Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - All's Well

Esta fue mi primera experiencia leyendo a Mona Awad y me encantó. All's Well me mantuvo entretenida y enganchada de principio a fin. La novela presenta la historia de Miranda, una actriz de teatro que ahora enseña en una universidad de medio pelo en Massachusetts. Años atrás, mientras interpretaba a Lady Macbeth, se cayó del escenario y desde entonces sufre de unos dolores crónicos intensos en todo el cuerpo. Awad construye minuciosamente el día a día de Miranda en un cuerpo que parece traicionarla hasta para lo que damos por sentado en nuestra vida cotidiana, caminar, manejar un auto, cocinarse algo, dar una clase, sentarse a mirar tele en el sillón. Los médicos y especialistas que consulta no logran comprenderla ni empatizar con ella, todos creen que finge o que su dolor existe en su cabeza, como si fuera un tema de voluntad. Además, Miranda quiere que sus estudiantes preparen una versión de All's Well That Ends Well, una obra menos reconocida de Shakespeare que tiene un gran significado personal para ella, pero los estudiantes no quieren saber nada al respecto, inclinándose por Macbeth. Todo empieza a cambiar tras el encuentro extraño de la protagonista con tres hombres en un bar que le ofrecen una bebida especial, un remedio dorado.

Esta novela tiene varios elementos que me gustan: una protagonista que está en una situación límite, o como se le dice ahora, unhinged woman; una narradora poco confiable, un elemento fantástico oscuro y perturbador que irrumpe en la realidad, humor tragicómico. El estilo de Awad me fascinó, tiene una cualidad hipnotizante que te mete por completo en ese estado de extrañamiento de la narración, como un limbo entre el sueño y el despertar. Por momentos tiene algo vertiginoso, vinculado al peligro de lo que en cualquier momento puede perder el control y explotar.

La única razón por la cual no llega a las cinco estrellas es que no me convenció del todo el final. Si bien parece un final redondito en el que cierra todo, para mí faltó impacto. Se desinfla, no se arriesga a mantener el tono del resto del libro. Creo que por ese motivo tampoco logró emocionarme tanto como habría podido. Pero como ya dije, de todos modos me encantó y tengo muchas ganas de leer Rouge, la próxima novela de Awad, y también Bunny, por qué no.

Content Warnings

bri_fabiano's review against another edition

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dark 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

4.0

Content Warnings

sophmcgraw's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

medini_l's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

megj23's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Content Warnings

emily_stimmel's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

marissab's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

rionstorm's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

I did not like this book.
There were a few nice pieces of writing, like the description of chronic nerve pain as "red webs", but mostly the writing felt clumsy, messy, and melodramatic. It has the feel of an edgy teenager's fanfiction, but not in a good way.
The plot feels very cliche but also doesn't resolve in a way that feels satisfying. It seemed like it was going to go in an interesting direction a few times, but then consistently took the most obvious and least interesting path.
There is also a bunch of weird moral implications? Maybe I'm missing something but the main character really seemed to be portrayed as a bad person for being unwell and angry about it. It was also peppered with fatphobia, and had a similar misogynistic undercurrent to Bunny.
Also similar to Bunny, the implied experience of madness/psychosis/delusions felt very much how someone without much actual information or sensitivity around the subject would write it. Gave me the vibe of, again, am edgy teenager RPing as a ~crazy~ character.
Overall disappointing.

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