Name: Lady Macbeth
Rating: 3.3125 (32 reviews)
ISBN: 9781529910476

AVA. REID

Fair is foul and foul is fair. The stunning new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Ava Reid, which reimagines Shakespeare's play and gives Lady Macbeth a voice, a past, and a power that transforms the story men have written for her. Perfect for fans of Circe and Wolf Hall.

Lady Macbeth

tracy

readi does what she does best-- atmosphere and scenes where i have physically shake it off.

Ava Reid

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ava Reid comes a reimagining of Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare’s most famous villainess, giving her a voice, a past, and a power that transforms the story men have written for her. The Lady knows the stories: how her eyes induce madness in men. The Lady knows she will be wed to the Scottish brute, who does not leave his warrior ways behind when he comes to the marriage bed. The Lady knows his hostile, suspicious court will be a game of survival, requiring all of her wiles and hidden witchcraft to survive. But the Lady does not know her husband has occult secrets of his own. She does not know that prophecy girds him like armor. She does not know that her magic is greater and more dangerous, and that it will threaten the order of the world. She does not know this yet. But she will.

A Novel

ash (smokedshelves)

After reading Ava Reid's 'A Study in Drowning' I was looking forward to reading another original story to get swept into, but I was quite disappointed. 

I was aware that this book was a retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth, and thus was not really expecting a lot of originality, but while reading the story it felt as if the author was being held back from going all the way in her own ideas. 

There are definitely original points added to the story that could have made this an amazing book, but in my opinion they weren't properly/entirely worked out. 

Definitely not a badly written book, but not really my taste. Should Ava Reid come out with another book I look forward to reading it. 

Isabelle

After reading Ava Reid's 'A Study in Drowning' I was looking forward to reading another original story to get swept into, but I was quite disappointed. 

I was aware that this book was a retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth, and thus was not really expecting a lot of originality, but while reading the story it felt as if the author was being held back from going all the way in her own ideas. 

There are definitely original points added to the story that could have made this an amazing book, but in my opinion they weren't properly/entirely worked out. 

Definitely not a badly written book, but not really my taste. Should Ava Reid come out with another book I look forward to reading it. 

4 stars seems too little, but then again, 4.5 seems like too much. 4.25 stars? 

Lady Macbeth is a reimagining of this infamous titular character. I personally love when retellings tell their own story instead of relying too much on the source material; if I wanted the original, I'd stick with the original! So I loved the twisting and turning path this book took me on. And I loved how unique and different it was, yet still inspired by and paying homage to the original source material from the Shakespeare play. 

The first half of this book was my favorite and what I felt was its strongest point. We meet Roscille, a bastard daughter of a French duke, who is on her way to her new homeland to meet her soon-to-be husband. I reveled in the historical details and appreciated the historical fiction. I felt very grounded in the time and setting. 

Then, the whole book becomes mostly fantasy, or at least historical fantasy, with dragons and more. The witches are one thing--more "real life" than a dragon--so I was thrown off guard. But just for a bit. I readjusted my standards to enjoy this piece of historical fantasy. 

Roscille is a strong and cunning character, even if her scheming mostly goes awry. I found this endeared me to her more. I loved reading how her mind worked. In the past, I've been a big fan of first person POVs, but lately I've realized that when done right and well, I can enjoy third person POVs maybe even more. Here is a case in point. 

The writing and descriptions were beautiful and chilling. But yet at other times, some of the writing seemed weak. I was a little taken aback by the uses of "a beat." What is this, a screenplay? I've never read that in a book before and didn't think it was entirely necessary, at least to use more than just a couple of times. 

This book is a worthy retelling that tows the line between historical fiction and fantasy. I enjoyed the characters; each had an incredible depth, and the author spun some truly tantalizing threads. It was very layered. This is a novel to savor, to think about for days after you finish reading. 

Despite the tone shift about halfway through, I thought it was well done. It probably should have been a true fantasy throughout; in my experience, historical fiction can be allowed some magical realism without taking away from its historic elements. This wasn't really the case. 

It's also more atmospheric and character driven than plot heavy. Maybe a little slow at times, I still enjoyed it. Also, I have to give props to the cover and overall book design. This is one of the most beautiful books in my collection, or that I've ever seen. The cover design looks exactly like how I picture Roscille; it's truly stunning.

Amanda

4 stars seems too little, but then again, 4.5 seems like too much. 4.25 stars? 

Lady Macbeth is a reimagining of this infamous titular character. I personally love when retellings tell their own story instead of relying too much on the source material; if I wanted the original, I'd stick with the original! So I loved the twisting and turning path this book took me on. And I loved how unique and different it was, yet still inspired by and paying homage to the original source material from the Shakespeare play. 

The first half of this book was my favorite and what I felt was its strongest point. We meet Roscille, a bastard daughter of a French duke, who is on her way to her new homeland to meet her soon-to-be husband. I reveled in the historical details and appreciated the historical fiction. I felt very grounded in the time and setting. 

Then, the whole book becomes mostly fantasy, or at least historical fantasy, with dragons and more. The witches are one thing--more "real life" than a dragon--so I was thrown off guard. But just for a bit. I readjusted my standards to enjoy this piece of historical fantasy. 

Roscille is a strong and cunning character, even if her scheming mostly goes awry. I found this endeared me to her more. I loved reading how her mind worked. In the past, I've been a big fan of first person POVs, but lately I've realized that when done right and well, I can enjoy third person POVs maybe even more. Here is a case in point. 

The writing and descriptions were beautiful and chilling. But yet at other times, some of the writing seemed weak. I was a little taken aback by the uses of "a beat." What is this, a screenplay? I've never read that in a book before and didn't think it was entirely necessary, at least to use more than just a couple of times. 

This book is a worthy retelling that tows the line between historical fiction and fantasy. I enjoyed the characters; each had an incredible depth, and the author spun some truly tantalizing threads. It was very layered. This is a novel to savor, to think about for days after you finish reading. 

Despite the tone shift about halfway through, I thought it was well done. It probably should have been a true fantasy throughout; in my experience, historical fiction can be allowed some magical realism without taking away from its historic elements. This wasn't really the case. 

It's also more atmospheric and character driven than plot heavy. Maybe a little slow at times, I still enjoyed it. Also, I have to give props to the cover and overall book design. This is one of the most beautiful books in my collection, or that I've ever seen. The cover design looks exactly like how I picture Roscille; it's truly stunning.

This is not a retelling of Macbeth. As a standalone story, this is excellent, but it completely changes the plot. 

Lady Macbeth

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