Jane tries to change her life after being questioned at her public relations job for less-than-perfect performance in The Glow by Jessie Gaynor. She sets her sights on Cass, a dynamic purveyor of wellness at a small New Jersey wellness retreat, and attempts to make her into a wellness guru that garners her more followers and more money. Jane can market her to the susceptible clientele of women like her who need to become better versions of themselves. Plus, this would help Jane pay off the looming health care debt she has.

I tried to get into this book because I thought the premise was interesting. Sort of like an ugly duckling premise in a very convoluted way. When Jane visits the wellness retreat for the first time, you know that she has her work cut out for her. There's a long way to go in convincing Cass to become part of her plan and to persuade her husband Tom as well. It started off slow, but I thought it would eventually pick up. It really didn't.

None of the characters resonated with me. In fact, I felt that they were extremely unlikeable. I could not understand why Jane found Cass so incredible and charismatic. I couldn't see it, and the double-speak wellness phrases she threw out were annoying. I'm supposing that they were meant to be funny in a parodic sort of way? And her husband Tom was no better. He was lackluster and apathetic. I found it difficult to like the book when I didn't feel empathy or like any of these characters.

The retreat seemed to bear no redeeming qualities, and there's so much time spent there. If I never see or hear about a zucchini again, it will be too soon. Although, again, I'm supposing this is all meant to be satire regarding the many wellness gurus and retreats that promise results from weird practices and unusual diets, but it just didn't seem funny to me. Maybe I just didn't get it.

And it just takes way too long to see Jane's plans come to fruition. You reach one place where it seems like nothing is going to come together, and Jane is barely employed, to another where Cass is an international sensation, and Jane is free from her money problems but has lost her soul. It was such a blink-and-you'll-miss-it transition that it didn't work for me. The book flows as far as language goes, but I found myself losing more interest the closer I got to the end.

Jane works in PR and seemingly does not see her life going anywhere. Sure she has a great job and dating isn't hard, but she's looking for something that makes her feel *something*. When she gets obsessed with Cass, a wellness influencer with a retreat, she dives head first into Cass and her husband's lives, ready to clean up their retreat and start making money. What she finds instead is a similar emptiness and better skin.

I wanted this book to give me "Sad Janet" vibes so badly, but it just didn't capture my attention.

<i>Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.</i>

Meet Jane. She is in public relations in the new age of online media, but she has a problem,. She took her job in PR because she wasn't very ambitious or even understood what PR does. She gets saddled with a huge medical bill that is about to go to a collections agency, while trying to have a normal 20-something dating life in New York City.
She gets connected with a new age-y cult-like spa operated by a couple who appear to have a "glow" about them, and the fun begins. "She had the charisma of a cult leader, but not enough of the drive." Jane is eventually transformed into a full partner in the operation's relaunch, and in the process learns a lot about herself and gets her mojo back,
But the plot points are really just a frame to hang a lot of amusing descriptions of this new world that Jane is thrust into. "Though she recognized herself to be a grudge-nurser and failed-relationship-ruminator, in some ways Jane was highly adaptable," the author writes. She eventually is transformed into a better version of herself with higher thread count and more gloss.
Even if you don't go into for the latest spa fads, peels, and wraps, diets involving spiralized organic vegetables, and endless meditations, this is a very amusing take on this world that will have you laughing out loud.

An interesting read that is very in sync with current culture. . Funny.
Many thanks to Random House and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A fun and interesting read, but one that doesn't do anything that I haven't seen before. It's fun and funny, but not something that will stick out in my mind.

A desperate young publicist tries to save her career by turning the charismatic leader of a grungy retreat center into the hot new self-care brand.

Jane Dorner has two modes: PR Jane, twenty-five, chummy, and eager to sell you a feminist vibrator or a self-care/bereavement subscription box; and Actual Jane, twenty-nine, drifting through mediocre workdays and lackluster dates while paralyzed by her crushing mountain of overdue medical bills. When her job performance is called into question, Jane’s last-ditch effort to preserve her livelihood and pay off her debt is to land a white whale of a client.

If someone tells you they don't like this book, they aren't paying attention! This book is so timely and depressing (if you really think too hard about it). As a 29 year old with a mountain of student debt, I found Jane incredibly relatable. Millennials are the generation that desperately wants approval and success without having to sacrifice living a full life for it. This book embodies just that.

I so enjoyed this — it felt so immersive and made me cackle with laughter. MC is very identifiable for me as a PR flack with a lack of direction and small set of friends. A must for any young woman living in NYC.

These characters were insufferable in the best way.

Dead end Jane was just trying to get that "glow" any way that she could, even if she had to push her way in.

