Lady Macbeth is a dark and haunting feminist retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth. Told from the perspective of Roschille (later known to many as Lady Macbeth), a young bride with the power to bewitch men by looking directly into their eyes sent to marry Macbeth, we get an intimate look at Roschille's cleverness required to survive harsh realities of misogyny, violence against, and weaponization of, women.

Attempting to do a modern retelling of any major artwork is no small feat--taking a world that is well known and adapting it own requires risking finding a balance of appreciating the existing (and oftentimes, beloved) storylines while stretching the boundaries to make it an authors' own. In many ways, I think Ava Reid delivers with Lady Macbeth. Her prose is wonderfully descriptive (I found myself highlighting multiple passages) that really kept me engaged with Roschille's inner monologue as she navigated her newlywed life and there ensuing challenges. I enjoyed the artful way she developed this witchy power based off of misogynistic attitudes towards women (women always being at the fault of men, regardless of mens' actions), and the symbolism that lightly yet impactfully reinforces those themes of suppression, violence, and fighting for survival (e.g., the necklace collar of sorts).

All this taken together made me feel like Reid was building up to a feminine rage precipice, yet I felt it never fully delivered on that end. We watch Roschille go through so much turmoil and violence, and all the while I was waiting and hoping for a morally grey revenge era where Roschille would slightly tap into the energy of the original Lady Macbeth and use her powers to give everyone their comeuppance. The novel spends much time demonstrating how dangerous her power can be, yet we mainly only ever see it utilized when this power and Rochille herself is being weaponized by men. While we get a small bit of a revenge arc towards the end I wanted to get to know and explore more of Roschille's agency with her power and rage that were slowing building throughout. I understand this was a stylistic choice by Reid to really drive home the themes of violence and control of women, but I wanted just a little bit more to drive it over the edge. Similarly, I wanted to see a little more development of the witches, as I felt that there was so many opportunities to demonstrate their power and influence, especially in regard to Macbeth's slow descent into madness, which in turn is an interesting and important piece of the feminist retelling (e.g., women are also essential masterminds behind and building of men's power). I did not necessarily rate this novel lower because of these things because I don't think it suffers in this regard.

This was my first Ava Reid novel, and I was impressed. She is a talented storyteller with intoxicating prose and I am looking forward to exploring more of her backlist. If you are a reader that likes gothic, feminist retellings with gorgeous prose, check this book out! Trigger warnings: violence against women, sexual assault.

The book is an absolute FORCE. Roscille’s mind is utterly dark and twisted. Her world is violent and brutal, and she is forced to resort to drastic, Machiavellian measures to survive in it. The pages full of so many juicy little morsels of prose that give the reader something to chew on. I was absolutely riveted from the first word to the last.

I had such high hopes for this book. I have loved everything else by Ava Reid but this one was a miss for me. Maybe I went into it with the wrong expectations but it felt as though the story kept building to something that never happened. Like we were always on the precipice of some twist or character development that never paid off.

That said, the writing is gorgeous. It’s dark and gothic, gritty and languid. Everything is tinged with sea water and grime and I love that Reid was able to so effortlessly take me to Scotland with Roscille.

I would look up any trigger warnings before going into this because the themes are definitely dark.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

4 🌟 because I live for Ava Reid's prose

Lady Macbeth is not a girlboss and that is exactly the point. She's just a girl trying to end her pain.

This reviews points out the things I found poor within this book.

In our attempts to bring classic texts to the forefront of "modernity" it is important to update said texts for them to fit the schema of cultural relevancy. Although I enjoyed the story and have never read Macbeth nor knew what it was about, I do have some problems with the language used. For example, the continual insistance of the "exotic east" strikes as entirely jarring when the comment is not mean satirical nor it feels particularly as if it's coming from Roscille's mind. The same applies to the continual description of the Scots as brutes and violent for no other reason than the Scots blood that runs within them. It was unnecessary and boring and obviously I understand that it is meant to be the perspective of Roscille but it really adds nothing.

I HIGHLY recommend these things be remedied before publication.

