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A review by izzyvb023
All's Well by Mona Awad
4.0
Anytime I read a Mona Awad book, I feel like i’m going crazy (in the best way). She has absolutely mastered writing prose that is just as compelling as it is weird and disturbing. Readers of her book, “Bunny” will definitely enjoy this one as well.
Awad writes what I’d like to term “girlypop horror.” It’s always brilliantly written literary horror; but she doesn’t achieve her suspense through terrible monsters or ghosts or aliens. Rather, Awad’s horror comes from and expands upon nightmares that are inherently specific to the female experience. In every book of hers, I especially love Awad’s consistent ability to make me feel like I am in a fever dream confronted by my own femininity. This sounds like something bullshit that Im just making up for a review, but you just have to read it to get it.
“All’s Well” follows a theater professor, who just like Helen in ‘Alls Well that Ends Well,’ and Macbeth in ‘Macbeth,’ is equal parts villain and hero. As someone who does theatre and loves Shakespeare, this read was especially fun (but you don’t need to enjoy either to appreciate the book). The book reflected several aspects of both ‘Macbeth’ and ‘All’s Well that Ends Well,’ while also adding its own twists and witchiness.
This book was certainly a witty and entertaining indictment of our collective inability and refusal to witness and believe female pain.
Awad writes what I’d like to term “girlypop horror.” It’s always brilliantly written literary horror; but she doesn’t achieve her suspense through terrible monsters or ghosts or aliens. Rather, Awad’s horror comes from and expands upon nightmares that are inherently specific to the female experience. In every book of hers, I especially love Awad’s consistent ability to make me feel like I am in a fever dream confronted by my own femininity. This sounds like something bullshit that Im just making up for a review, but you just have to read it to get it.
“All’s Well” follows a theater professor, who just like Helen in ‘Alls Well that Ends Well,’ and Macbeth in ‘Macbeth,’ is equal parts villain and hero. As someone who does theatre and loves Shakespeare, this read was especially fun (but you don’t need to enjoy either to appreciate the book). The book reflected several aspects of both ‘Macbeth’ and ‘All’s Well that Ends Well,’ while also adding its own twists and witchiness.
This book was certainly a witty and entertaining indictment of our collective inability and refusal to witness and believe female pain.