content warnings: violence, gore, misogyny, rape, sexual assault, suicidal ideation, murder

I will happily hold up my hands to say I've never read Macbeth, from what I've gathered, from my own research & from others reviews, ava reids re-imagining of the story is quite jarring. Where Lady macbeth lacks agency - with this, I do agree. I am not fond of novels that center the whole narrative around misogyny & while I understand ava reids artistic choice in this regard, I was not a fan. While throught the novel, she does regain her own agency, it was a little too late.

Ava reid is a fantastic writer & I loved her novel a study in drowning . Lady Macbeth is an atmospheric novel - witchy & gothic & it was my favourite aspect of the novel- re-imagining Lady macbeth as a witch was a good choice, but unfortunately the rest of the novel fell short for me.

Also, the anti Scottish sentiment was strong in this one, I even felt quite offended on my own scot grandma's behalf, damn.