Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

All's Well by Mona Awad

116 reviews

pussylungs's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Reality blurs as this character slowly spirals in a pill-induced haze down the rabbit hole of her own failures. Addicts and disabled folx will identify with this story, theatre lovers will find it amusing, and no one will know what is real and what is not. This book was meant to convey how women go insane from not being believed about their pain. But it turned out to be more about how addiction/lack of therapy & proper medical care/delusions can lead to a downward spiral. But hey, all's well that ends well, right?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail

measlibrary's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I thought that this book was fantastic. I was really excited to read a book by Mona Awad & I have heard a lot about her writing being like a fever dream, & I totally agree. This book was so insane & anxiety inducing, haha. I loved the way she was able to weave together all of the elements present. She did such a great job at depicting what it is like to live with chronic pain/illness & it being hard for those who do not also experience it to believe it or understand it. “Invisible illnesses” can be so hard to both experience & be around. I absolutely related being chronically ill myself & was saddened to see Miranda feel so hopeless & sad in her life. I related absolutely to relationships being affected & just feeling awful all the time being exhausting on those around you as well. I thought Awad did a phenomenal job making that come across & showing how difficult it is for all parties involved, but especially the one experiencing the pain itself.

The magical realism/witchcraft element of this was also fantastically terrifying. I loved it & was also horrified by it. The concept of Miranda being able to give her pain to those who hurt her the most was diabolical but also amazing.

In the end, I really enjoyed this book. It did have a bit of a slow start & it was hard to follow/like a protagonist that was so caught in negativity & had basically given up, but by the end of the book she grows & learns & is a completely different person. I loved seeing her from the beginning of the book to the end. Miranda truly got to understand her pain in a new way & I was happy with how it all resolved. I rate this book 4.5/5 stars! 🌟 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical trauma

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Drug abuse

juhmeeluh's review against another edition

4.5

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma

Moderate: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Blood

lauren_lovestoread's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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What the fuck was this? Idk but I loved it. What a weird, wonderfully disturbing fever dream.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual content

cinnamonsweetpotatofries's review against another edition

3.5

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Alcohol

danielatheinkdrinker's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

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all’s well is mona awads portayal of chronic pain, she did wonderfully. i have fibromyalgia which is a chronic condition and i stopped myself more than once after i finished the book to make sense of this realization.
i am miranda. she is me.
it terrifies me, how i understand her pain all too well; however what terrifies me the most is: i wouldn’t doubt twice to take a trick. i. wouldn’t. think. twice.
this book; it’s fine, it’s all well. how could it now be? why would it not be?

But not too much pain, am I right? Not too much, never too much. If it was too much, you wouldn't know what to do with me, would you?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting

aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Blood, Death of parent

moxiereads's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

annaonthepage's review against another edition

4.0

dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I loved this all the way through to the end, which left me dissatisfied. It really spoke to me as an actor and a woman with chronic pain. The elements of Macbeth woven into the story were delicious. There were some cheekily haunting refrains and a brilliant sense of character in the protagonist and her friend. I just wish it had committed fully and not pulled the punches in the end - it felt very much like a horror, with a building sense of dread, but then blew the threat away to turn it into magical realism. Which, I guess if you're reimagining Shakespeare, isn't unlikely. It's just not a trope that fit the rest of the book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Abandonment

Minor: Fatphobia, Sexism, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Hard to guage content warnings for this book as a lot is of questionable reality and implication rather than graphic on-page fact, so have tried to enter with fitting levels of each instance.

richelleski's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Dysphoria