Scary, bloody, violent retelling of teen Macbeth with the mash-up of Cruel Intensions, Riverdale, Mean Girls, American Horror Story “Coven” and of course one of the best disturbing high school movie “Heathers”!
So what do you think? You’re gonna be in or out! As a die-hard fan of all Shakespeare works, I took my place at the back seat, flipping pages with distorted face, widen eyes and the thought balloons appeared above my head says: “WTH I’m reading! Those teenagers couldn’t be real human beings!” They might have been produced in a lab by the protected genes of famous serial killers including Manson, Dahmer and Wuornos!
So here is our cast:
Jade is our avenger, psychopath bitch a.k.a Lady Macbeth says who would have thought all these boys to have so much blood in them…
Mack is our innocent(!), decent, unfortunately manipulated Macbeth
Heathers girls a.k.a Witches: Jenny, Summer and Mads
The kings a.k.a motherf.cker, despicable, dirty human wastes (I wish Jade give me some private time with those boys because they’re winners of my punching, slapping, kicking, beating the shit out of them contests! I’m volunteer to use them as decorative punch bags of my Fighting Women Club and Making Cupcakes Club –after burning so much energy, we get our treat!-)
So Elle attends a St. Andrew’s prep party with her coven but she gets rofied and raped. So old Elle dies and Jade is born at that moment to give the punishment those four guys coming from rich and powerful families. Now she’s determined to conduct her mission and massacre them one by one with the help of her coven members swear on a blood oath!
She starts her plan by transferring the same school with those guys and befriending their girlfriends, seducing their teammate Mack, pulling his strings as if he’s her favorite puppet! Let the blades sharpen! Let the massacre begins! But Jade shouldn’t forget that a person who desires revenge should also dig two graves!
Did I enjoy it? It’s dark, it’s funny, it’s disturbing and it’s ruthless, nasty, unrealistic somewhat cheesy, awkward. All those teenagers reminded you of aliens from other dimensions with their absurd and weird reactions and their dialogues, relationship dynamics. There was lack of emotions on this story, only real powerful dynamic was revenge theme which was keeping the story alive and intriguing. But I still enjoyed the most parts even I thought in any second Mulder and Scully would appear and took those coven members into a spaceship and send them to the planet they had come from.
Those coven girls are amazing future version of Heathers! I imagined all AHS coven cast on my mind and match with those characters:
Emma Roberts- Jade, Younger Lily Rabe-Jenny, Taissa Farmiga-Summer and Billie Lourd as Mads (even she wasn’t casted at the “Coven” season, nobody could be better Mads than her.)
So it’s a good work, great, bloody, frustrating, dark retelling even I had some issues to connect with those characters.
My last sentence of review before thanking the Netgalley and publisher comes from Macbeth Act I-Scene I: “Fair is foul and fouls is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air”
Special thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for sharing this ARC COPY with me in exchange my honest review! Well, I happily accept to excitedly read any Shakespeare retelling!