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!

Reid’s prose is so stunning. I have never seen anyone describe the world as she does. The way she takes such tragic events and turns them into some of the most beautiful sentences I’ve ever read is such a gift.

Ava Reid does it again, proving she's a literary powerhouse with her latest masterpiece, Lady Macbeth. This book is not just a story; it wraps you in its pages and refuses to let go. I found myself lost in the narrative, unable to put it down—a true testament to Reid's gripping storytelling amongst an atmospheric backdrop.

"Lady Macbeth" is a vivid reimagining that might not be everyone's cup of tea unless you're a fan of Anglo-Saxon literature, Middle English stories, or Shakespeare. Reid expertly weaves elements from these eras, drawing heavily on the classic tale that defines it. This isn't the Lady Macbeth we know from modern portrayals. She's a woman of her time, navigating the treacherous waters of societal expectations and the male-dominated world of the Scottish lords, which at first seems similar to the source text, however that Lady isn’t this Lady.

What's truly remarkable about this book is Reid's ability to marry the historical essence of Macbeth and the cultural backdrop of Scotland, offering a fresh perspective on the infamous queen. Reid's talent for creating characters so rich and a story so compelling confirms that this is a must-read for the year.

Thank you Random House for the Arc! It will be shared on 3/26 and again as the publication gets closer.

Unfortunately, this was not my Lady Macbeth. I don't know if this was just lost on me, or what, but I genuinely felt blindsided by this. I adore the original character and play, I thought this was going to be her +100 but it fell so short. So short that was a step backward. It felt like Reid took one of the most interesting women in Shakespeare and made her unbearably boring. I'm heartbroken.

I went into this book without looking too much into the description and without having familiarity with the play. I would definitely recommend it to others, even if you haven’t read Macbeth like me.

This book was really good. I especially liked the dark atmosphere portrayed. I really could feel and imagine everything described in the story. The prose was very different than I’m used (typically a romance and urban fantasy reader) but it was easy for me to get used to. It seemed very inspired by classic literature.

This was my first Ava Reid book and I am adding her others to my TBR. I really enjoy her writing style.

I had a bit of a hard time getting through this, despite being very excited about it when it was first announced. I think I would have liked it more if it wasn't sold as a Macbeth retelling, even if it has been advertised as a loose retelling. Enough of the basics were changed that this easily could have been an individual story and not a retelling. I also think I would have liked it more if she hadn't been aged down so much, but that's a personal preference. Oddly xenophobic towards Scots?

The lady doth protest too much. The lady in question: Ava Reid.

DNF @ 25%

I had such high expectations for this book as Lady Macbeth is one of my favorite female characters. She’s a mother and a wife, but despises both titles. She wants the courage and apathy of a man, as well as the power and respect that comes with it; however, these ambitions ultimately lead to her downfall.

Going back to the original text, she even prays for god to unsex her and rid her of her typical, female emotions. It’s giving Cersei Lannister or Margaret of Anjou.

Spoiler alert if you’ve never read Macbeth, but ultimately she cannot overcome her empathy and guilt over the regicide her and her husband commit, so she ends her life.

In general, there is a serious lack of female main characters over the age of 19 in fantasy novels and this was the perfect opportunity to give us one - and a powerful, cunning one at that.

Ultimately, the lack of depth with Lady Macbeth and the overuse of similes (there were at least 4 within the 4% mark) as well as the convoluted, overly described setting meant this wasn’t for me.

I’m also a huge fan of Scottish history and this trashed it for no reason. Nowhere in the original text did it condemn Scots the way Ava Reid did in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I wish I loved it. Alas, what is done cannot be undone.

Thank you for the free copy in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I was truly excited to enter the world of Lady Macbeth. I found the atmosphere lush and inviting, and truly felt immersed within Scotland. Reid has a talented way with words, and is truly successful in establishing both a setting and a narrative. However, I found myself unable to connect with the main character. Her inner monologue was sparse, and revealed little to no autonomy. I appreciate that this may be what Reid was going for, but in promoting the book as a retelling of one of literature's most autonomous women, I find myself in disbelief that this was a stylistic choice. In addition, I found the direction of the plot interesting, but found it too slow to truly engage with or care for. Many plot points seemed to be thrown at us, such as the sudden attack on the king, the dragon, and other events. I also found the "dragon" romance to be quite unnecessary, and a bit forced. As a result of these, I unfortunately decided to DNF this book, since I could already anticipate the ending and found no urge to continue reading.

I hope to try one of Reid's other works in the future!

Let me start by saying I am a huge lover of Macbeth; it is among my favorite of Shakespeare’s plays and Lady Macbeth was a huge reason for that (along with the witches of course.)

Ava Reid did a good job creating a rich gothic landscape and tone for this novel. I would say it has the same “general” feel of the play in that regard. Where this story lost me was in the actual characterization of the FMC, Lady Macbeth. I understand this a “retelling” and therefore, does not need to stick to the original story but it seems almost disingenuous to writing a story from her POV and not portray her as overtly strong and cunning. I may have just been expecting too much simply because I love the play so much.

I had a hard time getting into this from the beginning, it was highly repetitive & I did not particularly enjoy that like 70% of her thoughts were about how brutish and harsh the Scotts were, especially considering the in the play she was also Scottish. Again, I know it’s a retelling so it doesn’t matter that she’s not Scottish but I don’t think this change actually added anything to the story.

This book would probably sit well people readers who enjoy Historical Fiction with a tinyyy bit of magic sprinkled in, though it doesn’t come in until like 2/3 of the way through the book.

I’ve read most of Ava Reid’s books & really liked them. This one just wasn’t meant for me, sadly.

*thank you NetGalley & Del Ray for the ARC!!*