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Available
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Collection
Publication
London : Penguin Books, 2020.
Description
Suspense. Thriller. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML: "This revenge fantasy is as brutal as it is beautiful...An absolutely gorgeous retelling, artistry on every page, Oscar-worthy if it were a film." â?? NPR Hannah Capin's Foul is Fair is a bloody, thrilling revenge fantasy for the girls who have had enough. Golden boys beware: something wicked this way comes. Jade and her friends Jenny, Mads, and Summer rule their glittering LA circle. Untouchable, they have the kind of power other girls only dream of. Every party is theirs and the world is at their feet. Until the night of Jade's sweet sixteen, when they crash a St. Andrew's Prep party. The night the golden boys choose Jade as their next target. They picked the wrong girl. Sworn to vengeance, Jade transfers to St. Andrew's Prep. She plots to destroy each boy, one by one. She'll take their power, their lives, and their control of the prep school's hierarchy. And she and her coven have the perfect way in: a boy named Mack, whose ambition could turn deadly. A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member CrossroadReviews
Just WOW!! Although I have to say this cover is not winning me over. The story inside it was awesome!! This was a dark story in the style of a Macbeth Feminist!! The authors writing and pacing worked wonders in this story that I could not put down!!! Its so out there and bold and doesn't shy away
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from being dark and raw! And wow just wow I loved Jade to the very last page and if anyone says anything bad about this book i'm just going to explode! I don't know if this author has any other titles out but I am going on the hunt for them right now. And OMG this book doesn't come out until next year I am so going to die right now. Show Less
LibraryThing member tamidale
I knew I was in for a wild ride when I saw the disclaimer concerning sensitive content at the beginning of the book. This book is a modern day retelling of Macbeth in a prep school setting, filled with golden boys and valley girls—all of whom are disturbingly into various forms of bad
When something unspeakable happens to Elle on the night of her 16th birthday, she vows to get revenge. With the help of her three best friends, Elle plots out her plan and for the next several days unimaginable tragedy befalls the students who were involved.
This book is extremely disturbing, but readers can take solace in the fact that it is also unbelievable most of the time. Adults in the story are pretty much invisible or insignificant.
It has all the makings for a great teen horror movie.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.
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behavior.When something unspeakable happens to Elle on the night of her 16th birthday, she vows to get revenge. With the help of her three best friends, Elle plots out her plan and for the next several days unimaginable tragedy befalls the students who were involved.
This book is extremely disturbing, but readers can take solace in the fact that it is also unbelievable most of the time. Adults in the story are pretty much invisible or insignificant.
It has all the makings for a great teen horror movie.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.
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LibraryThing member PardaMustang
Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin is a unique story, bright and bold. It is a tale of a brutal assault (not depicted), and the diabolical depths of revenge on girl takes against those who wronged her, and will never wrong another.
The night after Elle and her friends Mads, Summer, and Jenny crash a St
I quite enjoyed Capin's writing style. It fit the story perfectly. I loved the hyphenated adjectives like dazzle-smiled, murder-bright, and dizzy-high. All of it together call to mind the disjointed snapshots of memory trauma, or the slow erosion of sanity, causes. Jade and her friends are typical 'mean girls', the type of characters I would usually not care for at all, but they are pitted against people far worse. Duncan and the boys of the lacrosse team, who act as if they can get away with anything. As if drugging and raping teenage girls is a sport. In this way, I found myself cheering Jade and her coven on. And what a revenge it was! Designed to cause maximum terror.
I think my biggest qualm is the cover. If I were to consider this book solely by cover some, I'd've passed it over for sure. It feels too light-hearted for the story it contains. There's stuff that isn't at all believable for the 'real-world', but it was easy to suspend disbelief instead of going "that wouldn't happen".
***Many thanks to the Netgalley & St. Martin's for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
The night after Elle and her friends Mads, Summer, and Jenny crash a St
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Andrews Prep party, and the unimaginable happens, they gather to plot revenge. Elle (now Jade) transfers to St Andrews, and quickly wraps one of the golden boys around her little finger, crafting him into a weapon to be wielded as she sees fit. With the help of her friends, working in the shadows to unravel the boys' fragile sanity, Jade rips the group apart from the inside out. I quite enjoyed Capin's writing style. It fit the story perfectly. I loved the hyphenated adjectives like dazzle-smiled, murder-bright, and dizzy-high. All of it together call to mind the disjointed snapshots of memory trauma, or the slow erosion of sanity, causes. Jade and her friends are typical 'mean girls', the type of characters I would usually not care for at all, but they are pitted against people far worse. Duncan and the boys of the lacrosse team, who act as if they can get away with anything. As if drugging and raping teenage girls is a sport. In this way, I found myself cheering Jade and her coven on. And what a revenge it was! Designed to cause maximum terror.
