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jennibear's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Contemporary Macbeth retelling for the #Metoo era, which I thoroughly enjoyed as a fan of Sakespeare's Macbeth. I liked the writing, it seemed like the sentences just float and all the repititions kept spooking in my brain. Also enjoyed the diverse (LGBTQIA+) characters even though they played not a huge part in the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Rape
matasatan's review against another edition
5.0
Goddess and hell! I really liked and loved this freaking awesome girl power-book.
blakelassahn's review against another edition
2.0
up until around 50% through i hated this book and wanted to give it 1 star, then at around 80% it bumped up to 2 stars for the last 20% which legitimately carried the entire book in my opinion. maybe i just don’t vibe with YA books anymore? the ending saved this and left it on a high note, but i’m never rereading this book EVER and i wish i would’ve put the time i spent reading it towards reading something else.
cayley_graph's review
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Macbeth reimagined from Lady Macbeth’s point of view, where she is a teenager getting revenge on a troupe of golden boys, in a dark slightly fantastical #MeToo story. Jade’s trauma unravels over the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide
roglows's review against another edition
5.0
Foul is Fair, basically, is a modern take on Macbeth--but with a twist...as if Macbeth married Heathers. At first, the affected style and snappy language distracted me, but soon I felt myself pulled into the dreamy Shakespearian vibes.
On the night Elizabeth (Elle) Jade Khanjara turns 16, she and her 'coven' --her three best friends-- crash a party thrown by the it boy of the rival school. What transpires there is nothing less than awful, and the assault on Elle turns her and her friends into a pack of murderous Mean Girls.
Elle becomes Jade, and she has nothing left to lose.
What ensues is their plan to kill each of those involved in what happened that night, and it all goes down in the preppy halls of St. Andrews school.
I loved this book. The suspense had my stomach in knots. Elle/Jade is unflinching, as are her badass girlfriends, and there's never a moment of fakeness or sentimentality. They are always goddesses, no matter how twisted, and never victims. An important book for the MeToo generation, this shows how deeply the wounds created by the recklessness of rape culture and assault cut, and just how far down the rabbit hole some will go to regain their sense of power.
On the night Elizabeth (Elle) Jade Khanjara turns 16, she and her 'coven' --her three best friends-- crash a party thrown by the it boy of the rival school. What transpires there is nothing less than awful, and the assault on Elle turns her and her friends into a pack of murderous Mean Girls.
Elle becomes Jade, and she has nothing left to lose.
What ensues is their plan to kill each of those involved in what happened that night, and it all goes down in the preppy halls of St. Andrews school.
I loved this book. The suspense had my stomach in knots. Elle/Jade is unflinching, as are her badass girlfriends, and there's never a moment of fakeness or sentimentality. They are always goddesses, no matter how twisted, and never victims. An important book for the MeToo generation, this shows how deeply the wounds created by the recklessness of rape culture and assault cut, and just how far down the rabbit hole some will go to regain their sense of power.
katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
Stunning - deliciously dark, dangerous and Shakespearean.
Appearances can be deceiving... if you didn't know before starting that this was a modern take on Macbeth, it would become apparent before long.
This is NOT for the faint-hearted, or for anyone expecting a light teen romance. You could not read anything further from that description. While it just about shys away from deeply graphic content, know from the off that this contains scenes of rape, violence, murder. And it's absolutely brilliantly done.
Elle is about as resilient, resourceful and razor-sharp as they come. After she and her friends crash a 'prep school' party on her sixteenth birthday and she is badly assaulted, she and her 'coven' immediately swear revenge. With their assistance, Elle switches schools and begins using her wiles and charms to infiltrate the popular group, intent on splitting loyalties, sowing distrust and rancour. She is going to make sure every last one of them pays for what they did.
And it's just delicious. While nobody in real life will condone this sort of amoral amoral payback, it's cathartic and satisfying to watch Shakespeare's dark story play out among the privileged, entitled teens of St Andrew's.
I didn't feel that any of Elle's coven really stood out as a character in their own right - they are the witches, with Elle taking centre stage as the duplicitous Lady Macbeth, manipulating behind the scenes. None of her opponents at St Andrew's are anywhere near as well-drawn or interesting. Elle is brutal. She is beautiful and knows how to use this. She is sly, scheming, smart and never less than sympathetic. You cheer her on.
