To start off, Ava Reids' writing is as gothically indulgent as always. If one thing stands true it is always that Reid has a beautiful way of portraying a scene and thought, the building bricks are amazing and her structure is a joy to read.

That being said, this is very much a story where you can feel the author in it. Which is great, but it detracts heavily from the source material it comes from. If this wasn't tied in with a pre-established idea, and if I hadn't known there was a timeless Shakespearean tragedy lurking at the corners, I would have loved this book much more. But I know there was a much more interesting story. Lady Macbeth had a lot of influence, she was complex and riddled with a drive that ultimately led to an ending that stuck to my brain years later. What she is in this book doesn't capture me anywhere near as much as the original concepts did. 

The exploration of women in medieval times is something that could be talked about more, but I can't help but feel Lady Macbeth in this story loses so much agency, so much personality gets pushed to the wayside - and don't get me started on the love interest.

Or the witches. How you did my beloved witches and their eery prophecy so dirty, I was shocked at how twisted Macbeth is made, turned into a much more clear-cut villain. We barely get to feel any of that descent into madness because he was always power-hungry and blatantly so from the start.

I wasn't expecting a faithful retelling, but so much deviation from even the themes of the original lost me, personally.