I really loved Mona Awad's last novel, "Bunny," and was eager to read this one as well. Her latest, "All's Well," is just as entertaining as "Bunny," if a little flawed. There are strong characters throughout the novel, and Awad's detail really makes them sing. I didn't completely connect with the narrative, however, and at times that made this a chore to get through. Awad's humor and a strong main character, Miranda, saved this for me, but it is still just a soft recommendation.

What a ride. This book had me questioning my own sanity as much as the main character’s. All’s Well is unsettling and funny and just a weird,dark, fun time.

Big trigger warning for descriptions of chronic pain though!

I really enjoy Mona Awad's writing style and this book did not disappoint. If you are not a fan of her work you may find this book very difficult to follow but her fans will love it.

“It’s all theatre in the end.”

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster and author Mona Awad for gifting me with an ARC of All’s Well. In exchange I offer my unbiased review.

Having read and appreciated Bunny earlier this year, I was excited to have an opportunity to read Mona Awad’s newest novel, All’s Well. For starters, the cover art is freakin fabulous!!! Even better, the prose and plot lives up to the clever cover and title design.
Whilst this book has some trippy moments and pushed boundaries, it never strayed too far or got lost in my comprehension.

Miranda, a one time stage actress, is now teaching theatre at an unnamed private college in New England. Having taken a fall years earlier, Miranda suffers from chronic pain, which leaves her debilitated and in constant agony and discomfort. Her colleagues, students and peers do not appreciate the daily struggles Miranda grapples with and they tend to make her life and job more difficult. The first half of the story explores Miranda’s quest to find relief and vividly describes the daily trials that someone suffering with pain goes through. Awad uses her keen attention and dark humor to amplify this very real struggle.

The second half of the book becomes a bit more fantastical and playful when Miranda is able to transfer her pain unto a pesky, rebellious student. As always, Awad tackles academia with her sarcastic wit and clever prose. I think this book would be an excellent choice for bookclub, as there is plenty to debate and speculate over.

I enjoyed this book for both it’s winks and nods to Shakespeare and for highlighting the invisible illness of choric pain that is often overlooked by many.

DNF at 35%. Muddy narrative and so much redundancy. I tried to get through it because I had received an ARC, but I just couldn't do it. The main character is miserable and not just because she's in pain.

3.5 stars

Another odd one from Mona Awad!

I loved her previous novel Bunny, and this one hits some of the same themes: the arts and horror. What a combo, she has made a genre all her own.

This is one of those books--not unlike Bunny, really--that I feel like I need to discuss before fully understanding. And perhaps I also need to read All's Well That Ends Well, as I have never read that play (and it has been close to decades since I have read MacBeth). Is this an allegory like Bunny? Is this just straight-up theatre horror? Is it simply an indictment of everyone's--doctors, physical therapists, her (now-ex) husband, co-workers, students--willingness to accept Miranda's (and thus a woman's) pain as real? I suspect there are in jokes or references that went flying over my head (the red dress for Helen? The golden cure? Three men? The Canny Man?). This book was fine, but not nearly as good as Bunny. But after I read more reviews or get to discuss it, I think my rating may go up.

ARC received in exchange for an Honest Review
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley!

All's Well is the gripping and captivating story of Miranda, a former actress whose life turned upside down after she tragically took a fall out of the stage. Miranda's only involvement with the theater now is reduced to her role as a college theater director. Her life is marked with chronic pain, meds that never take the pain away, professionals who won't look at her, and colleagues who believe she is lying. However, Miranda will not let any of these inconveniences be an obstacle for her to put on All's Well by William Shakespeare, a problem play that means too much for her to be taken away like everything else she has parted from. Maybe a little bit of external help is what she needs in the form of three strange men in a dusky bar. Or maybe the theater heals and pain is a gift.

Mona Awad clearly knows how to write a fascinating novel by balancing what is real and what is not. Actually, I am still not entirely sure of what reality entails in All's Well. Something I enjoyed was that while Miranda feels like a vessel that contains something mystical, I never completely disliked her or wanted her to receive a happy ending either. What Awad accomplishes with her protagonist is a well-rounded individual with obvious flaws but excusable as we are introduced with the amount of pain she carries around.

