Ava Reid is one of my favorite authors of all time and anything she writes is always full to the brim of grit and personality. I'm not quite sure if this — while a good story in it's own right — was really the story of Lady Macbeth or rather a powerful story about a woman wearing the skin of Lady Macbeth. I'm still mulling over my enjoyment versus how I feel this stands as a kind of retelling / from a different perspective of Macbeth but the story held my attention regardless thanks to Reid's strong character work and narrative voice.

This was definitely an interesting read for me. I wouldn’t say I am a huge Shakespeare fan but I am a fun fan of Ava Reid’s writing style. This story is told from Lady Macbeth’s point of view and was a very thought provoking read. Ava Reid writes some pretty dark stories but I always enjoy her work. I enjoyed the characters and the self exploration throughout.

Reid is an automatic-read author for me, ever since Juniper & Thorn, and this book only solidified it for me. The topic seemed a little different than Reid’s other work initially, so I was very curious, but it makes complete sense- Reid always finds those often-unlooked angles on women who could so easily be pushed aside by life around them. Not by their own doing of course, but because of all the various minutia that make women “inconsequential” by society. I think this book was beautiful. Atmospheric, luscious, dark, as one expects from a Reid novel, as well as chock full of the deep themes and extensive references of Reid’s signature, too. One does not need to know Macbeth source material either to be sucked into this novel, just a note.

Ahhh Macbeth god I loved it. And the story of her eyes had me hooked. It was a great twist on the retelling kept me very entertained

3.5 rounded up- I will read anything Ava Reid forever and always and mostly love it just because her writing style is my jam. However, this was my least favorite of her work. The characters were underdeveloped and the love story was unnecessary at best/diminished the message at worst. This also seemed so short to me. I think she could have worked some magic with at least 50 more pages.

Thank you again NetGalley and Random House Publishing, Del Rey for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Not worth 1 or 2 stars but not my favorite. However 3.5 because it wasn’t a horribly written story. So I gave it four stars.

I wanted to like this book. The cover! I love Shakespeare! But it's just not deep enough to satisfy the bard nerds or literary audience it was marketed to. Should be shelved ya

In this reimagining of Macbeth through Lady Macbeth's eyes, Ava Reid delves into the journey of a woman navigating a patriarchal political world, discovering her own strength and deciding how to wield it. The atmosphere is haunting and evocative, with elements that evoke the dark allure of a twisted farytale. It was my first time reading this author and I'm definitely interested in more of her work.
Thematically, Reid intertwines femininity with the power of beauty, persuasion, influence, and speech, contrasting it with the destructive forces of toxic masculinity—domination, entitlement, violence, and unquenchable ambition. All of this elements sound really interesting but I think at times it lacked the complexity needed to tell a story about so many things happening at the same time.
She weaves elements of body horror and brutality to explore the complexities of power, abuse, and the sinister undercurrents of womanhooh, wich I think does work pretty well.

The result is a mature fairytale about a young wife navigating her way around and beneath her husband, striving for independence, control, and perhaps even love. While the story lacks subtlety, and I would have appreciated more complexity and depth in handling these themes, the straightforward plot doesn’t detract from its enjoyment. You could say that I actually had a lot of fun reading this, and I truly think the atmosphere played a big part on that. The immersive setting carries much of the weight, making the simpler characters and narrative less of an issue. Though I haven’t read the original work it draws from, I’d argue that "retelling" is a loose term here, wich I know has lead to other people complaining about the inaccurate depictions of the real story, I can't say much about that but I imagine that they are probably right. Inspired by and reimagined for its own purpose might be a more fitting description.

3.75 stars!

*Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publishers for the ARC*

My goodness I wanted to like this. Nay, I wanted to love it. Macbeth is one of my favorite works by Shakespeare and Lady Macbeth is my favorite Shakespearean character. She's a cunning and fierce villainess who's influence on Macbeth is very meticulous and driven by her own ambition. This retelling (if we can call it that) turns that character into a girl who is brutalized by men at every turn. We don't see that spark or fierceness that is so central to the Lady Mac character. Also, yes the original story of Macbeth has fantastical elements in the forms of witches and ghosts, but at its heart it is a human story. Macbeth (and Lady Macbeth) are driven by their own ambition, as misguided as it may be, and the fantastical elements (particularly that of Banquo's ghost) are products of Macbeth's descent into utter madness. This just...wasn't it. I was so frustrated that I ended up calling it a day at the 45% mark. The prose, though beautiful, wasn't enough to keep me going.

I think I could have liked this book more if it was marketed as an original story, or even Macbeth inspired, but as far as a ‘retelling’, this fell short for me on almost every level.

I think the prose of this story was to its credit, and Reid created a strong setting of a dank, unwelcoming castle. There were some lines I really liked, such as “Vengeance is not a wooden cup that empties. It is a jeweled chalice which endlessly spills over”. However, some metaphors and imagery were heavily overused, such as the pool of lampreys and the waifishness of Rocille.

The characterization of Rocille and Macbeth was the most confounding part of this book to me. I have really enjoyed some of the fantastical retellings of well-known mythologies in recent years, and was excited for this interpretation of an iconic duo of ambitious, hubristic Shakespeare characters. Unfortunately, they were both unrecognizable in Lady Macbeth, and I did not find the changes made to be to the value of the story or the characters.