I think my biggest qualm is the cover. If I were to consider this book solely by cover some, I'd've passed it over for sure. It feels too light-hearted for the story it contains. There's stuff that isn't at all believable for the 'real-world', but it was easy to suspend disbelief instead of going "that wouldn't happen".
***Many thanks to the Netgalley & St. Martin's for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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LibraryThing member thereadingrebel
When Jade is raped at a party by the St. Andrew’s lacrosse team. Jade and her best friends aka her coven vow to get revenge. This a young adult retelling of Macbeth. Sadly I haven’t read Macbeth yet so I can’t vouch for how faithful this book is to the original story.
Jade the main character
My favorite relationship in the book is between Jade and Mads her best friend. There is so much understanding and love between them. Jade’s revenge plan is brilliant and bloody. The book is written from Jade’s PoV and the scenes of her dealing with the trauma and flashbacks of the attack are heartbreaking. The writing is brutal, sharp, and powerful. It was like I could feel Jade’s thirst for revenge bleeding off the pages. I am going to miss Jade and her coven but am very happy with how it ended. I can’t wait for Hannah Capin’s next book.
Trigger Warnings: Sexual assault(not depicted but there are some flashbacks), rape culture, violence, an abusive relationship, suicide, and a brief scene of transphobic bullying
*I was given this book for an honest review by Wednesday Books through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.*
Rating: 5 stars
Jade the main character
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is strong, vicious, cruel when needed, and willing to go to any length to get what is hers. I have always loved characters like Jade and she worked her way into my dark heart within the first few chapters. I have always been drawn to characters that are loyal and the coven is loyal as you get. I love how every member of the group is so different but willing to do anything for each other.My favorite relationship in the book is between Jade and Mads her best friend. There is so much understanding and love between them. Jade’s revenge plan is brilliant and bloody. The book is written from Jade’s PoV and the scenes of her dealing with the trauma and flashbacks of the attack are heartbreaking. The writing is brutal, sharp, and powerful. It was like I could feel Jade’s thirst for revenge bleeding off the pages. I am going to miss Jade and her coven but am very happy with how it ended. I can’t wait for Hannah Capin’s next book.
Trigger Warnings: Sexual assault(not depicted but there are some flashbacks), rape culture, violence, an abusive relationship, suicide, and a brief scene of transphobic bullying
*I was given this book for an honest review by Wednesday Books through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.*
Rating: 5 stars
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LibraryThing member fastforward
Sometimes even when you don't particularly care for a book, you can at least recognize it wasn't necessarily a bad book, more it just wasn't for you. That is the case for Foul is Fair. I have read many positive reviews for it already and have seen it compared to various films and tv shows. And what
The story is pretty wild and over the top and for the most part it just didn't work for me. The Swallows by Lisa Lutz is another book that has a revenge storyline and I just connected with the characters in that one more. I think early on you will be able to figure out if the writing style and plot is for you. Again, many readers thought this book was amazing so I highly recommend checking out their reviews. I can at least recognize it was a unique and well-written book and therefore have no regrets reading it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review!
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is interesting to me is basically all of the comparisons are for things that aren't among my faves and therefore maybe I wasn't the best audience for this type of story.The story is pretty wild and over the top and for the most part it just didn't work for me. The Swallows by Lisa Lutz is another book that has a revenge storyline and I just connected with the characters in that one more. I think early on you will be able to figure out if the writing style and plot is for you. Again, many readers thought this book was amazing so I highly recommend checking out their reviews. I can at least recognize it was a unique and well-written book and therefore have no regrets reading it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review!
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LibraryThing member Gwendydd
This is a retelling of Macbeth, set in a contemporary private high school. The narrator, Jade, is both Lady Macbeth and one of the witches. After she is drugged and raped at a party, she vows revenge on everyone who was involved, transfers to their high school, and systematically arranges their
This isn't for the faint-hearted. The rape itself is never explicitly described, but it is referred to constantly throughout the book. One of the witches is trans, and bullied for it. And there is a lot of blood. The narrator constantly describes a vicious and heartless need for revenge.
