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cphunter's review against another edition
3.75
The alignment between the main character’s story and the play contained within is done with an interesting twist on the expected. The narrator is more than just unreliable - her whole reality is shaky and confusing to all the characters too - and therefore the plot becomes like jelly, wobbling unexpectedly and slipping through your fingers just when you think you’ve got a hold on it.
At time of writing this review I read this over a year ago and it has stuck with me really strongly, so I think my current rating is higher than it would have been at time, because creating such a stand-out concept and novel is certainly a feat.
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use
Hallucinationsgenny's review against another edition
- 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
Apparently some people found Miranda's POV tiring, but I was engrossed. Awad does love her "can't tell if they're still experiencing reality" protagonists. I work in the medical field so the discussion about chronic pain was doubly haunting to me; I don't ever want my patients to feel unheard, to become this hopeless, although I understood the struggle of treating an "invisible" illness. Other than the Weird Brethren, there was probably a bunch of other parallels to Shakespeare's work that sadly went over my head. I already enjoyed this so much, I can only imagine how cool it must be to have that added perspective. Even the interview with the author at the end made for great reading, with the explanations about how theater/performance/pain can intertwine.
I'll leave a few of my favorite quotes here because I don't know what else to say other than I LOVED THIS, it was so freaking good.
Graphic: Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, and Ableism
Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Sexual content
decie's review against another edition
1.0
I am literally begging authors to stop using the magically disabled and tragically disabled tropes in their books. it really shouldn't be this hard.
I also felt like Awad was trying to have an unreliable narrator but made her so unreliable that half of the story was lost. we only needed one sentence from a onlooker's pov to make the entire book make sense, but we didn't get that. instead, we got a bizarre ableist fever dream without any clear messaging. wild.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Sexual content, Death, and Misogyny
Minor: Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Rape
streamthief's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, Chronic illness, Grief, Medical trauma, and Suicidal thoughts
astronut's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Chronic illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Body horror, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content
Minor: Death
bluberrybooks's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
I loved the magic and dream sequences. It felt like a thriller, comedy, drama and realistic fiction all at once. I love the different genres combined
All's well really captures chronic pain and how ignored and overlooked it is by everyone around you even family.
Spoiler...
I love the character development even if it was small with most of the characters like Briana and how Grace apologized Miranda grew as a character as well.
This review is not well written, but I loved it overall
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gaslighting, Violence, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
wishesandpages's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Drug abuse, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Gaslighting
sammies_shelf's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Drug abuse and Chronic illness
doddyaboutbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Drug abuse
rosalind's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcohol and Chronic illness
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Death, Mental illness, and Medical content
Minor: Pregnancy and Ableism