is partly because Reid was extremely accurate to the different aspects of the time period, with titles for places/people and languages.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing House for the ARC!

I think this is my third Lady M book of the year, and it's only March. I guess she's pretty hot right now. In this version, she's just another Lady M in a long line of them--three, in fact, chained up in Mackers's basement, doing the laundry and making prophesies. This Lady herself has powers--maybe--but they're a bit wasted here. Lady M is mostly kind of falccid, trying to plot and scheme without being very good at either. The entire book is about avoiding penetration--Lady M's fear of Macbeth's penis, the penetration of his kingdom by other forces, While she tries to avoid having PIV sex with Macbeth, she falls for one of Duncan's sons, who is....a dragon.... and good at oral sex. Anyway, it's a bit of a mess, and despite some interesting atmospheric things, I can't recommend it.

Please be sure to read your content warnings!

Tropes & themes:
Single POV (FMC)
Arranged forced marriage
Clever FMC
Witches
Slow burn (not in a romance way, more so the pacing of the book)
Curses and prophesies
Shakespeare retelling

If you love gothic themes & Shakespeare this one is for you!! It is set in the Scottish country side, and follows the POV of Lady Macbeth in a gothic tale of how & what women need to do in order to survive. Ava Reid did a BEAUTIFUL job with this story & her writing really stood out with this release. I nocked down a star due to the side stories that weren’t complete & left me wondering about them.

Ava Reid’s latest release is a true re-imagining of Macbeth — she takes elements of the classic story we all read in high school English and turns it into something altogether new. It takes some of the characters and plot elements you liked and brings them back to life with different stakes and motivations.

If you’re expecting the classic Lady Macbeth character, definitely shift your mindset! Although a little controversial, I liked that Reid has written a new Lady Macbeth character. This one isn’t the same villainess from the Bard’s tale, but a teenage French bride who isn’t quite as confident or wise. I don’t love that we’re losing a beloved strong middle-aged female character, but if you suspend that knowledge, this new character works.

The story’s plot kept me engaged throughout. The heightened fantasy elements really brought new twists that upended my expectations. The sense of dark inevitability sucked me in big time.

My only complaints are that many of the characters felt a little too undeveloped for me. I wish we had learned more about the witches or even Macbeth himself. It really took me out of the story a little when the witches are described as “left witch” or “right witch” versus, at the very least, giving them nicknames. And to that point, we are often told Macbeth is mega-bloodthirsty without really being shown why, despite this being a point the plot hinges on.

Big thanks to NetGalley & DelRey/Random House Publishing Group for this ARC — this was a release I’ve really been looking forward to! I found it to be a compelling, quick read that I certainly enjoyed. Definitely worth picking up!

Ava Reid is the master of telling multifaceted dark academia stories. She is able to breathe life in such a vivid and compelling way into this classic tale. When I first heard about Lady Macbeth, I knew that I had to sink my teeth into it as soon as I could. Everything about this work drew me in and refused to let me go. Compelling doesn't seem like a strong enough descriptor for this work.

I know that this book is marketed as a “Lady Macbeth Retelling” but personally it was not. Without giving any spoilers— this has more of a “twisted tales” telling where you get the base story as you do for example in Leonardo Dicaprio's version of Romeo and Juliet or the more recent Rosaline that had streamed on Hulu. I think if you go into it expecting it to be close to source material, you may find it disappointing.

However, I chose not to go into it with any expectation of such and I enjoyed the book and the way in which Ava Reid wove her story.

I chose to give four stars because I think that Lady Macbeth's perspective of "Scots are bad, mindless, awful" people felt a bit excessive. I get that she's a foreign bride from another country but this narrative feels overdone.

Overall, I was excited about receiving this as an arc from Netgalley and would recommend it. It was a quick read and one I enjoyed.

A beautifully atmospheric book that grips you from the very first sentence.

I practically screamed when I got approved for this ARC. I read A Study in Drowning in 2023 and immediately knew Ava Reid would become one of my auto-buy authors.

Her writing in Lady Macbeth was lyric with an undertone of dark and gothic, which was exactly what I was craving when I picked this book up.

The characters will fully fleshed out and I loved seeing how the characters developed as the story progressed.

I have no critiques for this one. 5 stars all the way!

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing and Ava Reid for this e-ARC of Lady Macbeth in exchange for an honest review! It is much appreciated!