I read Capin's "The Dead Queen's Club," and I was hoping this would be similar. In some ways, it is - obviously both books are set in high school, and they both focus on the incredible power of female friendships in the face of patriarchy, but this book is nowhere near as clever as "The Dead Queen's Club." "The Dead Queen's Club" is funny and full of very clever references to Tudor culture that really pay off if you're a history nerd, but this book pretty much has one trick, which gets flogged to death. The book is one giant revenge fantasy, and it's really hard to sustain that for an entire book - by the end, Jade's constant repetition of her need for revenge is really tedious. At first, it's interesting to see how Capin fits the events of Macbeth into her story - as a reader, I was waiting for the big scenes ("Is this a knife I see here before me?" "Out, out, damned spot!") and it was fun to see how they played out in the context of a high school.... but then I was really disappointed when there was no Birnam Wood. As a reader, I ran out of steam a little over halfway through the book and it was a slog to get to the end - it felt like Capin's creativity dwindled as the book went on.
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murders.This isn't for the faint-hearted. The rape itself is never explicitly described, but it is referred to constantly throughout the book. One of the witches is trans, and bullied for it. And there is a lot of blood. The narrator constantly describes a vicious and heartless need for revenge.
I read Capin's "The Dead Queen's Club," and I was hoping this would be similar. In some ways, it is - obviously both books are set in high school, and they both focus on the incredible power of female friendships in the face of patriarchy, but this book is nowhere near as clever as "The Dead Queen's Club." "The Dead Queen's Club" is funny and full of very clever references to Tudor culture that really pay off if you're a history nerd, but this book pretty much has one trick, which gets flogged to death. The book is one giant revenge fantasy, and it's really hard to sustain that for an entire book - by the end, Jade's constant repetition of her need for revenge is really tedious. At first, it's interesting to see how Capin fits the events of Macbeth into her story - as a reader, I was waiting for the big scenes ("Is this a knife I see here before me?" "Out, out, damned spot!") and it was fun to see how they played out in the context of a high school.... but then I was really disappointed when there was no Birnam Wood. As a reader, I ran out of steam a little over halfway through the book and it was a slog to get to the end - it felt like Capin's creativity dwindled as the book went on.
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LibraryThing member thebookqueensx
(please read all tw/cw before reading this book!) ugh, this book was so good. it was a good redemption for my tbr after i basically hate-read a book i had been super excited for (looking at you, cinderella is dead).
as far as retellings go, this book is definitely one of the ones i've enjoyed more.
this book is also a really good thriller. i read it in 3 sitting, because every time i would start i wouldn't be able to put it down again! the langauge in the book was also very rich. i felt like i was sitting in a velvet chair sipping on a gin and tonic. a professor in an english class would probably dock this book points, but it truly works here to show jade's every emotion.
the only reason that this book got a 4 instead of a 5 was because some things felt too unrealistic. of course, this novel requires a lot of suspension of disbelief, but there were two things that consistently bothered me.
1, jade and her parents. i couldn't figure out the dynamics between them. one moment they were closed off, and the next they were affectionate. plus, the fact that they seemed so nonchalant about her literally killing people really bothered me. plus, the fact that her mom loved another man at one point is mentioned once and then completely forgotten about for the rest of the book.
2. secondly, the ages of the main characters bothered me. there is constant reference made to the fact that these characters are often drinking, partying, and smoking. also the fact that Summer literally makes a guy drive off of a cliff for her. the book takes place starting the night of the character's sweet sixteen. which means that the coven is a bunch of sophomores, and it is hard to imagine a sophomore in high school going on a murder spree as calculated as jade's. plus, it makes the relationship between mack and jade strange, because a lot of their conversations are about the power they wield together. their conversations made them sound like they were a lot older than they really were. i think if jade had been a year or two older, it would've been a bit easier to believe. anyway,
i would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a good revenge thriller. as i mentioned above, though, please make sure to read tw/cw for this book! - lindsey (edit)
as far as retellings go, this book is definitely one of the ones i've enjoyed more.
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it took from its source material, but it also didn't copy it word for word. i've read "the scottish play" twice, so seeing the remixes of the different quotes and characters really made me happy. i also liked how it was able to weave modern topics into the story without it feeling contrived or forced. this book is also a really good thriller. i read it in 3 sitting, because every time i would start i wouldn't be able to put it down again! the langauge in the book was also very rich. i felt like i was sitting in a velvet chair sipping on a gin and tonic. a professor in an english class would probably dock this book points, but it truly works here to show jade's every emotion.
the only reason that this book got a 4 instead of a 5 was because some things felt too unrealistic. of course, this novel requires a lot of suspension of disbelief, but there were two things that consistently bothered me.
