I couldn't put this down because I had no clue where it was going. I've never read anything written in this style before but I think it worked with the storyline - which although felt very unrealistic I still enjoyed because I just went with it!

"I whisper, sweet, "You picked the wrong girl."

Where to even start? This book was...an experience. I didn't really like Jade (Elle) at first, I just couldn't take to her. Then I realised she'd been raped by 4 teenage boys and I wanted her to kill them one by one. This story is brutal, it's twisted, it's deeply unsettling and quite scary in places and made me wonder frequently if I was trusting the wrong characters - but I couldn't put it down and it's still on my mind days after reading it. I appreciated the few contrasting gentle moments in Foul is Fair, particularly the ones between Jade and her parents. The female solidarity in this book is fierce and powerful and I particularly liked the way Hannah Capin has written a trans girl into the story without turning her into a stereotype or a caricature, she's actually my favourite character in the story. Would I read Foul is Fair again? Not for a while...no. Would I read more books by Hannah Capin? Definitely.

"Bravery isn't being fearless - it's swallowing the fear and spitting it back out."

A story of a girl and her friends.  Boys think they have control but watch who they mess with.  Revenge is a dessert best served cold.

A raw, real, ruthless read. Revenge is a dish best served cold. 
The writing style is hard hitting , dark, raw which it needs to be due to the nature of this book
Here is a book not for the faint hearted.
Many thanks to both NetGalley and publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

This book had been on my radar almost as soon as it was announced, as I had heard fantastic things about Hannah's debut (though I still haven't managed to get a copy of it), and I love the idea of a modern retelling of Lady Macbeth. In Foul is Fair, the main character, Elle, goes to a party held by the infamous students of St Andrew's Prep for her 16th birthday, with her sisters, Mads, Summer, and Jenny. While there, they all get separated, and Elle get's drugged and raped by the golden boys, led by their king, Duncan. Now, Elle was the wrong girl to attack, and she reinvents herself as Jade, enrolling in St Andrew's to take them down from the inside, and by take them down, I don't just mean knock them down a peg, but actually kill them. There's a target on the boy's heads (Duncan, Duffy, Banks, and Conner, as well as anyone else who was an accomplice, including wannabe queen, Piper), and Jade is going to get one of their own, Mack, to turn and do her dirty, in true Lady Macbeth style.

I did definitely enjoy this book, but it took some getting into. Elle/Jade is an anti-hero, and her and the coven weren't characters I immediately was drawn too. Until the main action started, I think I was probably skimming the sections that was wholly them four. Once you got to St Andrew's and met the Court and the hangers on, including Lilia, who I liked, and sweet, sweet Mack, that's when my interest was piqued, and I found myself getting through it a lot faster. Jade does grow on you, especially once her murderess nature comes out, and people start to fall. If you enjoy the source material, or any of the film adaptations that have been made about Macbeth (the 2015 one is my favourite, with Marion Cotillard portraying a perfect Lady Macbeth), this is a book for you!

I would definitely NOT have liked or been friends with these girls in real life. BUT as fictional characters, I loved reading about them! They are fierce and loyal, and frankly wonderful to journey along with. All of the characters are not great people, and part of that is the world they all live in - a very opulent one, full of absent parents, privilege and trust funds.

I did love Elle / Jade and her coven, and that they referred to themselves as such hehe. And I loved how they protect each other, sometimes even from themselves.
Obviously this book does deal with some very serious topics - rape and abuse etc, and does deal with them well. I would not necessarily recommend this book as a guide on how to deal with them though! Hehe.

This book is wonderfully full of violence, revenge, and a messed up version of justice that I strangely loved. It felt like a book I needed to read - a way of dealing with some of the extremities of life, that I have luckily not personally experienced. It is dark, but tempered by humour. it is glorious.

This modern sort-of retelling of Macbeth flies along nicely, easy to read and engaging in its own way. We follow Elizabeth Jade, initially known as Elle but soon reinvented as just Jade, and her group of close friends (known to each other as 'the coven') as they work to exact Jade's revenge on a group of high school jocks for their actions towards her at a party.

There were some nice little touches in here as far as references to Macbeth go (I especially liked the way Mack and Banks' first meeting with the three girls was handled) but, perhaps as a high school English teacher who knows Macbeth inside out, I actually found the main connections to the original plot quite distracting and was pulled out of the story by them. It's also, in its style, one of the most stereotypically YA novels I've read in a long time (and I read a lot of YA).

I can see this being really successful with older teenage girls but it wasn't really right for this Xennial.

A retelling of Macbeth with a teenage cast, which was very brutal. It was well done, but hard to read. 
Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

It wasn’t a bad book by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn’t for me. I’d say this book is aimed at the young adult market rather than someone in their early forties. 

The book itself was somewhere between cruel intentions and American Horror story and is based on the main character Elle seeking revenge following a brutal attack by a bunch of high school boys on her 16th birthday. The boys involved are your stereotypical rich kids who are use to getting what they want, but they soon start to panic and fight amongst themselves when Elle starts her revenge mission. Book is fast paced enough, but wasn’t for me

Savage reworking of Macbeth for teenagers which doesn't hold back.  The narrator gets revenge in the most brutal way possible.  A very uncomfortable read that drags you along to the bitter end.

A macabre and twisted tale of what happens when a plot to avenge a crime, is taken to its extreme. Elle/Jade is given a spiked drink at a party and is brutally attacked by a group of high school boys. She is determined to exact her revenge in the darkest way possible. She changes her appearance and works to infiltrate the group, with her ultimate goal to pick them all off, one by one, until she is the only one left standing. With shades of Macbeth and the Witches of Eastwick, this is a very dark read, and not one for those sensitive of disposition. Whilst there was not really one likeable character in this book, it was a compelling and addictive read, and one that packs a punch.