Do not look to your fiction books for feminism, because what most people mean is that they want a female character that is tridimensional and that feminism does not make. It is not more or less feminist or anti feminist act to be a home maker, a warrior, a ruler, a killer, a mother, etc etc etc. White feminism truly has us by the fucking throat in our inrepetations of female characters with agency. If we really want to get down to the gritty details of intersectional feminism, most of your FMC do not fit into the philosophy of intersectional feminism for it is inherently oppressive to be a ruler, a killer, etc. But I digress.

Lady Macbeth's capacity for murder does not make her more or less of a bad ass. It is simply a fact for her to be a murderess and a villainess - and in that capacity is where I was disappointed. This book was advertised as an imagining of the famous villainess that is Lady Macbeth, but she is truly not a villain in this book - at least not in the unhinged way I expected. I constantly waited for her to scheme, to slip into the role of true evil, or something like that, but I think it is more about the power of a unified front.

Seeinf as I have no attachment to the preexisting characters nor did I know anything about the original work, I was gripped by the plot and found I honestly couldn't put this book down. I like the idea of Roscille's magic as a metaphor. Does she truly ensorcell? Or have men found a way to displace the blame of their own base desires enabled by patriarchy? Which begs my other critique, some things in this book truly border on bioessentialism. It is not men's "base" desires that makes them rapists, what enables them is the system in place that continually enables men to disenfranchise women as a collective.

But then again, I don't think that this book's ending is meant to be happy. She is with Lisander because that is the least of two evils. He covets her as a dragon covets it's jewels - that much is clear. What //can// she truly do as a woman within the cultural dynamics in place except find a place where she is less harmed?

Kind of a letdown for me. I loved the typical Ava Reid elements, the beutiful prose, the descriptions, but the characters were pretty disappointing and fell flat. Lady Macbeth has almost no personality of her own, and I can't even compare her to her Shakespearian counterpart. The story itself was interesting, but I expected more when I started reading.

I don't recommend this for fans of lady Macbeth; even though it's a retelling, it does a pretty bad job of portraying the original's most important characteristics.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an early read of Lady Macbeth.
As someone who recently finished "A Study in Drowning" also by Ava Reid I was ready to see what else she could do with her writing. Also, as a lover of re-telling's I was very interested in the direction Reid would take this classic tale and I was not disappointed. Reid weaves a dark and powerful voice to a character that has had a story told by men. The world building and wonderful in-between times really draw the reader in and make them keep reading.
Can't wait to see what else Reid will write about.

Ava Reid has done it again with her beautifully poignant prose. This book, a wonderful reimagining of Shakespeare's Macbeth through the eyes of his wife, Lady Macbeth, aka Roscille, has destroyed me and shattered me from the inside out. It has also built me back up again.

Roscille, labeled a cursed witch by her father, has long been a pawn in his political machinations. However, as she steps into the imposing realm of Glammis, her narrative takes an unexpected turn. Determined to carve her destiny in a world dominated by powerful men, she challenges the prescribed role. Can she navigate the treacherous waters of manipulation, leading Macbeth astray in his schemes, and exert control in a world where power is the ultimate currency?

In this thought-provoking and unconventional retelling, the narrative delves into Roscille's self-exploration amidst bloodshed and political intrigue. The question of who truly holds the reins lingers as shadows conceal puppet masters orchestrating the unfolding drama.

This poignant and lonely journey is not merely a tale of power struggles but a young woman's poignant fight for identity in a misty, uncertain path. Romance intertwines with the supernatural, featuring mythical figures and Scottish folklore seamlessly woven into the fabric of this dark gothic world. Witches, dragons, and curses add a charming fantasy element, enriching the narrative with intrigue.

Prepare to be captivated by the calculated mind games and vicious scheming, accentuated by supernatural elements, all set within a hauntingly atmospheric, gothic landscape. "Lady Macbeth" offers a modern perspective on one of literature's most unforgettable and underrated characters, inviting readers to immerse themselves in a world where shadows conceal as much as they reveal.

"Vengeance is not a wooden cup that empties. It is a jeweled chalice which endlessly spills over."

