All's well is a fantastic comeback from Mona Awad which delves into the complexity of female pain, and the unwillingness of the world to accept that it exists. While it is not a flawless piece, All's Well was still fresh and mostly kept me engaged throughout my read.

The story follows Miranda Fitch, a once-prominent stage actress who, in the present, has been reduced to a shell of her past life. We see a depressed and desperate woman, who wants so hard to regain the life that she had before the chronic pain. Miranda is a very difficult character to like. At times, I felt so hurt for her and I wanted so desperately for her to gain the help she deserves. On the other hand, Miranda felt very selfish and surface level, and I found her interactions with the students she teaches to only amplify her awfulness. Even before her accident, Miranda was not a likable character. However, I do recognize that by making Miranda flawed, Awad tried to show that not all people who are hurting were necessarily angels before their situations.

The plot of the story could be best described as The Twilight Zone meets King Midas. It was fine, and while parts of it became predictable, it still holds up throughout the book. I did find myself a little bored in the novel, especially in the beginning when the set-up was occurring. Also, the climax of the novel was okay. Nothing crazy that had me gripped to my seat, but nothing mind-numbingly dumb.

There are plenty of references to All's Well, the Shakespeare play being produced within the novel, but it's not necessary to read the play before reading this book. The ending of the story was a bit meh, but I think that if you read this book as an exploration of chronic pain, it makes sense. Not every story has a happy ending, and I think the ending is appropriate when considering that in the present, the best patients can do sometimes is manage their symptoms.

I would say that out of everything this book does well, I think Awad nailed the discourse around chronic pain. She writes the experience to be so realistic and eye-opening. Many people in Miranda's life believe that she is exaggerating her symptoms, and at one point the reader feels the same. I remember reading and being like "wow she totally is faking it" and immediately feeling guilty afterward. I also think that the most character growth in the novel was of the people within Miranda's life, who had to experience what Miranda felt and to be in her skin literally.

The biggest flaw of this novel, I believe, is just Miranda's thoughts. Halfway through the novel, Miranda becomes very very very weird, and as a reader, I just found myself cringing constantly. I know that Awad usually writes really absurd stuff sometimes, but sometimes it's just too much. Miranda's sexual escapades are gross and weird, and the amount of personal investment that Miranda has with her students is uncomfortable.
Overall, I think this was a solid comeback of a novel. It is not perfect, but I do think that it is refreshing and insightful, talking about a topic that few books can delve into. Another flaw was just how long it takes for the story to really start moving forward. For a good chunk of the book, we are just waiting and waiting for the conflict to happen, but it just takes its time. It is only when you are 4o% through the book does the plot start to roll, and the length of set-up can really set people off especially people who DNF pretty fast.

Overall I would say that this is a pretty solid comeback of a novel. The novel is not life-changing, but I think credit should be given for being a fresh idea and exploring a topic that few novels really explore. If you like Bunny, I think you would like this book.

I was given an ARC in exchange for a review from the publisher and Netgalley.

A haunting, complicated story that depicts the impact of chronic pain and chronicles the many ways that the health system can demoralize people who suffer. We live in Miranda Fitch’s head while she undergoes a variety of therapies including the golden therapy of alcohol while she also directs a student play “All’s Well” at a small college. Poignantly written, captivating in style . . . we wander her mind, her story, her friendships. Most importantly we see her need for love both past and present and the devastation of losing a child. As a psychologist, I was intrigued from the beginning, hope for a “cure,” wondered about the transfer of physical symptoms to other characters, and cheered with each step of progress. A clever, inspiring, intriguing read. May her life end well.

This book was not for me. Which I feel terrible for admitting because Awad’s Bunny was so, so enchanting. Awad’s writing is great, but the plot did not really interest me. First off, I don’t know much about Shakespeare and feel as if I would have appreciated this text more if I knew about Shakespeare. The depiction of chronic illness is so, so important, but I just couldn’t connect to the Shakespeare and magical realism elements of this text. Although this book was not for me, I will definitely still read anything Awad puts out next.

Fan's of Awad's novel BUNNY will not be disappointed. ALL'S WELL has a similar tone of spooky feminine horror, and it's clever in very similar ways, this time dealing with the community of the theater program at a college. Not only is this book terrifying, but when hearing of Miranda's chronic pain, it makes the reader so grateful to NOT have that kind of pain--and, I imagine, those who do have a similar pain will feel very seen. This literary horror novel is amazing, and I'll recommend it to everyone. I really can't oversell it.

Stunning, eerie novel about chronic pain and invisibility.

While I haven't read Bunny yet, I have read and loved 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, so I was instantly compelled to reach for her new release. I'm so happy I did because I absolutely loved it!

This book follows Miranda, a chronic illness sufferer and a theater director at a local community college. The first half of the book is structured to portray the hopelessness Miranda feels in her condition, at the same time not being believed by everyone, including her doctor, family, friends and students. Then, the second half of the book is when she gets a chance to improve her life and the book takes on magical realism and pure weirdness.

