All Better Now is just as it says a book that asks what is happiness and worth and if the cause for happiness is a disease are you really the same afterwards. This book asks some interesting questions and then investigates from multiple points of view.

Characters
Mariel—excellent use of a character who desperately wants something only to have it withheld. Our middle of the two other extremes
Morgan—Successor of Haviland Consortium, Firmly Anti Crown Royale
Ron-Tiburon-- Alpha Spreader. Believes that everyone would be better with disease
Dame Havillard and Rooks—former president of Haviland Consortium
Javins—Creepy voice. A double recoveree.

Atmosphere
Atmosphere was well done, I at times could really feel the pandemic situation. The way people treat others who are sick or “might” be sick. Very realistic

Writing
Good writing
Didn’t take the lazy way out of making people lazy after contentment

Plot
I wish that Morgan had taken a slightly different approach with making it seem like she was supporting Recoveree’s while working on cure, to not raise suspicions, but it makes sense not to because the recoverees don’t seem like a threat until its too late.
Investment
I was very invested in Morgans storyline and Maribels plot. Ron was interesting but less engaging for me.

Logic
The ability to overcome instincts.
Instinct to help/save ends up killing more people
I like that it didn’t change who people were, it just took away the anger, the pride, the meaness. But people could still be ambitious and were even more so.

Enjoyment
Really enjoyed this. The concept and the question of would you accept a virus if it made you happy


Misc
Like the fake out of With Morgan dying not dying
Preston Morgan’s VP assistant. Gets the Anticure La Llorona out. The name of the chapter is everything he touches.
The Virus at the end makes you need. I thought it was going to be an retroviral that would balance out. love and hate, not a 1 or the other.
Touch vs Airborne.
The hate posted towards those who had it all the propaganda.

This is an entertaining, thought provoking dystopian read. Neal Shusterman’s Scythe series had me in such a choke hold, 2025 is all better now that he’s releasing a new book (ha)
This story is so unique and fast paced, it’s a freaky concept and really makes you think hard about the year who can’t be named.

This was such an interesting story and premise! It was captivating and engaging, told from multiple perspectives about how people react when they get infected with a virus that causes them to only feel happiness/contentment and rids someone of any negative thoughts. It's interesting to consider how the economy would falter if people didn't feel compelled to purchase things to keep up with the Jones' or to impress others or to compensate for their own insecurities. Really interesting concept overall!

I didn’t love this book as much as I thought I would. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been reading the Scythe series at the same time, or something else, but I just don’t think this compares

Characters

Rón
I didn’t like Rón at all. The idea that he was forcingly affected people with a virus just rubbed me the wrong way. He was just to self righteous - he literally believed he was the second coming of Jesus or whatever.
I don’t know if we were even suppose to like him.

Morgan
She’s my favorite character. I love a good grey character and I think she was written extremely well. I actually do agree with her moral stance, maybe not the method.

Mariel
She was okay. Her indecisiveness was understandable, but I just don’t like her saying with Rón in the end.

Plot
While the idea was gold, I just don’t think it was executed well. Rón was just a horrible character, the insta-love was annoying and the self-righteous of all the compromised was just disgusting.
I’m really disappointed because I love of all his other books.
I don’t think the characters had depth. In the end they all had one like idea on how the should fix the pandemic, but that was it - an idea. They were just their morals in a way.
I also hated the ending, I think it was rushed.

Would I recommend this book? Maybe. Would I read it again? Definitely not.
In the end, I do think certain people would like it, but I’m just not one of them.

If anyone could take on such dark subject matter for a YA book, it’s Neal Schusterman. I don’t know if this is as good as it could be. But it’s still decent.

This is about a pandemic where survivors let go of their previous pain and suffering and become at peace with the world. Even more, survivors become focused on helping better the world around them, to the point of their own destruction. But is it them, or the disease making the decisions?

This is such a great premise. It’s complicated, taking on issues of bodily autonomy and consent, personal identity, and the interconnectedness of every person. But this is one of those times where I feel like Schusterman pulled his punches. I guess I would have been okay with him going much much darker here. This is the man who murdered people for the greater good in Scythe, so we know he can do it.

I do think this is good. I do think a lot of people will like this. I just wish it had been great.

Love Neal Shusterman, and All Better Now is a really good young adult thriller. It's a fast-paced, dystopian book that is written in Shusterman's masterful storytelling voice.

Neal Shusterman has a real gift for presenting stories that leave you conflicted. In All Better Now, a Covid-like virus is sweeping the population, but those who survive it find they are eternally happy. Would you risk it? Would you even still be yourself if you did, and came out the other end?

Fast paced and full of interesting characters, this was definitely a book that will stay with me.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy

Imagine no longer struggling with stress, depression, and negative thoughts.; feeling happy, selfless, and free from emotional burdens. Sounds amazing, right? What if to obtain that level of contentment you must first become very ill with a 1 in 25 chance of succumbing to that illness? Would it be worth it? A few years after Covid-19 shook the world, Crown Royale is the next global concern. While the side effects the "recoverees" face sound ideal, the change causes a shift the world isn't prepared for.

This dystopian novel hits close to home after being a part of a global pandemic and also as a person who struggles with mental illness. Throughout the novel, it was easy to see how so many people were divided on whether or not this illness was something to run from or toward; and the answer doesn't come without consequence. The book follows three teens from different walks of life with different views about the virus. The various points of view and motivation behind their actions felt realistic and many elements of the book felt very similar to what we saw when Covid-19 first came into focus.

I enjoyed the different perspectives and the character development and found myself anxious to find out how everything would come together. The middle of the book felt a little long, but it was worth it as the story became much more exciting toward the end.

The book finishes with a lot of loose ends, so be prepared to not have a satisfying conclusion just yet.

4 Stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for an ARC of this book!

A virus is infecting people and if they survive, they come out with absolutely no negativity. Priorities change, their countenance changes and ultimately it can change your core being. So since these are technically “positive” attributes, is it good? Right? Should people purposely be infected? It would make the world a better place, right? Right?
This was a wild ride! It had me debating morals, life questions, peoples rights and more. It is definitely a fascinating premise and the intrigue carried throughout. The psychology and unpredictability really kept me entertained!
I highly recommend this for those who love dystopian fiction!

This book is set in a post-COVID world where humanity faces a new pandemic caused by an unknown virus that kills 1 out of 25 people. However, the survivors find themselves permanently changed, experiencing complete happiness and contentment.

What will humanity choose to do? Accept this virus or fight against it?

I won’t lie: it took me a while to get through the first 30-35% of the book. It starts off a bit slow with character introductions and world-building. However, after that, I was completely hooked. This book prompts you to think deeply about humanity and capitalism.

It also makes you question yourself: if you were offered the gift of eternal happiness through an irreversible virus that would suppress all negative emotions, would you accept it?

Overall, it was a fun and interesting read! If you enjoy dystopian stories, I highly recommend checking this out!

Once again this author has written a story that makes you think, but in a fascinating, entertaining way. Overall I really enjoyed this one, although there were one or two spots that dragged a tiny bit for me. But not enough that I ever didn’t want to keep reading, and I hated how busy everything was when I was trying to read this one that I couldn’t sit and read as much as I wanted.

So, even though the publisher did send me a finished copy, I decided to read the e-galley because the book was a little bigger and it was easier to hold my Kindle, lol. So some of the lines I’ve quoted may not be in the final copy, I should have looked to see! I wasn’t even 10% of the way in when I found two quotes that really spoke to me.

People who did follow the science and the rules wished death upon those who didn’t.
If we judge the work by the sins and temperament of the creators, the world would be virtually void of art, literature, and music.

Both of these spoke to me so much. Even if the second one was from a character that hadn’t contracted the virus Crown Royale yet and was a not so great person, it is something that seems to be more and more true the closer we look at some artists/authors/musicians. The first one is something that always made me angry at the hypocrisy of some people in certain situations, although the “science” followed wasn’t always anything more than what was being reported by the media. As a former science teacher, believe me, I did my research in all things before making decisions.

What I love about this author is that his books make you think. Not just the teens that these books are written for, but as an adult, when I’ve read all his books as an adult, they made me think too. They made me see both sides. In my opinion they call out the good and the bad and facts of both sides. Because yes, there are facts on both sides, even people don’t always follow the truth when they make their decisions, or they use it to try to prove things that aren’t connected.

Yes many people don’t want to read books about THE pandemic we just went through. And so the fact that this is about a “next” pandemic might turn some off. But wow, Crown Royale, I think I want to get that virus! I totally felt for Mariel and her bad luck with the virus, although some didn’t see it as bad luck. And then there were the downfalls from this wonderful new disease/virus that gave some credit to the idea that we don’t want everyone to think exactly the same, that there does need to be a voice out there making you think and not just agreeing with everything.

The book was so good, and I don’t know why I assumed how it would end, because the author knows how to do endings that might make you gasp a bit! Such a wonderful, wonderful story!

All Better Now by Neal Shusterman is an intriguing young adult thriller about a world where happiness is contagious but the risks of catching it may be just as dangerous as the cure.
I enjoyed reading this sorry and found it to be entertaining and thought-provoking.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Publishing for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was really excited when I saw this eARC available on Netgalley. I really enjoyed Neal Shusterman’s Unwind Dystology and I thought the concept of All Better Now sounded so intriguing. The concept of another pandemic that leaves people feeling grateful and happy was very interesting! While I enjoyed the read, it did feel a little hard to follow. I normally like multi POV books, but this one felt like it jumped around quite a bit.

Even though it was good in theory, It didn’t live up to my expectations based on other books I have read of his. Is it bad? Not at all! I just felt like there was much more that could have been done with it and the story didn’t move as quickly as I had hoped. I definitely still recommend that people give it a shot though!

Shusterman’s new young adult novel, All Better Now, takes the all-too familiar world of a pandemic and pairs it with an old cliché: Happiness is contagious. In this case, literally.

For survivors of Crown Royale, the latest coronavirus pandemic, the world is a much happier place: “Recoverees,” as they are called, lose the ability to deeply feel negative emotions. As a result, they walk away from their cares and possessions and exist in a perpetual state of serenity. To some, this sounds like a dream come true. Who wouldn’t want to just “don’t worry, be happy” as in the Bobby McFerrin song? For others, this sounds like a loss of self and agency on par with becoming a zombie (minus, you know, eating people and unintelligible moaning), and it must be stopped at all costs.

With complex teen characters at the helm, opposing views of what should be done about Crown Royale, machinations by people in power, and morally “gray” areas, this book would produce rich conversations and comparisons to the real world for students. I am a fan of Shusterman; his books are usually among my first suggestions for my more reluctant readers, and this did not disappoint. I didn’t love it as much as the Scythe books (hard to beat!), but I really enjoyed this one and have a copy in hand to add to my classroom shelves tomorrow.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for providing a review copy.

Neal Shusterman is at it again! While the Arc of a Scythe series will always hold a special place in my heart, I didn't realize how much I missed Neal Shusterman's writing style and story-impact on my brain until I picked this up.

While there has been a lot of pandemic-based stories because of COVID 19's impact on society, Neal Shusterman has approached it a little differently than I've seen anyone else so far. This time, another pandemic chases the tail of COVID 19, and it brings an interesting twist - if you want to read the summary, you can see on Goodreads here!

Recommendation: If you're looking for another story, similar to the Arc of the Scythe series in terms of the type of story it is, then I'd definitely give All Better Now a try. If you're not a fan of societal commentary stories like that, where he focuses on humanity and how people handle things like self-preservation and the consequences of those approaches, then All Better Now isn't the story for you. All Better Now makes you think and reflect - and isn't much of an escapist book, if that's what you're looking for.

The summary doesn't touch on names, so I won't either, but I can say that our teenager protagonists are about as opposite as can be. I won't touch on how and why, to avoid spoilers, but, as expected, they both play pivotal roles in the story, including influencing each other. This story touches on not only the different perspectives of what happiness is and how it's obtained, but also the consequences of having a pandemic that "creates happiness" in people and how dangerous - or not - that really is.

This story challenges assumptions you would make about a virus that leaves those infected feeling utter contentment. Sounds like a dream, doesn't it? To no longer feel stress, depression, greed, or similar negative feelings anymore?

. . . But is it?

Neal Shusterman challenges this question with All Better Now, and I'm so glad I got the chance to read it early!

**IF YOU WANT TO READ THE BOOK BEFORE GETTING SPOILERS, STOP HERE! YOU CAN ALWAYS READ THE BOOK AND COME BACK. I'M ALWAYS HERE FOR YOU.**

Mariel and Ron are interesting main characters, and it's really interesting to watch Mariel's street-smarts and her drive to survive [and, sometimes, attempt to thrive!] make Ron stop and think about his life and his choices, and how those decisions can change the impact he can have. It's beautiful how her influence seems to drive him to make the decisions he makes - that Mariel ultimately disagrees with! Which, in turn, changes the decisions she makes.

Neal Shusterman always makes his readers think, and I love how he challenges the assumptions we all make - that a particular influence can only produce one kind of response or outcome. Shusterman explores that [incorrect] thought process and challenges our understanding of what it means to influence those around you - and the consequences of your attempted influence backfiring.

I love this exploration of what it would mean to lose all the negative feelings in your life - and the importance they play in our happiness! There's definitely an argument for this sort of virus not playing out this way [that the human condition would respond differently to losing all the negative feelings we experience], but, personally, I loved seeing Shusterman's take on what it would do to people, and how it could both be a blessing and a curse, a solution and a problem, a peaceful existence and a dangerous one.

My only [minor] "complaint" about this book is that it has a sort of open-ending. I do like that it gives readers the space to draw their own conclusions or to let their imagination run wild, but part of me really wants to see how the countervirus fares "out in the wild" and if the feeling of abject misery and anxiety ever goes away with victims of it, or if the world is now doomed to only have the choice between utter contentment and unending anxiety.

And how is Morgan going to handle this choice? If that feeling of unending anxiety doesn't fade, will she choose having some control, even if it kills her drive, or will she choose having no control but at least never losing her drive? The world may never know! [I have my own thoughts on this, but it's one of the few things I, personally, don't like about open-endings.]

Also, I absolutely love his use of non-main characters that we see for maybe a few pages later become so impactful to the story. I love this reminder that, even though a story hinges on the main characters, it also hinges on the secondary [or even more minor] characters.

As always, I hope you enjoyed the review, and be kind, stay safe, and read on!

I love pandemic books. And I've been meaning to read Neal Shusterman FOREVER. So when I saw that All Better Now was about a highly contagious virus that leaves people in an irreversible and extreme state of contentment, I was intrigued. All Better Now raises so many amazing questions: if this virus brings about happiness, is it desirable? Should it spread or be stopped? Who gets to make these ethical decisions?

However, I felt the premise and the themes raised and explored fell short of reaching their full potential. Shusterman raises question after question without ever taking a stance. Who is good or bad, right or wrong? Everyone and no one. The book is way too long and I found myself a bit frustrated with the ending because it felt like an ending, not a conclusion. Things were left unresolved in a way I didn't enjoy. After reading over 500 pages I wondered, what was the point? What was the message?

Despite all this, I found the subject of the book to be very interesting and think it would make for a fantastic discussion and debate.

Probably more like 3.75 stars. I did enjoy the plot and Neal Shusterman just knows how to write good stuff, but I had trouble getting attached to any of the characters, which is important to me when reading. A second virus has hit the world after COVID, but this one makes everyone that survived feel a sense of joy and compassion for others. Sounds like a wonderful world, right? Well, this book has a good way of making you realize why it might not be so grand. It has people trying to avoid the pandemic, people trying to infect everyone, people trying to create a vaccine, and people with other ill intentions…a little bit of everything. I think this will definitely appeal to teens and it is an interesting concept. I would recommend to teen readers and others who enjoy YA or this author. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this early.

This is by the dystopian master himself, neal shustermen and yes this is another dystopian that sounds so strange. It follows 3 teenagers navigating a new pandemic that pops up shortly after covid resolves and we just follow them as they have to figure out this new version of living, and what that means is surviving one of the side effects to this virus which makes you become utterly content where billionaires are giving up all the fortunes and living in the woods like to that extreme and we see the impacts of the economy and capitalism, it's all fascinating. As you can see the one little smiley guy on the cover there is the one infected, you’re just a beaming ray of sunshine but to you and everyone's detriment. Get it soon and have a copy on your shelves.

AHH IM SORRY
i love neal shusterman so much, b ut I feel like this was giving dry (one of his other standalones)
like the idea is so cool, messed up, and thought provoking like always, but it's something about the characters and pacing
the arc of a scythe and skinjacker series' are sooo good, and even unwind, but I've found that his standalones are just more lackluster
I didn't hate it, but I did hate that I didn't love it.
the whole pandemic thing was a little too relatable though.

3.5
I’m not sure what to think about this one. There were many pieces that were great about it especially the compelling premise and character interactions. For there being so many characters it was never difficult to keep track of them.

That being said- I never really cared about any of them enough. This was far more of a conceptual novel than either plot or character driven. I do appreciate that we were allowed to sit it the discomfort of the right thing to do. Part of the reason it was so difficult to connect with the characters was due to this they just are in such a different decision making framework than any of us have ever been

Not sure if this is setting up for a series. I could see it working as a standalone but there were definitely threads left untied.