“All’s Well” is an intriguing novel about Miranda, a theatre director in a New England college that suffers with excruciating chronic pain after falling off a stage while performing. She decides to direct Shakespeare’s “All’s Well That Ends Well”, however her students aren’t thrilled with the choice. After a strange night at the local bar she frequents, her life drastically changes…

This novel by Mona Awad left me speechless and confused (definitely more than 🐰), and so much goes unanswered and left to the reader’s imagination: half of the time I was asking myself if Miranda was hallucinating or it in fact what I was reading was happening to her. At times I really would’ve loved to read another POV just to grasp what was actually happening, as it is a mystery to the reader. To trust an unreliable narrator or not to trust an unrealisable narrator?

I absolutely loved this novel, which did not disappoint, especially coming after a masterpiece such as “Bunny”! 💕

In this book we follow Amy an assistant professor at a university who is running the Shakespearean theatre production programme. She is suffering from chronic pain resulting from a mysterious incident where she fell offstage which ended her career as an actress. She harbours a lot of resentment towards her students and we are watching her deal with agony and her students turning on her.. There is some fantastic writing in the book. Awad creates such an interesting main character who is really dark and brooding but also really suffering.She talks about all the different doctors she has been sent to over the years and how none of them have really helped her. We witness her inner dialogue of absolute agony and pain and her learning to silence herself with doctors who are not helping or who are making things worse.She's in a cycle of silencing herself but also at the same time being desperate for help.Nobody understands her pain and they say it's all in her head.She resents the youth and agility of her students who she observes as being in the prime of their lives,

There are magical elements in the book which I admit I am not personally a fan of. She has her pain weaponised and used against her to diminish her, her career and her relationships with friends, students, and doctors. She is given the opportunity to weaponise her pain against those who have done it to her..

I enjoyed the plot and the weirdness that is typical of a novel by Mona Awad and Miranda as a character to read about but the book is very repetitive. it makes for a boring read in parts and is way too long..It becomes unnecessarily long and stagnant in the middle. The book did pick up in intensity but I felt the ending could have been so much more.

I knew before starting that this book would be weird, but I think it's the kind of weird that doesn't entirely work for me. However, I did really like the Shakespeare references; getting hints of what the production of All's Well was like, but also the sneakier references to Macbeth, the ones that aren't blatant, but there if you know the play. I think trying to figure that layer out was the most fun I had with this book, but overall this was either a frustrating or confusing reading experience, depending on which part of the book I was in.

Miranda as a character evokes a lot of sympathy at the beginning, and the way her suffering is described is vivid. I couldn't help but think about how often women's pain is ignored because it's an exaggeration or all in our heads. I felt deeply for her, but as the story progresses, I found that sympathy changing to annoyance and dislike. The way she carries herself after the first part made me wonder if that is what she was like before her accident: smug, and insufferable with it.

I still couldn't tell you what exactly happened in the last act of this story. Miranda is an unreliable narrator, that much is clear, but we don't really get any hints to help us figure out what actually happened. The ending is left very open as well and didn't quite feel satisfying. The writing remains excellent throughout and is definitely the highlight of this book.

Absolutely amazing.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read a digital arc in exchange for my feedback.

I liked the idea of All's Well but I'm not sure about the execution. It begins as realism, and somehow manages to be humorous about a very dark subject - chronic pain. I liked the wry observations of Miranda as she shows how the behaviour of others can be as disabling as the pain itself. Then the story changes as strange (Shakespeare-themed) things begin to happen to Miranda and the people around her. I was intrigued to see where it would go but my interest waned as it went on. I wasn't quite sure what I was reading on either a story or thematic level and parts of it felt repetitive. It is beautifully written, and worth a read if you enjoy more experimental, playful writing.

A weird, biting, hallucinatory lucid dream of a book, and I mean that in the best possible way. This was my first Mona Awad, and will not be my last!

This was so very different from all the books I've read and I really enjoyed it.

As a sufferer of chronic pain myself, I completely sympathised with Miranda and thought Mona Awad's descriptions of pain was spot on. Even though it was hard to get into in the beginning, within a few pages, I'd completely lost myself in Miranda Fitch. Her pain, her bitterness, her anger towards the people around her were understandable.

While I'm a newbie on all things Shakespeare, I tried to look things up on the plays being referenced and found myself wanting to learn.

My only problem was the last 1/4 of the book where things get slightly out of hand.