In Ava Reid's fantasy reimagining of Shakespeare's classic, Lady Macbeth introduces us to Roscille, a 17-year-old with a beauty rumored to drive men to madness. Her gaze is said to bewitch, compelling men to act against their will. This intriguing notion lingers throughout the narrative, leaving readers questioning the extent of Roscille's power. To safeguard men from their own passions, Roscille must forever veil her face, and despite being a bastard daughter, she is presented as a political offering to Lord Macbeth.

Crafted to be pleasing at court by her father and sharpened into a weapon by her husband, Roscille's life is a chessboard controlled by men's hands. Yet, beneath her compliance brews a storm of despair and fury, hinting at a formidable spirit.

Reid's writing masterfully juxtaposes lyrical prose with the stark brutality of its world—a world steeped in mythology and folklore, where a woman's fate hangs by a fragile thread. The novel evokes a maelstrom of emotions: anger, helplessness, isolation. Men are depicted as relentless in their thirst for power, while Roscille, with her intelligence and cunning, seeks to outmaneuver them. But her carefully laid plans often meet unforeseen obstacles.

Can Lady Macbeth carve her own destiny in this ruthless, male-dominated world? Ava Reid's Lady Macbeth is not just a book; it's an experience that haunts and challenges, making it an essential read for those who dare to delve into the depths of a woman's fight against the chains of destiny.

I thank NetGalley and Del Rey for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ava Reid's stories are always so easy to get sucked into and this was no different. I found myself lost in Roscille's story, her pain and the world Ava created. It was beautifully written and as someone unfamiliar with the original story I was still able to enjoy this version. Will recommend to others!

<i>Lady Macbeth</i> has some of Ava Reid's signatures: the beautiful prose, fairytale elements, and an atmosphere that nags at your senses. However, this is her weakest published work so far. I had little love for this characterization of Lady Macbeth. I was expecting more strength, cunning, and agency from the FMC. Her description of the Scottish people was starting to grate on me as well. Basically everyone was described as nameless, animal, brutes. It was making me uncomfy.

Ava Reid is still an auto-buy author for me; this just didn't really work for me.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book! Below is my honest review:

When I was approved for this arc I was overjoyed and couldn’t wait to get started. Compared to my excitement before reading, unfortunately this was a big disappointment. There were elements of this book that reminded me of why I loved Reid’s work in the past, but there were also many confounding aspects that just didn’t make any sense to me.

Lady Macbeth is a marketed as a feminist retelling of Macbeth - with a dragon! Off the top, one of the biggest disappointments in the book was the dragon. I was hoping for so much more as I love dragons in my fantasy books, but basically you could take the dragon out of the story and it wouldn’t change hardly anything.

I would also argue that calling this a “feminist” retelling is a bit of a stretch. I read the original play in high school, and from what I remember, the Lady Macbeth in that story has wayyyyyy more agency than the Lady Macbeth in this story. I was constantly hoping she would develop some agency apart from the men who have defined her life. I felt for Roscille and the truly tragic life she has led, but I kept wanting more from her than I got.

The romance was also a huge letdown. I don’t want to get into spoiler territory here, but the romance was basically nothing. The couple barely had any scenes together but would pine for each other when they were apart? I just truly did not buy into the romance at all, and that was disappointing.

Despite its many flaws, there are still some elements in this story that reminded me why I love Reid’s writing. I do enjoy her writing style, and I especially enjoyed how she incorporated play-like elements into the novel. The book was compulsively readable to me, and it kept me interested the whole way through. Additionally, as always, Reid’s handling of sexual assault in her stories is done with care. I appreciated how she navigated the traumatic events that transpired in the story.

If you are a fan at all of the original play or are excited about it being a retelling, I don’t think you’d enjoy this very much. If you loved Reid’s writing in the past you may like the aspects I described in the above paragraph, but in my opinion it does not live up to her two previous works. Overall, this was a mixed bag, but I am looking forward to whatever the author writes next!

