Week 17 Review: As I Descended

From Goodreads:
From the acclaimed author of Lies We Tell Ourselves, Robin Talley, comes a Shakespeare-inspired story of revenge and redemption, where fair is foul, and foul is fair.

Maria Lyon and Lily Boiten are their school's ultimate power couple—but one thing stands between them and their perfect future: campus superstar Delilah Dufrey. Golden child Delilah is a legend at exclusive Acheron Academy, and the presumptive winner of the distinguished Cawdor Kingsley Prize. But Delilah doesn't know that Lily and Maria are willing to do anything—absolutely anything—to unseat Delilah for the scholarship. After all, it would lock in Maria's attendance at Stanford—and assure her and Lily four more years in a shared dorm room.

Together, Maria and Lily harness the dark power long rumored to be present on the former plantation that houses their school. But when feuds turn to fatalities, and madness begins to blur the distinction between what's real and what's imagined, the girls must attempt to put a stop to the chilling series of events they've accidentally set in motion.

My Review:
I had such a great time reading this book! I did read the play MacBeth while in school, but that was years ago. But it is about the bad guys in the story, so I was excited to see how things would play out-if things would end as badly as they did in the original.

First, I have to say, this cover is beautiful. It's really simple, and you have to look at it closer to see the details. But in the share of her outline, there's this forest with the branches, and this blue-green looks so pretty. It's an creepy and evocative cover, and it works so well with this book! 

There were so many things to love about this retelling! The fact that it's queer is a really big positive. That it's set in modern day, with paranormal aspects, but ghosts instead of witches. That it was spooky and atmospheric. These were all such great elements of this story! 

I think the main thing that I remember from the play was that Lady MacBeth really lost her sanity (and maybe MacBeth, as well) and that basically everyone died. And oh, heartbreakingly enough, this book stays pretty close to the original, which was too bad, I was rooting for them! 

This was a fantastic book, and I had a great time reading it!

Author: Robin Talley
Read: April 25th, 2022
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a 2022 Retelling Reading Challenge Book and a SAC 2022 Book!
Publisher: Harper Teen
Published: September 6th 2016

/5 Hearts

/5 Books

/5 Stars