This was still a well written book that I lost myself in. Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster UK for the e-ARC.
4/5

3.5 and 3 stars in total from me. It was my first book by Mona Awad. I still have Bunny on my TBR and was very interested in author's new release. All's Well is quite peculiar one, you don't understand whether it's reality or it's all happening in your imagination, but this is what makes the story unique, isn't it? Dark writing style and Shakespeare element add a significant part to the uniqueness of the book.

I didn't get the idea of placing the novel among horror genre. In my opinion it doesn't have that strong horror element, but it is difficult to pick one particular genre for this book.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and I am definitely going to keep an eye on Mona Awad's other novels. I would like to thanks NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the e-arc in exchange for honest review.

3 ¼ stars

“I thought tests led to something. A diagnosis led to a plan, a cure. But tests, I know now, never lead us anywhere. Tests are dark roads with no destinations, just leading to more dark.”


All's Well makes for an entertaining if somewhat flawed romp. The novel is narrated by Miranda, a theatre professor in her later thirties, who is not doing so well. After falling off a stage during her early acting career Miranda has been left in a state of perpetual pain. Bad surgeries, failed recoveries, inept physiotherapists have all left their mark on her body and Miranda now struggles to even move her right leg and suffers from chronic pain (her back, hip). She's divorced and has no friends left.

“I was always busy. Doing what? Grace would ask. Getting divorced. Seeing another surgeon, another wellness charlatan. Gazing into the void of my life.”


Not only are her colleagues disbelieving of her pain but even her doctors treat Miranda's 'failed' attempts to improve as something she ought to be blamed for. She decides that her class should stage Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well since not only did she herself act in that play years previously (giving a brilliant performance) but elements within its story (such as helena's 'cure') appeal to her given her current situation. Alas, her students are not so keen, wanting instead to stage Macbeth. Briana, who always gets parts not because she is talented but because her parents' generous donations to the college, seems particularly intent on making Miranda's life difficult. When Briana’s ‘mutiny' succeeds Miranda is equal parts furious and despairing. Not only does she have to deal with her body being in constant pain but now she feels that her life has reached its lowest point, with no one believing her about her chronic pain or even respecting her.
At the local pub, she comes across three mysterious men in suits who not only know all about her professional and personal life but they also seem eager to help her. One golden drink later and Miranda blacks out. Wondering whether she is really losing it Miranda goes to rehearsals where after an 'altercation' with Briana she finds herself feeling increasingly better. Not only is her pain gone but she can once again move her body with ease. And, it just so happens that she can stage All's Well That Ends Well after all. So what if Briana has fallen gravely ill? Not all gifts have to come at a price....right?

“Still sick, so we hear. So sad. We are all terribly sad about it, turly. Truly, truly.”


In a similar fashion to Bunny, All's Well present its readers with an increasingly surreal narrative. From the start, Miranda's voice is characterised by a note of hysteria, and as the story's events unfold, her narration becomes increasingly frenzied. She's paranoid and obsessive, one could even say unhinged. Yet, even after she's crossed, leapt over even, the line I found myself still rooting for Miranda. I loved that detail about her 'asides' being overheard by others.
The latter half of the novel does fall into the same pitfalls as Bunny. The language gets repetitive, the weirdness feels contrived, and we get this surreal sequence that could have been cut short (a joke that goes on for too long ends up being not all that funny).

The narrative's dark, sometimes offensive, humor brought to mind Ottessa Moshfegh, Jen Beagin, and Melissa Broder. The side characters were a bit unmemorable, Miranda's colleagues in particular, and I wish more time had spent on getting to know the students (we only learn a bit about three of them) or to see them rehearsing the play. My favourite scenes were the ones with the three suited men, I really loved the way they are presented to us. They gave some serious David Lynch and Shirley Jackson vibes.
I wish that Miranda's visit to that sadistic doctor could have been left out of the novel as they felt a bit heavy-handed. Then again, this not a nuanced or complex novel. It is absurd, occasionally funny, and mostly entertaining. The novel's exploration of chronic pain did not feel particularly thought-provoking but there were instances that I could relate to (i happen to suffer from a seasonal autoimmune disease and i've had to put up with patronising doctors dismissing the severity of my symptoms). It seemed a bit weird that no one believed Miranda (or that crutches and walking sticks do not exist in this universe so characters are constantly 'hobbling' with their leg dragging behind them). Still, we do get spot-on passages like this:

“But not too much pain, am I right? Not too much, never too much. If it was too much, you wouldn't know what to do with me, would you? Too much would make you uncomfortable. Bored. My crying would leave a bad taste. That would just be bad theatre, wouldn't it? A bad show. You want a good show. They all do. A few pretty tears on my cheeks that you can brush away. Just a delicate little bit of ouch so you know there's someone in there. So you don't get too scared of me, am I right? So you know I'm still a vulnerable thing. That I can be brought down if I need be.”


