I’ve always loved Ava’s work even though she’s had some ups and downs. There’s a lot to unpack here, so I’ll focus on the pros and cons.

Pros:
1) The length of the novel matched the length of the play very well.
2) The gothic atmosphere was well-developed.
3) Her lyrical prose were beautiful and enhanced the sense of progressive turmoil that brings a gothic work its true power.
4) The moment when Roscille contemplated throwing herself into the sea was moving. It winked back at the way Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth went mad and then committed suicide. From the moment Lisander pulled her from the battlements, I knew that this represented a sea change after which the retelling would truly begin. I felt this was clever.
5) Roscille’s Lady Macbeth Syndrome paralleled perfectly with Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth, nodding back to the moments in the play when Shakespeare’s Lady would look at her hands and see blood smeared upon them from all the people she willed her husband to kill.
6) The three witches were a very cool plot choices and provided an excellent twist. Only after much consideration do I believe that those characters played as big of a role as they could when accounting for all the strings that their presence tied together rather neatly.
7) Ava's use of many names for Roscille worked quite well to establish her continually vacillating identity. Each of Roscille's names collectively served as a survival mechanism; she became the version of herself that she needed to be in any moment to escape tribulation, punishment, or retribution for her actions. After a lifetime of changing identities to mask her true nature, she lost conviction in her true self. I'm not quite sure if we ever saw a moment in which she truly embraced her identity, though.
8) I was pleased that Roscille beat Macbeth with his own fatal flaw: pride. Macbeth felt that he could withstand the maddening force of her gaze simply because he was the King Hereafter, and died as a result. This was a realistic ending.