4.5 It has been a long time since I read a book that made me feel so constantly emotional :( Every carefully worded phrase and immaculate blend of meanings had me so immersed I was often in pain for Roscille and the rest of the women in the story. This was such a lovely retelling, as it kept the constant, never ending power play, not shying away from the horror of it all, while also creating some new elements to enhance Lady Macbeth’s journey. At its core, it is truly a story of women finding some power amidst the world’s cruelty, and the struggles in doing so. Lovely, painful, empowering.

“A small blade cuts the water and ripples outward like an echo. And then the world beneath shows itself, first as green shoots in the dirt. And then comes a woman, a witch, tearing her way through the green with her teeth.” Sobbing.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc!

I love Ava Reid’s writing so I was super excited for this and it totally delivered! Her prose is just so vivid and captivating it draws you in and paints such a picture. Lady Macbeth is for sure not the version you are use to so keep that in mind when reading I would say and go in with an open mind. It’s really its own thing but the Lady Macbeth vibe is captured. I loved the romance and the dynamic there as well. Will be purchasing this when it comes out for our library as well as myself!

I loved this book so much! I was hooked from the first page and couldn't put it down I love this author so much this book was everything I was hoping for and then some

It's a great piece of writing portraying history, giving a new voice to Lady Macbeth and showing how brilliant she can be. It's a story of survival with amazing atmosphere. Ava Reid's very good at portraying characters feelings and making you feel for them.

Ava Reid has blown me away again with her writing!
From the first act I was enthralled with the character of Lady Macbeth & her fit for survival. The world building was so vivid in this book that it felt as if I was experiencing it all for myself.
Lady Macbeth is definitely a must read if you are into dark retellings featuring witches, monsters & overcoming the fate that others have set out for you.
A sincere thank you to netgalley & the publisher’s for allowing me to read the ARC for this book.

“The truth is found in whispers, in sidelong glances, in twitching jaws and clenching fists.”

Lady Macbeth was a gothic, re-telling I didn’t know I needed in my life. I requested a copy solely based on the fact that I enjoyed the original source material in high school and college, and I love to get stories from the POV of other characters, especially those who are typically deemed, villains.
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Reid knocks it out of the park with her character work. The inner monologue for Lady Macbeth or Roscille, as she is called for the majority of the story, is beautifully and poignantly written. She’s shown to be incredibly clever. She shows deep emotions throughout. Her pain is so raw and real. It makes her so wonderfully and terribly human. Which is what makes her such a compelling character.
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The bits of fantasy that are woven into this well known tale are wonderfully executed. There is just enough of the fantastical to give a sense of mystery, as well as, even more brutality.
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The story is dark. The twists are well executed. The character work and sheer humanity of Roscille is top-notch. And this story is a great window into the gender roles of men and women and how those roles have been used throughout history to oppress or dismiss. That additional complexity creates a work that I believe will endure for decades.

“And there is nothing more dangerous than a creature who pretends to be one thing and is in truth another.”

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for providing this ARC for review.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year because of my love for Ava Reid and Lady Macbeth, but this has been one of the most disappointing and borderline offensive books I have ever completed. I promise no one is as upset as me about this rating and review, but it feels false for me to go about this any other way. I have 52 notes on my arc copy and every single one of them is a criticism. There are few things that I hate more than “feminist” reimaginings 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 girlbossing her way 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.

This book is not about this Lady Macbeth – it is a complete character assassination, making our ambitious middle-aged Scotswoman who calls the shots into a 17-year-old French girl (this may seem like a silly thing to note, but it is very important as all Scottish people are evil brutish idiot) with neither agency nor ambition. This version of Lady Macbeth is also incredibly xenophobic (like seriously, what the hell did Scottish people do to you, Ava?) and loves to continually call other women ugly. She is defined only by the men in her life. Where is the woman who told her husband he was “too full of the milk of human kindness” because he didn’t want to COMMIT MURDER? 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.

