*Paperback provided in exchange for an honest review*

Growing up in school we focused so much of our English lessons learning about Shakespeare.

I’ve loved Shakespeare and his way of story telling. One of my favourites has always been Macbeth, a play known for its cursed name that shall not be mentioned when the play is due.

Malediction, was a beautiful modern read that takes details and the concept of Macbeth to bring to life a new story following many characters as they trapeze around their cursed play waiting to see who will die or even if they will.

The foreboding partnered with the exchanging of character perspectives, in-spite of it being in the third person made for an interesting read.

I enjoyed reading it very much so and it was a nice taste of a different read from my usual genres.

It was also an intuitive read that I see many parallels to Shakespeare’s writing. What I mean here is how the story wasn’t just a clear focus on the “who will die as a cause of the cursed play” but a focus on love, a focus on secrets, a focus on family. The range of themes this book took into consideration is clear and allows for it to be a more mature story.

A brilliant read if you want a taste of something new and different but related to themes of classics we enjoy vastly.

– Book Fanatic

Blurb:

“‘Yes, someone is going to die,’ he said. ‘Someone always does when we perform the cursed play’.”

The Tragedy of Prince Tyrus is one of the greatest plays of all time, except for one complication. It’s cursed. Each time it is performed a member of the cast dies. Sometimes it’s a tragic accident. Sometimes it’s not.

Eleven years have passed since the last death and the Queen has commissioned another performance. Against their better judgement the Morgenstern Troupe have accepted. Over the next two days friendships will be tested, rivalries will form, and the bloodstained history of the cursed play will resurface.

As tensions rise the actors begin to ask themselves: if the curse really is inescapable, isn’t it better to kill than be killed?

Let the show begin.

***

Inspired by the real-life superstitions of Macbeth and written in the tradition of Shakespeare’s theatre, Malediction: The Cursed Play blends the humour of wordplay and mistaken identity with the trials of family tension and forbidden love. It is a murder mystery, just as it is a tale of making peace with our demons, but most of all it is a tribute to the Bard of Avon, history’s greatest storyteller.