This was my first Mona Awad book and definitely won't be my last. I appreciated the look inside what it can feel like to live with chronic pain. It often feels like you are living in a movie and can't control anything. This was the feeling this book gave me.

I think at this point this is more of a me problem than a book problem. I just don’t think this author is for me!

This book was like what I think an acid trip would be like.

I’m not sure what I just read, but I liked it.

Awad’s Alls Well is what I would describe as compellingly weird. I felt like her portrait of what it is to be chronically ill with an unseen issue was compelling. Miranda was a deeply flawed character but one for which I had extreme empathy for and was rooting for even in her bad decisions.

This book was a delicacy, an acquired taste that I most definitely don’t want all the time, but that as gotten under my skin enough that I would like to experience it again.

4/5 Stars

This one was super wild! It had a little bit of fiction, horror, thriller, fantasy and mystery……all in one book!
I’m honestly not sure how I feel about this one. It was just so strange. It is definitely not a book i would normally go for, I did finish it so there is that!! Definitely had some quirks and I do think it was written well. I’d recommend to anyone that like a dark and strange read! It’s super weird, and original!

I am not sure why this is categorized as a thriller mystery, or a dark comedy because it really is neither a thriller nor a mystery and there is certainly nothing funny. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad book, but it's not a great book either. Miranda, the main character suffers from crippling and debilitating pain. Pain that everyone else tells her is not real. Not going to lie, that upset me because who are you to tell someone that their pain isn't real? As a result of this pain, her life has pretty much imploded. Her marriage is over, she is popping enough pills to kill a horse, and she's about to lose her job. Honestly watching her self-destruct made me think of the book Empire of Pain and the millions of people hooked on opioids due to chronic pain. So unbelievably depressing all around.

For me the book was uncomfortable and a bit confusing. Watching Miranda disintegrate before your very eyes was the uncomfortable part. Watching people dismiss her pain was excruciating. But then watching her miraculously be better the next day was confusing. Was this real? Is this a hallucination? But even though I felt for Miranda, she was annoying as all hell. She complained so damned much, about absolutely everything. She hated practically everything and everyone. I get that she was in a rough spot, but she seemed to make her circumstances her entire identity, and if anyone didn't 100% agree with her, they were an enemy or out to get her. It was so damned draining reading about her.

The ending was largely unsatisfying for me. A lot was explained, but at the same time wasn't explained. I am not a fan of things being unresolved or ambiguous. I get why Mona Awad wrote it this way, but I can't say that it really worked here as a plot device. This was a solid 2.5 out of 5 for me, but let's just round it up to a 3*.

Fantastic writing, The main character Miranda was an unreliable narrator. She suffers from chronic pain as a result of falling off the stage when he career was taking off. She combined medications that should not be combined together with alcohol on top. She's a theatre professor and about to start rehearsals on Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well. This book was weird and such a wild ride. It was confusing but so compelling that you couldn't put it down. This book also had a good discussion on female pain and how disabled people are perceived and treated by society.

As you’ve likely guessed, all is not well with Miranda Fitch.

Former stage actress turned struggling theatre professor, Miranda is being crushed under the weight of her excruciating chronic pain and her failed marriage. With her increasing dependence on pain pills jeopardizing her career, the one thing that gives shape and meaning to Miranda’s life, things appear to be headed for a tragic end that would have even Shakespeare impressed. When three mysterious, mystical men appear before Miranda in a dive bar, will they be her salvation or will they usher in the final curtain?

This book stressed me out y’all. Stressed me OUT! Between a high-stakes production of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, a freakish and frankly kind of evil “miracle cure,” and Miranda’s increasingly tenuous grip on reality, I wasn’t sure what to make of Mona Awad’s latest novel. In a testament to Awad’s stunning prose, I honestly felt like I needed to take the day off after reading this. That’s how intense the reading experience was.

