I probably should not review this novel because I put it down just 40 pages in. Despite the blurbs raving about it I just couldn’t deal with reading about such a self-absorbed, depressing and self-pitying main character. I hope she finds redemption by the finish.

I am obsessed with mona award and her stories. After finishing Bunny and 13 ways of looking at a fat girl, I just KNEW I needed to read all's well! I love mona's blunt way of writing, and she does not shy away from calling it how it is. I love the illusions to another text. All's Well talked to Shakespeare and Shakespeare's works and I loved every moment of it. I love how we get into things right away. The narrator had a very strong voice, she expresses all of her thoughts and emotions and I loved being inside her head. There are so many lines in here that made burst out with laughter. Mona's language always captives me. I love how the protagonist just hates everyone, unlikeable characters are my favorite to read about. This is very monologue heavy and I loved it so much, and we don't know if things happened the way the narrator is describing it. I loved this book so much and I will continue to just read every Mona Awad novel out there.

4 solid bunnies, Bunny!

I dunno what goes on in Mona Awad's mind, but I.AM.HERE.FOR.IT.


After ready Awad's previous Book Bunny I've been left with a Bunny shaped hole in my soul that I've been waiting to fill with more weird AF books like her.

This didn't fully fill that hole, but oh it felt good to be back!

If you've read Awad's previous books then you already know this one is gonna be W E I R D. And Weird it was.

Do I know what happened? Not a clue.
Did I enjoy it? Oh yes.

I honestly don't want to tell you anything more about this story than what is in the synopsis because, trust me, you're in for a wild ride.

If you read Bunny and hated it, this is not for you. If you however loveddddd it and think about it on a regular basis, this will be a fun one for you, Bunny.

The writing is impeccable, the story is confusing/weird/makes-no-sense and I loved it. I don't enjoy stories dealing with Shakespeare but Awad somehow made me enjoy it this time around.

A big thank you to Simon & Schuster for the ARC and wanting my honest opinion!

As a previous lover of the book Bunny, I was very excited to get my hands on a copy of All's Well and I must say that I loved it. I will say that throughout the entire novel, even after finishing it, I was confused. But in the best way possible. Awad paints a story of a woman struggling through physical pain while trying to put on a Shakespeare play. It was filled with magic, suspense, mystery and a look at someone suffering from a psychological break. Ultimately, this book is perfect for those who enjoyed Bunny (having liked this one better), and would definitely recommend it to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

All's Well follows college theater professor Miranda as she stages a performance of Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well. Miranda deals with chronic, often debilitating, pain, but after a strange encounter in a bar, her pain begins to disappear.

This book was a wild ride, and I loved every moment of it. Not only is Mona Awad an absolute master of the written word, but her command of narrative, especially weird and unsettling narrative, is enthralling.

Miranda is a startlingly unreliable narrator. Early on, I was inclined to believe her descriptions of the sequence of events, even if I didn't believe her interpretation in them. But as the book continued, I found myself even questioning what actually occurred. Was it drugs? Insanity? Real magic? I'll probably never decide what I think she actually went through, and I love that.

All's Well is a read that you have to be prepared for. It's weird, and it leans into its weirdness, which could be unsettling if you're not used to a weird or confusing narrative. But if you're in the market for a book that will keep you up all night, that will have you questioning everything you know at every turn, even through the end, this is definitely the book for you.

Oh wow. I don't have words for how this book made me feel. I was disturbed, intrigued, and felt driven mad at times. Our MC suffers from chronic pain and that stains how she views the world and the people around her.. She assumes, possibly rightly so, that those in the medical profession either do not care, or do not believe her pain. She has tried all manner of remedies to no avail, and this part of the book made me feel hopeless. I could feel her pain through the writing. Also, to be completely honest I had a hard time following said writing. The line between the MC's internal and external dialogue was very blurred, and I could never truly tell if something was said outloud or not. She was also an extremely unreliable narrator, with fantastical or day dream like things happening simultaneously with the real life situation. This compounded for me and I seriously thought about DNF'ing the book. Until about 30% in when the story really gets going and from there I was on a rollercoaster of madness! This is my first read from this author, and I will be checking out her other publications to see if they can give me the feelings this one did. I felt like the mind blown emoji for almost the entire book and could NOT put it down!

What a fun read! All's Well is about Miranda Fitch whose life is a waking nightmare after an accident ruins her acting career, and leaves her with chronic back pain, a failed marriage, and a deepening dependence on painkillers and alcohol. On the verge of losing her job as a college theater director, Miranda lives out her broken dreams through an upcoming production of Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well, when the unimaginable happens. She suddenly recovers, but at what cost?