Cons (bear with me):
1) Roscille is an incredibly unlikeable character, and I don’t think there was ever a moment in which I felt won over to her cause. Roscille’s perspective yields an incredibly unfavorable view of the very few women in the story (calling all of them ugly, simple, or flawed). Roscille also felt that she was far more intelligent than any of the men in the novel, but her actions and plans never showed enough foresight to actually demonstrate much wisdom at all. Roscille’s shortsighted decision-making meant that the overall plot was very predictable, even after the plot broke away from the themes of the original play.
2) The amount of Scottish hate coming from Roscille’s dialogue/narration was very off-putting. To me it screamed xenophobia, and I couldn’t get past this. Roscille was not the only character calling the Scottish men brutes, so it felt less like Roscille’s perspective and more like it could be the way Ava might feel, which concerns me a tad.
3) Roscille also lets her preference for slightly more femme men color her entire impression of “rough” men, and this—combined with the Scottish hate—rendered the entire cast of male characters (excepting only one) very two-dimensional. Only Roscille's character jumped off the page, while all other characters seemed cast in a light far less becoming of them than necessary. The man-hate came off prejudicial and unfounded rather than motivated by character experience.
3) Between the man hate, the Scottish hate, and Roscille’s rather transparent general man-hate dialogue in the later third of the novel, her narration rang potently of “sound and fury, signifying nothing.” This deeply bothered me and discredited the purpose of the novel and the entire character. Had Ava included more reliable narration from other characters or from an alternative P.O.V., perhaps these off-putting details would have purpose.
4) I don’t think the dragon ever really fit into the plot. I comprehend the purpose he served for Roscille's experience, but one tends to hope that a dragon will do more than just slither innocuously in and out of scenes when it appears in any story.
5) The biggest plot problem was that there were zero women around the castle. No women to do the darning, cooking, minor chores, raise children—none. This doesn’t seem realistic. Who else, in a novel set before the formation of England, would have done those tasks?
6) Though I loved the lyrical prose so characteristic of Ava’s writing, there were times when the language became so flowery that it obscured what was happening in the scene. This obstructed my comprehension of the plot. Often, it seemed like she tried a little too hard to imbue the story with romanticism by employing very basic and repetitive similes. As a result, her imagery became tiring halfway through the story. Her imagery was either gory or consumptive, and this didn't meet the standards of gothic imagery for me.
7) The quantity of blood in the post-consummation scene was completely unrealistic. A couple tablespoons? Sure. Enough to visibly pink the water in a lake at night? No way. Enough that she would still be bleeding hours after the fact? biologically impossible. Even if I had suspended reality to assume that she actually bled this much after sex, Roscille wouldn't be in any shape to have sex again immediately after sustaining such injuries. This rang of melodramatics that discredited Roscille’s narration not just in that scene, but in general. I tried to excuse it as an extension of Lady MacBeth Syndrome, but even this connection seemed tenuous.
8) As I mentioned previously, all of the male characters without exception are reprehensibly poorly developed. We know Macbeth is evil simply because Roscille tells us so, but until the last 50 pages of the novel, we had absolutely no proof of such. In fact, for the first 2/3rds of the book, he was yielding, forgiving, and patient but for his desire to acquire land, claim a crown, and gain battle fame (which isn’t uncharacteristic of all men during Aethelstan’s rule). That doesn’t make him evil. The only moment in which I felt he had become abusively violent popped up when he determined to kill any female child Roscille may conceive in his hunger for a male heir. He only became truly mad in the last chapter of the book, at which time his desire for power entirely clouded his judgment. As a result, he locked her away. Arguably, she earned that prison sentence through her infidelity, treason, and scheming, yet Roscille viewed his reaction as madness rather than justice (primitive justice though it may have been). Fleance and his father, the only other truly major Scottish characters, were two-dimensional: simultaneously ruthless and spineless. Had Roscille bothered to weigh their character before dubbing them witless, her narration would have been more reliable.
9) Ava did not take advantage of the beauty of the Scottish landscape. Roscille often notes that the landscape strikes her as barren and austere, which hardly describes the sprawling Scottish landscape even in the bleakest of winters. Conceptually, this may have been a character device to develop Roscille's alienation in this new land, but multiple factors oppose this plot function: 1) she sought to assume the identity of Lady Macbeth, 2) her husband worked to embed her within his culture and estate, and 3) her experience in her homeland hardly differentiated from her experience in Scotland but for a discrepancy in the number of 'rough' men. The only moment in which we see her shrug assimilation transpired rapidly when she assumed a new handmaid (who, mind you, appeared just as ugly and unremarkable as the other three non-witchy women mentioned in the novel).
10) Roscille never reclaimed her identity in any definable manner. It seemed that Ava intended Roscille's rebellion in the final chapter as a character revolution, but this ambitious moment deflated when the witches and Lisander both interceded on her moments of triumph. The three witches merged with her life force, increasing her phantasmic strength while muddling her identity with the presence of three others. Lisander also had to save her from Fleance, which implied that even with the strength of four witches running through her veins, she still could not be an effective heroine.
11) In Macbeth's final moments, we see Roscille using the power of her eyes to reduce him to nothing but bones in a skin sack: lifeless, sucked dry. This did not make sense to me. Roscille's power had always been her ability to inflict madness and overcome the will of others with her gaze. Her gaze was never lethal. Positing that the power of three more witches running through her veins would increase the potency of her abilities, the logical consequence for Macbeth would be madness to the point of brain death--not rapid aging to the point of desiccation. Thus, his moment of death didn't tie up any strings so much as it presented more questions ("why did Ava believe this was a practical choice? Did she just want his death to be dramatic?").
12) Overall, between the plot, the atmosphere, the characters, and the storyline in general, I think this novel should have been based upon Bluebeard rather than Macbeth. There were several nods to the original Macbeth play, but not enough to justify labelling it a Lady Macbeth retelling. It could have been more easily marketed as a Bluebeard retelling with inspiration from Lady Macbeth.

All in all, there were so many things that were done well, but the failures of the novel overshadowed the triumphs in some ways. I think this novel could have benefited from a developmental editor who might have pointed her towards better character development, less melodramatics, less man hate, and less xenophobia. Copy editors could have suggested improvements in her imagery. Ava has produced a couple strong novels, but every other publication seems to be a bit of a dud for me. This one definitely won’t land in my Ava Reid hall of fame, but I’ll continue to read everything this woman writes because I believe she holds a special place in the gothic romanticism genre. I hope she will continue to write, and even when her stories fail in places, they are still a beautiful reading experience. I will always support her goals as an author and remain an unwavering fan.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Ava Reid's past works showcase her poetic way with words and this upcoming release is no different. I think Reid did a great job adapting Shakespeare's work and making the conversation around gender applicable to modern times. While I enjoyed the book's premise and thought the conversation about women surviving in a man's world was profound and well executed, I had a hard time connecting with the main character. I found her to be very robotic and lacked emotion. I feel this could easily be fixed in the revision process and I'm very excited to read the final version.

