kam_pearson's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Gaslighting, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Infertility, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm
bluberrybooks's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I enjoyed the story writing and the story itself. The way she talks about pain and how the doctors and people around her treat her is very real. Doctors dismiss and don't really listen to their patients. They all have their own idea of chronic pain that is flawed and treat their patients horribly in different ways wheather they mean to or not. I have chronic apin and I related to doctors/ physical therapists not really understanding or not having the knowledge to help me. There were many lines that's struck me.
I loved the magic and dream sequences. It felt like a thriller, comedy, drama and realistic fiction all at once. I love the different genres combined
All's well really captures chronic pain and how ignored and overlooked it is by everyone around you even family.
Spoiler...
I love the character development even if it was small with most of the characters like Briana and how Grace apologized Miranda grew as a character as well.
This review is not well written, but I loved it overall
I loved the magic and dream sequences. It felt like a thriller, comedy, drama and realistic fiction all at once. I love the different genres combined
All's well really captures chronic pain and how ignored and overlooked it is by everyone around you even family.
Spoiler...
I love the character development even if it was small with most of the characters like Briana and how Grace apologized Miranda grew as a character as well.
This review is not well written, but I loved it overall
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, and Injury/injury detail
Moderate: Gaslighting, Violence, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
wishesandpages's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Chronic illness, Injury/injury detail, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Gaslighting
rosalind's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Had high hopes for this as it has all the ingredients that sounded perfectly up my street. The concept was intriguing and I can’t lie, as a chronic pain sufferer myself, I found moments extremely cathartic. But the writing style really let it down for me; for the most part, it felt heavy-handed and lacking in the kind of subtle exploration I was hoping for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Chronic illness
Moderate: Injury/injury detail, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Death, Mental illness, and Medical content
Minor: Pregnancy and Ableism
eisenbuns's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Reading Mona Awad's books requires a certain amount of faith. It is a leap, in a way, to give yourself over to the extreme and the absurd so wholly. Is it worth it? Will I reach the end of the journey and wonder whether the journey even happened? I've certainly felt that way reading literature like this before. Bret Easton Ellis comes to mind. But after reading 'Bunny' and letting myself go along for the insane, quirky, ride, I knew what I was getting into when I started 'All's Well.'
I'm so glad I was able to put aside all of my concerns and preconceptions, and dive into this work. 'All's Well' is a story of magic, of witches, of the fantastical and the mundane. It's also, primarily, a story about living with chronic pain. How it feels to be rendered invisible to professionals and loved ones alike. How it transforms you.
I think this book is an absolute masterpiece. I loved it even as I hated it.
I'm so glad I was able to put aside all of my concerns and preconceptions, and dive into this work. 'All's Well' is a story of magic, of witches, of the fantastical and the mundane. It's also, primarily, a story about living with chronic pain. How it feels to be rendered invisible to professionals and loved ones alike. How it transforms you.
I think this book is an absolute masterpiece. I loved it even as I hated it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, and Medical trauma
Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Body shaming, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness
taylortut's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Ableism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Chronic illness, and Mental illness
Moderate: Chronic illness
Minor: Murder and Sexual content
beccam22's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/injury detail, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Ableism, and Gaslighting
rebeccameyrink's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.5
A fascinating and challenging novel. So much of this felt like being struck in a dream where nothing quite makes sense.
I loved the way this novel had such a foreboding, chaotic feeling that built through the reading experience.
I also enjoyed reading about a woman with chronic pain that talked about medical gaslighting and the way people treat you when you have an invisible illness. But I also loved that the main character was in many ways unlikable, and the way we learn more about her as the novel goes on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Bullying
hazmatz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Look, I read this over two days so it clearly got me. I can't fully say I understood it through and through. Reminds me of the Pisces in it's protagonist. Miserable (justifiably so?) and resentful of the world and it's people.
At best I found her understandable. At worst absolutely contemptable. Which I think I would have liked more if there was a little more catharsis towards the end. Anti-climatic for me (which is mentioned in the book? An intentional lampshade?)
You definitely feel this book. You feel the frustration of no one believing you, of diminishing your suffering. But Miranda turns that pain into...just absolutely thinking so little of the woman around her, either by infantilizing or villainizing. Can't fully tell if this was on purpose though, and had the same struggle with Bunny.
Overall will keep returning to this author I think.
At best I found her understandable. At worst absolutely contemptable. Which I think I would have liked more if there was a little more catharsis towards the end. Anti-climatic for me (which is mentioned in the book? An intentional lampshade?)
You definitely feel this book. You feel the frustration of no one believing you, of diminishing your suffering. But Miranda turns that pain into...just absolutely thinking so little of the woman around her, either by infantilizing or villainizing. Can't fully tell if this was on purpose though, and had the same struggle with Bunny.
Overall will keep returning to this author I think.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness
Moderate: Ableism, Sexual content, and Gaslighting
courtneyfalling's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
THIS BOOK. Wow. This was wild.
This book recreates chronic pain, ableism and healthism, and medical trauma very well. I'm not sure I've read another novel like this, especially not one staged with so many supernatural and thriller-like elements. The scenes between Miranda and her PT were excruciating and hyper-realistic. You can tell Mona Awad's had her own pain and disillusionment with the medical-industrial complex.
Miranda is an amazingly developed and flawed character, and reading through her perspective is captivating. The mix between supernatural mysticism and Shakespeare retelling is littered just enough to make the plot work, but Miranda, the harm done to her, and the harm she does take center stage.
This book recreates chronic pain, ableism and healthism, and medical trauma very well. I'm not sure I've read another novel like this, especially not one staged with so many supernatural and thriller-like elements. The scenes between Miranda and her PT were excruciating and hyper-realistic. You can tell Mona Awad's had her own pain and disillusionment with the medical-industrial complex.
Miranda is an amazingly developed and flawed character, and reading through her perspective
Spoiler
especially as she becomes more frantic and manic throughout the bookSpoiler
Miranda's use of Brianna and Ellie as caricatures heightens the drama, especially early on, and I was cringing with Miranda's simultaneous pity and love-bombing of Grace. And the blurs between Paul and Hugo... oof. I feel like Miranda herself and Miranda's view on the people around her strayed close to stereotyping at points, but the narration was so carefully orchestrated to make that the scary point? Like, how ordinary this story is and how easily we can ignore the complexity and humanity of others? And the ending was really bittersweet with this slight zoom outward to all the women in chronic pain, potentially haunted in similar storylines. It wasn't too heavy-handed and it brought everything in the novel to an emotional and targeted end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness and Medical trauma
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Drug use, and Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual violence and Alcohol