This was a tough read to finish. The characters lacked depth and connection which made it difficult to get into the story… Maybe this was intentional to stay true to its theatrical roots - with the characters’ personalities showcased through the actors? Idk…
3 stars because the overall plot was fantastic.

This title is the singular reason I created a NetGalley account, and it did NOT disappoint! Ava Reid’s Lady Macbeth retelling is beyond captivating with every page beautiful written and every word meticulously chosen in order to underscore the mood of her work. Shakespeare would proud! Reid is a queen of wielding metaphors, and each one had me stopping and thinking. The eels and lampreys were especially striking. Reid did justice to the unwritten and overlooked narratives of women throughout history, and her blood-filled pages will leave its mark on everyone who reads them. Please, please, please read this haunting tale! 🖤🖤🖤

As someone who is not incredibly familiar with Macbeth, I thought this book was okay. I gave it a lot of grace because I knew it was a Shakespeare retelling, but I was really hoping for a little.... More?

From my understanding Macbeth is the one who kills everyone, with support from Lady Macbeth, in order to guarantee his line of succession. So I'm not really sure why Lady Macbeth has now been made the one to perform all of the murders. I don't know what that accomplishes? I enjoyed the setting and the Gothic feel, but that's something that I still could have achieved by reading the original play. I'm not sure that this book brought forth any new ideas in an enlightening way.

It also seems weird that in the play, Macbeth is Scottish. But in this book he is half Scottish and also absolutely abhors the Scots. Definitely felt like Scottish slander lol.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Lady Macbeth is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, one of the most complex characters Shakespeare rendered and Ava Reid did her nothing but justice. From the beautiful prose to the stunning scenery Ava Reid ensures that the reader is as enraptured by our Lady Macbeth as everyone else is. Cannot wait to see this in store.

This is my third book by the author and very much a mixed bag. Some high highs and some low lows.

The Writing:
But I have to start by talking about the writing itself, which I thought was lovely. Quotes like "A witch does not need a reason, only an opportunity" or "He has already seen how easily her fingers can spin lies; can her lips not also fashion falsehoods?"

Repetition:
However I really struggled around the 60% mark with how repetitive it became. Being trapped in the head of a naive and scared girl wasn't fun. The fact that she keeps thinking the same thoughts of the country she now finds herself in, and what she perceives to be the brutish countrymen, while cowering and fearing a terrible future of her own invention... it was very wearying.

The Magic:
Around chapter 11 is when things started to get interesting and fantastical enough for me. I'd probably say Historical Fiction is my least favourite genre, so the low fantasy of the first two thirds did little to hold my attention outside of the writing. And then chapter 15 was kind of a banger? But it was also very short and a little too late.

Controversy:
I've seen some controversy surrounding the way she views Scottish people and that the real life Lady Macbeth was a Scottish woman and this adaptation is more French. In my reading, I never felt like the text backed up her views of the Scottish so I think it's important to differentiate the views of the character and the views of the author/being endorsed by the text. Additionally, this is an adaptation of a character from a Shakespeare play and not a retelling of a real woman's life, so it doesn't bother me that her nationality was changed. But ymmv.

Overall:
This is overall challenging to recommend to a particular audience. I think that it might be most at home with Historical Fiction lovers who prefer their prose on the purple side and a strong female rage/good for her throughline in their narratives.

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for granting me an ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and DelRey publishing for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest review.
I am obsessed with Lady MacBeth and the new take Ava has taken with this book. It was such a a fun, yet heartbreaking read. From beginning to end I was on the edge of my seat and sent reeling by the last few pages. I loved the character contrast and relationships, I think they worked well with characters we know from the original tragedy we all know. This book essentially turns it's pages for you, if I could read it for the first time again, I would!

I am very sad with the outcome of my reading experience. I was so excited to read this based on how much I love "A Study in Drowning" by the same author but this was so disappointing. I don't even have words to describe how overwhelmed I felt reading this.

4.5 ⭐️! I absolutely love Ava Reid’s writing. I first read A Study in Drowing and fell in love with her writing style and Lady Macbeth did not disappoint! Her ability to write so beautifully about feminine rage, pain, and revenge makes her stories so enjoyable to read and experience.

This book in particular is an exploration on female power and how that power can influence, intimidate, and threaten men. Roscille is controlled by men for most of her life and constantly told who she is. When she has been broken down, and in moments of peril, she finds her strength, not by using the brute force of men, but in using her intuition and will to survive.

I love that this book (as well as Reid’s other works) explore the dark themes that mold and stifle the female character, as well as her growth and integration of the shadow self. I’m so grateful to have received this arc and I can’t wait to purchase the hard copy. Highly recommend this book.

