This book has been on my “to-get” list for quite a while, and when I finally managed to get a copy in April, it was immediately a priority read.
Oddly enough, I was pretty big on fantasy as a kid, but in the last few years, I’ve strayed from it a bit. My brain just hasn’t been able to process some genres and themes the same as it used to. I do have quite a few fantasy books I’m really looking forward to reading though, so I’m hoping I can start to pull myself back into it.
Overview
Everything Is Wonderful Now (292pg) is a fantasy with horror elements, leaning further towards darker themes with the book's progression.
Part 1 follows 10-year-old Sera, struggling with anxiety, nightmares, trouble at school, an unpleasant family, and… a voice in her head that doesn’t belong to her? We also meet Byleth, a fallen angel, who has sensed darkness in Sera and vowed to protect her.
But Byleth isn’t the only one who has sensed Sera’s darkness. Umabel, an angel, has set out with the intention of destroying Sera, using corrupt tactics in his efforts, and influencing her father and classmates against her.
Part 2 follows 27-year-old Sean, accompanied by Zagan the vampire, and Darokin the demon. As his nightmares progress to a point where he can no longer sleep, something lurks in the shadows, always just out of sight.
What is this darkness that rests inside him, and in the corners of his vision?
Rating and Review
I gave this book 4/5 stars.
For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. Shane’s writing style is absolutely beautiful (seriously. If you’re into pretty writing and descriptions you can feel in your bones, I would definitely recommend checking out their work).
I think part of why I struggled to read this was because of the slow pace, but it also has a bit of uncertainty with the plot. Not in a “this book doesn’t know where it’s going” way, just in an “I’m not sure what the plot is” way. But again, that’s an “I struggle with slow-paced books” issue. It’s a personal reading preference and has nothing to do with the quality of the work. I lean towards books that have a thriller aspect, so due to the slow pace, for a large part of the book it felt as though it didn’t really have a specific plot, and while I realise this was building up to something, it did make it a lot harder for me to read.
It starts off with Sera at age 10 who has nightmares, is bullied at school to the point of being afraid to go at all, has a family who isn’t as accommodating as a family should be, and struggles with a lot of mental health issues. One day, Byleth shows up. Byleth is a fallen angel, who acts as a spirit guide with a stand-in parental figure aspect, who was lured in by a darkness that rests inside Sera.
But Byleth isn’t the only one who’s noticed the darkness. Umabel, an angel, has also sensed it and takes it upon himself to handle the situation by manipulating those around Sera in an attempt to get rid of the problem.
While Sera is considered to be the main character, in this first part the chapters take place when either Byleth or Umabel are present, sometimes in their P.O.V., sometimes from those they are with. It’s got a heavy theme of “angels vs demons” where the angel is the bad guy, and the demon is the good guy.
~~~
In the second part of the book, we have Sean, who is 27, has been disowned by his parents for being trans, and is struggling heavily with mental illness and nightmares that disturb his sleep. Sean is now dating Zagan, a vampire, and has a new spirit guide called Darokin.
The nightmares are getting worse, preventing Sean from sleeping at all, and something dark is lurking in the corners. The darkness inside him, neither angel nor demon, is plotting and scheming, and Sean and his friends need to find a way to stop it from getting through.
I did have a couple of minor issues with this book, keeping in mind they contain spoilers, so if that’s something you want to avoid, skip over it. This section will use a different font style for easy identification.
~ In part one, Sera has a crush on Byleth. Byleth attempts to shut this down multiple times (as he should), and clearly tells her nothing came come of it, that they’re just friends.
At the end of part one, he leaves, telling her he’ll return when she’s an adult.
In part two, when Byleth returns, he and Sean are kissing within the first few minutes of conversation. This felt incredibly iffy for a few reasons, but most specifically coming back to how he knew Sean as a 10-year-old child and acted as a parental figure during that time. There’s not only a power dynamic issue but also an issue that the majority of the relationship between these two characters was when one was a child, and the other is a ???-year-old fallen angel. They don’t have a relationship as adults. They have a history of a relationship in a carer/child way.
~ The other issue was in part two exclusively. It’s mentioned a couple of times that Sean has a stalker, but then it never really comes up, and there’s no history or relevance to the plot. I’m hoping this is something that gets touched on later to give it purpose, but for now, it felt like a single spoon in a pack of forks. Why is it there?
~ Something else that was a minor issue for me was that as a child, there was an instance where the darkness was trying to manipulate Sera to do something, and she realised she could simply tell it to shut up, and that’s the last we hear of it. It listened. But when Sean is grown up and the darkness is relentlessly trying to control him and manipulate him, he never tries standing up to it. He admits defeat and is held together only by his friends. It’s possible something happened between part one and part two that either made it stop working, or made Sean lose all hope completely, but we do miss a lot during that time jump.
~ There was a recurring misuse of the word “rather” that did bother me a little.
~ The sleepover chapter had me CRYING.
~ end of spoilers ~
Content warnings
- self-harm and suicide mentions
- implied sexual trauma
- harm to animals (a couple of minor mentions)
- mental illness and trauma mentions
- bullying
- abuse
- alcoholism
- sexual content
- blood
The official content warning from the book: This story contains subject matter mentioning suicidal thoughts, religious trauma, self-harm, an eating disorder, alcoholism, bullying, and domestic and child abuse.
Who I’d recommend this to
If you’re interested in angels vs demons, trans rep, mental illness rep, and enjoy slow-paced fantasy, this might be a good option for you.
I would also recommend it to fans of Supernatural, as it definitely reminded me of the show in some aspects.
Book 2 is expected to be out later this year, and I’m really excited to see where Shane takes the story next.
In the meantime, if you’d like to check out some other work Shane has done, they also have an account on Wattpad where they have a few short stories, a poetry collection, and other unpublished novels available. You can also find an excerpt of Everything Is Wonderful Now.