Marsh — short for Marshmallow because she’s “so sweet and soft” — hates her nickname but goes by it anyways.

“No one even remembers my real name anymore,” she explains. “As soon as anyone hears Marsh, that’s all they remember. Because I’m so nice.”

After her marriage falls apart and a disastrous attempt to reconnect with a high school ex, she gets a once in a lifetime opportunity to fix her life through quantum bubbling, a new technology that feels almost magical. In the safety of the bubble, a million paths lay in front of her: What if she hadn’t quit law school to have a family, never broken up with her high school sweetheart, and actually traveled like she always wanted? She could have all this and more, and she’s allowed to experiment until she finds the life she wants and make it hers. Just one catch: she has to do it all live for a reality tv show.


Book cover for “All This & More” by Peng Shepherd. Photo courtesy of Harper Collins.
In Peng Shepherd’s “All This and More,” the titular TV show unfolds as a choose-your-own-adventure style novel, but it soon becomes apparent that Marsh (and the reader) is not as in control as she seems. No matter what life she chooses, certain details remain the same. Her coworkers and boss are always played by the same cast of characters, scenes keep repeating, and she always has a pet named Pickle. Is it fate? Or is something else going on?

As a premise, it’s clever. And in execution, it grapples with some of the deepest fears that we all live with: that we’re not making the right choices, maximizing our potential, and that if only we’d made a different choice at some point in the past, life would be better. In a world of infinite decisions and a comparable number of possible regrets, we all wonder what could’ve been. Everyone went to school with someone famous or was almost right there when some potentially world-altering event happened. How can we ever know we’re in the best of all possible worlds?

In the beginning of the book, Marsh is skeptical of being chosen for the show.

“There are people in jail for crimes they didn’t commit,” she insists even after the host, Talia’s reassurances, “Parents who have lost their children. Patients dying of terminal illnesses. Why was I chosen over someone like that?”

She’s just a random woman who’s had bad luck with love. And she’s got a point. She’s the kind of everywoman we all know but who doesn’t really exist: a middle aged woman, unhappy with her life, chaotically self-sabotaging despite her best attempts to get it together. Talia says her relatability is off the charts, but maybe it’s more than that. Marsh works as a protagonist not because viewers (and readers) can relate to her and see themselves in her experience but because she represents someone who’s failed to have it all in a more disastrous way than most people can imagine for themselves. For a readership that is likely to skew young and female — like reality TV audiences — maybe it taps into the anxiety stewing for young generations who have been told we’re supposed to have it all. And despite allegedly having it easier than previous generations, find that we still can’t.

Shepherd is a masterful world builder, and, as usual, readers are in good hands. The book scratches the same itch as “The Midnight Library” while adding enough twists and turns to keep readers engaged during the outlandish paths. Where many books with multiverse-esc premises start to drag halfway through, Shepherd is self aware and plays with the genre through live chat commentary literally emblazoned on Marsh’s eyes.

“All This and More” might check a lot of the same boxes in terms of genre or premise as other books this year, but it's in a class of its own. As is typical with books that explore alternate lives (see “The Husbands”), Marsh falls into the consumerist mindset of never being satisfied with the life she’s in. Despite the fact that her life is leaps and bounds better than she started, she starts to think she’s always just one more path, one more redo away from everything falling perfectly into place. But unlike other books, this is not the central tension of the story.

In the U.S., reality TV has long been a platform to litigate social norms, especially around dating and relationships, on a national stage. What behavior is acceptable? What behavior are we not going to accept as a society?

In recent years, this conversation has migrated into social media. People don’t need to wait for the next season to spill the tea anymore, it’s available 24/7 with a swipe of a finger. This has implications for entertainment and who people are having these conversations with.It’s no wonder that when it comes to reality TV based books, “All This and More” is in good company this year: “The Villain Edit;” “Made for You;” and others all play with the reality TV format.