Other than her main character's descend into madness and the exploration of pain in general, the secondary characters like Ellie were extremely interesting to me even when they were never fully explained. This allows me to imagine whatever I want about them as contributes to the magic.

Now, the overall feeling this novel conveys is Shakesperean - and yes, I know that is not a feeling- but that is how I would describe it. The incorporation of Shakespeare's themes of destiny, fortune, madness, and magic, are made fresh by the natural way they are nurturing the plot without overstating them as Shakesperean, but part of the human condition. I believe the allure the theater has on this story is spot on and the concluding chapters made me feel deliciously dizzy and anxious.

I will gladly go read Bunny and anything else Mona Awad writes, and I will seriously recommend this novel to anyone that wants a 'spellbinding' plot that is never too dark for you to stop, and that even if you wanted, you would not be able to put it down.

Be sure to check my youtube channel and other social media for more book recommendations at Isabel's Digest
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This was my first Mona Awad novel and it was very strange, but I also THROUGHLY enjoyed it. The author’s style of writing is very unique and I could honestly feel the main character, Miranda’s pain at times. With this style of writing it is sometimes hard to tell what is internal dialogue and what the character is saying out loud, but I think that really adds to the layers and texture of the story. After dealing with chronic pain, and multiple doctors unable to diagnose Miranda, she goes a little mad. It’s unclear to even Miranda herself what has happened to her life or what she is saying out loud or what she is thinking, which makes the writing style so realistic. You are able to really put yourself in Miranda’s head. Miranda puts on a play, All’s Well That Ends Well. Will this play be her redemption and will all be well at the end? Or will putting on this play cause Miranda to spiral even further?

Not sure what happened here, but maybe I read it wrong. All's Well has been advertised as darkly funny, and as a thriller and I found it to be neither funny nor thrilling. It was ok is the best I can do. I didn't hate it, but I definitely didn't love it.

Anyone who follows my reviews (there's like two of you, haha, I see you over there *points and waves excitedly*) knows that most of the time I need to love the characters, or hate them, or feel any sort of overwhelming emotion for them and honestly, the main character just left me annoyed - I detest whining and she was CONSTANTLY WHINING!! If I don't love the characters the story needs to be interesting enough to hold my attention, and this one just didn't have it.

Like I said, maybe I read it wrong, because it's getting all kinds of stellar reviews, but it just didn't do it for me.

Why, yes, I do often judge a book by its cover, and Mona Awad's "All's Well" has a stunning one - a comedy mask decorated with a variety of colored pills. How could I not read a book concerning chronic illness and theatre?

THE STORY: Miranda Fitch, a once promising young actress, has watched her enchanted life disappear after a fall from the stage. Now burdened with chronic pain, she is reduced to accepting a teaching position at a community college where theater is merely part of the English Department. Determined that "All's Well That Ends Well" will be the fall production, Miranda has to convince her mutinying students who expected to be performing The Scottish Play. How she does that, and all that follows, is fascinating, confusing, and disturbing but in a good way. Am I right?

WHAT I THOUGHT: Although referred to as funny, a dark comedy, it is also painful, a tragedy or perhaps somewhere in between. I was often amused and once brought to tears. Going on this journey with an unreliable narrator is disconcerting and disturbing but also exciting and fascinating. After a straightforward opening narrative, the plot blossoms into magical realism leaving the reader questioning what is real.

FIRST SENTENCE: "I'm lying on the floor watching, against my will, a bad actress in a drug commercial tell me about her fake pain."

BOTTOM LINE: If you want to read something different, something unique; if you've felt alone suffering from chronic pain; if you love Shakespeare and theatre, this might be just the escape you are looking for.

DISCLAIMER: Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Simon & Schuster for the review copy for an honest review.

I don't know what to make of this novel which swivels between a very good look at chronic pain and a sort of magical realism thing, I do know that I didn't find it funny and that it was a struggle for me to finish it. Shakespeare fans will appreciate how Awad has used his work,. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For Awad's fans.

