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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.
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
didn’t like the ending because it didn’t fit with the dark tone of the rest of the book, but the author has a lot of poignant things to say about chronic pain and medical sexism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol
Moderate: Death
Minor: Car accident
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This one was not quite as punchy and feverish as Awad's other novels, but I still enjoyed it. Definitely recommend starting here if you aren't sure you'll like her more dreamlike and feverish stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Grief, Gaslighting, Dysphoria
Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical trauma
Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Medical content, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma
Moderate: Alcohol
challenging
dark
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol
Minor: Blood, Grief, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Abandonment
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
By the time I finished the first few paragraphs I knew I was hooked. The sardonic humor, paired with painfully relatable chronic pain representation set the tone for what truly was a wild ride. While I can admit that this book is not for everyone, I enjoyed the surreal elements as they kept me guessing. I also really enjoyed the references to Shakespeare. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Kurt Vonnegut’s work or who loves a good antihero.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol
Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, Gaslighting
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
Setting the Scene: 🇺🇸 A cozy, slightly eerie college in a Massachusetts town in the chill of winter.
POV: We follow our main character, a burgeoning theatre actress now heading up the college production of Shakespeare as an assistant professor and navigating academia.
Mood Reading Match-Up:
-Swipes of bizarro academia
-Speculative and magical realism theatre production drama
-Wintery theatre and cozy pub vibes
-Themes and symbolism around pain, disability, chronic illness, recovery, redemption, beauty, adversity, ambition, and hypocrisy
----
🐺 Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags 🐕
🗣️ Tale-Telling: The narration is present-tense third-person and what I’d call mind-bender style. I was pulled in to the characters’ world through every little task, pain, and thought. It led to a rollercoaster of empathy and frustration, understanding and annoyance with our main character and showed the complexities of pain and perception.
👥 Characters: The characters were vibrant, multifaceted, yet constantly shifting as we learn more about them. Miranda, our MC, is dealing with an invisible chronic condition, but she was so much more than that. She had me both rooting for her recovery and success, while also making me feel second-hand embarrassment, annoyance, and even disgust.
🗺️ Ambiance: The setting was crafted and captured the wintery aura. Each location, from office to stage to clinic to a pub, was rich with atmosphere and character.
🔥 Fuel: The story revolved around pain – real and imagined. There were elements of wondering if what’s happening has a physical or cosmic origin. The mysteries build with magical realism and psychological drama, so understanding dawns slowly while questioning the nature of reality (in the story).
🎬 Scenes: The pacing was slow, steady, and immersive. I think depending on your tastes for subtletly (read – ‘I have no clue what is going on’) and introspective narratives this could be a hit or a miss. The scenes oscillated between being deeply introspective and distantly observational. Often my perspective of Miranda and the other characters would change after a discussion or hearing Miranda’s motivations and thoughts. A lot of the scenes are directly or symbolically showing the harsh realities of academia, personal struggles and battles of wit and willpower.
🤓 Random Thoughts: This wasn’t a typical mystery or thriller; it was an exploratory journey into empathy and the surreal. It involved dismissal of a woman’s pain by male clinicians, but gender wasn’t the focus. The focus is the difficulty communicating one’s inner condition, the dismissal itself and the broader commentary on perception, judgement, and disbelief of invisible ‘mystery’ pains and illnesses. I think it may resonate or be cathartic for anyone who has experienced ‘invisible’ conditions like chronic illness, pain, or mental illness.
----
Content Heads-Up: Medical (chronic pain, clinical disbelief, injury). Alcohol use (self-medicating, casual). Drug use (prescribed). Medical incompetence.
Rep: Cisgender. Heterosexual. White Americans.
👀 Format: Library Digital
“Reviews are my musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶 refined by my AI bookworm bestie ✨”
🌟💗 Potential Favourite of 2024
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content, Alcohol
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you enjoy theater or anything literary, I beg you, please read this book.
This is an eloquent lens into the world of pain, especially female pain. There is a deep desire in today’s society to suppress and forget about pain.
Miranda, the main character speaks about her perpetual agony and the widespread effects that it has had on her life. She also speaks on how the once smiling faces of people whom she loved, eventually became the coldest to her and her agony. I feel like this is something that gets overlooked in media. We want to believe that the people we love the most will always be there for us, but when it comes down to it even they can experience the taxing repercussions of pain.
I also IMMENSELY appreciated the theatrical aspects of this book. I have never read something that I could so vividly imagine being a film. I’m not just talking about the possibility of it being a film, but literally imagine it scene for scene. I adored that. Awad did an excellent job of incorporating aspects from both All’s Well and The Scottish Play, into something that breathed new life into Shakespeare. With that being said YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE FAMILIAR WITH EITHER PLAY OR EVEN SHAKESPEARE TO APPRECIATE THIS STORY. Albeit, it does help especially concerning the mysterious three men and their motives, but I have not read/seen All’s Well and I never felt lost of a moment. With that being said, I do intend to brush up on both plays in order to fully appreciate this work and all the hidden easter eggs in it.
This is an eloquent lens into the world of pain, especially female pain. There is a deep desire in today’s society to suppress and forget about pain.
Miranda, the main character speaks about her perpetual agony and the widespread effects that it has had on her life. She also speaks on how the once smiling faces of people whom she loved, eventually became the coldest to her and her agony. I feel like this is something that gets overlooked in media. We want to believe that the people we love the most will always be there for us, but when it comes down to it even they can experience the taxing repercussions of pain.
I also IMMENSELY appreciated the theatrical aspects of this book. I have never read something that I could so vividly imagine being a film. I’m not just talking about the possibility of it being a film, but literally imagine it scene for scene. I adored that. Awad did an excellent job of incorporating aspects from both All’s Well and The Scottish Play, into something that breathed new life into Shakespeare. With that being said YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE FAMILIAR WITH EITHER PLAY OR EVEN SHAKESPEARE TO APPRECIATE THIS STORY. Albeit, it does help especially concerning the mysterious three men and their motives, but I have not read/seen All’s Well and I never felt lost of a moment. With that being said, I do intend to brush up on both plays in order to fully appreciate this work and all the hidden easter eggs in it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness
Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcohol
Minor: Child death