Firstly thank you NetGalley for letting me read this early. I love anything Ava Ried so this was a treat. This new book is definitely a departure from her previous work but I feel this is will live up to her current streak of storytelling.

I enjoyed the inclusion of the play formatting with acts and including the dialogue structure. They were all nice touches. I do feel that this will not be for everyone as it has deep historical context for example the old English names for France, Britain, etc. So those who enjoy a quick read may be adverse to this. But those who want to put in a little work to understand Macbeth’s context in this story and the historical context of Lady Macbeth will enjoy this book.

My only gripe is that we did not get more. The ending is wrapped up nicely but I feel like it could have a bit more detail. But either way the little poem adds a nice Shakespearean touch.

stunning gothic fantasy, focusing on the Lady Macbeth. Yes, that Lady Macbeth. We know what happens to her husband, the power hungry Macbeth, but Shakespeare doesn’t tell us much about his wife. Ava Reid dives into the tale of Macbeth, and gives so much life to not only the Lady, but also the witches, and the power of their prophecies, and the fine line women have always had to walk in a world dominated by men who wish to control and use them. Highly recommend reading this when it’s released if you enjoy gothic fantasy

Devastatingly and hauntingly beautiful! A retelling of one of the great tragedies but from our Lady Macbeths POV. You could feel her pain and her love and her strength just leaping off the page. I had high expectations for this and it lived up to them all. Ava Reid has done it again!

Thank you to NetGalley & Del Rey for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have to confess, I went into this completely ignorant of the story of Macbeth and I am completely blown away. This is not a light story, but rather a dark gothic tale bordering on horror that completely wraps you up in the story. It was equal parts poetic and horrific as 17 year old Roscille/Rosele/Rosalie/Roscilla/Lady Macbeth delved deeper and deeper into the darkness of her power and navigated the cruel world she was born and sold into. Even the giving of her many names, which at first I thought would be confusing, only added to and enriched the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this Advanced Reader Copy.

Pros: This is marketed as a gothic retelling of Macbeth, and this is where the book was most successful. Ava's prose are breathing taking and like all her other work she has the ability to transport the reader to the world she has created. Few authors reshape the world around me so that alone earns high marks.

THE WITCHES!!!!! I loved the twist with the witches and overall was a highlight of the book.

Some nods to the original play were done well, my favorite one being the length of the book.

Cons: The book is marketed as a feminist retelling and minorly marketed as a monster romance and it really fails to do either. To start off on the simpler one there is very little monster and what we do get is NOT monster romance and it was hinted A03 vibes and instead you get the vaguest hint of monster. Now, on the issue of it being a feminist retelling we get very few women and all of the ones meet are all described as: plain, mad, simple, mannish bodies which is a bit concerning since those are the thoughts of our lead(hero??) Roscille who is the only female who gets to be called beautiful or clever. The interactions we do get with them are mainly spent talking about men and its clear they all have very limited agency if any at all. The story also would have likely ended up very similar with or without Roscille failed attempts at scheming since Macbeth was simple just ~Power hungry mad~ which leads to my issues with...

The characters/motivations. Unfortunately, by the end I never connected with any of the characters, understood their motivations, and ultimately even though we get battles/murders/etc. it almost felt like nothing substantial happened. I wonder if this is a nod to Shakespeare work since that is how his plays feel at times?? I could Lady Macbeth being more interesting on stage.

The witches :( [They are just stuck doing laundry (hide spoiler)] (less)

3.5 stars
I received this novel as an ARC in exchange for an honest review:
I haven’t read the original MacBeth since high school, and honestly don’t remember too much about the original tale, so I’m sure I missed a ton of references and callbacks, but it didn’t really matter- this novel stands alone from the original work, giving a new voice to an important character. I’ve read one of Ava Reids novels before, and I’d describe her style as “vibe heavy, plot light, a little weird”: and this fits well into that . She is really a master of curating the tone within a book- the dark and moribund air in this one comes across in every line and intentional word choice, creating a haunting atmosphere of loneliness and feminine rage.

It’s filled with gorgeous writing, but I’m learning Ava’s style just isn’t quite right for me (I always want to love it, but end up feeling like I need a little more in terms of plot) . I got kinda bored. I think if you’ve liked her other books, this one is also going to be for you.