Two retellings I’ve enjoyed were Madeline Miller’s Circe and Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sun. In Miller’s retelling, she takes a female character from Greek mythology whose intentions and actions have been portrayed with malice and adds a rich backstory and humanization of her character that allows the reader to understand the actions that take place (mostly) in the original myth. In Parker-Chan’s interpretation of Mulan, instead of the protagonist’s original motivations being more selfless in intending to protect her father, this character instead dresses as a man to seize a better fate. She is motivated by a want for security, but also ambition and notoriety.

For what is marketed as a ‘feminist retelling’ of Shakespeare’s iconic story, this story felt horribly opposite. Rocille was not humanized or sympathetic to me. She did not feel like a full character, but instead a shallow encapsulation of the weakness of women. Her primary character motivation seems to be avoiding her marriage bed. The reader is repeatedly reminded of her weakness, her paleness, her passivity. In nearly every interaction she has with Macbeth she is apologizing. She is manhandled or brutalized by nearly every main male character (she is assaulted by Macbeth, she is beaten by Banquo, she is overpowered by Lisander, she is seized by Fleance, while he is behind bars, after repeated mentions of his weakness). She exerts influence on others or even on her own fate few enough times I could count on one hand. She is repeatedly depicted as weak and passive, while we are repeatedly told she is cunning and wily.

Compare this with the original Lady Macbeth of Shakespeare (while it is later revealed in Reid’s story that this character may not be Rocille, this story is still called Lady Macbeth). Shakespeare’s villainess has influence over Macbeth not due to any magic or beauty, but by her cunning and fierceness of ambition. She is disappointed by his hesitation to grab his own fate, chiding him for being too full of “the milk of human kindness”. She is stubborn and powerful, but is humanized through her guilt and regret. She is a strong, full character.

This retelling did not add humanization to Lady Macbeth, nor strengthen her as a feminist icon. It defanged her totally, and reduced any character motivations as influenced and driven by men. This was the ultimate failure of the book to me, to not even mention the complete dehumanization of Macbeth as a character.

Lastly, one of my favorite things about Macbeth is that while it has fantastical elements, it is overall a human story. The witches are catalysts, but it is the Macbeths’ ambition that drives forward the action of the story. Macbeth is haunted by Banquo’s ghost, but can be attributed to his guilty conscience and descent into madness. I CANNOT for the life of me understand what the addition of a dragon is doing for this story.

This book was not for me. It sort of dragged and I found that I did not care for any of the characters at all. This book gets two stars because it was really well written.

So the more I think about authors that I love or that I think I will love, the more I also think about what stuff they write. I do hope to be in the mood to get over myself and just read books that have any sort of heterosexual couples, especially in regards to Ava Reid, but I figured I would at least update this here.

I can't say enough good things about this one! Ava Reid is an all-time favorite author of mine. I've read everything she has written so far and her books just keep getting better and better. I annotated this one and wrote nearly four pages of quotes in my reading journal. I bought a physical copy and it's such a stunning edition. I'm so thrilled to have this one in a special place on my shelves forever.

What I loved:
- brilliant writing
- smart protagonist
- politics & scheming

Interesting Discussion Topics:
- historical context of wifehood and the treatment of women
- Lady Macbeth's isolation and alienation
- duplicity of both good and evil existing within us

4.25/5 <3

Ava Reid is one of my favorite authors, and fairytale retellings are one of my favorite type of books!! She really did this one justice. I will always be in awe of her beautiful writing!!!

I've enjoyed Ava Reid before, and am a Shakespeare fan so I was very excited for this one! sadly it didn't really live up to my expectations at all - she completely redid the whole character of Lady Macbeth and I didn't love the direction of the story.

Ava Reid is a master of gothic atmospheric writing and Lady Macbeth was no different. The pacing for this novel was a bit slower than some of her others, which took me a while to get used to. Additionally, this is not a direct retelling of Macbeth from Lady Macbeth’s point of view so readers need to keep that (and the fact that this is fiction) in mind before jumping in. Readers who enjoy dark/gothic atmospheric writing will enjoy this one.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I thought the changes to the story were interesting and pulled in several other pieces of folklore and legend such as bluebeard. I really loved the ending.

Ava Reid is the QUEEN of gothic vibey novels, and this one is no exception!!

Macbeth reimagined, Roscille has been married off to Lord MacBeth by her father. Being young, she has not quite come into her own, and we watch as she learns of the harsh realities of men and power.

I know many were disappointed that this Lady is nothing like Shakespeare’s Lady, but it’s a reimagining not a retelling!!! I loved how Ava took Roscille from being naive to really coming into her own. Plus Ava’s writing style is absolutely unmatched.

I love this book and if you come into it knowing it’s not going to be the original Lady Macbeth, I think you’ll love it too!

4/5 dark, dark stars!

Give me all the books by Ava Reid! Seriously, I'll read this author's grocery list at this point. LADY MACBETH was such a treat, and the perfect book for the autumnal season!

I am so thankful to Del Rey, Ava Reid, and Netgalley for granting me advanced access to this galley before publication day. I really enjoyed the dialogue and plot of this book and can’t wait to chat this one up with my friends!