But the use of the choose your own adventure style brings the reader closer to Marsh. Whether readers choose to power through and read the book more like a traditional novel, or actively make choices that will bring Marsh closer or further to her goals, no one’s initial reading experience will be the same — even down to the ending. The first thing readers will want to do after finishing the book is flip it over and start again.

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Bookish Thoughts: I’m not sure why I waited so long to read this book. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this book! I could not put it down. I feel like this novel was definitely underrated. All This & More reminded me of the books I read in my childhood where you get to choose what adventure the main character gets to experience next. I felt giddy when author Peng Shepherd allows her readers to choose which adventure the main protagonist gets to experience in All This & More. How clever! I paired the ebook with the audiobook, which was phenomenal.

Described as a choose your own adventure novel of sorts, the premise of All This and More is an absolutely fascinating one, dealing with a new reality tv series that allows a contestant to live out their wildest dreams each season. But I struggled with getting invested in the story and the characters. After absolutely loving Peng Shepherd's previous works, The Book of M and The Future Library, I found this one somewhat less engaging and less immersive. Tonally it felt like a departure from the two aforementioned works and a bit more like The Cartographers, which I also had difficulty getting into.

This was a 2.5 for me, almost a 3. I think the concept was somewhat unique and interesting, I always like it when an author tries to challenge conventional formulas and change it up a bit, and Shepherd surely did this with "All This and More," but it's pros would also become it's cons as in the unique formula became somewhat repetitive because we were always going over the same event, albeit from different perspectives, which when done right this trop can still work without feeling too repetitive but in this case I really felt the drag of the repetition. Things got a little too confusing and hard to follow, which would've been ok had I been more invested in the story and characters but being that I wasn't that made the repetition drag on and on and on. The writing itself is still very much above average, Peng Shepherd is an author to watch as I very much loved her previous book, Shepherd has very interesting concepts and I think she's talented enough for me to give her another chance after not loving this at all.

I was also not the target audience, as I am not a fam of magical realism.

I enjoyed the premise and the structure of this, but ultimately I felt like it didn't quite come together as well as I wanted. I felt like the stakes for the character needed to be higher.

I loved The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd and was excited to read her next book. I loved the premise of the book: a woman gets the chance to go back and undo every mistake she’s ever made. The reality tv show setting was timely and I loved the uniqueness of the choose your own adventure format.

I loved this unique storyline in this book. It was almost nostalgic. This was so much fun to read!

What do you even say about a book like this? On one hand, it was incredibly unique with a fast-paced plot and some really interesting scifi details, but on the other hand the story left so many unanswered questions and plot holes. I loved it and I hated it at the same time.

I think the device of the "choose-your-own-adventure" wasn't as effective as it could have been. One of the draws of these stories is that the end outcome is entirely dependent on the choices you make, and that wasn't the case with this book. I personally think this would have been a better book without the gimmick.

I was definitely interested in Marsh's story and the cool scifi details, but I just felt like they weren't fully explained. I felt like this book left so many loose ends and it was very unsatisfying. It wasn't as if the loose ends were purposeful, because I got the sense that the author wanted this to feel like a complete story, which made it even more annoying.

This was my second book by this author and my second time with the same complaint. Her editor is doing her dirty and needs to take a deeper look at all of the threads to make sure they get tied up by the end.

2.75 stars rounded up

I loved this book so much: I RAN to the nearest bookstore to purchase this book as soon as pub day hit. I found that this book reminded me of THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY….but better and less shallow/generic. I finished most of this book within 24 hours. Incredible plot and story-building. Sci-fi but make it relevant to this mom-of-two-kids who chose to stay at home. This one was all up in my alley and I did not mind one bit. I in fact liked it a lot and have been racking my brain to understand how choose-your-own-story books work bc does that means there’s at least 50% of the book that I have not read? The characters are so well-thought out and translate to paper so well. I felt like I knew Marsh, Dylan, and Ren. I also really enjoyed the ending - all 3 endings. I loved how it all came together at the end.

Peng Shepherd is back with her third inventive and compelling novel, which focuses on a woman who wins a chance to re-do all of her past mistakes and reinvent her life. But is it too good to be true? Shepherd’s imagination is on full display in this cracking Choose Your Own Adventure tale.

