ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ: Death, rape culture, rape, sexual assault, abusive relationship, physical violence, gore, gender-based violence, bullying, transphobia, suicide, substance abuse, vigilantism, revenge

Thank you to Wednesday books, Hanna Capin, and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

I want to first point out and applaud the author. Every trigger warning I have listed is mentioned on her website about the book. Each one goes into more detail and explains why/how it is used. There is also a disclosure that the book is rather violent and encourages you to go to her website to check the content warnings at the beginning of the book. This should be common practice and I think is incredibly respectful and thoughtful to readers.

This story is a dark reimagining of Lady MacBeth. (A truly dark and twisted Mean Girls) Elle and her three best friends go to a party for her sweet sixteen. While she is there she is roofied, and raped. Elle leaves the party and reinvents herself as Jade. A badass girl with revenge on her mind. Her coven (her besties) support and drive her with whatever she needs.

This book was intense. I first of all had to do a Wikipedia search and reintroduce my brain to Macbeth. This reimagining does an incredible job bringing the rape culture society to the front and center, and making it pay. Rapist, instigators and those who turn a blind eye or ignore it.

While I didn’t like any of the characters I enjoyed the story. The characters were all rich, snobby, and generally cruel to anyone outside their circles. I could sympathize with characters and appreciate their personalities I just know I wouldn’t be friends with any of these kids back in the day. Also feel that with the modern day Macbeth their personalities make sense (seriously brush up on Macbeth to really appreciate this one lol)

This book is definitely grade 10 or higher reading, and absolutely mature reading. It is a book I would recommend be discussed with your teens to talk about the issues in the book and how they correlate to real life. The topic of rape culture may be uncomfortable to talk about but the characters in this book are teenagers, and in real life this exists.

This story is way over the top and very Shakespearean in a way that makes it poetic and dramatic.