Every now and again you’ll stumble upon a book that pleasantly surprises you. This is Everything is Fine. I admittedly requested to review the book simply because of the cover, not even bothering to read the description. I had no clue what I was about to read when I sat down to read it, and I’m grateful I knew nothing going in. This book will take readers on a strange trip and leave them eagerly awaiting the next volume with the final page.
To keep it simple without spoiling anything, Everything is Fine takes place in an idealistic world where everything is, well, fine. Until it isn’t. While the concept of Everything is Fine isn’t necessarily anything new, author Mike Birchall manages to create a wonderfully confusing and disturbing world in such few pages… it’s hard not to be eager to see how it’ll all end. Especially as the ending is a huge cliffhanger.
There will be plenty of questions to be asked by the end of the story and very, very few answers provided. And while that may be frustrating with most stories, when it comes to Everything is Fine, the lack of answers actually works in its favor. It helps to keep the mystery alive and allow Birchall to craft a truly disturbing story that readers are definitely not prepared for.
As delightful as this book is, the artwork can be distracting. It’s incredibly plain. In fact, it kind of reminds me of Minecraft at times. While the simplistic art style does sometimes help to sell this world crafted by Birchall, it may be hard for the readers to truly appreciate the story being told — to make them want to keep turning the pages. It’s the only true drawback with this book.
EVERYTHING IS FINE is a book you’ll want to go into blindly. Don’t read the description. Avoid spoilers as much as possible. Just dive right into this strangely intriguing story of this “perfect” world and enjoy the ride.