It’s been many years since I’ve read All’s Well That Ends Well (I’ve never seen a stage production), but I do think that basic familiarity with the OG-version helped me to better appreciate All’s Well. Miranda’s great vision for her production is a central part of the text, so if you want to enjoy Awad’s darkly comic prose, then I highly recommend reading a plot summary of Shakespeare’s original beforehand. Trust me when I say that it really takes the drama up a notch.

As much as I appreciated the theatre talk and the witchiness of All’s Well, it’s Awad’s depiction of chronic pain that really impressed me. Miranda’s experience with her various ailments was nothing short of harrowing. She’s barely hanging on as the onslaught of the red webs of pain just keep coming, crashing over her like waves on the beach. As someone who has a chronic illness, it was hard for me to read. The magical, mystical bent that the story took during the second act was almost as challenging because it made explicit how completely unwilling Miranda was to accept her new reality.

Fellow spoonies, beware: while ultimately hopeful, All’s Well delves into the connection between the body and the mind, and how that connection can be damaged or severed under the strain of chronic illness. Best to go in knowing that ahead of time.

Mona Awad is the author of the much beloved “Bunny”, which was not only an Indie bookstore favourite when it came out but was named the best book of 2019 by Time, Vogue and the New York Public Library.

Her third novel “All’s Well” is about protagonist Miranda Fitch, a professor of theatre studies at a community college in Massachusetts. Miranda lives in severe chronic pain after a fall from stage ended her acting career and left her with a failed marriage. The pain she experiences has led to painkiller addiction, poor job performance and an overall miserable attitude to life.

Miranda’s body has been manipulated by male physiotherapists who are convinced her pain is a matter of mind over body, while her symptoms are dismissed by a succession of condescending doctors. The author’s descriptions of chronic pain, and the constant struggle to make others believe in something that manifests entirely internally, are dark, intense and brilliant.

The professor works toward putting on a production of "All's Well That Ends Well" despite her students' objections: they want to do “MacBeth”. Scheming and in-fighting ensue as both her students and the staff seem intent on sabotaging her plans.

Things begin to turn otherworldly when one night after a rehearsal, Miranda meets three strange men in a seedy pub, the “Canny Man”, who cure her chronic pain and self-doubt, at a cost.

Mona Awad is so smart and so funny. “All’s Well” is a creepy, hilarious, wildly original journey down a rabbit hole of chronic pain, women’s visibility, mental health, friendship, Shakespeare, artistry, revenge and witchcraft.

A huge thanks to @Netgalley and @penguinrandomca for the ARC.

I read “Bunny” on audio last year and I enjoyed it enough to wanna read her newest release. So, I knew going the audiobook route was the right decision for me. However, I had to wait until the book came out to read it, and had to wait 8 months as a result. So I apologize that this review is super late.

Onto my actual review:

I loved the writing. I thought it was beautiful and incredibly atmospheric. The audiobook narrator did an amazing job at presenting the writing in such a way. And even though I don’t have chronic pain, I liked how it was executed; I felt Miranda’s pain through the writing.

But as for the actual story, the beginning was super strong and I was so intrigued to figure out which direction it was going to go in. However, I felt the majority of the book went over my head and the book lost me by the end.

Other than that, I don’t have much else to say, so I’ll just leave it there.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Mona Awad’s All’s Well
A professor with chronic pain, trying to live her life and a production of Shakespeare with her difficult students,
Miranda lived a life of chronic emotional and physical pain from an accident, divorce and drug dependency. She attempts to find solace after many challenges with the production of Shakespeare.
The literary prose are beautifully crafted with complex characters and situations, but I feel you have to enjoy Shakespeare in order to appreciated this book.

I want to thank the publishers Penguin Random House and #Net Galley for the copy of this ebook

Mona Awad is back again with another incredible read. I love their dark, mysterious, and bewildering stories all told through exquisite prose.