I’m trying to branch out with the genres I read. Historically, (pun intended) historical fiction has not been my fave but I read Macbeth in high school and enjoyed it so I thought this might be a good way to dip my toe in the water.

Here’s what it did right: We all know that Lady Macbeth and the witches are the best part of the original Macbeth so getting a twist on the classic more heavily featuring the women of the story was fun, the imagery was very vivid and deep, and it reeeeeally highlights what it meant to be a woman back in ye olde Scotland—the quotes in this book go craaazy.

Aaaand here’s what I didn’t like: It was dryyyy all the way through, a well done steak of a book. I kept waiting for it to get juicy, for her to harness her power and just unleash it on them all but it never came. For someone who can drive men to madness with just one look, Roscille had absolutely no bite. I kept holding out for a fantastic climax, a great shock, something truly vindicating to finish off the book and it just…never came.

Also, spoilers: HOW IS THE ENDING ANY BETTER THAN HER JUST BEING MACBETH’S QUEEN?! The only difference is just that she has a nice husband. Macbeth didn’t even get a proper, painful death. Ugh.

A stunning retelling of the story of Lady Macbeth from the wonderful as usual Ava Reid. I truly can't wait to add this book to my collection. Reid is able to tell a story that captivates you immediately. I couldn't put it down once I started it!

In wild, rocky sea cliffs of Scotland, where the wind howls loud and the black waves beckon, Reid lays her scene. Roscille, 17 years old and witch cursed, approaches Glammis, the home and keep of her new husband, Macbeth. She hides her face behind a veil, to keep mortal men from falling prey to her ensnaring gaze. It is a perilous place and she does what is necessary to survive. Whatever is Necessary.

Lies, bloodshed, vengeance, and prophecy swirl with vibes plucked straight from an A24 film. Lady Macbeth is not a complete retelling as Reid chooses to honor her characters over the original Shakespearian text but it is masterfully done. Reid doesn't gloss over the horror that Roscille faces, but neither does she utilize it for shock factor. Deftly woven throughout is a thread of hope, and perhaps the chance of it is the cruelest twist of it all.

This isn't going to be a glowing review.
The cover is, unfortunately, the best part of this book.

This was not my Lady Macbeth. I'm a little perplexed, mildly frustrated, and mostly angry. This was a highly anticipated read me and it left me disappointed. The book was very atmospheric but that's where the positives end for me. I went into this hoping for a more accurate, more feminist retelling.

Reid diverts from the source material too much, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, However, Roscille is vastly different from the Original Lady Macbeth. The Original Lady Macbeth gaslights, gatekeeps, girlbosses her way to the top. She was the one pulling Macbeth's strings the whole time. The Original Lady M does not need men to define her - Macbeth is defined BY HER.

Where is the woman who told her husband he was “too full of the milk of human kindness” because he didn’t want to KILL THE KING (his friend)? Where is my unhinged girly being torn apart by guilt? In this book, she doesn’t emasculate her husband and doesn’t even go a little bit crazy. She’s watered down and turned into nothing. In this rendition, Lady Macbeth (Roscille) is defined only by the men in her life. Roscille had zero motivation or intent in anything. Where was her agency? Everything came from the men in the story - which isn't the character AT ALL. Even the "love interest" (and don't get me STARTED on this) saw Roscille as an object/possession.

I don't know why Reid made Lady M/Roscille French and 17 in this. In the original play Lady M says she has had children (she says she has 'given suck," meaning breastfed), Also, I'm not sure if this was Reid's intent, but Roscille was very xenophobic. Why was it constantly "Scots are barbaric" or have "savage customs." The play gives no inclination that Lady M hates the Scots. Between the xenophobia and extreme violence portrayed against women, I just felt awful reading this.

I also forgot this was fantasy till the 60% mark. What's the point of the DRAGON? No, really. That one I want an explanation for. WHY WAS THERE A DRAGON, AVA? I'm familiar with the symbolism of dragons in British iconography but it felt thrown in at the last moment. Roscille is called a witch continuously but never showed signs of actually being one. But then when it came time to kill Duncane, she conveniently had powers. Riiiigght.

Ava Reid - what did you do to my girl?

I'm very thankful for Net Galley, Ava Reid, and Random House for the ARC.

Lady Macbeth was amazing. The writing was STUNNING. I’ve never read Macbeth but going it this blind was a good idea. Roscille is a girl who is believed to be a witch and forced to marry a man she does not know in a land foreign to her. She is molded by the men around her and forced to become something dangerous. She’s rumored to have witchy powers that can force men to do her bidding. We watch Roscille come into her own and take back her power from the men around her. Lady Macbeth shows the horrors even wealthy women dealt with in medieval times. It also has dragons. I am so glad I got to read this one! Thank you NetGalley!

