A brilliant noir comedy about art and illness ... Awad’s characters are deliciously over the top and impossible to forget, as is the author’s gift for morbid humor. The real magic of this novel lies in Awad’s ability to draw the Shakespearean irony out of contemporary tragedy ... Endlessly thought-provoking and not to be missed.
... Miranda is...biting and wonderfully wry, as are many of the narrator’s observations. Miranda Fitch is an acquired taste. She’s wickedly bitter, but she becomes easier to take once you get used to her voice ... I did not anticipate such a nightmarish, hair-raising, diabolically smart treatise on pain—particularly as experienced by women. The type of pain that is real, but invisible (and overlooked, ignored). That much of Miranda’s story is based on Awad’s experience with chronic pain makes this all the more harrowing to read ... Awad...is a master at using language not only to describe, but also to mimic an experience ... For all its cleverness, All’s Well has its frailties. It could be a touch shorter. (Occasionally, explanations of Miranda’s misery—and later, her sudden wellness—belabor the point.) The plot could be a tad tighter. The magical elements occasionally feel a bit muddled. And yet. Once I started to read the book, I just kept going and going. Taking it in this way left me reeling, but when I was finished, I knew one thing for certain: Awad’s writing isn’t merely intoxicating. It’s incandescent.
A stealthily captivating new novel by Mona Awad that, like its namesake, skews more dark than light as it casts its spell ... All’s Well revels in its protagonist’s unlikability ... Even this deft exploration of female suffering gets tiresome ... The Bard is all over this book, salted with Awad’s sharp, dark humor ... In Awad’s assured if trippy tale, everything serves to strengthen the spell.
