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coralinejones's Reviews (556)
DNF @ 50%.
I'm sorry but this is awful. I fear I may not be the target audience for Ava Reid's writing, as I wasn't a fan of another novel of hers not too long ago. Though, that said, her writing here IS intriguing. The main problem I have with Lady Macbeth is that it's not Lady Macbeth at all. This is a retelling that isn't retelling much, but rather rewriting everything altogether. I don't mind creative liberties when it comes to retellings, but I love the original Lady Macbeth, and the play Macbeth, so much that I just can't overlook this.
Reid's Lady Macbeth is a meek, bratty, unlikable, seventeen year old French xenophobe. A lot of her traits are told to us, but never shown, making any concept of her being witty and cunning fall short.
Someone else had called this a character assassination and I agree! Not just for Lady Macbeth, but Macbeth himself! I don't know how Reid made this story so boring as well? I don't mind a slow paced book, and like I said her writing isn't all that terrible, but the pacing here is so off and unkind. I love the source material too much to let this go. For that reason I've DNF'd halfway through and I don't see myself picking it up again to finish.
I'm sorry but this is awful. I fear I may not be the target audience for Ava Reid's writing, as I wasn't a fan of another novel of hers not too long ago. Though, that said, her writing here IS intriguing. The main problem I have with Lady Macbeth is that it's not Lady Macbeth at all. This is a retelling that isn't retelling much, but rather rewriting everything altogether. I don't mind creative liberties when it comes to retellings, but I love the original Lady Macbeth, and the play Macbeth, so much that I just can't overlook this.
Reid's Lady Macbeth is a meek, bratty, unlikable, seventeen year old French xenophobe. A lot of her traits are told to us, but never shown, making any concept of her being witty and cunning fall short.
Someone else had called this a character assassination and I agree! Not just for Lady Macbeth, but Macbeth himself! I don't know how Reid made this story so boring as well? I don't mind a slow paced book, and like I said her writing isn't all that terrible, but the pacing here is so off and unkind. I love the source material too much to let this go. For that reason I've DNF'd halfway through and I don't see myself picking it up again to finish.
I don't understand why a bunch of half-assed, cliche, horror shit happened in the way beginning and then the very end it was all but boring, slice-of-life nothingness? I sat through this insufferable family for no reason?
What's funny is that I initially enjoyed the catty family drama. I thought the random back and forth added something slight to the overall picture; making assumptions about how their dynamic would change once the mysteries of the house come to the front. I feel like this NEVERRRR came to fruition.
Everyone was so shit to Anna, in my opinion for no reason, and nobody was held accountable for their actions. They shat on her the entire novel and she barely got to defend herself? She did sometimes but it never worked out in her favor... and don't get me wrong, I understand that this family being unlikable is the point and characters don't need to be likeable or be redeemed but, as stated, this was INSUFFERABLE. I was so tired of this by the end. I wanted to DNF 80% of the way through.
I also won't start up again but nothing was gothic about this novel except the cover.
What's funny is that I initially enjoyed the catty family drama. I thought the random back and forth added something slight to the overall picture; making assumptions about how their dynamic would change once the mysteries of the house come to the front. I feel like this NEVERRRR came to fruition.
Everyone was so shit to Anna, in my opinion for no reason, and nobody was held accountable for their actions. They shat on her the entire novel and she barely got to defend herself? She did sometimes but it never worked out in her favor... and don't get me wrong, I understand that this family being unlikable is the point and characters don't need to be likeable or be redeemed but, as stated, this was INSUFFERABLE. I was so tired of this by the end. I wanted to DNF 80% of the way through.
I also won't start up again but nothing was gothic about this novel except the cover.
Author is a zionist. No thanks.
THIS WAS FUCKING EVERYTHING. WHAT THE HELL?
I don't have anything to say... this book was literally made for me. Brom literally sat down and said, "How can I please StoryGraph user CoralineJones?" and then wrote this masterpiece knowing it would fall into my hands one day and I would obsess over it.
How dark. How moody. How atmospheric. How blasphemous. Oh, I'm obsessed. This is great. This is The VVitch for book lovers. I could go on and on but I fear I'm so excited I would babble and sound discombobulated.
I don't have anything to say... this book was literally made for me. Brom literally sat down and said, "How can I please StoryGraph user CoralineJones?" and then wrote this masterpiece knowing it would fall into my hands one day and I would obsess over it.
How dark. How moody. How atmospheric. How blasphemous. Oh, I'm obsessed. This is great. This is The VVitch for book lovers. I could go on and on but I fear I'm so excited I would babble and sound discombobulated.
unfortunately i lost access to the library i was reading this on so i guess i have to find an epub somewhere or something :(
Honestly? There's nothing wrong with this book, really. It's warm and nostalgic and, what I can only describe as, modern Little Women, in a way. But it's also boring? Also mildly interesting at times. But mostly just boring. I can see older women enjoying this novel. Sometimes Tom Lake made me wish I wanted kids so I could experience something so pleasant and similar.
It's weird, I don't really have much to say, lol. I don't even know why I finished the book. It's so low stakes that I could guess how this ended. It's nothing special or shocking or anything... Just cute.
It's weird, I don't really have much to say, lol. I don't even know why I finished the book. It's so low stakes that I could guess how this ended. It's nothing special or shocking or anything... Just cute.
Oh, man. There's so much to say. Unfortunately, there's so much I can't figure out a proper way to write a review!
This novel is really stunning. Lawhorn has a way to draw emotion out of you while keeping you engaged in the world she's writing about and the characters she created. Everyone felt so real, and I assume that's due part to the fact that this book is inspired by Martha Ballard, who was an actual midwife in the 1700s. This novel takes inspiration from her actual journal entries, in which she documented hundreds of cases and events that took place over the course of her life.
My only complaint is that I got tired of reading about Martha delivering babies in detail, it felt repetitive towards the end, but everything else? The court drama? The love Martha has for the women in town? The mystery of murder? Her determination to do what's right? Everything was so good. I even tried finishing this book in one sitting last night but ultimately had to rest. I woke up early to get through the last 2-3 hours because I had to see how this concluded and I was not disappointed.
This novel is really stunning. Lawhorn has a way to draw emotion out of you while keeping you engaged in the world she's writing about and the characters she created. Everyone felt so real, and I assume that's due part to the fact that this book is inspired by Martha Ballard, who was an actual midwife in the 1700s. This novel takes inspiration from her actual journal entries, in which she documented hundreds of cases and events that took place over the course of her life.
My only complaint is that I got tired of reading about Martha delivering babies in detail, it felt repetitive towards the end, but everything else? The court drama? The love Martha has for the women in town? The mystery of murder? Her determination to do what's right? Everything was so good. I even tried finishing this book in one sitting last night but ultimately had to rest. I woke up early to get through the last 2-3 hours because I had to see how this concluded and I was not disappointed.