All's Well by Mona Awad
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my second read of Awad after Bunny and I honestly had no idea what to expect except one thing: engaging writing, maybe a fever dream or two, and wonderfully clear voice.

I definitely got these. But more importantly, I was deeply impressed with the topic it tackled: chronic pain and medical gaslighting. To me, that was a lot more interesting than the whole stage adaptation kerfuffle between the Scottish Play and All's Well That Ends Well. Maybe these two plays worked really well as a tragicomedy in context with the core subject of pain and delusion and witchery and self-medication -- or maybe not.

Either way, it made the novel INTERESTING.

You know, more than anything, it reminded me of The Substance. (Or rather, the other way around, but not in my reading/viewing order.) They really belong in the same category, though, and more power to the readers who want either! :)

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