All
Better Now
by Neal Shusterman
Simon & Schuster, 2025. 518 pages. Science Fiction.
A deadly and unprecedented virus is spreading. Those who
survive it experience a long-term effect no one has ever seen before: utter
contentment. Stress, depression, greed, and other negative feelings are inexplicably
gone. More and more people begin to revel in the mass unburdening. But not
everyone. People in power—those who make a living
convincing the public that happiness comes from buying more, new, faster, and better
everything—know this new state of being is bad for business. The race to find a
vaccine begins. Meanwhile, a growing movement of Recoverees plans ways to
spread the virus as fast as they can, in the name of saving the world. It's
nearly impossible to determine the truth when everyone with a platform is
pushing their agenda. Three teens from very different backgrounds who have had
their lives upended in very different ways find themselves at the center of a
power play that could change humanity forever.
Neal Shusterman excels at exploring very timely “what-if”
questions, allowing his stories to develop around one intriguing central idea.
The concept of “toxic positivity” has long fascinated me—I’m normally a pretty upbeat
person who prefers to find silver linings wherever I can, but there comes a
point when “looking on the bright side” starts to do more harm than good. Where
is that line, though? All Better Now
forces all of humanity to question what happiness truly means—and there are no easy answers. Shusterman’s earlier hit
series, The Arc of a Scythe, took
place in a far-future version of Earth, which made everything seem a bit more
fantastical. All Better Now, on the
other hand, takes place in a “five minutes in the future” version of our present day, which can make things
hit more than a little too close to home. Character motivations vary wildly,
and you definitely won’t always like them or agree with them. (Dame Glynis Havilland comes straight from the Maleficent School of Petty Villains.) But Shusterman
always lets his characters behave in ways that feel very true to who they are. You
can always count him to craft a thoughtful tale that will stick with you for a
long time. The scene is definitely being set up for a sequel, and I'll be looking forward to it!
If you like All
Better Now, you might also like:
by Alexandra Bracken
Hyperion, 2012. 488 pages. Science Fiction.
When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her
had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the
garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal
government "rehabilitation camp." She might have survived the
mysterious disease that killed most of America's children, but she and the
others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot
control.
by Soyoung Park
Delacorte Press, 2024. 372 pages. Science Fiction.
Enclosed under a vast dome, Snowglobe is the last place on
Earth that's warm. Outside Snowglobe is a frozen wasteland, and every day,
citizens face the icy world to get to their jobs at the power plant, where they
produce the energy Snowglobe needs. Their only solace comes in the form of
twenty-four-hour television programming streamed directly from the domed city. The
residents of Snowglobe have everything: fame, fortune, and above all, safety
from the desolation outside their walls. In exchange, their lives are broadcast
to the less fortunate outside, who watch eagerly, hoping for the chance to one
day become actors themselves.
LAH
No comments:
Post a Comment