Ms. Awad is a new author for me. I still haven't decided if I liked this book. Or how much I liked it. I think it comes down to not being sure what the book was trying to be. The main character suffers from chronic pain. Or does she? No one else seems to think she does and it does sound like all her woes are manifesting themselves physically. Her drama students are rebelling against her, wanting to perform The Scottish Play. So, when she meets three mysterious men in a bar that offer her strange support, did they represent the three witches from that play? Or was that my imagination? Were they her imagination? I think this is where the book really lost me. Was the book brilliant and I just wasn't able to grasp its brilliance? Or was it a bit too vague and untethered to make sense of?

All's Well is one of those books that will catch you off guard-you think you're getting a certain story, you think you know what the plot is, but then you actually read it and it becomes more stream-of-consciousness and suddenly it feels like it's inside your brain than just on the paper in front of you. That's how I feel after reading it! It's almost like a slow-burn of anxiety and/or a manic episode. For that, it is really well-written! I wanted the main character to succeed, but I was also kinda a little scared of her.

Here's the basic plot: Miranda lives with chronic pain after a fall while playing Helena during "All's Well That Ends Well." It's years later, and no treatment helps, and no one takes her pain seriously. No one seems to take her seriously either, as she's trying to stage that same play at the college she works at. She meets three men one weird night at a pub, and they teach her a "trick." What is that trick and what does it do? That's what you find out by reading the book!

I recommend this book if you are into lowkey psychological thrillers or protagonists losing their grip on reality. It can be a lot to take in, so definitely make sure you're in the right mindset before diving in!

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This novel was so different and strange. I heard that Mona Awad's last book was either loved or hated by all the readers and it made me curious how I would feel about her writing style. I was not sure how much I would enjoy this novel, but I was extremely excited for this E-Arc to try a new to me author.

Awad touched on an interesting concept of the main character having a pain that no one else could see and continues to get worse as time goes on. Miranda Fitch goes through so much in her life and continues to try and push through everything wrong in her life. As a failed actress, she tries to save herself and her marriage by becoming a theater teacher. Eventually her marriage ends, and she goes through every avenue to relieve the pain she lives with every moment of every day.

Little does she know that one night she will find herself associating herself with three strange men in a local bar. This leads Miranda down a road of recovery that is not necessarily explainable. Miranda’s body is healing, but her mind seems to be falling apart. She is actively affecting those around her and that begins to cause her pain but success.

One aspect of this novel that I found interesting was that there are three men with magical properties, and they keep bringing up the witches in Macbeth, so I felt like there was that connect with the actual plays written by Shakespeare. This novel also is reminiscent of Shakespearean plays and the wackiness that is always part of his stories.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the review copy for an honest review.

I absolutely love this one. I was t sure what to expect after reading Bunny and all it’s crazy. This book dives deep in what it is to live in chronic pain and how quality of life disappears. Then later makes you ask yourself a valuable question of whether you would be capable of hurting someone else for your benefit. Add the sprinkle of supernatural events and you’ve got yourself a splendid storytelling novel.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy! Out 8/3/21.

I am starting to think that Mona Awad's work is just not for me. After DNF-ing Bunny, I decided to try this one. Unfortunately. I was left feeling the same way; lost and confused.

This book is basically the TV show (which I loved) Nurse Jackie but starring a college Theater Professor. Miranda is in chronic pain, but is also heavily addicted to pills and alcohol. One night, or one hallucination, she meets three men at a bar and just like that, magical realism appears. My biggest qualms with this book were that the writing and hallucinations were confusing and complicated to keep track of and the climax of the book was disappointing.

2.5

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

Ehhh. As someone with chronic illness/pain, an enjoyer of academic novels, and a lover of Shakespeare, my initial reaction was "sign me up!" However, I really don't see why combining two of those things always result in alcohol and drug abuse. Lots of reminders of Chabon's Wonder Boys. It honestly reads like a whiny male novel combined with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

If you like strange storytelling methods, creepy magic, and unnecessary drugs and alcohol,. grab it. If you were just looking for some good Shakespeare in an academic setting, go for Jennifer Lee Carrell's Interred With Their Bones.

