Books I've Read: All Better Now

I've read a bunch of books by Neal Shusterman and even though they're not the kind of thing I usually read, I've enjoyed almost all of them.  So when I heard he was coming here to do a talk in May, I decided it was time to pick up his latest offering and read it before I go to his event.

This book deals with a pandemic very much like COVID and cleverly uses the things we know about pandemics now, and the way people behave, to create a very realistic picture of what might happen when there's another one.

The virus in this book is quite different to COVID though.  It completely transforms those who recover from it, making them gentler, happier, less consumerist, more altruistic people.  Billionaires give away their money.  People rush to help those in need.  No one buys anything made of plastic.

Obviously, the people in charge of the world and its economy aren't thrilled by this.  The army isn't thrilled by this.  The uber-wealthy who haven't contracted the virus aren't thrilled by this.  And factions develop, the line between the uninfected and the recoverees becoming stark enough to create conflict.

An interesting group of protagonists explore this new world, each navigating through their own status as infected, recovered, or, in one case, naturally immune.

There's the son of the world's richest man who has been protected and coddled his whole life, but more so since the virus.  When he is infected and recovers, he becomes a super-spreader, convinced everyone deserves the gift of being the new person he's become since recovering.  Trying to contain him is Mariel, a homeless girl who has a pragmatism that will balance out her friend's dreaminess.  She's immune to the virus, the first person to be discovered to have this trait.

Which makes her valuable to Morgan and the scientists she's stashed away in the arctic to find a vaccine against the virus.  Her immunity may be the key to crushing this thing.  Morgan only has the power and wealth to run this lab because prior to contracting the virus herself, one of the world's wealthiest women elected her to be a successor.  Knowing the virus would make her lose her ruthless, cruel streak, this woman handed over everything and instructed Morgan to carry on the nefarious work.

With the cure/vaccine about to be unleashed on the world, creating a planet more miserable than any we've known, the two factions will inevitably, clash.

I really enjoyed this book.  The idea of a disease that makes you a better person appeals to me.  Maybe this is exactly - well, maybe not quite; these people are so altruistic they're willing to dive into the ocean to save drowning people even if they can't swim - what the world needs to reset itself.  Maybe we do need a virus to show us what it is to be content and truly happy.

The intrigue and plots and the very definite line between the infected (embraced) and not (unembraced) was fascinating to watch.  And there were some fabulous villains in there to hate.  I particularly liked the old lady billionaire whose entire life had been devoted to making tis miserable for people she disliked.  In petty, annoying ways.

So, I'd recommend this one.  It's fun and fast-paced and while speculative, has enough reality in there to make it feel all too possible.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

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?