When A Crown Falls, Many Arms Reach Out To Catch It

I recently finished reading Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid. This is OwlCrate's August adult book.

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT

  Rating: 3.25/5 stars

This exclusive edition features an exclusive redesigned dust jacket by @julie.reinhart_ , with stenciled edges by @divineliterary, a reversible dust jacket by  @marblenxxart, foiled hardcover case design by @sajrafox, and end pages by @anna_helme and designed by @lichen_and_limestone. The book is also signed by author Ava Reid on an author page with an author's letter bound into the book.

"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 strategy, 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."

Reid's writing is beautiful, but it failed to ever truly grip me. I was hoping for a more sinister plot, and a more overtly cunning representation of Lady Macbeth as well.

However, I did enjoy the level of inspiration from the original story, and felt the setting and atmosphere were very well done. I felt the cold and dark in my bones.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself though, so let's start at the beginning. As you would expect, Lady Macbeth is Ava Reid's reimagining of Lady Macbeth.

Lady Macbeth, as a character, has always fascinated me and I do tend to enjoy new fiction that reimagines her role, or persona. In fact, the setting and characters all feel fairly true to the original source material, and I think any fan of that work could enjoy checking this one out.

I did enjoying following Roscille, who becomes Lady Macbeth, as she first arrives at Macbeth's castle and meets her husband-to-be for the first time, as well as her introduction to other inhabitants of the castle and their ways, which are all very mysterious to her. I did feel Roscille was cunning and smart. That she was strategizing all along the best ways to get by in her new life.

With this being said though, I was disappointed not to get more development in her relationship with her husband. I felt that was very surface level and I would have wanted much more to feel satisfied. By this I don't mean romantically. I wanted more strategizing between them, and honestly, I wanted to see more manipulation on her part. I know it was there, but it just felt weak compared to what I was hoping for.

I wanted her to be using Macbeth's alleged brutish nature more to her advantage. It felt more like the reverse, that he was still in control. I know that's not exactly true, especially by the end, but I wanted her power to be more unconcealed.

Personally, it felt too subtle for me. It was like those punching points I wanted were a bit bogged down by the beauty of the writing. Although there's nothing wrong with pretty writing, it just wasn't quite to my tastes.

The first half of the book was definitely more successful for me. At that point, there was still hope and the possibility that Lady Macbeth would live up to her full, sinister potential. Unfortunately, that just never really followed through to the extent that I wanted. I did still enjoy this. It is a good story

Check out Lady Macbeth and discover what happens when a crown falls.

Happy Reading :)