I love a dark novel that takes the time to develop deep and meaningful characters. That’s what Mona Awad was able to with All’s Well. Our protagonist, Miranda Fitch, is a former actor whose career took a detour after an accident. Now living with chronic pain and an addiction to painkillers, Miranda is a college theater arts teacher. Determined to direct the play that changed the trajectory of her life, Shakespeare’s All Well That Ends Well, Miranda finds herself fighting a rebellious cast who instead want to perform Macbeth. Enter three mysterious benefactors who possess an intimate knowledge of Miranda’s past and who propose to help her exact revenge on her rebellious cast of students. With a healthy dose of magical realism, Miranda is transformed from a depressed and pained woman into a carefree, energetic and terrible person as she transfers her pain on to others. A dark, evil, and fun read! The nods to other literary works are brilliant and made the story all the more enjoyable to read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an opportunity to read and review this book.

Miranda is a theatre teacher who is trying to put on Shakespeare play All’s Well That Ends Well. All the while, she is suffering invisible pain and agony. Her suffering is downplayed and dismissed by others until she meets strangers who change her course.

The themes are very relevant and I appreciated the look at women’s pain and how it can often be downplayed or ignored.

However, I just couldn’t fully get behind the way the author treated the story. The lack of realism and not knowing what was real, dream, imagined or magic made the book tough to follow. I never fully liked Miranda(not always a requirement for me) but because I didn’t like her or the unreliable story line I felt like I was being dragged along with the story. At times I appreciated being made to really feel and understand her pain, but I also felt like I was slogging through at times.

There were definitely aspects to love but I would have liked more reality overall. 3.5 stars.

Thanks #netgalley and #simonandschuster for the opportunity to review this book.

Dark Drama, coming to a theater near you August 3rd!

I’ve been wondering how Awad could possibly write something that compares to Bunny…but this absurdity indeed is a close second.

Miranda Fitch has crippling chronic pain, a dead acting career, a troubled job as a college theater professor, and a Shakespeare play to direct that her students detest. After meeting three eerie benefactors things suddenly change for her. They know her past and promise a better future, all they want is ‘a good show’ for All’s Well That Ends Well for her college production. The book plays out from there and is just…illusory.

Unlike Bunny, this is not a horror, but a ‘dark comedy’. I would disagree that this is more of a drama fever dream. The creativity and originality of the books premise is unmatched and left me in awe. However, I do think the plot lacked something and ended a little short. Many unanswered questions and too many loose ends. The mystery of these are too excessive to make for a satisfying conclusion. In Bunny, I found there was a perfect balance of ambiguity and certainty.

It’s hard to say much without ruining the book, but I can tell you this is absolutely wild, disturbing, magical and witchy. I really appreciate the reality though of chronic illness that was projected. It goes without saying, but if you liked Bunny, this is a must read!

This book is weird in the best way possible, and Mona Awad has cemented herself as one of my favorite authors. This book is one that I will be thinking about and dissecting for a while, from the connections to Shakespeare's "All's Well That Ends Well" to the line between fantasy and realism that the novel straddles.

The writing in "All's Well" reminded me a lot of Awad's other book "Bunny," so if you enjoyed that, I think you'll love this book. I would describe Awad's writing as blunt, funny, and surreal. In the book, there are Awad's comical and honest observations of characters that mimic character traits we see in our own world. I especially loved the beginning when our narrator Miranda was describing the college students she taught.

Speaking of Miranda, I think Awad nailed the unreliable narrator in this book. Very early on, there were clues that Miranda wasn't reliable. This meant as the story Miranda told became more fantastical, I was questioning how magical it all was. However, Awad does this beautiful balancing act of magic and realism. There seemed to be both a magical and realistic explanation for the events of the story at the end, and I liked that the ending was kind of unclear. I love a book that leaves me questioning it after I'm done reading, but I was still satisfied that there was some resolution towards the end. While at times I found the story confusing, some of the themes were clear, and I felt like I could take something away from the story while leaving other themes to be discovered in a second read.

I also liked how Awad utilized Shakespeare's "All's Well That Ends Well" to enhance the themes and character development in the book. There are lots of parallels to be drawn between the play and this book. However, I don't think you need to read the play to understand the book.

Finally, I appreciated the descriptions of Miranda's chronic pain. Awad takes a lot of time describing Miranda's pain and the different ways Miranda feels it, as well as all of the different treatments Miranda has tried. Even though Miranda was an unreliable and even cynical narrator, I still sympathized with her.

Thank you for providing me a copy of this book to review!

