All Better Now by Neal Shusterman is a Young Adult novel about a pandemic with a twist. The twist is this: What if the disease had a side effect? When you recover, you have no fears or anxiety. You are generally happy. A person could notice the slightest details, the only thing you want to do is help people. Just hearing this you would think everyone would enjoy this. But there are consequences like the fall of commerce. The novel questions whether we need people to work jobs they hate. Are these jobs necessary to make the world work? Shusterman is great at taking this dream one-sided scenario and realistically creating three sides. The sides are the infected, those who do not want to be affected, and immune people. The novel is a pretty obvious response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The mask, vaccine, and conspiracy about the origins and effects of the virus are all discussed. The only thing the novel does not touch on is the hoarding of food and toilet paper. The story unfolds from five main perspectives. It also includes various short stories featuring random characters in the new world of the virus. The story bounces from a different perspective from chapter to chapter. The way the story is told keeps the pace very steady. All Better Now is a fun fast read with a story that goes in directions you can not predict. Shusterman cleverly writes the bad side of one society that cares so much about saving the other. The boat sinking scene was my favorite, and it opened my eyes to the dangers of a caring society. The characters make this book and I enjoyed my time with 3.5 of the 5 characters. This is the first novel I have read that talks about the Buck-ee’s craze. It includes a crazy scene inside a Buck-ee’s. The ending was okay I was slightly underwhelmed by it and wanted more. I read All Better Now thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. All Better Now was published on February 4, 2025.

Plot Summary: Crown Royale is a virus that starts with a fever. Then the person gets a good cough. They feel the signs of euphoria. Crown Royale kills 1 out of 25. Even the people who die feel the effect of the virus. They don’t mind it. Everyone else gets a permanent feeling of bliss. People lose stress, depression, greed, and other negative feelings. The people who survived call it a gift and want to spread it. On the other side, rich people fear it. They throw away all their hard work. They donate it to charity and live on limited means. Ron is the son of one of the richest people on earth. Ron struggles with depression and has attempted suicide. He sees the virus as a cure, but his father opposes it. Ron is color-blind and more likely to die from Crown Royale so he’s hesitant but desperate. Mariel is poor and barely scraping she roams the streets with her mother looking for shelter. She meets Ron as a charity case but there seems to be a spark. They are both searching for something but what they do get is thrown into the disease. Dame Glynis is a rich older woman. She has been exposed to the virus. She wants to give her company away to Margot, a young ruthless successor. The only catch is Margot must work on a vaccine. When Dame Glynis survives the virus she regrets everything and now she must stop Margot. Ron’s dad fears the worst for his son. He is concerned about the virus. He hires a team to find Ron. He also teams up with Margot to create more than just a vaccine. They aim to develop something different that will eradicate the virus for good.

What I Liked: The storytelling is very good. Stusterman’s plotting is A-plus how all the characters are linked and interact during the novel just works. I liked the budding love story between Ron and Mariel. Dame Glynis is my favorite character. The virus might have changed her to be not selfish. Her ruthlessness is turned toward helping people. It was pretty cool to watch the lengths that she will go with limited resources. The sinking boat scene was my favorite. This scene shows the audience the danger of the virus. I like the twists and turns in this novel which there are many. I did like how the Buck-ee’s location is used. The description of what Buck-ee’s is helps readers who may not know. The action at the Buck-ee’s was fun, and Buck-ee’s was well used in the scene. I loved Dame Glynis and her relationship with her long-time butler. Even after he gets the disease, he continues helping her despite her being broke. I did like the way color is described after the virus and Ron is cured of color blindness. I was a little disappointed color blindness didn’t play into the story because I had a theory.

What I Disliked: I wanted to know Margot more and what made her this way at 19 years old. We do get a glimpse. Still, I wanted to be in her head more. This is especially true when she shows one iota of compassion and gets burned hard. The ending did not work for me I think my biggest issue was the setting. The secret lab worked for a while. Yet, the ending felt forced with who shows up at the lab. The lead-up to the ending was great but I felt Shusterman did not stick the landing.

Recommendation: All Better Now is an exciting, clever, and fast-paced Young Adult novel. I like a book that makes me think and All Better Now delivered on that. After I read it I thought about how I would deal with the Crown Royale virus. The multiple perspectives storytelling is great. If you read the Scythe series, it is the same format for All Better Now. I will say if you are a fan of the Scythe book series then All Better Now is for you. I recommend All Better Now to my followers to check out.

Rating: All Better Now by Neal Shusterman 4.1 out of 5.

Ranking: I have read 5 novels by Neal Shusterman. I have ranked them from Favorite to Least favorite: 1) Thunderhead, 2) Scythe, 3) All Better Now, 4) Gleanings, and 5) The Toll.