#ava reid

[laundry-and-taxes]

The way 'feminist retellings' have become another name for multi-dimensional female characters being white-washed and reduced to misunderstood/wronged/abused woman who does conventionally evil things to protect herself/for the greater good will always make me want to hurl myself off of a cliff.

Often times, these retellings bear no respect for their original text, and simply write to be quoted on tumblr mood boards and praised by booktokers as 'subversive' and 'a new take on feminism.'

I need authors to stop writing feminist retellings until they understand that women can be

1. Evil

2. Ambitious

3. Cruel/unkind/selfish

And gender based violence against these women is not acceptable simply because of their actions. They do not need to be victims of earlier abuse, or extremely kind, or the chosen ones for violence perpetuated against them on the virtue of their gender to be condemned.

[gcantread]

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid Endpaper illustrations by Mary Metzger

pretty endpapers 1/?

[freckles-and-books]

These are three of my favorites reads this year, and they all feel like they’re in conversation with each other. Each deals with fairytales in ways that go beyond mere retellings, and each one has stunning prose that really made me fall in love.

[immortalworld]

currently reading 📖: Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

I’m like nervous and excited to see my reaction to this book i’ve heard a lot of mix reviews so i’m trying not to get hopes up.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

I just read a YA novel (fable for the end of the world) and there was a character named Hedrick Visser. That has to be reference, right?

The guy isn’t really an antagonist but he is there to instill dread.

I don't know if Ava Reid is an Animorphs fan or not, but it wouldn't shock me. We know the list of authors directly influenced by Animorphs includes Veronica Roth, Sarah J. Maas, Tamisyn Muir, Holly Black, and Marissa Meyer. I also believe that Megan Whalen Turner has mentioned Animorphs in interviews, though I'm having trouble finding a source for that right now.

But yeah, I believe it. Veronica Roth is the one most famous for naming a character (Tobias "Four" Eaton) after Animorphs, but even my original works have minor characters named Jake, Tobias, and Ax.

[pixi-stixx]

I am a simple woman, I love an emotionally repressed man in a big coat

[laundry-and-taxes]

This novel was so horrible. I demand financial recompensation. Why was Malcolm a half English man named Lisander? Why was Lady Macbeth a teenage French girl?? Why are all Scottish men described as brutes who are dishonorable, violent, and misogynistic? Moreover, why is it even a retelling if the author has gone off the rails with characterization and plot and chosen to do whatever they wished with a brilliant play? Retellings have become a buzzword in the increasingly consumerist publishing industry for authors to drive up sales. They don't want to critically engage with the themes of the text they're meant to be retelling. They want to be praised for being subversive and feminist by people who haven't ever engaged with the original text.

I was even more disappointed because I enjoyed Reid's earlier novel 'Juniper and Thorn' but the issues I had with that novel were highlighted even more in this novel. Scenes of gratuitous sexual and physical violence piled upon each other which serve no purpose except for shocking the readers with half done characters who shame their original counterparts.

I need authors to stop writing feminist retellings. Madeline Miller I think you've done irreparable damage to retellings.

[ekbelsher]

When I do art for other people, I usually send two or three pose options before I draw the whole scene, and they never pick my favourite, ain't it the way

[noraonfilm]

All books should have a dark magical forest.

[stargirlbryce]

Every book I read in 2025: Juniper and thorn by Ava Reid

"I almost laughed. “You would rather me eat your heart than look away in disgust?”

“Of course,” he breathed. “Every time.""

[bookaddict24-7]

(New Young Adult Releases Coming Out Today! (March 4th, 2025)

___

Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

___

New Releases:

While We're Young by K.L. Walther

I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew

Take A Chance On Me by Elizabeth Eulberg

Say A Little Prayer by Jenna Voris

Love Points to You by Alice Lin

They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven

You Belong Here by Sara Phoebe Miller & Morgan Beem (illustrator)

We Were Warned by Chelsea Ichaso

One Step Forward by Marcie Flinchum Atkins

When the Bones Sing by Ginny Myers Sain

The Scorpion & the Night Blossom by Amélie Wen Zhao

Banned Together by Various

Nightweaver by R.M. Gray

Divining the Leaves by Shveta Thakrar

Strange Bedfellows by Ariel Slamet Ries

Gradchanted by Morgan Matson

Kirby's Lessons for Falling by Laura Gao

All the Hidden Monsters by Amie Jordan

Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid

The Red Car to Hollywood by Jennie Liu

Solving for the Unknown by Loan Le

Sunny at the End of the World by Steph Bowe

This Stays Between Us by Margot McGovern

New Sequels:

Dear Manny (Dear Martin #3) by Nic Stone

Shadow & Tide (Compass and Blade #2) by Rachel Greenlaw

Oathbound (The Legendborn Cycle #3) by Tracy Deonn

The Encanto's Curse (The Encanto's Daughter #2) by Melissa de la Cruz

___

Happy reading!

[daphneblakess]

books i read in 2024: fable for the end of the world by ava reid

and maybe that's all it takes - at least in the beginning. just a few people who care. and that caring matters, even if it can't cool the earth or lower sea levels or turn back time to before a nuclear blast.

[normalfaerie]

There was something sick in me, something wrong. Even baby birds knew how to shriek, even kittens knew how to mewl, even puppies knew how to whine. Papa had told me I hadn’t even cried when he’d pulled me from between my mother’s thighs. I hadn’t protested when he dragged me through the streets of Oblya, hadn’t protested when Rose had chided me or when Undine had slapped me. My eldest sister was right; I would smile blithely if someone tried to saw off my leg. But no one had ever told me that I was allowed to scream.

- Juniper and thorn by Ava Reid

[1spacedust]

I hope I'm gonna like this book as much as the cover 💘

[thirtythirdhalfbirthday]

"Your love cannot make me less of a monster."

Sevas lets out a breath. "I wouldn't presume my love could do such a thing. I would have you as you are, nothing less."

-Ava Reid, Juniper & Thorn (2022)

"So you are no mortal man. I have seen what mortal men can do. I prefer a monster that shows itself openly."

-Ava Reid, Lady Macbeth (2024)