11 must-read new YA releases that will capture your heart this February

Foul is Fair – Hannah Capin

A girl-powered teen revenge fantasy loosely based on William Shakespeare’s Macbeth? Sign us up right now.

Such is the premise of Foul is Fair, a story about a group of girls seeking revenge on the boy who assaulted one of them. (So, in case you were curious, this is a little bit more about the witches of Macbeth than, say, the whole ruling Scotland thing. Maybe?)

Elle, Mads, Jenny, and Summer are popular L.A. teens who decide to celebrate Elle’s 16th birthday by crashing a party at the nearby prep school. But while they’re there Elle’s drink is roofied and she’s raped by four boys. In retaliation the girls decide that the only solution is murder. (Obviously.)

Using her middle name, Elle enrolls at the school, and begins to scheme to get close to the boys. Complications arise of course, and there’s not a lot of nuance in this story, which is fueled largely by female rage and the sense that we’ve all had enough of letting men get away with terrible things.

"Elle and her friends Mads, Jenny, 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 Elle’s sweet sixteen, when they crash a St. Andrew’s Prep party. The night the golden boys choose Elle as their next target. They picked the wrong girl. Sworn to vengeance, Elle transfers to St. Andrew’s. 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."

Foul is Fair is available on February 18.