Lady Macbeth (2024) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Ava Reid
I read Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid. I got the softcover at Barnes and Noble. The edges of the pages are pink. It is a lovely copy, and it was a pleasure to read.
This was a really interesting gothic fantasy take on the Macbeth story. It is centered on – you guessed it – Lady Macbeth, and it puts quite the fantasy romance twist on the story. I’d suggest being familiar with the Scottish play, but it’s not exactly a requirement. I do think you’d enjoy it more if you were familiar with the characters in Macbeth so you can have a point of reference, though all the characters are changed significantly if Reid’s tale.
Magic? Check
Dragons? Check
Blood and gore? Check
Witches? Double, Triple, and Quadruple Check!
It’s got all of that and a bit more. It’s written in present tense, which I loved. It has some flaws — I didn’t really understand why Lady Macbeth does everything she does in the story, but, then again, it could be because she’s not really supposed to be a genius mastermind (though she seems to think she is). She has just as many character flaws as Macbeth does, in different ways, and she really could have avoided some of her problems if she had thought through the consequences before executing her actions.
There is delicious detail regarding the three witches. I love their backstory and how they are given agency in the story, if only just for a little bit — it leaves you wanting another whole book about the witches. Honestly, I was rooting for them more than I was rooting for Lady Macbeth.
I would recommend this book for fans of Macbeth, but be warned that it really is a totally different story, so you can’t go into it thinking it’s going to be a straight retelling. It takes basic elements of Macbeth and turns it into something bigger and darker. It’s not for the squeamish or pearl clutcher, and you need to be open minded to storytellers adding to and changing a classic story into something of their own.
