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A review by afterplague
All's Well by Mona Awad
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'm going to start off this review with some personal stuff about me, so I'm sorry if you want to get right to the point!
I am someone who suffers with chronic pain. Just this week I had a flare up that was so intense that it yanked me into a very deep depression. I couldn't stop crying about how I was going to be feeling this pain for the rest of my life, how I couldn't do everything other people could do, how it must be so hard for my boyfriend to deal with living with someone who can't go to the beach without needing to lay in bed for days afterwards.
I'm 23 years old.
Needless to say, this book hit me really hard. I was only around a chapter into the story when I turned to my boyfriend and said, "I know that Mona Awad has chronic pain. She writes it like only chronic pain sufferers would understand." When I got to the end and read her author's note, I found that she did have very similar pain to the character she wrote. Anyone who experiences that pain can see how true and honest this portrayal is.
This is a minor spoiler, but part way through the book Miranda, the main character, gains the ability to transfer her pain to others and it takes hers away. When I read all the things Miranda was glad she could do again (standing and sitting without pain, dancing, SEX!) I cried. I understood her SO well. I thought about how if I could, I would give my pain away in a heartbeat even if it was selfish and someone else had to feel it. It's impossible to describe how trapped you feel in your own body when you have pain like this.
Nothing ever helps. Heating pads, yoga, ice packs, ibuprofen, injections, ergonomic chairs, acupuncture, mediation... NOTHING WORKS. It's so defeating, and it makes you kind of unpleasant to be around. Not only is it hurting you, but it destroys your relationships. Sorry, I can't help you move. I'm having a bad pain day, so I can't go to the park. Sorry I snapped at you, I slept wrong and now my back hurts a thousand times more than usual. It makes you sad, bitter, mean, depressed, and it's understandable that it wrecks relationships, just like it did between Miranda and her husband.
People don't believe you, really. Especially when you used to be perfectly able bodied. Yes, I could play basketball eight years ago, and now I can't. It is what it is. That is the absolute WORST feeling. I really like the bitterness that Miranda had because no one was really trying to help or accommodate her. They just saw her as a burden or an obstacle.
With all this praise, you might be wondering why I rated it only 3 stars. The climax of the book is a liiiittle too out there for me, and I usually enjoy Awad's surrealism. I think it was just a bit disjointed, and because there wasn't great flow from one thing to another it felt very long and drawn out. It's staged like a play, with an audience, and I think that's a no brainer with Miranda being a stage actress. It just didn't work for me. I understood it, symbolically, but it wasn't enjoyable or particularly exciting for me to read.
I was extraordinarily impressed with the choice Miranda made in the end. I don't think I would be able to make the same choice. I also wish I understood Shakespeare's All's Well a little bit more than I did. I like the concept of a "problem play" and I like that the book mirrors the problem play structure. I'm just not enough of a Shakespeare nerd to get it.
Awad's writing is, as always, so layered and dense. I love it and it makes me exhausted at the same time. I think she's easily one of my favorite authors to read and especially to talk about, even if I don't always enjoy the books themselves. I can't wait for her next one.
I am someone who suffers with chronic pain. Just this week I had a flare up that was so intense that it yanked me into a very deep depression. I couldn't stop crying about how I was going to be feeling this pain for the rest of my life, how I couldn't do everything other people could do, how it must be so hard for my boyfriend to deal with living with someone who can't go to the beach without needing to lay in bed for days afterwards.
I'm 23 years old.
Needless to say, this book hit me really hard. I was only around a chapter into the story when I turned to my boyfriend and said, "I know that Mona Awad has chronic pain. She writes it like only chronic pain sufferers would understand." When I got to the end and read her author's note, I found that she did have very similar pain to the character she wrote. Anyone who experiences that pain can see how true and honest this portrayal is.
This is a minor spoiler, but part way through the book Miranda, the main character, gains the ability to transfer her pain to others and it takes hers away. When I read all the things Miranda was glad she could do again (standing and sitting without pain, dancing, SEX!) I cried. I understood her SO well. I thought about how if I could, I would give my pain away in a heartbeat even if it was selfish and someone else had to feel it. It's impossible to describe how trapped you feel in your own body when you have pain like this.
Nothing ever helps. Heating pads, yoga, ice packs, ibuprofen, injections, ergonomic chairs, acupuncture, mediation... NOTHING WORKS. It's so defeating, and it makes you kind of unpleasant to be around. Not only is it hurting you, but it destroys your relationships. Sorry, I can't help you move. I'm having a bad pain day, so I can't go to the park. Sorry I snapped at you, I slept wrong and now my back hurts a thousand times more than usual. It makes you sad, bitter, mean, depressed, and it's understandable that it wrecks relationships, just like it did between Miranda and her husband.
People don't believe you, really. Especially when you used to be perfectly able bodied. Yes, I could play basketball eight years ago, and now I can't. It is what it is. That is the absolute WORST feeling. I really like the bitterness that Miranda had because no one was really trying to help or accommodate her. They just saw her as a burden or an obstacle.
With all this praise, you might be wondering why I rated it only 3 stars. The climax of the book is a liiiittle too out there for me, and I usually enjoy Awad's surrealism. I think it was just a bit disjointed, and because there wasn't great flow from one thing to another it felt very long and drawn out. It's staged like a play, with an audience, and I think that's a no brainer with Miranda being a stage actress. It just didn't work for me. I understood it, symbolically, but it wasn't enjoyable or particularly exciting for me to read.
I was extraordinarily impressed with the choice Miranda made in the end. I don't think I would be able to make the same choice. I also wish I understood Shakespeare's All's Well a little bit more than I did. I like the concept of a "problem play" and I like that the book mirrors the problem play structure. I'm just not enough of a Shakespeare nerd to get it.
Awad's writing is, as always, so layered and dense. I love it and it makes me exhausted at the same time. I think she's easily one of my favorite authors to read and especially to talk about, even if I don't always enjoy the books themselves. I can't wait for her next one.