Reviews tagging 'Grief'

All's Well by Mona Awad

16 reviews

streamthief's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

4.0

Read this after reading Bunny, which I adored. I still think All's Well was a fantastic book, but I don't think it tops Bunny. The first part was really hard for me to get through, not because it was boring like most people seem to think, but because I have a small amount of chronic pain in my life and it hit pretty hard. The way it seems to seep into everything, constantly having to plan around it, seeing other people completely unaware of how healthy they can be, and the loss of something you love, rang really true. My main problem with the book was that I didn't like Miranda, largely her irresponsibility towards others in her life m. HOWEVER, I truly understand how deeply she wants to be well and that that is what's driving most of her dubious decisions. The other thing was that the ending was kind of confusing/underwhelming to me. Overall, the writing was amazing and the portrayal of chronic pain was amazing, characters are largely unlikable, and I finished a little confused but still happy with my reading experience.
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kam_pearson's review against another edition

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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

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rosalind's review against another edition

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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.
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bi_n_large's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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angel_kiiss's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

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house_of_hannah's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Mona Awad is now a "must read" author for me. I have read both this and Bunny, and have been blown away at just how creative, weird, and amazing her stories are. The characters feel so real, and have so much depth to them that I feel like I know them personally. 

The main character, Miranda, suffers from chronic pain with no concrete answers as to what's causing it. As someone who has been suffering with chronic pain since I was a teenager, I found I could relate to Miranda in so many ways. I understood her on such a personal level that I almost cried. I will say that if you can't relate to or understand her, then you may end up finding her to be annoying or whiny. Her pain is a huge part of the story, so be prepared to hear about it constantly. 

Through this story we essentially live inside Miranda's head. This means that it is written as someone's train of thought would be, so there are very short sentences quite often. There are also a lot of flashbacks about her past as people and places remind her of happier times in her life. This kind of blurs the lines between reality and the past. 

If you've read Bunny, then you are familiar with Mona Awad's ability to write an ending where there are multiple interpretations to what actually happened. I personally love this, and you can expect the same in All's Well. For a good chunk of it, it seems like there's just one path, but the last third really opens up other doors to possibilities, and I am here for it !

if you enjoy stories with an unreliable narrator, that are strange and bizzare, and deal with someone fighting the system to be heard, then I would 100% recommend this book. It's truly a phantasmagoria of pain, loss, and the right to live. 
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