I think Neal Schusterman is an accomplished writer, but this is just not for me. I found the number of narrating characters overwhelming, which distanced me from the story. The pacing was slow and the book was overly long, which also didn't help. I couldn't root for either side of the conflict, as everyone was in it for selfish reasons. The pandemic narrative—anti-maskers, the spread of misinformation, people purposefully spreading a disease with a 1 in 25 mortality rate, etc.—also hits too close to home.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I am so glad I received an eARC of this book. It is amazing and I can’t wait to share it with YA students!

A new pandemic is changing the world. This one, called Crown Royale (I laugh at this name as I’m from the province where Crown Royal whiskey is distilled) causes people, if they survive, to experience nothing but joy and love. Sounds awesome, right? Well, not to everyone. And there’s a faction at work to stop it from taking over the world. Is it an evil faction? You be the judge.

So much to unpack in this stunning sci-fi novel. It would make an excellent book club choice.

Thanks to the author, Simon and Schuster Publishing and NetGalley for the copy.

All Better Now
All Better Now by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, it's a book JUST FOR ME. :)

Strangely, I expected a YA novel with a novel premise, but it really truly didn't feel YA at all. It just felt like great SF, a-la what would happen if a pandemic that makes people AT PEACE, devoid of HATE, became an actual PROBLEM for the rest of humanity.

As I was reading it, I was thrilled with the idea of a humanity becoming EMPATHETIC and CONSIDERATE, and there was NOTHING anyone could do about it.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

*happy dance*

It's like all my worries, concerns, absolute terror about the world around me just washed away.

Except, of course, novels don't work that way. There's conflict. And Shusterman is great about avoiding irony or humor when a truly sobering look at the world could be had. And it is had.

Great novel.

A synesthesia review probably should have come with a slightly sterile smell, or the scent of a mask, since it IS, quite, a very pandemic-feel novel, but to me, I just smelled flowers. I smelled the scent of hope. Let's change human nature.