I appreciate Miranda's journey, from being the who is wronged to being the one who wrongs others, and I liked her hectic OTT narration. Yes, Awad's style has this sticky extra quality to it that I am still not 100% fond of but here I found myself buying into it more. If unlike me, you were a fan ofBunny you will probably find All's Well to be a pretty entertaining read. Those who weren't keen on Bunny may be better off sampling a few pages before committing to All's Well (some may find it irritating or unpleasant: "all of them gazing up at my body, lump foul of deformity"). Personally, I found All's Well to be far more well-executed than Bunny and Miranda makes for a fascinating protagonist.

Side note: I don't want to nitpick but Italians use 'primavera' to say 'spring' (if you want to argue about the etymology of 'primavera' 'first spring' would not be incorrect but Awad does not make that distinction so...).

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

As an English Literature student I am very aware of Shakespeares works and so I adored this lbook and its storyline that was entwined with shakespeare and had inspiration and material from his works all through this piece of literature. it was dark, raw and disturbing and I couldnt put it down. This is my first book by Mona Awad but I will definitely be looking for more now. I loved it and I loved her writing syle.

Amidst all the many receptions and rewritings of Shakespeare plays, this is one of the most creative I've read as Awad takes inspiration from the problematic All's Well That Ends Well, mashes it up with Macbeth in particular with a smattering of other allusions including, importantly, Doctor Faustus but allows her own confection to take flight in an unashamedly modern and feminist direction.

Best of all, this starts in a realist style but soon veers off into the magical, surreal, multilayered and fantastical territory that the original plays made their own, with an overt theatricality that channels the spirit of All's Well without being in the slightest bit confined or constrained by that play's plot. An acquaintance with that play serves well to highlight the cleverness of this book, from the controversial and doubled figure of Helen[a], to the presence of a contemporary version of the 'bed trick', and the 'back from the dead' trope (also gesturing to Hermione from The Winter's Tale) gets an added resonance via its connection to healing on multiple levels.

Amidst the fun and mayhem, and the increasing psychological chaos, this also makes pointed comments about gender and gendered power, figured via the three male 'doctors' who replace the witches from Macbeth (and note the multiple uses of the word 'weird' around them, as well as the subtle way they reflects the three phases of the moon giving an association with Hecate, goddess of witchcraft, especially the one who is only ever seen as 'a sliver' to represent the new moon) - and who contrast with the doctors and other healers who refuse to listen to Miranda (NB. The Tempest) and her own assessments of her chronic pain and the treatments that might help.

Anyone who has read Awad's Bunny will already be familiar with the cool way she mixes up the kooky and the serious, and her unique vision and style - a tour de force that is clever, pointed, dark and grotesque in places, but which miraculously comes back to its starting point: all's well that ends well.

I was completely caught up in this deliciously dark, perverse fairy tale with its marvellously-inventive angle on weighty issues. Mona Awad’s central character Miranda’s a former actress, whose fall from stage during a performance has left her with agonising, chronic pain. Her body’s been manipulated by sadistic physios and her symptoms dismissed by a succession of condescending doctors. She’s reduced to yet another, vulnerable female body presided over by misogynist men. Miranda’s clinging to her job in a small college, one of the only two tutors left in its dwindling theatre department. Now she’s struggling to stage a performance of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well but students and staff seem intent on sabotaging her plans. However, an unexpected encounter with three uncanny figures may change Miranda’s fortunes.

Awad’s drawing on her own experiences here, in the aftermath of disastrous hip surgery. Her novel’s a convincing, blistering critique of women’s treatment by a male-dominated, medical industry - frequently infantilised, often disbelieved. Numerous, bleakly comic scenes depicting Miranda’s appointments with so-called health professionals will, I suspect, be all too familiar to many women readers. But despite the sense of verisimilitude, Awad jettisons conventional realist approaches, instead she offers up a near-mythic piece, replete with magical twists, bizarre reversals and moments of surreal fantasy. Miranda’s story’s interwoven with material from Shakespeare’s plays, from All’s Well That Ends Well to Macbeth, The Tempest and Hamlet, playing with their themes of dangerous desires, madness and witchcraft. There are some minor flaws, including occasional issues with pacing, but overall I thought this was a gripping, bravura performance, complex, intelligent, delightfully sinister.

Thanks to Netgalley UK and publisher Scribner UK for an arc