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dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hmm. Odd. But I don’t know enough about All’s Well That Ends Well to dispute this. I will say that I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style. Lots of repetition and also no one says another persons name that often when speaking to them?? “Hello, Miranda! Miranda, are you okay, Miranda? That’s so weird, Miranda. You’re limping, Miranda.” SHUT UP??
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship
Minor: Body horror, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
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
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.
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.
challenging
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I honestly did not enjoy this book. I also didn’t like Bunny by Mona Awad, but I thought I would still give this one a try. But I enjoyed it even less. The premise was intriguing, but I found every single character to be unpleasant. I think there is a way to do an unlikeable narrator well, but I just don’t like the way Awad does it. It makes it even harder to read when the perspective of the main character makes all of the other characters unlikeable too. Especially in this one, Miranda assumes that every other person is thinking the worst possible thing about her, which makes all the other characters seem as unrealistic and unpleasant as Miranda is. I also thought that the magic aspect was confusing, much like it was in Bunny. It also just felt like a chore to read, to the point that I almost DNF’d it. If you are going to read this book, I would recommend reading at least a summary of All’s Well That Ends Well by Shakespeare, and also Macbeth. I didn’t do this but I wish I would have, because there are so many references to these plays.
Read from the Provo library.
Read from the Provo library.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma
Minor: Murder
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting
Moderate: Chronic illness
Minor: Sexual content, Murder
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
All’s Well by Mona Awad
⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie which we ascribe to heaven.”
I was REALLY looking forward to this book and I hate to say it, but I’m mildly disappointed. I struggled through the first 25%, enjoyed the next 60%, and then struggled through the last 15% (that equals 100 right?). Anyway, there’s just a lot going on in this book. I love Shakespeare and I love books that handle tough issues in a creative way. Mona Awad did an excellent job of building the main character, Miranda. However, I feel like the other characters fell a little flat. I understand that Awad was critiquing how doctors view women and their pain, but I feel like this message was watered down by Miranda complaining about other things. Also, I am somewhat confused. Toward the end, a lot of things about Miranda’s history and her relationship with Ellie are introduced that are never fully resolved. On a romantic scale, there’s no explanation as to why she is seeing Paul and what exactly is happening with Hugo. I have seen All’s Well labelled as a dark comedy, but I don’t see it. It seems to be more tragic and a psychological thriller. Overall, this book was dead in the middle for me. The parts I enjoyed, I really enjoyed. The parts I didn’t enjoy, were hard to get through.
I really don’t know if I recommend this book or not. I believe everyone’s opinion is valuable and that you should read a book to develop your own opinion.
CW: Suicide, Murder, Drug Use, Drinking, Chronic Illness
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness
Minor: Suicide, Murder