“Roscille considers this: in order to be seen as merciful, one must first be seen as powerful. There is no mercy that a sheep can show a wolf.”
I can’t believe this has been sitting on my NetGalley shelf untouched since January. (Thank you for sending me an arc) I regret not picking it up sooner.
“If she cannot have safety, if she cannot have love, at least she can have this. Vengeance.”
This was classic Ava Reid, dark and empowering.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Why would I ever doubt that this book wouldn’t hit after A Study in Drowning?!?
Bringing a new perspective on an old, dark tale, Lady Macbeth exposes the ugly truth behind Macbeth’s narrative and places the story in the hands of a 16 year old girl. A girl who is primed and promised to a lord, who shouldn’t also be holding a deathly secret… but she is.

A story of fairytale, witchcraft, death and deception, Lady Macbeth is such a go-to gothic read for the fall! Leaning more YA, Ava Reid shows us what can really happen when you underestimate women who will stop at nothing to survive and how strong we can really be.

✨ Book releases on August 13, 2024!!!!

Special thank you to @netgalley @randomhouse and @avasreid for this early copy!

Lady Macbeth
Ava Reid
5⭐️

Pub Date: 8/6/2024

Just... wow!
This retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth is top notch for me. Obviously based on the title, the focus is on the Lady. Before diving in, I do recommend reading the original piece, the summary or watching a video of Macbeth to get a good context and to fully appreciate the beauty of this book. Although it's not necessary, I thought knowing the OG gave this book more depth. It enhanced my experience and I understood the references and the genius of this retelling better.

The plot is similar to the OG but not really. The timeline seems slightly skewed. Reid seems to have taken liberty on this. The vibe is dark, eerie, haunting. Cold and gray. Like how Lady Macbeth/Roscille perceived Scotland when she first arrived. Comparing the OG Lady Macbeth to this rendition of Roscille, they are both clever however, as the first one was portrayed as cunning, conniving and the instigator of Macbeth's deeds, the latter was more innocent, pure and only surviving. Atleast initially. There's now depth to her.

The plot does evolve from realistic to more fantasy. There's one "creature" in this retelling (I won't say what to maintain spoiler-free) that was a surprising inclusion. I wouldn't say that it's offputting but it definitely altered the whole vibe of this story. With the setting and timeline of medieval Europe, I expected different types of creatures instead.

Overall, I thought this was a beautiful retelling of Macbeth. The plot is sprinkled with the original verses (which is great) and fantasy. It's still a tragedy, with lies, plotting and betrayal. The concepts of regicide, patricide and all the -cides still exist. It's gray and dark and yet Reid was able to paint it in a different light.


Thank you @netgalley and @delreybooks for a digital and a physical ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Congratulations Ava Reid!

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I'm so grateful to have received an eARC to review. But I put off reading it partly because I've been hearing mixed reviews from other ARC readers. So I went into it with hopeful but lowered expectations.

There was some really great things in this book and a lot of potential, but ultimately it fell flat for me. It's definitely more of a reinterpretation of MacBeth than a retelling, so that's something to know going into it. It went beyond the Shakespeare play and more into the historical story. And although there were definite beats from the play, a number of changes were made, including to the characterizations.

I can see thematically what Ava Reid was doing with the book, and those were some of the things I thought worked well. But I didn't really feel connected with the characters and felt like something was missing from the book. I did feel compelled to read it, especially in the beginning, so something kept me picking it up. But overall, I felt this book was just so-so, definitely my least favorite book from this author.

Ava Reid reimagines the story of Macbeth but through the eyes of his bewitching, mysterious wife, Lady Macbeth.

Reid’s storytelling always draws me in. Her prose is so beautiful, and I enjoyed how she wove in stories of Scotland and folklore, even though at times they were very haunting and cautionary.

I’m not too familiar with the original Shakespeare story of Macbeth, so I went into this story blind, and it was too dark for me.

2.5/5

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

God I wanted to love this book but sadly it fell far from my lofty expectations. Reid’s writing was still as sumptuous as ever. However, the characterisation was severely lacking for me.

An absolute great book to foll9w up the success of ASID. Ava Reid's writing lived up to all of my expectations and this book was nothing short of fantastic. I can't wait to hear it on audio soon!

Many will open this book and expect many Shakespearan references, but Ava Reid has given new life and a voice to Lady Macbeth. You are full immersed in her plight and everyday life trying to navigate her new role in a foreign land. Reid did a good job showing the young mentality and naivity through this character...one who hasn't fully lived and desires much. Readers will either love or pity her. Personally, I wanted more from the story because of its slow pacing and felt as though the ending is where the real action occurred only to abruptly end.