1, jade and her parents. i couldn't figure out the dynamics between them. one moment they were closed off, and the next they were affectionate. plus, the fact that they seemed so nonchalant about her literally killing people really bothered me. plus, the fact that her mom loved another man at one point is mentioned once and then completely forgotten about for the rest of the book.
2. secondly, the ages of the main characters bothered me. there is constant reference made to the fact that these characters are often drinking, partying, and smoking. also the fact that Summer literally makes a guy drive off of a cliff for her. the book takes place starting the night of the character's sweet sixteen. which means that the coven is a bunch of sophomores, and it is hard to imagine a sophomore in high school going on a murder spree as calculated as jade's. plus, it makes the relationship between mack and jade strange, because a lot of their conversations are about the power they wield together. their conversations made them sound like they were a lot older than they really were. i think if jade had been a year or two older, it would've been a bit easier to believe. anyway,
i would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a good revenge thriller. as i mentioned above, though, please make sure to read tw/cw for this book! - lindsey (edit)
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LibraryThing member books-n-pickles
Revenge is a dish best served hot, steaming, raw, and bloody. This epic revenge fantasy was an awesome, realistic contemporary retelling of Macbeth that carried in so much of the imagery and detail of the original play--all those birds! nature going nuts!--while still being its own proud,
My only regret is that if Jade had to kill anyone by her own hand, it was the only girl on her list and not Mack himself. But I'm also incredibly relieved that she didn't end up with him in the end--that Mack turned out not to be quite the golden boy she thought, and that she stuck with her coven instead of the stupid boy. I also think that the style of writing might be off-putting to some, which is too bad. Yes, it took a little concentration sometimes, but it's far from as difficult as the inspiring material. 8-)
My Slytherin bookmark never looked so good in a book as it has in this one. Any means to achieve her ends, indeed.
Quote Round-Up
44) Mack runs the whole field. In better shape than all of them, even Duncan, and hungrier than all of them, even Duffy. He's where they need them to be before they figure it out. And he's the kind of good-game good-boy who puts out a hand for the boys from the other team when they're gasping at the sky from one of Banks's hits.
I loved the names that referenced the original characters, particularly "Porter". Also, this quote is pretty prophetic, in hindsight.
59) We all know it, my coven and me, and every girl who's ever walked into a room and made every head turn: how to make boys think we want them, so then they want us, too. How to make them do anything we say. It's power.
The generalization out to all pretty girls made me a bit uncomfortable. I have had several guys talk about how women have all the power in a relationship, and talk about how we're seductive and to blame for their singleness, their lust, their betrayals. And I know girls and women who would far rather be invisible than deal with that kind of attention. So yeah, I kind of wish the statement had been left with the coven.
140) --a lie, because no one is nothing if he wants everything enough to twist guilt and fear into whatever he needs it to be so he can pretend he's noble instead of just ambitious--
Well if that isn't politics and certain CEOs in a nutshell.
195) I love Jade's parents so much. I mean, granted, in real life parents should probably help their daughters cope a bit more, but for this story it made me happy that they were there for her, guarding her door, brushing her hair, giving her everything she needed to deal with her problem the way she wanted to.
208) Guilt doesn't work on boys like him, said Mads. But Mack was never one of them. The more his guilt pries him apart--the more he knows that someone thinks he's the same as his pack--the sooner he'll bring the rest of them crashing down just to prove he's not.
Again, prophetic.
305) "You're afraid," Mack says again. I hear my own words in it--you're a fucking coward--and he is. A coward who hid behind their guilt. A coward who wants them to carry the shame of what he did.
Finally, I gotta say that I did hope for at least a little reckoning for Jade.There's a moment when Jade talks to Banks in the hallway at school when he says that Mack isn't such a golden boy, and at that's when I first noticed that Jade didn't remember who actually gave her the drink at the party. Granted, I was having trouble keeping track of all these boys, so I couldn't remember who she remembered, but I thought what might happen would be that Mack gave her the drink, that she would somehow realize after his death that Banks was innocent(ish?), and that Duffy would kill Mack (as in the play) before getting his own comeuppance. So Jade would have Banks's death to think about, which might have been a more complex situation than Mack's betrayal. All that said, with how much I read, it is nice to be surprised every so often--especially since this is a retelling.