Highly entertaining in its dark humour and intentions. Get your Shakespeare fix here. Not for younger teens really, I would recommend to age 14 and above. And adults - you'll love it.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance reading copy.
Appearances can be deceiving... if you didn't know before starting that this was a modern take on Macbeth, it would become apparent before long.
This is NOT for the faint-hearted, or for anyone expecting a light teen romance. You could not read anything further from that description. While it just about shys away from deeply graphic content, know from the off that this contains scenes of rape, violence, murder. And it's absolutely brilliantly done.
Elle is about as resilient, resourceful and razor-sharp as they come. After she and her friends crash a 'prep school' party on her sixteenth birthday and she is badly assaulted, she and her 'coven' immediately swear revenge. With their assistance, Elle switches schools and begins using her wiles and charms to infiltrate the popular group, intent on splitting loyalties, sowing distrust and rancour. She is going to make sure every last one of them pays for what they did.
And it's just delicious. While nobody in real life will condone this sort of amoral amoral payback, it's cathartic and satisfying to watch Shakespeare's dark story play out among the privileged, entitled teens of St Andrew's.
I didn't feel that any of Elle's coven really stood out as a character in their own right - they are the witches, with Elle taking centre stage as the duplicitous Lady Macbeth, manipulating behind the scenes. None of her opponents at St Andrew's are anywhere near as well-drawn or interesting. Elle is brutal. She is beautiful and knows how to use this. She is sly, scheming, smart and never less than sympathetic. You cheer her on.
Highly entertaining in its dark humour and intentions. Get your Shakespeare fix here. Not for younger teens really, I would recommend to age 14 and above. And adults - you'll love it.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance reading copy.
vonderbash's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book! The writing style is amazing, so descriptive and it pulls you in. A fun revenge story and an excellent retelling of Macbeth.
minareader1's review against another edition
I couldn't get into it, also had no clue what was happening.
ariannagojara's review against another edition
4.0
WOW THIS WAS POWERFUL. Bad bitch energy thru and thru. Lots of trigger warnings for this story and it’s definitely not a story for everyone to read to read but wow, if you don’t have a weak stomach, I would recommend!
simonizzys's review against another edition
3.0
♡ — 3 stars. buddy read with lwl cult
(TWs for SA, check content warnings)
i don't really have much to say about this book. i really wanted to like it more than i did. the first part of the book was much more enjoyable than the second half i think. the coven were cute and i loved their scenes together. it was vengeful and kind of cult-y which is really what i was looking for. it did start to get kinda repetitive like the author *really* wanted to get across how angry jade was and how insecure the boys were. it came across a little info dumpy which kind of took me out of it. it wasnt really a huge issue for me so my rating was still pretty high.
then jade starts to fall for the boys' best friend? who she was planning on pinning it all on. yk because he is really close to them?? which was already highly unnecessary for a r-pe revenge. like this girl has already been through enough with this friend group and this shithole school. like the author could have really just stopped here. but it just gets worse.
because he gave her the drink. yes it was an accident kind of, but it was still unnecessary as shit. him killing himself did help i guess but it still threw me off. they still all ended up dead so i can't be too mad
(TWs for SA, check content warnings)
i don't really have much to say about this book. i really wanted to like it more than i did. the first part of the book was much more enjoyable than the second half i think. the coven were cute and i loved their scenes together. it was vengeful and kind of cult-y which is really what i was looking for. it did start to get kinda repetitive like the author *really* wanted to get across how angry jade was and how insecure the boys were. it came across a little info dumpy which kind of took me out of it. it wasnt really a huge issue for me so my rating was still pretty high.
then jade starts to fall for the boys' best friend? who she was planning on pinning it all on. yk because he is really close to them?? which was already highly unnecessary for a r-pe revenge. like this girl has already been through enough with this friend group and this shithole school. like the author could have really just stopped here. but it just gets worse.
because he gave her the drink. yes it was an accident kind of, but it was still unnecessary as shit. him killing himself did help i guess but it still threw me off. they still all ended up dead so i can't be too mad