I love this author's voice. Just as in 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, we really feel the struggle of the character who is nonetheless very much flawed and controversial. It's also part dark, part weird, but always very unique and gripping.

I may have discovered a new favorite author.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In this literary horror, Miranda is the director of the theatre department of a small college who has struggled with chronic debilitating pain since she fell from the stage years ago, ending her acting career. No doctor or physical therapist has ever been able to aid her pain, so she has turned to drink and pills to keep herself afloat. Amongst her own issues, she is determined for the department to put on All's Well That Ends Well, one of the problem plays, for the annual Shakespeare production, despite the wishes of the students and staff who she is losing her control over.

Bunny, also by Awad, was my favorite book of last year and has become one of my favorite books of all time. I jumped at the chance to read this in advance and I was not disappointed in the slightest. Like in Bunny, the main character is an unreliable narrator who experiences things that are never confirmed to be real or in their head in their inebriated state. Readers can feel Miranda lose her grip on reality and are just as shaken and confused as she is; Awad truly has a gift for being able to put the reader in the shoes of the main character. Her writing style is, in my mind, perfect - when you look at one sentence by itself, it is as simple as can be, but when they are strung together one after the other, the result is a dizzying tableau that conjures up intense emotion. You cannot always root for Miranda, her emotions, motives, and actions, but you want everything to turn out for her, which struck me as Shakespearean. There are other allusions to Shakespeare, such as the three men, on top of the plays being performed. My only concern with this story is that the mysticism surrounding chronic pain in this may come across as trivializing chronic pain, though I cannot believe that someone could read this and not feel a deep empathy for those with such conditions regardless of the main character's journey. Overall, this was a complete joy to read and I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy upon its release. Fans of Bunny will not be disappointed.

I really wanted to love this book more then I did. The beginning was such a thoughtful and realistic exploration of chronic illness. From the crushed optimism, countless practitioners, being disbelieved by your community, and most of all, the sense of hopelessness. I really enjoyed the exploration and interior workings of Miranda. I lost interest right when things turned magical. I have read Mona Awad's other work, and was prepared for the unusual, but this strayed too far into the wacky for my taste. I found myself rushing towards the end of the book just so it would be over. Not my favorite, but I will pick up other Mona Awad titles in the future.

Everything is surreal and everyone is awful, in a mercilessly human sort of way. I wasn’t at first sure if I was enjoying All’s Well, having found myself trudging along certain chapters, occasionally eating up others, but I never strayed from the story, always wanting to know what would happen next; having now finished, I still can’t bring myself to quantify my reading experience, but I believe that to be the mark of craftsmanship. All’s Well is one of those rare books that’ll forever turn itself over in my mind, catching different angles of insight over time.

As a theatre student with chronic illnesses, I was really excited for this book about a theatre professor with chronic pain. However, in the best way possible, this book was nothing like I expected. We follow Miranda as she is in crippling pain from an accident years prior. She yearns to be free from the prison of her body and makes some choices with unintended consequences. Buckle in for a wild ride!

this book was weird. really weird. but it was also so so so much fun. there were times where i laughed out loud (and this is a horror novel?) and times where i was confused out of my mind but excited all the same.

i guess that “all’s well” with this book?

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more seriously, i loved this book so much. mona awad's writing style was addicting, and the plot was hilarious. this is my second mona awad book (i read bunny last year), and she is definitely an author i will continue to check out.

The book starts as the story of a woman living with chronic pain due to a fall on stage while trying to prevent a mutiny from her students and put on All's Well That Ends Well. But it creates such as unexpected world by exploring in a meaningful way how it is for Miranda to live with such incredible pain and feel like no one listens to her, no one sees her when she's right there. How she feels completely invisible while still trying to please the people that are "trying" to help her. And when she gets a chance (or not) to maybe make her life better, the book turns into something so beautifully weird mixing the line between reality and Miranda's own head.
By the end, I was enthralled by the book but I don't know if I was able to fully grasp the story that was being told - it got a little too weird by the end for me. But I can definitely see people loving this book.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

What a joyous, insane trip of a novel! I very much enjoyed Mona Awad’s last novel, Bunny, but that one left me feeling a bit confused, not fully understanding exactly what I had just read. While equally suspenseful, crazy, and random (in a great way), All’s Well—with it’s Shakespearean structure and more digestible supernatural elements—was more logical, illogical, and all around fantastic.

A very good, creepy, unsettling story about living with chronic pain and obsession. Very much like the best of the Twilight Zone.

So far all of the other reviewers loved this book, so maybe I just didn't get it. I'm not entirely sure what I read. It started out slowly and innocuously enough and then turned into kind of a crazy fever dream. What's real? What actually happened? I feel like I was left with more questions than answers, though parts were definitely entertaining in a manic sense.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.