Reviews

All's Well by Mona Awad

wollstonecrafty's review against another edition

This is If We Were Villains for people who are actually cool and insufferable. and also for women. Awad's a master of satirical self-awareness & its consequences.

arrittlexiedwards's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

4.0

Weird - but in a good way. Solid chronic pain rep, super easy to dislike every single person in this book (some people hate this type of book & it doesn't always work, but I enjoyed it here), tons of Shakespeare references (obvi), and if I hear the phrase "All's Well" again I will start to pull out my hair. I am sure if I were to sit and analyze this book in depth, it would reveal itself as a 5-star read but, alas, I don't want to. And all I can really say is that it was a trip and lit fic/magical realism/supernatural vibey readers will love this. 

48special's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

lnbens's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

If I had to listen to another ‘am I right’, I was DNF-ing. Characters were unlikeable, magic wasn’t explained well, and ending felt anti-climactic. 

bethf_17's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No

2.5

thornehall's review against another edition

fast-paced

5.0

makalantzis's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

abbytm's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

daizie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I only became interested in this about a third of the way through - it felt like the inciting incident of meeting the men in the bar could have happened way earlier to hook me in a bit better. I'm glad I stuck with it, though. Super interesting exploration of chronic pain and differing kinds of power dynamics - within workplaces, romantic relationships, friendships, teacher/student, etc.

I don't think this is as strong as Awad's other works. Perhaps I'm more disconnected from the subject matter of this one (as I'm not a Shakespeare person, by any means) but it hasn't really stuck with me the way Bunny and Rouge have even months after reading them. I think it's the ending that's messing with my perception of it - the whole of the story was tense and crazy, but the ending felt like, well...

All's well. That's it.

Reading via audiobook was helpful as it gave the narrator a nice sense of voice - if you're not clicking with the story, I highly recommend listening to it. 

stefs1974's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25