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A review by bookalong
All's Well by Mona Awad
5.0
"But pain can move, Mrs. Fitch. It can switch. Easy. Easily. Do you know how easy? From house to house, from body to body. You can pass it along, you can give it away. Piece by piece." ~pg.104
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~THOUGHTS~
Mona Awad does it again! A riveting, kaleidoscopic ride!
All's Well follows Miranda a struggling theater professor and former stage actress, in the aftermath of a horrific fall off stage that deteriorated her life she is left living in chronic, incurable pain, full of bitterness and a pill habit. Gleaming for her former glory days she wants her class to put on All's Well That Ends Well, but is met with much disdain. The students want to perform Macbeth instead. Then one night at a pub Miranda meets three mysterious men who seemingly know all about her and her pain and have a love for the theater. They offer her a drink, a golden elixir and promise her that All's Well will go on as she wished. From there Miranda's life starts to change, her pain eases, she has joy and meaning to her days again as she prepares for opening night. But at what cost does she owe her new wholeness? And things start to take strange turns and Miranda is left spiraling toward insanity.
Awad is such a fantastic writer! How she weaved All's Well That Ends Well with Macbeth and her own narrative is truly fantastic! I loved how this centers on women's pain and the gas lighting of chronic pain in the medical profession and society in general. And I loved how Awad crafted Miranda's character. She really has a way with writing womanhood. I related to Miranda's suffering and understood her contempt. Then as she starts losing her mind and will do anything to remain whole she transcends into villain hood and being in her head was like some sort of bad drug trip. I was engrossed till the end! If you are familiar with Macbeth and All's Well That End's Well you will marvel at this storytelling but it is not essential to enjoy this to the fullest! A comedy and a tragedy truly! Thank you @penguinhamishhamilton for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong
.
~THOUGHTS~
Mona Awad does it again! A riveting, kaleidoscopic ride!
All's Well follows Miranda a struggling theater professor and former stage actress, in the aftermath of a horrific fall off stage that deteriorated her life she is left living in chronic, incurable pain, full of bitterness and a pill habit. Gleaming for her former glory days she wants her class to put on All's Well That Ends Well, but is met with much disdain. The students want to perform Macbeth instead. Then one night at a pub Miranda meets three mysterious men who seemingly know all about her and her pain and have a love for the theater. They offer her a drink, a golden elixir and promise her that All's Well will go on as she wished. From there Miranda's life starts to change, her pain eases, she has joy and meaning to her days again as she prepares for opening night. But at what cost does she owe her new wholeness? And things start to take strange turns and Miranda is left spiraling toward insanity.
Awad is such a fantastic writer! How she weaved All's Well That Ends Well with Macbeth and her own narrative is truly fantastic! I loved how this centers on women's pain and the gas lighting of chronic pain in the medical profession and society in general. And I loved how Awad crafted Miranda's character. She really has a way with writing womanhood. I related to Miranda's suffering and understood her contempt. Then as she starts losing her mind and will do anything to remain whole she transcends into villain hood and being in her head was like some sort of bad drug trip. I was engrossed till the end! If you are familiar with Macbeth and All's Well That End's Well you will marvel at this storytelling but it is not essential to enjoy this to the fullest! A comedy and a tragedy truly! Thank you @penguinhamishhamilton for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong