Review: Enter Three Witches by Caroline B. Cooney

Enter Three Witches by Caroline B. Cooney

Lady Mary is a ward of Lord and Lady Macbeth whose life is forever changed when her father, Lord Cawdor, betrays the Scottish king -- and is hanged as a traitor. In an instant, Mary has lost both her father and future. Now she's trapped in a castle with a power-hungry couple who will do anything to get what they want -- and are willing to crush anyone in their way. Including Mary. As the murderous events of Shakespeare's play unfold around her, Mary must struggle to survive -- and do what she can to prevent more deaths. But can a lone girl save lives when a legion of Scottish lords cannot?

Review:

Having seen Macbeth performed live, I was really excited to read the actual play. Remembering I had this in my TBR I started it as soon as I could- and really enjoyed it!

Caroline B. Cooney is a terrific writer. One of my favorite series ever (The Face on the Milk Carton) is written by her so I was beyond excited to start this. Luckily this was another excellent read and is perfect for those who have read Shakespeare's play as well as those who haven't.

To begin with, Enter Three Witches wasn't a retelling of Macbeth, but rather a story of Macbeth. It was pretty much the entire play written into novel format with new characters, dialogue, etc. The novel started with background on the Macbeth's and the main character, Lady Mary. It was interesting to read a side of the story not introduced in the original play and to see things from the perspective of different characters.

Lady Mary was a determined and sweet character who changed a lot over the course of the novel. At first she was more timid and shy, but as the story progressed she realized how important it was to take a stand and be brave as so much turmoil was happening around her. The story was told mainly through Mary's perspective, but also through the perspective of Fleance, Seyton, and two maids.

Of those four, Fleance was the only one who had a role in the original play. Seyton was mentioned in Shakespeare's play, but not by name, and only briefly. The two maids were also of Caroline's own creation. I really liked being able to see the play through the eyes of such a variety of characters. Each of them had their own ideas/opinions of what was happening and the reader could get better involved in the story.

Enter Three Witches was exciting and suspenseful, and watching all the turmoil and death occur surrounding Macbeth kept me on the edge of my seat and I was always wondering: who will be next? There were a lot of characters, so I sometimes had a hard time keeping everyone straight, but the main characters definitely stood out and I liked reading about their trials and triumphs. There are definitely a lot of creepy, even scary, events unfolding, so younger readers might be frightened!

Readers who haven't read the original play will still understand this, and may like it even more. It's another exciting and mysterious novel by Caroline B. Cooney. I definitely recommend checking it out!

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

September 1, 2008 (paperback)/Scholastic/288 Pages/Young Adult

Source: Bought (paperback)

Other books by this author: If the Witness Lied