All's Well is about a sort of washed up middle aged actor-turned-teacher, Miranda, who unfortunately had a terrible accident and now struggles with chronic pain. Invisible illness is remarkably tough to deal with, often with those around the individual often struggling to believe them -- including healthcare workers who are supposed to help. Miranda is lost in terms of her treatment options, and finds herself slowly losing grip on her own life, and her theatre students. When Miranda meets three strange men in a dingy bar, both the reader and Miranda are unable to tell what is reality and what isn't, and it's wonderful.

I loved every single second of this book and I devoured it in a couple afternoons. I would recommend to anyone who loved Bunny, or who loves magical confusion (in the best way). I am on the edge of my seat waiting for Awad to publish another book.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this eARC!

<blockquote>I'm humming a little. Softly. Just to myself. A tune I heard somewhere, can't remember where from, but it's lovely. It comes easily to my lips, and I don't usually sing. My lips are usually pressed together, bearing the weight of myself.</blockquote>

Did I like it? I think so. I was entertained. The writing and the story are compelling; I zipped through. I wish I knew Shakespeare better.

Also, my big toe hurts. When I think about it, the pain in my toe, it throbs, like my mind can actively make it pulsate. I palpate the toe, but I can't find the focal point for the pain, not at the edge of the nail, not the pad, not in the bone, but the pain hangs on a thread that winds its way through my body to my brain. I'm sure the pain is a direct result of this book, like I metaphorically dropped it on my foot, and it's much bigger and heavier than I believed it to be.

All's Well, by Mona Awad, is weird. Like Bunny was weird.

[I read Bunny almost exactly two years ago on a beach at Lake Tahoe, and any chance I could, while on a retreat with colleagues. I'd rather escape into the bullying clique-mindedness of campus life than engage in the Marketing department's labyrinth of in-groups, the obligatory assigned dinners, the feigned fun. "If you don't know everybody's name and understand what they do by the end of the week, then you're doing it wrong." Bunny was perfect.]

I never wrote about Bunny. It was too easy a read. Fluid and natural. There was nothing particularly quotable about it. It was funny and deep, and rich with insight into human character, but in a way that was easily processed; it never stopped me in my tracks. I actually mean this as high praise. It's so seamless, and entertaining and weird, you don't notice how good it is.

I feel the same way about All's Well. I am also struck by the witchery, and trickster energy, that my summer consists of — the fiction I read is full of it, I am subconsciously choosing it, I want to be guided by it, to learn how to exorcise parts of my past, or transmute certain experiences, or embrace my goddess nature, shed the chrysalis.

<blockquote>Her boot tips rest at my head, stopping short just of my temple. She could raise her boot and stomp on my face if she wanted to. Probably a small part of her does. Because that's what you do with the weak, and Grace comes from Puritan stock, a witch-burning ancestry. Women who never get colds. Women who carry on. Women with thick thighs who do not understand the snivelers, the wafflers, people who burn sage.</blockquote>

The plot has Miranda staging of one of Shakespeare's problem plays, All's Well That Ends Well, even while her students clearly want to perform Macbeth. Themes from both plays permeate Miranda's reality, and their characters cross over, but I can't help but wonder if her Shakespearean name isn't also pointing us to The Tempest, with its dreamlike and patriarchal elements.

I felt a drop, I told Grace. Felt their anger in the filthy air. Felt the sword above my head. Felt my doom in the thickening night as we drove here. Three silhouettes looming in my side mirror, loping along the shoulder like wolves.

<blockquote>What defines Miranda is her pain, invisible as it is. And then the sudden absence of her pain. (Always the problem of having a body, wanting to inhabit it while detaching from it.)</blockquote>

Watch Mona Awad in conversation with Heather O'Neill.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely hated Mona Awad's debut novel and vowed I would never read from them again. But I thought I was being harsh and should try and give a 2nd chance. This wasn't it. I did not enjoy the writing style and the story.

I think I have to realize that I just don’t vibe with Mona Awad’s writing, although her plot lines always seem to interest me. As well the character of Brianna was very triggering for me as I have been a target of bullying in the past.