I have been thinking about how I feel about this book for weeks. I was very excited to be selected for this book as I loved ASID. I didn't enjoy how the essence of the character of Lady Macbeth was so entirely different from the Shakespearean tale. The way it was marketed just made the book disappointing as I didn't feel as if the character was true to the source material. I'm really hating the surge of “feminist” reimagining that take away the agency and power of powerful, ambitious, cunning female villains. This is one of those books. In Macbeth , Lady Macbeth is gaslighting, gatekeeping, and overall brash behavior gets her to the top. She is one of the most iconic characters of Shakespeare because she is not defined by a man, the man is defined by her. All of that was taken away in this retelling. I wouldn't even call it that. The only inspiration I see is the names and the setting.

This version of Lady Macbeth is also incredibly xenophobic. While I understand that people are xenophobic, and that can fit with the time period of the book. There's a way to portray characters as the antagonist without being xenophobic. Scottish people are continually seen as stupid, violent brutes in Reid's take on the story and it's just unnecessary in 2024. Again, there's nothing in the source material for Lady Macbeth to hate the Scots so significantly. Why was the necessary to add? Especially when it's not being used as a plot device to have a better character arc? I think this could’ve been handled a significantly better way and it would’ve had both parties (Macbeth and Lady Macbeth) be less one dimensional.

Overall, this book had so much potential and just fell flat. The progression of the book is slow, sloppy, and not engaging. I was struggling to want to read it. Then it ends extremely abruptly. While the writing in "A Study in Drowning" was enchanting, Lady Macbeth felt like a rough draft from a different author. Which is incredibly disappointing given that I've previously loved her work.

The author did a great job with this retelling of a classic Shakespeare character. I think what really made this book special to me was the characterization of the three witches and their mystery, driving you to want to learn more about what’s really going on in this castle. While the story was captivating through to the end. However I was a little disappointed with the ending, it seemed a little lackluster compared to te rest of the book. Overall it was an enjoyable read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book! Ava Reid is quickly becoming one of my all time favorite authors. I absolutely love how her settings are a character in her books and it's woven so flawlessly into the story, the character development and the plot. She took a story that almost everyone knows something about, and turned it on its head. She added her signature gothic style and the atmosphere was dark, dangerous, and haunted. There were so many quotable moments, moments where I gasped or cried, and the story still surprised me in so many ways. I loved how she chose to include the many names all of the characters would have had depending on the regional dialect and all of the historical research that went into the setting of this story. This will probably be one of my favorite books of all time and it will be difficult not to pre-order multiple editions of this book.

This was a DNF for me at 55%. I did think the prose was really beautiful and the book itself is so atmospheric. I don't know if I would have enjoyed it more if I was more familiar with the story of Macbeth but the plot felt VERY slow and the character of Lady Macbeth felt very shallow and underdeveloped. I've read other books by Ava Reid and enjoyed them - but this was just a miss for me.

I was in the worst reading slump of my life until I picked up this book. Reid is an auto buy author for me and anything she writes is a 5⭐️ read. This book is no different. Following the most infamous characters in Shakespeare history, we finally get Lady Macbeth’s story, from her marriage to Macbeth to the end of it all.

This utterly enchanting and heart shattering novel captures the essence of Macbeth while also captivating the story of a young witch more powerful than anyone could imagine. This story encompasses grit, determination, fearlessness, and intellect in a character that many readers can relate to. Reid uses her stunning usage of bewitching imagery to bring her readers into this haunting novel and to better understand Roscille outside of her married name.

This book reads like spellbinding poetry, I could not put it down. It is a beautiful work of art that will surely have all of its readers in a trance while reading it.

A witch trapped in a marriage to a tyrant who will stop at nothing to get the crown. With war on the horizon and death in her future, what will Roscille do to break her chains…she must become Lady Macbeth.

A dark fantasy retelling of MacBeth from Lady MacBeth’s perspective. She is a bastard daughter of a Lord sold to Lord Macbeth as his newest wife. He is known for wedding women who are called witch. She must use her wiles to change her own fate and escape the madman who doesn’t think twice about shedding blood.
This book was incredible and I devoured it in one sitting.
Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for this amazing ARC!