Current read is a sneak peek of Samantha Downing's new book, For Your Own Good, which is as good as I hoped it would be! (more on it later)
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On my MUST READ is this one by Mona Awad. Im so intrigued by the synopsis:
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"Miranda Fitch’s life is a waking nightmare. The accident that ended her burgeoning acting career left her with excruciating, chronic back pain, a failed marriage, and a deepening dependence on painkillers. And now she’s on the verge of losing her job as a college theater director. Determined to put on Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, the play that promised, and cost, her everything, she faces a mutinous cast hellbent on staging Macbeth instead. Miranda sees her chance at redemption slip through her fingers.

That’s when she meets three strange benefactors who have an eerie knowledge of Miranda’s past and a tantalizing promise for her future: one where the show goes on, her rebellious students get what’s coming to them, and the invisible, doubted pain that’s kept her from the spotlight is made known."
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What do you think?
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For the right person, this is a five-star read. I really do see strokes of genius within the novel and the satirical humor that many other reviewers noted will have some chuckling, but I felt disconnected from the novel. I do think that there are some interesting themes regarding invisible illnesses and disabilities contained within the novel, but I just didn't have fun or feel particularly challenged or inspired after finishing. I blame myself for the ho-hum response because I went in with unrealistically high expectations.

This is a dark, quirky story involving chronic pain, a Shakespeare play, a dose of magic, and sometimes subtle humor. Strange? Yup! But it works. Told entirely in the main character’s voice, we get to know her every thought, fear, and desire. So many references are made to other works that make it fun to discover them. One of my favorites: the PTs and therapists she has over the years to manage her pain are named Mark, Luke, and John. This was a thought-provoking and enjoyable novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC to read and review.

CONTENT WARNING: chronic pain, drug abuse, alcoholism, medical trauma, blood

As a sufferer of chronic pain, I was prepared to fall in love with this story. The premise sounded so interesting, and I’m a big lover of dark humor. Unfortunately, it just didn’t really deliver on any of the promises of the summary for me.

Miranda is an unlikable character, even at her best. She’s frustrating, whiny, and just a horrible person. Don’t get me wrong — living with chronic pain sucks. The majority of people, even the ones closest to us, will never understand the agony we live in, often questioning our pain. It makes it easy to snap, and take our frustration out on others at times. But it just felt like Miranda did that so often, except at the times when she really should have stood up for herself: when she was dealing with medical professionals who were actively harming her instead of helping her. Rather than speaking up and letting them know, she’d tell them that their “therapies” were helping her, and then leave the office in even worse pain. Afterwards, she’d be angry that they didn’t help her, expecting them to just read her mind and just miraculously know that what they were doing wasn’t working. As the story went on, she became more and more unreliable, until I had no idea what was actually happening and what she thought was happening.

One other note — as someone who was popping both painkillers and benzos like they were Tic-Tacs for an extended period of time (as evidenced by the cover, which I really did love), Miranda should have been struck with crippling (and potentially fatal) withdrawal symptoms when she suddenly stopped taking these medications. Of course, she just stopped taking them suddenly and had no ill effects. That struck me as even more unrealistic than believing than the event that suddenly took her pain away altogether.

I didn’t see any of the humor reflected in the story, anywhere. What I did see was a lot of magical realism, which I didn’t realize was going to be such a large element in the story. Even as far as magical realism goes, this felt kind of over-the-top. It was one of those stories that made less and less sense as it went on, even as I kept reading, hoping that it would eventually make sense. Sadly, it continued to devolve, until the disappointing ending that left me with even more questions than I had before. Ultimately, I discovered that this wasn’t a good fit for me, and I was left disappointed and wishing that I had DNFd it when I first started feeling that it wasn’t a good fit, rather than sticking it out and hoping for it to make sense.

Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me. I appreciated the realness of living as a woman with chronic pain, but this read more like an unfinished draft than a final copy. I liked the homage to Shakespeare but it just missed the mark for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy of this book.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Magical realism is my least favorite genre. However, I’m occasionally intrigued enough by a blurb for a story to give one of these novels a try. All’s Well by Mona Awad had an interesting premise, so I requested it. I found it impossible to put down.

Miranda Fitch is the unfortunate protagonist. A young woman, once an up-and-coming stage actress, Miranda suffered a fall during a performance of Macbeth which has left her with severe, debilitating, chronic pain. She has tried everything: surgery, physical therapy, acupuncture, massage, psychiatry, and large doses of pain killers and muscle relaxants. Nothing helps. Suffering destroyed her career and her marriage. It has aged her beyond her years.

When it first became apparent that Miranda could not return to the stage, her husband urged her to apply for a teaching job in a small theater program at a local college. She was hired and has, for a few years, directed the annual student Shakespeare play. This year, she intends to direct All’s Well That Ends Well, a play she once starred in and remains obsessed with. However, the students, particularly the spoiled and minimally talented female leader of the theater group, Briana, want to put on Macbeth. Since Briana’s parents are the main financial supporters of the college’s theater program, Miranda finds herself backed into a corner by the administration.

