Well this was a rollercoaster. The desperation and exasperation of part one drew me in immediately. And the mania was deliciously delirious in part two. Much of part three and especially the ending lost me however. I’m keeping this at a 4 despite being pretty disappointed with the third act because the rest was so strong. The messages surrounding invisible pain/disabilities, how women’s pain is often dismissed, and how being conventionally attractive (and able-bodied) entirely changes how people respond to you are important and for the most part well-delivered. I just think the finale could have pushed the boundaries a bit further. This book had something to say and it just felt like the ending fizzled out and didn’t want to fully commit.

All's Well is an utterly delicious novel of pain and vitality, Shakespeare and the uncanny.’ — Lauren Groff 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.” AWAD: Right. Yes, Mark is Miranda’s physical therapist. They’ve been working together for a while now on her pain, to no end, of course. Okay. I’ll just start. Your video will play after ad, it reads in a small box in the bottom corner of the screen. No choice. No choice then but to lie here and listen to how there is hope thanks to Eradica. The one pill I didn’t try, because the side effects scared me more than the pain. No choice but to watch the bad actress bicycle in the idyllic afternoon of the drug commercial with a blandly handsome man who I presume is her fake husband. He is dressed in a reassuring plaid. He reminds me of the male torso on the Brawny paper towels I buy out of wilted lust. Also of my ex-husband, Paul. Except that this man is smiling at his fake wife. Not shaking his head. Not saying, Miranda, I’m at a loss.The disrespect she receives from her friends, colleagues and students creates resentment towards everyone and especially the healthy mode of the younger actresses. She directs the Shakespeare drama All's Well that Ends Well much to the students' dismay that it becomes quite intense. This is wild!! Clay, Chris (2016-05-27). "Mona Awad wins First Novel Award for 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl". Mississauga News . Retrieved 2023-05-18. AWAD: Yeah. Absolutely. And I had an equally strong relationship with Macbeth. Both of them have desires that aren’t possible to fulfill within the world of the play when the play opens. But then something happens. They take this, like, wildly transgressive action—each of them does—and then suddenly they are able to realize their desires. In the case of All’s Well, of course, it’s a comedy. You know, there’s no price to pay for her circumvention. But obviously in Macbeth, there’s a huge price to pay. Thank you so much to the publisher, Simon & Schuster, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity to share my opinions. At some part, I felt like I was walking in the foggy road, losing my path throughout my reading journey. The book’s abrupt direction to fantasyland dragging you to the witch craft, more illusionary baths, awkward strangers in the bar changing your vision kind of more mind numbing experiences leave you at a strange zone.

After an accident left Miranda Fitch with a crippling injury and chronic pain, her husband, Paul, left her, and she had to give up her dream of being a stage actress. Now, physically and emotionally broken, she teaches theatre at a local college, watching young actresses live the life she once thought she’d have. Through it all though, Miranda is desperate to have her class perform “All’s Well That Ends Well”, the Shakespeare play that she fell in love with when she performed the lead role years ago. But, unknowingly, “All’s Well” will change Miranda’s life in unbelievable ways. There are a lot of elements included that generally work for me. It's weird, it's biting, it has a touch of the fantastical, but unfortunately, it just got too confusing. You can have solid weird, without confusing. I just feel like in this case, it missed that mark. I knew there was going to be a point where she crossed a line. I knew that because of Macbeth. She, you know, sort of transforms into a Macbeth hero as the book progresses, or a Lady Macbeth. And I wanted to follow her. I wanted to see how far she would go, because we have already seen in the book. I mean, the book is very interested in exploring, as you said earlier, just how low she has sunk because of her pain and her illness. How far removed from life. So, to be freed from that, how does that impact her humanity, was a really interesting question to me. There'll be another glass after that. And another, and another. All these glasses that will never be clean. All these spots that will never out.AWAD: Oh yeah. I have been that person, and that’s part of the reason why I wrote this book. I had chronic hip pain for years and ended up having to have surgery. Didn’t really solve the problem of my pain. Then, as a result of being unstable on my legs after the surgery, I ended up herniating discs. Neurological symptoms down my legs and a really awful time. I mean, I couldn’t close a window. Miranda can’t close a window in her office. I couldn’t close a window in my apartment. For a long time, I had no hope,” the woman in the drug commercial says now. “But then my doctor prescribed me Eradica.”