I absolutely loved this book. It was smart, funny and disturbingly hilarious. I love how Mona Awad’s books always start out so…innocent, but the deeper you go, the stranger things get. This was a fabulous read. I will recommend it to everyone.

I started reading this book without realizing that this was the same author who wrote Bunny. This became quickly apparent as both novels have confusing narratives, possible hallucinations, not quite likable characters, and so forth. I wasn’t quite sure if I should be cheering on the protagonist, Miranda, as she tries to direct a college play of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well while fighting chronic pain, as well as her students, who are more eager to stage Macbeth. I was intrigued by the story but the plot let me puzzled; like Bunny, what’s real and what’s not is not often easy to decipher.

Thank you to NatGalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC.

This book will not be for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! As a someone who lives with chronic pain in my back, hip, and leg, I was drawn to this novel about an actress who was terribly injured in a fall that caused her to have many of the same physical sensations and pain as I do. Miranda is struggling to find worth and meaning in her life, but is determined to help her students put on Shakespeare's, All's Well that Ends Well, the last big show that she was in before her fall. Her students are desperate to do Macbeth instead, and a battle of wills, and possibly some witchcraft, ensues. Even though she wants her students to do All's Well, she is herself seems to be living out a modern day version of Lady Macbeth. The novel definitely plays with time and illusion as a side effect of her trying, but miserably failing, to effectively deal with her pain. The way she describes the aspects of the novel that deal with her many physiotherapists, doctors, and massage therapists feels so accurate to me. Just a frustrating line of those that claim they can help, but really don't. Which is what leads many like her to take meds not as directed. I really enjoyed the way the story came together, it really sucked me in and had me wondering where and what would happen next. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I highly recommend it.

‘All’s Well’ by Mona Awad is a trip.

Reading this book felt like I was drunk in the back seat of a car not knowing where I was going.

‘All’s Well’ is the story of Miranda Fitch, a former actress who’s lost everything after a fall on stage leads to chronic pain. It isn’t explicitly written if this pain is real or not but the beginning of the book reveals a life severely impacted because of it. She’s on a variety of medications and rotates between doctors and specialists. Fallen from ‘grace’, Miranda is a teacher’s assistant at a school charged with putting on a play. While the students want Macbeth, she chooses ‘All’s Well that Ends Well’ which leads to an rebellion.

The story goes off the rails from there in what I consider the best of ways. When a solution presents itself, you don’t know if it’s Miranda’s medicinal induced imagination or if there’s magic involved. Her life begins to turn around but the lives of others, both friend and enemy, begin to take on her pain.

I am perfectly comfortable with the ‘stream of consciousness’ style of writing. My brain works on a similar headspace. What’s nice about this style is that it will take you everywhere (and abruptly nowhere). This character is unlikable at times but I found myself tricked into sympathy, thrown into hate, then drowned again in my uncertainty about how I should feel at all.

This is the kind of book I like reading because it provoked a reaction of extremes.

Mona Awad's unique voice and undeniable talent shine in this hallucinatory novel. I love an unreliable narrator and this novel was no exception. While I didn't feel as engaged in the second half, Awad really excels at satirical dark comedy and reading this book is an experience that only she could deliver.

I'm guessing this book was just over my head. There was a lot in here, and is probably amazing for someone in the know to delve into. I feel if I knew more about Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well, worked in theatre, religion, and probably some other things, the book would be full of symbolism that would make it really good. On just the base level of narrative, after the first 100 pages I enjoyed it much more. I struggled for the first 100 as the protagonist is quite detestable. I felt the start was too much of her whining about her pain - probably got it all after 25 pages. It was enough to make me put it down a few times. She continues to be pretty horrible after then, but at least the story then becomes more interesting. There is magical fantasy woven throughout the story, which at times was interesting, but the times either over my head, or I'm just a more realistic person, made me feel a disconnect to the story. It did feel pretty original, I'd say it would be something to pick up if you're in the mood to analyze what everything means.
Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC.