Shusterman delivers a pandemic tale like only he can--with societal critique wrapped up in a fast paced package that teens will devour.

Neal Shusterman delivers a thought-provoking and poignant exploration of healing, identity, and resilience in All Better Now. With his signature blend of emotional depth and razor-sharp prose, Shusterman crafts a narrative that lingers long after the last page. Perfect for fans of contemporary fiction with a touch of raw honesty, this book is a must-read for those who appreciate stories about finding strength in the most unexpected places.

I enjoyed this book greatly and it is right up there with most of the books I have read from him. The characters are always interesting and flawed, but in the best ways. There was a touch of some woke dei in this book that haven't seen from the author before, and that was a little disappointing. But it was slight and fleeting and only interrupted for a few chapters. I just wanted to mention if you have your teens read it. There is love, action, adventure, and mystery. The fact that this takes place after a Covid world feels so real and like this can actually happen. Both sides in this book seem right at times, and both seem wrong. I think it is what makes it so interesting. Covid was polarizing and this virus in the book takes it a big step further. . I really got a kick out of this book and look forward to the author's next one!

#allBetterNowBook #Netgalley

I’ve been a big fan of Neal Shusterman’s since I first read Unwind in 2011/12, and I’ve loved being able to recommend his novels to students since I’ve been a teacher.

Being able to read an ARC of this through his publisher and NetGalley excited me both as a long-time fan and as an opportunity to be one of the first to recommend this to my students!

I am glad to say that I am VERY excited to recommend this to my students.

It’s got a lot of Shusterman’s hallmarks, interesting characters, interweaving perspectives and storylines, a deeply considered sci-fi premise and a great amount of action to propel you through a pretty long novel.

I really liked the characters on both sides of the conflict. Ròn and Mariel are great and are interesting symbols of their side of the story, Morgan and Blas on the other are also really great. I quibbled a little bit with that I often found it difficult to know which side to root for. But that makes for interesting discussions about the nature of protagonists and antagonists with my students!

The way Shusterman builds the world and buoys it with interesting characters with interesting perspectives has always been a favorite of mine and this book is no exception.


I really loved this and I am sure my students will too.

Wow, this is my first book to read by this author and I was swept away. My students love his books so when I saw this was up to read I wanted to see what I had been missing. I also met him in person at TLA and was super amazed at just how down-to-earth he seemed to be.
Now, onto this lovely review.
This was a great topic I actually had with my husband and then my coworkers.
What if there was a virus that could make you happy? Would you be good with that and not wanting a vaccine.
We follow different people throughout our story and see how each one of them plays a huge role in this I am going to call it a "happy virus" though just like with any virus we sometimes have casualties. Why would this "happy virus" not be any good? Well as it seems our economy will be affected because everyone will be willing to just hand things over to people as they no longer need it or want it.
We have one person who can not catch this to save her life, but she sees what it does to others and no matter what she does she can not catch it. We have another teenager who caught the virus, and his mission is to be a superspreader. Another person had already put in the work to create a vaccine to stop this virus from going any further, but when she ends up catching the virus her whole life changes and she realizes that just maybe there shouldn't be one.
Each person plays a part in this story and you see just to what lengths people will go to, to get their way. This is one book I am going to put in my library once I have the money from budget as I know my students are going to eat this one up.

I find myself really heart broken by the messages of the book.

In the early days of COVID, before many protections were in place (though my area listened to few of those protections even later), I had to go grocery shopping. I remember an old woman, tiny little thing, wearing a mask, a face shield, and gloves trying to stay as far away from anyone and everyone as possible. Three people, old enough to know better but maybe not old enough to grasp their cruelty went up to her and started coughing on her. She was scared and the people around her did not take that fear seriously.

This book kept reminding of that moment. Most of the book has little care for other people. Both sides of the "war" are doing what they are doing largely for their own self interests.

There is a moment later on where they are discussing how people on a bus are on a bus because they've either accepted the chance of getting sick or actively want to get sick. Maybe that is true for some but anyone having lived through COVID knows many people were exposed who had no choice in the matter and this book completely ignores that fact from both sides. There is a flippant attitude about lives and peoples' choice.

I honestly don't know how I would have responded to this book as a teenager or someone who was a teenager during COVID. I can see it being just stressful in general no matter where you fall on the spectrum of fears coming out of 2020. I'll avoid spoilers but every layer I pealed back with the plotlines and characters of this book was worse and worse the more you thought about it.

As for the writing. I enjoy Shusterman's style. I liked the sections of the book from other perspectives that turn out to be important later. I think it could have been way shorter or it should have been longer with a better foundation for the morals and ethics of what everyone is doing. As it stands, I didn't really enjoy the book. I'll have to think twice before reading if this becomes a longer series.

UNPUTDOWNABLE. A blend of characters that will keep you wondering, hoping, praying. Humanity at the core of catastrophy.

Title:   All Better Now
Author:  Neal Shusterman
Genre:   YA    
Rating: 4 out of 5

An unprecedented condition is on the rise. It behaves like a virus, with the first symptom being a fever, but those who contract it experience long-term effects no one has ever seen utter contentment. Soon after infection, people find the stress, depression, greed, and other negative feelings that used to weigh them down are gone.

Almost everyone revels in this mass unburdening. But people in power—who depend on malcontents tuning into their broadcasts, prey on the insecure to sell their products, and convince people they need more, new, faster, better everything—know this new state of being is bad for business. Soon, campaigns start up convincing people that being happy all the time is dangerous. There’s even a vaccine developed to rid people of their inner peace and get them back to normal because, surely, without anger or jealousy as motivators, productivity will grind to a halt and the world will be thrown into chaos.

It’s nearly impossible to determine the truth when everyone with a platform is pushing their own agendas, and two teens from very different backgrounds who’ve had their lives upended in different ways by the virus find themselves enmeshed in the center of a dangerous power play. Can they reveal the truth?

I found this to be an unsettling read. Not just the whole pandemic thing, but the people fighting so hard against people trying to help other people, people being positive, and against people just being content. That doesn’t say anything good about us as human beings, does it? This was an entertaining enough read, and the little vignettes of different people in the short chapters reminded me a bit of The Stand, which I always enjoyed.

Neal Shusterman is a bestselling author. All Better Now is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 2/6).

Another new series for Shusterman. This one focuses on a new pandemic, caused by the Crown Royale virus. Fast-paced and interesting throughout. And THE ENDING! I can't wait for book 2.

There’s a new pandemic. This time though, the recoverees become… happy. Some people call it a body snatching virus because those who recover are different. They forget grief and vengeance; they just want to help others, and they want to help them most by making sure they also get the virus. Mariel, Ron, and Morgan all have different roles to play from getting the virus to developing a vaccine for it. All Better Now follows their journeys through their own perspectives. Readers also get glimpses of events with recoverees happening all over the world to give the story more context. This is another unputdownable read by Neal Shusterman. Its only downfall is that it’s a bit long providing details into some of the supporting characters that could have been cut for a more succinct story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced ebook copy of this title from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing for this earc

Okay. Here’s the thing. I’m a huge fan of Neal’s writing and his storytelling. Like Arc of a Scythe trilogy changed my life so I was very excited about the new book. And we did get a lot. The story again was interesting and made you think about humanity in its entirety. The writing was still very good. The characters had a range of “I’ll die for them” to “Can you please stop talking”
But sadly this book didn’t change my life.

I will still be picking up anything Neal writes

I love everything written by Neal Shusterman, but I had a very hard time with this one. The premise was intriguing, the writing was great, and the characters were well developed, but as much as I wanted to love it, it was a bit hard for me to read. Perhaps it is COVID- PTSD because I was so uncomfortable with the pandemic aspect, I couldn't truly appreciate the book for the wonderful work I think others will see it as.

From New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman comes a young adult thriller about a world where happiness is contagious but the risks of catching it may be just as dangerous as the cure. Wow really thrilling...

First, I'd like to thank the team at NetGalley, Simon & Shuster, the author and anyone else who deserves it for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book! I had a great time with this story and could NOT put it down (for very long at least, because... kids.)

All Better Now takes place after the COVID19 pandemic and deals with yet another pandemic. This new pandemic - Crown Royale - is spread in similar ways as COVID, but has a very different outcome (for those that survive it). 100% of survivors are (so far) irrevocably changed into more content, happy, and kind versions of themselves. They're also severely unselfish, empathetic and altruistic; to the dismay of the world powers-that-be, and also to the survivors' own detriment in many cases.

The story follows three main characters - Morgan, Ron, and Mariel - who are all very young and thrust into positions that they either want to be in, have doubts about, or absolutely should not be in. Following these characters' journeys absolutely makes you question what you believe to be right and wrong. There were definitely several moments when I had to stop reading and stare at the wall for a few minutes just to process what I just read. I'd also be really interested to see who the ultimate villain turns out to be because I have a feeling that all is not going to stay as it currently seems!

Out of the many twists and turns that Shusterman took in this book, I only saw *one* coming! Everything else took me completely by surprise and had me yelling "WHAT?!" To say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book would be an understatement and I have SO many questions! I definitely can't wait until the next book comes!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, and Neal Shusterman for the opportunity to read All Better Now in exchange for an honest review.

As a major Shusterman fan, of course I had to read his latest novel. Shusterman's craft for writing works that bring contemplative thoughts to the reader really shine in this somewhat political pandemic tale, leaving the reader battling themself when it comes to their own morals.

All Better Now follows four - five third person narratives throughout. It is a fast-paced page-turner as the reader seeks a solution to the many twists and turns this novel has to offer. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, a few years later the world is graced with a new, more deadly virus, called Crown Royal (I see what you did there, Shusterman; that's funny). Crown Royal has a 4% mortality rate (1 in every 25 meeting death) and more heavily affects people with a colorblindness chromosome of some sort. 

What does Crown Royal do? Aside from a hefty bed-ridden fever and some of the usual fun symptoms of a flu-like virus, if you are of the 96% that make it through, you no longer experience depression, stress, or anger, to name a few negative emotions that it eradicates. In other words, one might feel "all better now," if they are a happy recoveree. They want nothing more than to help others, whether that be giving away their home to a homeless person, donating all their money to charities, or risking their own life to save someone else (which basically becomes their new strongest instinct, even over self-preservation).

Muriel is homeless and lives in a car with her mom. They are miserable, and with the new virus about, she thinks their best chance at happiness is to contract Crown Royal and become a recoveree. She meets Tiburon Escobedo, the son of the second richest man in the world. Or perhaps the riches now, thanks to Crown Royal taking hold... Ron has a blue cone deficiency and cannot see the color blue, thus making him more susceptible to the virus. Ron's father wants nothing more than to keep his family safe and avoid becoming one of those altered idiots who give everything away for the benefit of others, especially after how hard he worked to make it to where he is in life now.

Meanwhile, around the world, Morgan is interviewed by the rich and elderly Dame Hallivand, who fears the future of her altered personality if she makes it through contracting Crown Royal. She offers everything to this young woman in exchange for her promise to make a vaccine. To emphasize the importance of a cure as she takes on her role as the new president of the Hallivand Corporation, Morgan explains, "the sooner we have it, the better. We're at war with a disease that changes the very nature of who you are--that steals not just your body, but your will...Crown Royal creates herds of sheep by the millions" (location 4625, 75%).

Basically with a virus changing who people are, supposedly for the better, there are two sides to this war: those who find that the virus will bring world peace and make their goal to infect everyone, despite the risks, and those who do now want their personality altered by the vengeance of nature and aim to find a fast solution to the spread. What side would you choose?

This novel is a lengthy one, and yet it moves so fast, kind of like the spread of a virus... Shusterman has once again written an ever-so-eloquent cautionary tale that explores contemporary issues and challenges morality through a pristine plot and authentic characterization. At times it was hard to determine what side I would want to be on as a reader, but ultimately, I know myself and I recognize the messages being offered. A must-read for any Shusterman fan, lover of virology or science, and teens with minds that need something to ignite their thoughts.

After COVID, another pandemic hits - named, for no reason I could find, Crown Royale. But this pandemic is different. The mortality rate is 4% - higher than the 3% mortality rate quoted for COVID in the novel - but otherwise, the symptoms and means of spread are very similar. What's different is what happens after a person contracts Crown Royale and survives; unlike long COVID, which has a variety of negative effects, long Crown Royale - which occurs in 100% of recoverees - causes feelings of contentment, compassion, and empathy, which in turn impacts the behavior of recoverees, making them prone to acts of kindness, to the point that their altruism is having a negative impact on the world economy. After all, many people in the higher levels of industry are in it for themselves, to improve their own personal wealth at the expense of their competitors - an attitude that often spreads well beyond their business dealings, and which tends to increase along with their wealth. Because of this, leaders of industry in multiple countries are trying to contain the spread of Crown Royale, and to take steps to safeguard their businesses should they contract the illness.

Into this situation comes three young people: Rón, Mariel, and Morgan, each of whom is key in the attempt to respond to Crown Royale. Much of the novel is told from their perspectives, although some parts are told by other characters. Their lives and actions become intertwined throughout the story, and their motivations intersect in a variety of ways. This is an interesting novel, of the "makes you think" variety, which explores the motivations of people, especially from the perspective of the selfish and the altruistic. It is one of those books that will speak to the reader, and which will cause the reader to either love it or hate, with very little in between. I look forward to the sequel that I expect based on the ending.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

All Better Now by Neal Shusterman is another brilliant novel from him. I had a great time with this story.

This was so close to being 5 stars for me, because it kept me on the edge of my seat and made me question everything. There was just one scene that put me off a bit, but overall, I really found this such an interesting what-if. I didn't know which side of the argument I wanted to root for the whole time, and the characters were so complex when it came to their motivations and situations. I also loved the flow of the story between perspectives and different places. I felt like it all connected very well. I'm not sure if this is in the cards, but a sequel to this would be amazing.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the digital advanced copy!

This is the type of book that will make you question what is right and wrong the entire time.
You follow 3 different characters on their path to survive a new outbreak from a virus that cures all your depression, anxiety and the like.
Things aren't always what they seem though and the journey you go on is one that is fast, twisty, and unexpected.
I really enjoyed this story and would recommend this to readers who like stories that are realistic scenarios.
This book does touch on the topic of covid and could be triggering due to some of the practices of the characters throughout this outbreak. I found this to be a story that got my brain thinking, my adrenaline pumping, and at time my anger levels to an all time high.
Overall I think the length of this story could have been a touch shorter. The beginning of this book hooked me SO fast, you get put right into story line with multiple pov's and lots of information that will keep you engaged and reading. However; the middle of the book while necessary did drag/lull a bit and so I found myself going what are we doing here. The end was a phenomenal conclusion though that makes me want to pick up the next book in the series for sure and so for that I will land on a 3.75 for score, rounding to a 4.
I love the way the author introduces characters into the story in such a unique way and his writing style just meshes perfectly with what I am looking for in an authors work. I think if you are looking for a book to resonate with maybe some of our current state of affairs in life, this would be worth picking up. I would gear this book towards upper YA readers due to some of the more graphic content and overall topic/themes within the story.

Neal Shusterman is a literary genius. Having read multiple of his books, I knew that "All Better Now" would once again be something special. I was not disappointed. I highly recommend this novel for middle grade to high school leveled readers- and adult readers.