So far, the novel hasn’t strayed from contemporary realistic fiction. It presents a horrifying picture of chronic pain syndromes. In particular, it demonstrates how chronic pain is poorly understood and how female pain, in particular, is perceived as not quite real. Because the myriad physicians and therapists Miranda sees are unable to find an anatomic reason for her pain, they are dismissive of it. Or are they? They continue to treat her to the best of their ability. However, they grow impatient with her and frustrated by her. Maybe they do believe her, but they can’t help her.

It’s not surprising that Miranda is unpleasant to be around. It’s understandable that she is so miserable that she spreads misery. I wanted to mentally distance myself from her, so I can imagine how her fictional friends, colleagues, and students wanted to avoid her. I found myself growing anxious, knowing that accidents happen and chronic pain can strike anyone. Yikes! Awad does a wonderful job of showing Miranda suffering the throes of pain and loneliness.

Then, things get weird. She meets three strange men, witches of a sort, in a bar. They seem, somehow, to know all about her. They offer her a drink, an elixir, that puts her into a dreamlike state, and they explain that pain can move. From person to person. Miranda discovers she can alleviate her pain by transferring it to others. And, naturally, there are people whom Miranda would like to see suffer.

Miranda is transformed from a suffering, somewhat unpleasant, but generally good person, to a giddy-with-health, sexy, playful, absolutely horrible person.

The magical, otherworldly part of this novel fits right in with its Shakespearean themes. Even though it’s weird, I was drawn into the weirdness. Miranda is such a believable character, that even when the world around her spirals out of control, even when she seems lost in other-worldliness, the story remains grounded in her struggle against what pain had done to her. Even though it’s in the magical realism genre, I was wowed by this thought-provoking book.

I hope you’ve dusted off your Shakespeare, because you’re gonna need it. In Awad’s latest, Miranda Fitch works as a university theater director after an absurd stage accident ended her own acting career, leaving her with chronic pain. She feels stuck in her job and her life, hanging on to memories of her ex-husband & what might have been. This year might be different, she thinks, if only she can put on her dream presentation of Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well. However, the students and board members want to do Macbeth, so her dreams are dashed. She soldiers on against the constant and near-crippling pain and opposition.
Everything changes for her when, at a bar, she meets three weird gentlemen who offer her a solution in a golden drink. Amazingly, her pain recedes. Things begin to go her way. But in reality, a nightmare is unfolding around her, and it will only end on stage.

This is truly a Shakespearean fever-dream! Everything seems fairly normal and then slowly devolves until you’re not sure what is real and what isn’t. Awad has given us another story about female agency and the female voice. In this case, can anyone actually hear Miranda when she is voicing her own pain? What does a woman have to perform to finally be heard?
Awad tries to answer some of these questions with the most biting humor. While much of the subject matter is serious, the tone is often sarcastic and witty. Overall, this was a twisted and extremely enjoyable read!

I had high hopes for this book, as the author’s previous book, Bunny, is one of my all-time faves, and I was not disappointed. Wow. All’s Well was exhausting, but in the best way. I found myself in tears without even realizing I had started crying, and some parts left me literally breathless. Reading this book made me feel like I was experiencing a fever dream and I’m already excited to read it again when I give my brain a chance to reset itself. 5/5 stars.

This was a strange, undulating, pulsating, frustrating, painful, foggy, heady, slow-motion trainwreck of a tale. While not entirely enjoyable, just because of how purposely frustrating it is for a woman in pain to not be believed, I do believe it was masterful. Using the bones of Shakespeare's "All's Well That Ends Well," along with some elements of "Macbeth," it paints a perfect picture of someone intensely struggling with living their life. As the summary states, Miranda Fitch's life is a waking nightmare, and we, the readers, are voyeurs of her nightmare. From her chronic pain, mental anguish, struggles with direction and taking control, and her focus on the past when she felt she "peaked," we are dragged along like heavy luggage as we watch her life unfold. The magical elements of the 3 barmen, not unlike "Macbeth's" Weird Sisters, and the subsequent unraveling of Miranda's sanity, act somewhat like a rollercoaster building us up to that top hill, then releasing the coaster to ramble and speed down and down and down.

If you've read Mona Awad's "Bunny," you'll know how strange the plot gets, and this is no exception. This felt a bit more reminiscent of some of Ottessa Moshfegh's books, than "Bunny" did for me, but it was still so unlike anything I've ever read. I will say that it was very valuable for me to take 20 minutes or so and read through SparkNotes Act-by-Act summary of "All's Well That Ends Well," just to have a better sense of the story arc. Can't wait for more Awad books to come out!