To celebrate Elle's sixteenth her and her girl gang decide to crash a party but their night takes a serious turn when a group of boys drug and rape Elle. She's determined not to become a victim so her and her gang vow revenge, and from there Elle becomes Jade.

I loved the concept of this novel but unfortunately the execution didn't totally work for me. The storyline was vengeful, violent and OTT which I loved! I was a big fan of our four main girls, I think they had a great connection and it was interesting to see just how far they were willing to go for one another.

I think one big problem here though is that the storyline is a bit too far out and unbelievable. While I don't usually mind books where I have to suspend my disbelief here I just found it a bit too much. I also wasn't a huge fan of the writing style, it was just a bit too scattered for me.

A fun read but unfortunately not as thrilling and memorable as i'd been anticipating.

This is a tale of manipulation and revenge after a teenage girl is raped.  There is an almost surrealist tone to the writing and none of the characters are likeable.  Sorry, but I did not enjoy it.

A mad horrific rollercoaster of a slasher - trashy as hell, totally unbelievable but I loved it. Unashamedly, brutally murdering her rapists, Elle is a character in a book that seems somehow fitting for 2020.

I should probably start this review by telling you that I could not put this book down. I was absolutely hooked all the way through - I just had to know what dark and twisty thing was going to come next. But woah was it creepy! The story was so disturbing and I found it really hard to know who to root for. Obviously I didn't want to root for the St. Andrews people as they were despicable but then rooting for Jade felt wrong too because she was technically a serial killer. It was completely disturbing and yet I loved it. I cannot wait to see what Hannah Capin writes next!

Thank you Penguin Random House and Netgalley for the review copy!

Girl power! Wow, what an incredible story of revenge. I enjoyed this book so much more than I thought I would. I love the coven, what an amazing bunch, they really care for each other and would do anything to protect one another. Jade is a force to be reckoned with, such a fierce character who knows what she wants and won't let anyone stand in her way. Watching Jade grow stronger and seeing how smart each of her plans were as she carried out revenge was powerful.

I love a book with a strong, stop at nothing, lead. Particularly when that lead is giving those who betray her what they deserve! Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an ARC egalley.

I am a total sucker for books like this – about the way women and girls are treated, the way they’re supposed to behave, the abuse they’re supposed to take and keep quiet about. And also, the revenge aspect of it. So, from the blurb alone, I was invested.

Capin’s writing style is very unique, in that it is poetic and lyrical, but also quite impersonal. Written through first person from Jade’s perspective, some of the writing seems quite removed from her point of view. I don’t mean that in a negative way, it was just quite different. This is partly because there are times in the novel when we hear about things Jade isn’t involved in – she tells us about the actions of her three best friends, the coven, who carry out deeds on her behalf and those bits are almost, but not quite, told in third person. It’s very clever the way Capin manages to pull this off, and some of the scenes reminded me of Good Girls Lie by T. J. Ellison, in the way it was written.

There were also some aspects of this book that were somewhat unrealistic. Now don’t get me wrong, I know that because of the culture we live in, because of sexism, the patriarchy, elitism, and a whole host of other things, high school boys can start turning into entitled, pampered, narcissist guys quite young. And that this then plays into them being manipulative, violent, abusive men. I know that for there to be men out there like Donald Trump and Harvey Weinsten, men in power with no respect for women, and that men out there who stalk, harrass, rape, murder women because they don’t do what they want, then those seeds must be planted when the men are young. I just… don’t know how realistic it is to have a whole school seemingly somewhat aware of what these boys are up to, and to not do or say anything. How many girls would hear what these guys are saying and still be their friends, be their girlfriends, not tell someone about it? I know that obviously this does exist, and it didn’t take anything away from how amaazing this book it, but it did make me sit back a couple of times and make me think about.

I want to spend a second just shouting out ‘the coven’, Jade’s set of best friends from her previous school who are at her beck and call. They go out of their way to make sure that Jade is supported and go about her outrageous plan, drive all over the place for her, do whatever she wants, and their friendship all seems so genuine and full of deep rooted love for each other.

Again, this plan that Jade creates is just as outlandish as the guys’ behaviour I talked about before. How many teenagers are actually up for murder? Even if you think someone deserved it? But, again, it works. Within the world of the book, it doesn’t seem (too) farfetched, it doesn’t make you feel like it doesn’t belong. At least it didn’t with me.

I had so much fun reading Foul is Fair, and I really enjoyed a lot of the themes it covered and how it tackled them. I will DEFINITELY be keeping Hannah Capin on my watch list for her next book!

5 out of 5 stars for a wild ride of a novel.

I've never seen an advert for a book that included both positive and negative reviews. When I saw it thought, 'that's badass', and I was right on.
This book was empowering, insane, indulgent and, again, badass! Do you really need to know any more? Read this if you've ever been underestimated or used. Read this if you're a badass or know someone who is. This was the ULTIMATE feminist read. Trust me, it will make you grin maniacally ;)

Reading Foul is Fair was a savage pleasure. It was "twisted", bloodthirsty, raw, and clearly fuelled by a righteous anger. Jade and her coven were perfect and loyal and strong and definitely #goals as far as support and love for one another goes anyway, the murder maybe not so much.

Jade's story is also brilliantly written, Capin's style is quite different; both staccato and lyrical somehow but I loved it immediately. I also loved the leitmotifs of red, gold, and wings throughout the story, it was incredibly evocative. I saw the final truth coming from quite a way off but that did nothing to lessen the heartbreak I felt on Jade's behalf which I think just goes to show how capable Capin is as a writer.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read a book I will be thinking about for a long time.