I have a lot of problems with this other than the character assassination. For one, it is insanely xenophobic. Scottish people are continually seen as stupid, violent brutes and there is no nuance to that. Even the love interest, the only man who is seen in a positive light (EVEN THOUGH HE LITERALLY TREATS HER AS A POSSESSION), isn’t fully Scottish. She did a similar thing in A Study in Drowning, but this was so so so much worse. It rubbed me the wrong way and just made me feel really bad for Scottish people? Like what did they ever do to her?? Additionally, the way that men are handled in this book is… off putting to say the least. The general vibe of this book is ‘woman good! :) man bad! :(‘, but there is literally nothing that substantiates this. We constantly hear about how much these men suck then, when Roscille actually has to interact with them, they’re fine? I was genuinely so confused the entire time. I can’t tell if it was man hating (in a not fun or justified way unfortunately) or Scottish hating or both? It feels like both, especially in regards to Macbeth. From the moment we meet him, all we hear about is how terrible and brutish he is. The problem? He actively listens to her and treats her like a person the WHOLE time. We are told he continually objectifies women and treats them like objects instead of people while at the same time we watch Roscille be continually surprised by how much he listens to his council and is pretty good to her. It was just really confusing and made the whole message feel incredibly shallow. This weird xenophobia is brought more to light when we watch her very boring insta-lovey love interest that she has literally no chemistry with (who isn’t a full Scot!) treat her like she is property. Like I get she’s choosing him because he’s hot, but he’s still really misogynistic towards her and it’s okay because he’s a feminine stick boy and not a brutish man. I get it, you like more feminine guys, that’s completely fine, but the weird hatred towards other men and double standard was very off putting. The whole thing was honestly off putting.

While I usually enjoy Ava Reid’s writing, it felt incredibly shallow here. It may be because of the passive nature of her writing, but I could not connect to anyone in any way. The story was told, but there is was no action. It’s like we, and Roscille, were being pulled along by a current. I really did not enjoy this. I wish I could justify giving this more than 1 star, but here we are. There were so many interesting ways to reimagine this story, and this was not one of them.

book out: August 06 2024
Thank you NetGalley and Del Ray for the advanced readers copy

“Madness, of all things, is the most unforgivable in a woman.”

A Study in Drowning is one of my Roman Empire books I think about daily, so I am so grateful I was approved for the ARC of Ava Reid’s 2024 book, Lady Macbeth. THANK YOU, NetGalley and Random House Publishing!!

While I’ve never read Macbeth, I watched some videos about the plot to help me differentiate what aspects of the story were canon and what Ava added for this retelling. You do not have to know the story of Macbeth to read this; I found that it stood perfectly well on its own.

Ava crafts a gothic atmosphere like no other. I like how she uses sinister imagery to formulate a setting that makes me feel uncomfortable as if I was a 17-year-old girl being forced to marry a much older stranger. From my understanding, Lady Macbeth has been villainized as a greedy mastermind in the original play. However, in this book, I found that all of her actions made sense and were simply the culmination of a scared young woman being trapped inside a man's world where women lack autonomy over their own lives. I also really enjoyed the water/sea imagery which brought me to a place of nostalgia from ASID.

If you want to read a gothic retelling full of female rage, witches, dragons, and incredibly eloquent writing, or you like the song Mad Woman by Taylor Swift, you can't go wrong with this when it comes out!

This was my first book by Ava Reid. I have had her other works on my TBR for a while, just have never gotten to them. I can say that I will now prioritize the others. I am not at all familiar with Macbeth, so I cannot say if this follows the Shakespeare play or not. I will say Lady Macbeth started a tad slow and I had to google a few of the countries in the book because they were unfamiliar to me. As an avid romance reader I am so used to the enemies to lover trope that I was sadly rooting for Macbeth for longer than I'd like to admit.
I love books that have blatant sexism and the women who outwit the men who say those things and get whats coming for them.
“Weak-minded, frail-bodied, like all members of your sex. Perhaps you have worked some common magic with the beauty of your face, but you have no other value or purpose beyond that. Step aside. I will

"Roscille will never stop marveling at the stupidness of men when the order of their world is disrupted."
I overall enjoyed Lady Macbeth. I'd give it a solid 3.75. Lady Macbeth is set to be released August 13 2024
I was given an ARC for this book and this is my honest review.