This is an interesting book, perfect for fans of the author’s previous novel. It focuses on Miranda, a former stage actress who fell off the stage during a performance and has suffered chronic, incurable pain ever since. Now a theater professor at a small college, she is responsible for directing the annual Shakespeare production. After meeting three mysterious strangers, her pain miraculously disappears, giving her a new lease on life, romance, and the theater. But how did it happen? And why are so much of those around her now suffering from chronic pain?

An intriguing story that will make you think. Recommended!

You can’t judge a book by its cover but a truly clever cover can sure catch your attention and interest. It was the cover art for Mona Awad’s upcoming novel All’s Well that pulled me in to read the description and since the description proved interesting I submitted my request for an advance copy. Though it took me longer than I would have liked to adjust to the writing style, it proved to be an enjoyable ride that cleverly addresses a lot of deep societal issues around ableism, sexism, and compassion (or a general lack thereof).

A fall from the stage years before left Miranda with injuries and pain that no treatment seems to help – in fact, each procedure, each therapy seems to cause new excruciating problems. Now her job as a theater professor and directing the college’s annual Shakespeare production is getting to be too much to manage alongside her pain and the students know it. They would rather perform Macbeth than Miranda’s choice of All’s Well That Ends Well and Briana, the default lead actress because of her parents’ generous donations, is determined to have her way with the play. Just as she’s on the brink of losing her job along with whatever shreds of dignity she has left, Miranda has a surreal encounter at a pub with three mysterious men who are apparently fans of theater and of Miranda’s work. Beginning the next day, things begin to swing in Miranda’s favor while those who stood in her way or pitied her begin to see things go against them.

One of the elements that Awad captures brilliantly (and brutally) is the self-consciousness and frustration of someone suffering debilitating pain. Beyond the physical pain, she illustrates the impact it has on personal relationships, on how it colors every interaction. The narration from Miranda is a vivid example of why I find first person narratives difficult but also how they can and should be used. Miranda’s negativity and frustration are at times hilariously relatable (especially her interactions with the likes of the spoiled Briana) but it’s exhausting too. It’s unrelenting and depressing a lot of the time and that’s what’s necessary to convey the frustrating reality of someone who suffers from that kind of debilitating and seemingly inexplicable pain – the goose chase for a new therapy, a new procedure, a new medication that will help only to find disappointment after disappointment. The reader can sympathize both with Miranda and with those around her who can’t imagine behaving the way she does even if they were in her situation. As Miranda’s health shifts and she begins to change places with some of those she sees as her key tormentors, Awad shows how a greater appreciation for our own physical health and mobility doesn’t inherently coincide with greater compassion for those suffering while we’re not.

There is so much about how Awad structured All’s Well that makes me wish I took more classes in college where we read plays. I took a few standard Shakespeare classes and while I’m very familiar with Macbeth (more from high school than college), I have never read All’s Well That Ends Well. Though I considered finding and reading a copy of the play before getting too far into the novel, I found a pretty thorough summary online that served well enough. While there are elements that allude to Shakespeare, they’re pretty evenly distributed between Macbeth and All’s Well That Ends Well and they’re not so closely tied to their source that missing them would negatively affect the reader’s understanding or appreciation. In fact, I found the use of those two plays to be rather effective, in large part because the writing doesn’t hold the reader’s hand and explain itself too often. The obvious allusions are obvious enough to stand on their own and it doesn’t call attention to the less obvious in any way that might alienate the reader. Though I found myself reading rather quickly and easily through the final chapters, part of me wanted to slow down and take the time to appreciate and pick apart the allusions (the part that was eager to see how and where the novel ultimately ended won out, however).

All’s Well will be available on August 3, 2021.

Mona Awad definitely gets the award for originality. When I read her last release Bunny, I loved how Awad was able to bring camp to mystery. It reminded me so much of The Heathers meets Mean Girls! I had a great time.