Before I had even look at the blurbs about this book, I had, after reading the synopsis, thought the book had major The Midnight Library vibes. That is exactly right - but with major "Choose Your Own Adventure" style points thrown in as well. Unfortunately, this book is ultimately not in the same league as The Midnight Library. It is a unique concept that just seems to drag on a little too long. Also, one section, about the failure of her marriage just seems out of place. I wanted too like the book more than I did.

Who wouldn't want a chance to re-do things, to right the wrongs, to make crooked paths straighter? Great premise, but I got a bit bogged down in places and just plain confused at what was being re-done in others.

I was an avid reader of choose your adventure books growing up, so when I saw this I was really excited. It was a great concept, but it just didn't work out how I thought it would/ how I remembered it being in other choose books. I wouldn't say there were "endless options" as I am that person who marks pages to go back and make the other choice. Overall the story was so-so. I was annoyed by the main character and how she goes from really meek and accommodating to a really demanding person who expects things to be just so. I get the underlying message and what not, but it just was flat for me.

- ALL THIS AND MORE has such a fabulous premise. What if you could go back to the road not taken? Could you make your life absolutely perfect in every way?
- However, I think this book would have been better in a linear narrative format rather than the choose your own adventure style. Things got repetitive fast since we had to be sure we didn’t miss important plot points on any particular path. At one point I even got looped around to chapters I’d already read.
- The format also meant Marsh’s character growth kind of came out of nowhere. Instead of actually learning things, she just suddenly was a more take charge person because the plot needed it to move.
- The rules and mechanics of the quantum bubble also weren’t really cohesive. I’m not a stickler for explaining all the science in sci-fi, but it didn’t follow its own logic.

he chance to change her life and make it absolutely perfect as a part of a reality TV show, she finally sees it as a way to prioritize herself and get her life absolutely right. But once she’s in the show, she starts to realize something is a bit off…

I adore the ideas Shepherd brings to the table in her novels. I really liked the way this one combined the exploration of how things might have changed if you had taken a different route in life with a reality TV show. All This & More is an invitation to play. Much as the audience could comment on what Marsha can choose to do with her life, as the reader, you got to choose what happened next. I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid and this was extremely nostalgic and fun in that sense. There is a way to read the book with a more linear narrative but I loved jumping around, changing the choices and seeing how things impacted the ending.

The mystery in the novel makes itself known pretty early and there were times I was frustrated to have to let it go when moving onto a different storyline (even though that letting go seemed right for the MC). While I really find the concept of exploring how things might have gone, I prefer when the MC is equipped mentally with what their new life entails, instead of trying to figure out who is who (this was a criticism I had of The Midnight Library as well).

But even with those criticisms I had a lot of fun reading this one. I also admire it for its format, it couldn’t have been an easy novel to write or arrange. It’s also been really fun to hear what everyone else’s first few choices and journeys through the book. I’d love to see the stats from the ebook after more people have read this one.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the early read.

Peng Shepherd does it again!!! I highly recommend checking this one out!!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Peng Shepard for allowing me to review this unique “choose your own adventure” story. I love the idea of getting to choose different scenarios and I think the author did a great job crafting this book. I would have liked a little more time in each scenario, but I had a great time with it all the same. I hope this author continues to write interesting and unique sci- fi books because I am a huge fan! I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. Thank you again for allowing me to review this book that kept me turning the pages like crazy! I highly recommend it.

OMG this was so much fun. With such a unique and interesting premise, the execution really could have fallen apart. But Peng Sheperd really nailed this "choose your own adventure" style, and in a way that really worked with the underlying premise of the book. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Some plot points were obvious (which is fine) and some really took me by surprise. The premise also provided some thought provoking topics. I can't wait to see what this author does next.

such an interesting premise and concept but unfortunately i came out of it with mixed feelings. the ‘choose your own adventure’ was such a cool approach but i felt like we didn’t get to spend enough time in each scenario to really connect