This book was just a fun read poking fun at the beauty industry and the lengths people go for their looks.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for gifting me a digital ARC of the debut novel by Jessie Gaynor - 4 stars!

Jane feels like she has two selves - PR Jane, young and anxious to get ahead in the world of self-care marketing; and Actual Jane, drowning in debt in a job she doesn't like, spending her time cyberstalking the new girlfriend of her ex. When she gets in trouble at work, she finds a new wellness retreat that she hopes will save her career by transforming the owner, Cass, and her retreat into a high-end wellness brand.

This is a satirical look into the world of self-care (think Goop). Cass sort of reminded me of Masha from Nine Perfect Strangers. I liked the character of Tom most of all. Asked some interesting questions - Can a person really “do good” for others while profiting off them? And what parts of our selves do we lose when we trade power, influence, and beauty? A good, light read.

The Glow by Jessie Gaynor is a fun, scheming, juicy novel about capitalizing on wellness. Great cast of characters, fast paced and interesting. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

The Glow follows 25 year old Jane Dorner as she tries to save her job at a PR firm by trying to offer her marketing services to a small retreat center. Overall, I thought Jane's inner monologue was very relatable in this book. There were certain things she said/did that I know I say/do myself... like showering with podcasts playing or constantly comparing myself to others to see if I'm where I'm supposed to be. However, as much as I found her relatable (sometimes painfully so when I know they were not positive traits), the plot was very slow-moving. The plot moves very slow and it often felt like nothing was happening. That being said, it was still an enjoyable read because it made me reflect on myself, at the very least. It kind of reminded me of A Novel Obsession by Caitlin Barasch. I would recommend this book if you're in the mood for a book that is more of a character study than something that is quick-paced. Over all, I would give it 3.25 stars.

Jessica Gaynor's The Glow is a witty and cleverly written novel that offers a satirical look at the world of wellness and the commodification of self-care. The protagonist, Jane Dorner, is a relatable character struggling to make ends meet and pay off her medical bills. Her last-ditch effort to preserve her livelihood leads her to Cass, an impossibly gorgeous influencer, and her unassuming husband, Tom. The duo runs a wellness retreat that Jane hopes to transform into a high-end wellness brand that will enable her to climb out of debt.

The characters in this novel are vividly portrayed, and the author's writing style is engaging and sharp. The plot is well-paced, with enough twists to keep the reader engaged throughout. The book is not just a story about the wellness industry, but also a compelling exploration of the nature of ambition, power, and self-worth.

Overall, if you're looking for a humorous yet thought-provoking read, The Glow is definitely worth your time. It offers an insightful commentary on our modern obsession with wellness and how it gets tangled up with consumerism and the quest for wealth. Highly recommended.

I loved the idea and the story line of this novel. It was darkly funny and full of truth. However I did not connect or really understand the characters’ motivation, which made me feel more as an outsider / observer than part part of the book.

Jane, a recently fired publicist gets desperate and sets her eyes on marketing a new client- the striking health retreat leader Cass. Cass is obscenely focused on health, healing, and zucchini!? But she has what every person wants- a stunning glow.

Although this book was funny and relatable at some points, it was undoubtedly meant to be an extreme view on the wellness market. For me, that’s just about all it was. A satire level view on a wellness guru and the lengths that people will go to to achieve perceived health.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and Netgalley for this arc!

This was not what I was expecting it to be but the overall premise was interesting. I was really drawn in at the beginning but the middle got pretty strange. Lots of weird things went on but at the same time it was a bit boring? Also, at some parts I found the narrator funny but other times very annoying haha overall lots of mixed feelings about this one.

This book was very promising in the beginning, but fell a bit flat for me by the end. I think the exploration of the “cult of wellness” and how it preys on specific types of people (including our main girly Jane) was really interesting. There was a lot of humorous moments throughout the story as well, and the dynamic between Jane, Cass, and Tom was very fun to experience, but the ending of this book did nothing for me. I think this book had the potential to be a 4 star read but I just didn’t like where it ended up.

3.5 First, the title and cover of the book are great. Love them. I loved our unlikable main character, but I wish she was also the narrator. I think the story lacked a bit because it was third person. I didn't fully vibe with the writing style, either (the word inchoate twice in one paragraph really threw me off), but the plot itself was great.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Glow by Jessie Gaynor!!

I typically like so-called unlikeable characters but I DNFed this one around 40%. The characters were generally insufferable and not fun to spend time with. The stakes weren’t high enough for me to stick around.

Delighted to include this title in my July round-up of Guaranteed Great Vacation Reads, highlighting engrossing summer titles for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)