All Better Now
Neal Shusterman
Simon & Schuster
Published February 4, 2025
About All Better Now
From New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman comes a young adult thriller about a world where happiness becomes contagious and the teens caught in the conspiracy by the powers that be to bring back discontent.
An unprecedented condition is on the rise. It behaves like a virus, with the first symptom being a fever, but those who contract it experience long-term effects no one has ever seen utter contentment. Soon after infection, people find the stress, depression, greed, and other negative feelings that used to weigh them down are gone.
Almost everyone revels in this mass unburdening. But people in power—who depend on malcontents tuning into their broadcasts, prey on the insecure to sell their products, and convince people they need more, new, faster, better everything—know this new state of being is bad for business. Soon, campaigns start up convincing people that being happy all the time is dangerous. There’s even a vaccine developed to rid people of their inner peace and get them back to normal because, surely, without anger or jealousy as motivators, productivity will grind to a halt and the world will be thrown into chaos.
It’s nearly impossible to determine the truth when everyone with a platform is pushing their own agendas, and two teens from very different backgrounds who’ve had their lives upended in different ways by the virus find themselves enmeshed in the center of a dangerous power play. Can they reveal the truth?
My Review
I really struggled with this book. There are some thought-provoking elements, for sure. But it feels a little bit like a slap in the face to anyone who lost someone they loved during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially to someone who ignored safety measures to prevent further infections. Maybe it’s just too much too soon?
The story is about a pandemic that kills 1 in 25 people who contract the virus. The remaining survivors become altruistic to the point that they will harm themselves trying to help others (i.e., die trying to rescue people from a fire).
Interesting Thought Experiment?
Throughout the story, the characters explore whether the virus is a gift to humanity or a curse. Widespread infection threatens the system of capitalism because people stop wanting to buy and own things. They simply want to share and help others. The story’s villains (including a character who seems to be a stand-in for a certain tech billionaire) want to stop the virus at any cost. The heroes… maybe want to spread the virus everywhere? For the good of humanity? The 4% of people who die are an acceptable loss? It’s okay to spread the virus, knowing it will kill people?
I just. This is an interesting thought experiment, I guess. What if a virus made people happy? What if a virus made people stop chronically consuming products and instead chronically want to help one another? It’s an interesting idea.
The idea gets mired in its execution, though. This soon after a global pandemic, I’m not ready for a story that glorifies a hero who purposely spreads a deadly virus to save the world from capitalism. Perhaps because some of the loudest voices in our government right now are saying that it’s okay for the most vulnerable among us to suffer for the “greater good.”
The Altruism Virus Doesn’t Cure Homophobia
Yeah, so this is mentioned in the content below, but I wanted to include it here as well because, honestly, what is this about??
A couple of the main characters find this safe house in which they, despite being strangers, are welcomed by a woman running a commune. She’s a Christian and makes that pretty clear, which, cool. Okay. Then we meet her son, who is gay, and he tells the main characters that his mom is still homophobic. He’s like, yeah, the virus made her care about everyone else, but it left her homophobia intact.
I’m just. Like. Are we supposed to take from that conversation that homophobia isn’t wrong? That’s not one of humanity’s ills that altruism would fix?
Yeah, no. Not cool, friends.
Conclusion
Who would enjoy this book? Hmm. If your interest in the thought experiment idea outweighs concerns about the ethics of the plot, I think you could enjoy this book. I think other books by Neal Shusterman have challenged ethical ideas before, so fans of the Unwind series may be more inclined to see and understand what he’s doing here. I have only read the first book in that series, so that’s just a guess.
I will not be continuing with this series.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 14 up.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few F-bombs and some other profanity used infrequently.
Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between characters and references to more. A character uses a double entendre to hint that she and another character have been intimate.
At one point, a character kisses another character with a crush on him as a gesture of thanks or pity or something. It’s uncomfy.
Spiritual Content
There are some references to spirituality. One character’s mom is a Christian, and though the virus has left her altruistic and welcoming to strangers, she remains homophobic. That’s ick.
Some recoverees deeply revere one person whom they treat as a movement leader. This person behaves like a prophet and directs the actions of others.
Violent Content
References to homophobia.
Medical experimentation on human subjects. (Subjects are prisoners who are promised freedom in exchange for volunteering for the experiment, but it’s implied that many are murdered or do not survive the experiments.) One scene shows the experimentation and its (torturous) effects on a person.
Someone infects others with a deadly virus on purpose, believing they’re doing a righteous thing.
Drug Content
References to alcoholism.
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