An unforgettable novel. I will be thinking about this story for weeks to come. Words cannot describe the feelings I have for this piece.

Ava Reid cannot write a book I will not devour. Everything blends so seamlessly pulling you in to the atmosphere and story. All the elements were just so well written and beautiful. I loved Roscille and her character arc was so interesting to read, the choices she made and her motivations.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advanced copy of the book.

This is an absolutely amazing retelling of Macbeth. It takes all of the madness and eeriness of the original story and makes it something even better. It shows masculinity at its worst. It is brutal and hard to read at times, but Lady Macbeth’s strength and Ava Reid’s beautiful prose pulls you through. This is beautifully written and you can see every scene in all its gory, dark detail. I had extraordinarily high expectations for this book (Macbeth has always been my favorite Shakespeare work and I enjoyed A Study in Drowning) and this somehow surpassed it. This is one that I’m going to come back to again and again. The way it balances the rage of womanhood with the fear of men is incredible. A must-read for sure!!

This retelling of Shakespeare’s classic is a dark and haunting version that follows a seventeen year old witch-kissed Roscille as she arrives in Scotland after her father arranges her marriage to Macbeth.

First off, Ava Reid’s writing style is simply superb. Her ability to use the simplest of sentences to land an impactful statement is such a treat to feast on. And while many of the sentences seem abrupt, the flow of the overall book is so seamless that you cannot help but to keep reading.

I particularly enjoyed the reversal of many of the characteristics that the Lady and Lord Macbeth possess in this version as compared to the original. Perhaps if this Roscille was allowed to age, she may well grow into the villainous woman of versions past. But in this retelling, she is a young woman forced to fight her first battle of life with nothing but the wits she has honed since childhood in order to survive.

As you are reading, the distinct lack of women and the manner in which those surrounding her are cast as brutish and evil forces you on a lonely, bone-chilling walk through the halls with Roscille. Through her haunting eyes, you see the infuriating plight of a woman unfold.

Sprinkle in the trifecta of witchcraft, dragons and prophecies and you’ve easily found yourself a five star read.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an eARC in exchange for an honest review, which will also be posted on GoodReads.

This was probably one of the most unique and fascinating stories I’ve read! I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect when getting into this. I LOVE Ava Reid, but Macbeth has never been a story that particularly interested me. This retelling, however, was so incredible! To me, it feels like this is the way the story of Macbeth was meant to be told. Definitely a story that I’ll be thinking about for a long time (as I do with every Ava Reid story I’ve read) and I highly recommend checking it out when it comes out on August 6, 2024!

In true Ava Reid fashion, a magical experience where you are lost to the words. This is a true re-imagining of the story that keeps the same themes present of power and gender and so much vengeance.

This book is all gothic vibes in a medieval setting with witches, pious rulers, prophecies and a dragon. Reid sets the stage in an isolated castle full of foreign and brute men, and only men. Rosecille is sent there to be married and become Lady Macbeth. Rosecille is described to be of such beauty that she is rumored to be a witch who must be veiled to protect men from her witchy gaze. Through the beautifully written prose you doubt whether Lady Macbeth is indeed witch or just a preternatural beauty. “It is an unearthly Beaty that some in Wrybeard’s court call death-touched. Poison-eyed. Witch-kissed.” This feeling winds itself throughout the book leaving you as the reader struggling to define what is real and what is fiction, until the truth is revealed. (Side note: This is a similar feeling I had when reading A Study in Drowning, so if you enjoyed that story, I highly recommend this book) Roscille believes herself to be cunning only to discover she is quite the novice in this world of political scheming men, leading her on a winding path of guilt and vengeance alike. This book is a 10/10!! The prose is stunning, the themes of gender and power strike a chord even in today’s world. There is no delusion of justice in this book, instead vengeance becomes the plot. Be warned there is graphic violence and SA, however I felt it was utilized in an impactful and honest way that are central to the themes in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ava Reid, and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m impressed by Ava Reid yet again, a Macbeth retelling that actually managed to be new and exciting, sign me up! Did I mention there is a dragon? Macbeth, my lord, I am now your number one hater. My only complaint was that I wanted more towards the end for Lady Macbeth who in this version goes by Roscille or Roscilla. But such is life.