A stunning and enchanting book.
Truly I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did, it was my first dive into Ava Reid's works and it did not disappoint.
Lady Macbeth drives you in with Roscille, a sweet and innocent girl who is yet to know how the world outside of her home truly works, by the end of this book you are able to see the growth and the change in her character as she spends more time in Glammis.

A watered down, timid version of Lady Macbeth throws a wrench into the OG play in this VERY LOOSE reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The scene? Miserable. The characters? Miserable. The ending? Largely miserable, but with a twist!



As always, Reid’s writing and prose create such a vivid, gothic, unsettling atmosphere, and did her homework with the level of detail she gives with homage original play. I don’t mind dislikable characters, which Roselle and company certainly were, but the backstory to them was not there for me to care. Roselle has aged backwards, become spineless compared to the Lady Macbeth we know and [love]. Although she occasionally shows intellect and cunningness, it always seems like these events just happen to her, rather than her being the mastermind orchestrating it. The only remarkable thing about Lord Macbeth was his bloody limp. The witches carried the team on their back and tbh I will now be dressing up as a magical sea hag for Halloween, justice for the witches!! They may not be the beautiful topless witches that Sleep No More depicts, but they were arguably better and I loved all scenes with the trio involved. Without going into spoilers, certain traumatizing and character-altering scenes in this book were not treated with the gravitas they deserved and seemed almost off the cuff. This was probably the biggest drawback for me in this story. Overall, I was here for the vibes and the vibes were a home run, but some questionable plot points made for a bumpy road.



<i>Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC! While I didn't enjoy A Study in Drowning, I appreciated Reid's prose and wanted to try out her retelling of Macbeth focused on the titular Lady Macbeth. Unfortunately, I expected a darker, sinister, more clever and cunning characterization - but this book didn't deliver. I have no doubt that other readers will eat this up and it will be someone's five star read, but for me this wasn't quite what I expected and even Reid's gorgeous writing style couldn't help.

Really, really loved this. It was my first Ava Reid book, and I will definitely be picking up her other stuff now. Macbeth is my favorite of the tragedies, and this retelling does it justice and then some. Absolutely beautiful.

I really enjoyed this book! Ava Reid is truly gifted at bringing out the darkness and oddities and Roscille was no exception. I know that this book will be very popular on BookTok and I can't wait to see what others think of it.

Wow, if there’s one thing I love about Ava Reid it’s that she’s I can tell she’s a lil weirdo at heart.
I really loved this book, it’s a great show of Reid’s ability to create incredibly complex characters that you aren’t sure if you should be rooting for or not.

With that being said, the one thing that bummed me out in this book is that it’s a more feminist retelling of Macbeth. In the original Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is usually played by a middle aged/older woman, but here she is replaced with a seventeen year old girl. While Roscille is still girlbossing, gaslighting and gatekeeping her way through this, it’s still obvious that she’s naïve and inexperienced. I understand that it’s a new take on the story, it’s just so rare that we get to see older FMC’s, and I would have loved to see a more matured, conniving Lady Macbeth.

With that said, I still loved the story, and wasn’t bothered by any of the other liberties Reid took. If anything, I loved the mystical/fantasy elements that were added, and am always here for a character who is accused of being a witch.

P.S. Looking through all these other reviews has me terrified for where our media literacy is heading in the generation. I’m seeing a lot of comments saying this book is xenophobic/Reid is xenophobic towards Scottish people because Roscille speaks negatively about the Scots in this book. I think people are forgetting that this is set in the 1600’s and sadly people were prejudiced against others and were ignorant. Just because people are informed about these issues today does not erase that history, and writing from that point of view does not mean that the writer has those beliefs.

A big thank you to Del Ray for selecting little ol’ me to receive an eARC in exchange for an honest review!!!

I absolutely loved the slow burn vengeance and anger that this brings, the feminine rage, the twists of deception laid out like spider web. this was a fantastic take on Macbeth.

thank you Netgalley for allowing me an ARC!

Ava Reid has never written a book that I didn't absolutely love.

The way that she deconstructs old stories, and creates such meaningful commentary about the "role of women" historically always stuns me.

I haven't read the original play, but I'd say this book was infinitely better!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC

I would give Lady Macbeth 10 stars on this page if I could. I love this book soo much. This story given to Lady Macbeth is heartbreaking and captivating at the same time. I could not put this book down. The world created is so brutal and yet Lady Macbeth does not back down. As she must face the cruel Macbeth. Reid’s writing is stunning and will stay with me for a long time. This is a must-read for Ava Reid fans.