To be honest, I’m not a fan of Shakespeare. I struggled with his works in high school & haven’t attempted to read them since. I have only ever read a simplified version of Macbeth with my ESOL students. So I suppose I have a very different background to many reading or wanting to read this book. That being said, I did enjoy it quite a bit.
It started off slow & a bit confusing for me but it picked up midway through & I was intrigued by the liberties Reid took with the source material. I don’t want to give away spoilers but there’s a rather large magical twist that I definitely wasn’t expecting.
Overall, I think I would probably liked it better if I had a better grasp on the original but then again, I might have hated it.

Listen, as a Lady Macbeth retelling, this one kind of missed the mark for me. Reid took one of the most iconic bad bitches in herstory and made her a kind of lame teenager. Which was an interesting choice for a feminist retelling of that character, and kind of unforgiveable.

That being said, if you look at the book at just inspired by Macbeth (I know, really nit-picky semantics), I really loved what Reid did with the story, especially in the ways she turned it even more fantastical. I also think that Reid just really excels at writing women who've been made to submit learning to own their power. As I mentioned before, THE Lady Macbeth was possibly not the right choice for that particular storyline (and this will probably not sit right with Shakespeare purists), but I really enjoyed meeting the completely re-imagined Lady Macbeth of this novel, and watching her come into her own.

I absolutely love Reid's writing style in general; her words are so lyrical, and I've never read a book of hers that hasn't pulled me in completely and held its grip on me through the end. This one is no exception. This was overall a phenomenal read, and I recommend it. It would be a 5 star for me if it didn't give the OG Lady Macbeth such a dirty edit. I suspect this will one of those books that generates very polarizing opinions, so I think it would be a particularly fun group or book club read.

Thanks to the team at Penguin/Ballantine/Del Rey for the eARC of this book!

This was the first I've read by Reid and I wasn't mad about it, but did have pretty high hopes seeing all the positive praise of A Study in Drowning and I'm not sure this hit the mark for me completely.

Lady Macbeth is the tale of Macbeth (shocking, I know) from the point of view of Lady Macbeth. Off the top of my head, I'm not sure if LM is given an age in the original, but in Reid's tale, she is 17 years old. She has grown up being told that she is "witch-touched". As such, she always wears a veil to prevent people (men) from looking her in the eye and being ensnared by her powers. A bit of a twist from what Will wrote! There are a lot of things like this that Reid has taken liberty with to weave in a more fantastical element to this tale. Overall, I think she does this successfully! The key elements of the source material are here, some in a new way, and we ultimately end up in a similar place at the end (with a twist).

Here's where it feel a bit flat for me. With such an iconic character, there are a lot of existing ideas on who Lady Macbeth is and what she is like. For those who know Macbeth, this character is conniving and vindictive. She does everything she can to forward Macbeth's goals and fulfil the prophecy. She could be described as blood thirsty. Part of me wondered when reading this book, where are her teeth?

Without getting too spoiler-y, there are moments where these elements of LM come through in Reid's book but it's less about her own motivations and more about being the perfect wife that she is expected to be. Most of the motivation for her seemingly comes from how other people have trained (for lack of a better word) her to be. She makes many references to what her father would think or what she thinks Macbeth will expect of her and yes, most of this thought process is ultimately for her to serve her own purposes, but what she is trying to achieve for herself is really more of an afterthought brought on by her fear of Macbeth than her really trying to meet her own ends.

It really left me with the thought that if an author is going to put their spin on a character who has been in the public lexicon for decades, they really have to go all in on what they're setting out to do. I'm not sure this book did that successfully, at least for me.

In the end, I would recommend this if you are a looking for an interesting retelling that is beautifully written. May advise steering clear if you're after a Lady Macbeth power showdown.

Who is ready to sink there teeth into this beauty? Of course if you are a fan of Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth then why wouldn’t you give this a try. As for those who aren’t a big Shakespeare lover, this one will still knock your socks off for the fantasy twist. Lady Macbeth is a young girl here, married to Macbeth against her will and forced into his weird world. She also must keep herself veiled at all times as she had rumored witch powers.. Ava Reid uses that element as inspiration to capture an engaging plot.

My type of retelling!

I loved Lady Macbeth! I had some trepidation going into this, as Macbeth is one of my top works by Shakespeare. However, Ava Reid absolutely smashed it! Her writing style paired so well with the story of Lady Macbeth and delivered such a beautifully haunting gothic tale that had me turning to the next page well into the night.

If you love retellings, Shakespeare, and Macbeth....... and even if you don't, you won't want to miss this one!

This book felt like an insult to me. With bad writing, plenty of repetition and an underdeveloped story, I have never felt so wronged by a book until now.

This book was INCREDIBLE. A haunting, gothic reimagining of the play by Shakespeare that takes the character of Lady Macbeth and turns it on its head. This retelling takes Lady Macbeth, a villain in the play, and explores her past, circumstances, and the people she is victim to. Was she really the villain we have believed her to be? Who was really in control? It is a powerful story and thought-provoking story of a woman who takes control of her circumstances.

Ava Reid's writing is beautiful and very compelling to read. I have loved their writing since reading Juniper and Thorn and this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for providing me with this arc!

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.