Dark and gothic as is all of her works, this proves to be a dazzling addition to her previous novels. I don’t want to go too into details about this already well known story, but Reid does a stellar job at reviving a much hated villainess’ story into something more than what we get from Shakespeare. She sweeps you off her feet with her gorgeous atmospheric writing, making you feel like you’re in Scotland, smelling the mildew and salty air whilst reading. I found myself highlighting so many passages as I’m sure many others will do once they get their hands on this wonderful novel!

Thank you to Ava Reid, Random House Publishing Group, and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

“Lady Macbeth” is a reimagining of Shakespeare’s most famous villainess. I had not read much about her story before so I was interested in learning more about this noble woman who is rumored to drive men to madness with her eyes. Once married to Macbeth, she soon learns she can navigate a world built for men if she wields this strange power of hers to her advantage.

I can’t speak to the differences between Roscille in this novel and her original character in Shakespeare’s play since I honestly cannot remember much of the play. So, maybe this wasn’t the book for me, seeing as I didn’t have anything to compare the characters and portrayals to.

However, I did find myself a little disinterested for most of this book. Maybe if I had been more familiar with the original work, I would have enjoyed this book more. The author tells us repeatedly how smart and clever the main character is but this book, in my opinion, shows her as naive. We see clever moments here and there, but until the last 10% of the book, we don’t see any of the female rage and power that I expected. I had expected Roscille to chafe against her environment, but she became exactly what she didnt want to be for most of the book, her husband’s tool to be used and bent to his will.

I expected this book to be a great woman-empowered novel, but felt as if Roscille had little to no agency and only used her cleverness in small schemes that for most of the book, seemed to only benefit the men in her life. The last 10% of the book was more enjoyable and picked up in pace. The main character finally showed a glimpse of the female rage I was hoping to see all along.

Lastly, the writing style left me feeling extremely bored. I haven’t read any other books by this author but some of the prose came across as confusing and made it hard to imagine what was happening in the moment. I do love a good third person POV book, but the way this book was written made it hard to connect with the main character and understand her motives. We only received small glimpses of her past. I really do prefer a deeper dive into character’s pasts so I can get a better picture of character development. With this book, however, I had little reason to root for the main character unfortunately.

As someone who is a big fan of Ava Reid's writing, I cannot tell you my excitement when I heard she was doing a Macbeth retelling. That being said, I found this to be a bit of a letdown. I was expecting more of a villainous, ambitious portrayal of Lady Macbeth, and it fell a bit flat in that regard. I found myself questioning a lot of Lady Macbeth's actions throughout the book and didn't understand the motivation behind a lot of what she did. There was also a romance subplot that I felt was completely unnecessary to the plot of the book, and some of the magical elements were not fully fleshed out. For some of the positives of this book, Ava Reid's prose is truly beautiful and atmospheric in her writing, and that is no different in this book. I would still recommend reading this, especially if you are a fan of Reid's previous works, it was just a bit disappointing as a retelling of Macbeth. Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey books for this arc!

YES. That’s all I have to say. This book is an immediate yes. Thank you, Ava Reid, for what I can only describe as everything I didn’t realize I was asking for. This is the kind of book I’m going to revisit when I need a reminder about inner strength and all that business. It’s a powerful book that really puts the experience of being a woman at the forefront, rather than the romance or even the magic. It’s excellent and just what I feel like I needed.

“The white of her hair is not natural; it is like draining moonlight. Her skin–have you seen it?–it will not hold a color. She is as bloodless as a trout. And her eyes–one look into them will drive mortal men to madness.”
Ava Reid’s writing is absolutely amazing and atmospheric. I loved this reimagining of Lady Macbeth, it was dark, gothic and absolutely everything I wanted in a reimaging for her. Between the spooky atmospheric lands around her and descriptions of characters.
Roscille was an absolute gem, and although she was pretty much the only woman the entire story, she was all we needed at times. You could sense the loneliness she had from not having anyone close to her, or another woman nearby, but it added to the story. She was constantly overcoming any obstacle she had thrown at her and I loved that for her. She's a wonderful character overlooked because of the tales about her.
What I loved the most about this book was definitely the fantasy aspect, because at times you thought there was magic, but other times you didn’t it added to the atmosphere 100% because you just want to know if there's magic or not. It draws you in more and more.
Thank you to Netgalley and Del Ray for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I am still unsure how I managed to get my grubby little hands on this arc but I am SO glad I did! What a stunning, heartbreaking story. 5 stars!