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid
Rating: 4 ⭐️’s

This was my first read by Ava Reid and I was so happy when they announced it was a retelling of one of Shakespeare’s works. I was one of those people who dove into his work after the mandatory reading of Romeo & Juliet in high school. Although Macbeth was one I was enthralled by when I was younger, so I won’t do much comparing.
*
Reid’s writing pulled me in immediately! It made me feel like I was actually Lady Macbeth- Roscille, in the castle suddenly being picked up by men who strip off my shoes, quickly shivering from the ice cold water being thrown on my bare feet. Likewise, I was constantly uncomfortable because I felt like I was experiencing Roscille’s pain and struggles. Given her age of seventeen and her encounters with conflict or need to be cunning being close to none, I felt Roscille was portrayed as a strong feminist source. She knew she had to learn skills to protect herself and position she was in. Even though we got a lot of schemes and manipulations not playing out the way she had wished, she showed her adaptive and cunning instincts and her unwillingness to be a victim to men.
*
In the beginning I often found myself rooting for Macbeth, hoping that maybe he was a misunderstood character. That immediately changed when he took unconsented advantage of Roscille. I did feel like Reid was a little harsh in her descriptions of the Scottish men as a whole, repeatedly describing them as brutal ,uncaring, etc. I assume it was to justify Roscille’s actions, to give her a greater danger and fear to what she had to endure. Still, it seemed just a tad too much.
*
The speed of the book was okay to me until the end. I was happy with the actual events that occurred, just not the rushed execution of it all. And because of the hastiness the events that lead to the conclusion almost felt given. I would have been happier if we got a real chance to see the worth of all these moments of outwitting, cleverness, and bravery we’ve seen from Roscille. Instead of just an “aha” moment and silly mistakes made from the antagonists.
*
In all, I did enjoy the book and the immersive experience I got from Reid’s writing. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

3.75 stars. I was a theatre major in college, and while that doesn't mean anything in the real world, it DOES mean that I've had my fair dose of Shakespeare. MACBETH is one of my favorites and Lady Macbeth is probably my favorite character - her "OUT DAMN SPOT" speech is top tier and her descent into madness is fascinating to witness. Sidebar, I was lucky enough to see Frances McDormand play her a few years ago at Berkeley Rep and that performance will forever live rent free in my mind. All this to say, I was rather curious to see Ava Reid's treatment of the Bard, especially because I've heard such great things about A STUDY IN DROWNING. LADY MACBETH is my introduction to Reid's work, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I was extra excited to read this one and the gorgeous cover sucked me in immediately. It's a work of art and momma that neon-pink font sealed the deal, I had to read it.

A reimagining of MACBETH could go in a million different directions, but Reid utilizes her command of language and dark atmospheres to craft a moody study on gender politics, feminism and self-discovery. Ava said, "I'm going to tell this tale from the perspective of a seventeen year old Lady Macbeth, but show what would happen if she was a fierce and gorge witch that loved animals." And ya know what? For the most part, this book slays, and mainly because Roscille is a complex and endearing character. She's the kinda gal that doesn’t knock, just steps in and we love an ethereal queen that's able to manipulate men with her beauty and ooky-spooky eyes. I mean, the girl gets out of putting out for Macbeth by requesting jewelry from Cawder and he immediately leaves to declare war and retrieve the gems. THE POWER SHE HAS. I swear, I need to get me one of those Lady M veils so I don’t have to look anyone directly in the eyes on days where I’m feeling depressy.

Another strength is the surprising love story that pops up in the form of a dragon. A very sexy and charismatic dragon that Roscille has steamy chemistry with. It's not SUPER spicy, but there are some much welcomed romps. Magic and mysticism is much more prevalent in this retelling which I appreciated and honestly wanted more of. Reid's prose is indeed very beautiful, albeit a little flowery at times, but it's clear she knows how to immerse her readers into the dark world she's created. I found it interesting to read about the origins of Lady M's madness and the women in her family that were also consumed by it. It was also interesting to see what Reid did with the new and existing characters and I can confidently say that Fleance can eat rocks and there must be justice for Hawise!

LADY MACBETH is a fresh enough take on the classic that it will leave you lisping, "YAS QUEEN!" by the end. That said, it did take me a bit longer to get through and I can't figure out if it's because of the pacing or writing style. The story would slog a little and then jump around and she'd omit scenes that I wish we would've actually seen. But ultimately, I dug the grey tones and foggy castle atmosphere just as much as I dug the ending and moral of the story. Basically men have always sucked, but alas here we are still talking about them. Shakespeare purists might roll their eyes at this version of Lady M, but if you go in with an open mind you might be surprised. I might need more time to sit on this one because I can't help but feel that something was missing and I need to process what that is.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine and Del Rey for the ARC. I'll be including LADY MACBETH in my upcoming February wrap-up on my BookTok (@thebradendavis).

i unfortunately had to dnf 20% through. While that may seem slightly unfair, the characters were two dimensional and the story was thoroughly not provoking, with many dark themes that were not catching my attention. i’ve loved her other books so far so this was truly a let down. i will potentially come back to it when im in the mood for something a little darker/less romance-esque.