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triumphant story. As one of my pairs of socks says, "Watch the queen conquer." The sight is magnificent.My only regret is that
My Slytherin bookmark never looked so good in a book as it has in this one. Any means to achieve her ends, indeed.
Quote Round-Up
44) Mack runs the whole field. In better shape than all of them, even Duncan, and hungrier than all of them, even Duffy. He's where they need them to be before they figure it out. And he's the kind of good-game good-boy who puts out a hand for the boys from the other team when they're gasping at the sky from one of Banks's hits.
I loved the names that referenced the original characters, particularly "Porter". Also, this quote is pretty prophetic, in hindsight.
59) We all know it, my coven and me, and every girl who's ever walked into a room and made every head turn: how to make boys think we want them, so then they want us, too. How to make them do anything we say. It's power.
The generalization out to all pretty girls made me a bit uncomfortable. I have had several guys talk about how women have all the power in a relationship, and talk about how we're seductive and to blame for their singleness, their lust, their betrayals. And I know girls and women who would far rather be invisible than deal with that kind of attention. So yeah, I kind of wish the statement had been left with the coven.
140) --a lie, because no one is nothing if he wants everything enough to twist guilt and fear into whatever he needs it to be so he can pretend he's noble instead of just ambitious--
Well if that isn't politics and certain CEOs in a nutshell.
195) I love Jade's parents so much. I mean, granted, in real life parents should probably help their daughters cope a bit more, but for this story it made me happy that they were there for her, guarding her door, brushing her hair, giving her everything she needed to deal with her problem the way she wanted to.
208) Guilt doesn't work on boys like him, said Mads. But Mack was never one of them. The more his guilt pries him apart--the more he knows that someone thinks he's the same as his pack--the sooner he'll bring the rest of them crashing down just to prove he's not.
Again, prophetic.
305) "You're afraid," Mack says again. I hear my own words in it--you're a fucking coward--and he is. A coward who hid behind their guilt. A coward who wants them to carry the shame of what he did.
Finally, I gotta say that I did hope for at least a little reckoning for Jade.
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LibraryThing member Dairyqueen84
If this had a different ending, I might give it a better review. Elle is drugged and raped at a party of St. Andrews Prep students on her 16th birthday. She and her friends or coven - Mads, Jenny, and Summer - vow to take revenge. They do...and it all happens in a week. The whole thing just strains
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credulity. Capin conveys the pain and rage Jade (she took her middle name to St. Andrews) feels superbly with beautiful metaphors and similes. I'm unsure why she used the allusions to Macbeth. Maybe I don't remember the play well enough to get it. Show Less
LibraryThing member jwitt33
"They picked the wrong girl." Did they ever! Elizabeth Jade Khanjara, or Elle as she prefers to be called, and her best friends Jenny, Summer, and Mads, are untouchable - until Elle's sweet sixteen when she is gang raped at a party. Instead of going into hiding, she vows revenge. She cuts her hair,
This was a hard book to read at times, I'm not gonna lie. It was harsh and raw and dealt with some very real issues. Yes, the revenge went way too far, but you kind of get why they go the route they do. It's a revenge fantasy, pure and simple.
4/5 stars.
I received a copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
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dyes it black (the exact shade is called "revenge"), changes the name she goes by to her middle name, Jade, and enrolls at the high school the boys attend. She and her friends then put their plan into action, and the school is never going to be the same.This was a hard book to read at times, I'm not gonna lie. It was harsh and raw and dealt with some very real issues. Yes, the revenge went way too far, but you kind of get why they go the route they do. It's a revenge fantasy, pure and simple.
4/5 stars.
I received a copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
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LibraryThing member crabbyabbe
A reread. While I loved all of the references to MACBETH, it was sometimes difficult to take the journey with the hero in this novel. Why? Well, the hero is a sociopath for one, and even though she‘s justified in what she does, it makes for a blood-gripping ride. I couldn‘t put it down, but I
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didn‘t walk away with any human-condition idea to make me a better person. Reading it felt like being on a 100-mile-an-hour rollercoaster. Then, once you get off, your whole body is wobbly; you stumble over to the trash can, throw up, then want to do it again. Maybe. #aahliterature Show Less
Subjects
Awards
The Flume: NH Teen Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — 2022)
NPR: Books We Love (2020)
Language
Original publication date
2020-02-04
Physical description
326 p.; 20 cm
ISBN
9780241404973
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DDC/MDS
| 813.6 |