Apparently books about wellness retreats are not for me even though I would love nothing more than to escape to a spa for a week! I was not a fan of Nine Perfect Strangers and this felt like another version of it. Plainly put, I didn't get the point.

The Glow follows Jane, a 29 year old publicist who is desperate to save her PR job. In a last ditch effort to save her job, Jane decides to try and find a new wellness client to capitalize on the growing experience economy. This leads her to the Fort Path wellness retreat hosted by Instagram influencer and wellness guru Cass. The Fort Path and Cass give off cult vibes but with thousands of dollars of medical debt hanging over her head, Jane decides to dive head first into the world of wellness.

The book was well written and Gaynor was able to capture the insecurity and uncertainty of a millennial woman who has no idea who she is or what she wants to do. Readers are able to feel Jane's skepticism about Fort Path and Cass. The book really highlights the growing trend of people commodifying wellness.

While I enjoyed the book, it ended up feeling like the story built up to nothing. At just under 300 pages the book could have benefited from being longer and expanding on the rebranding and marketing of Fort Path and Cass. While it wasn't surprising that Jane ended up selling out, it did feel anticlimactic. The ending just felt a bit abrupt and I was left wanting more. Overall, this was an enjoyable read that provided just a glimpse inside the weird world of wellness, influencers, and marketing.

Jane is a marketing professional drowning in debt when she impulsively goes to a health retreat in return for marketing. She's immediately drawn in by the beauty and mystery of Cass, the woman who runs the retreat and quickly realizes that there's a lot of potential for this retreat to make a lot of money. Of course, the more Jane gets to know about Cass and the retreat, the more issues arise.

The Glow is a well written, interesting read. I do think the ending was anticlimactic. It seemed like the events were leading up to something bigger but there wasn't anything exciting about it.

Maybe I read Jessie Gaynor’s debut The Glow the wrong way. Was I not supposed to take it seriously? Because I did. In fact, this book so closely resembles a pretty loathsome segment of self-absorbed society that I couldn’t help but believe that the author wanted us to take it at face value. But now that I am finished with this book, I see that Gaynor might have meant it all to be a satire. If that’s the case, I missed the boat on this one, and this book missed me because I did not enjoy it at all. Stereotypes about Millennials, social media, and self care abound, and I am starting to learn that I really dislike books that show these aspects of society all in the same light.

Book Review: The Glow by Jessie Gaynor

The Glow is a fictional tale of a woman who immerses herself in the life of a charismatic health guru and lifestyle coach.

Jane has almost $100,000 in medical debt, is single and seeking something to impress her boss at a PR company when she stumbles on the Instagram photos of a beautiful woman (Cass) who runs a weekend retreat in the country. Although cynical at first and scornful of the activities, accommodations and food provided Jane decides that with the right branding the retreat could be a huge success. But first, she’ll have to navigate the complicated relationship between Cass and her co-founder/husband Tom in order to make her own vision come to be.

If you require a plucky young main character with flawless motives and a heart of gold don’t read this book. Jane is insecure, snarky and doesn’t always do the right thing. But she’s also a creation of our cultural obsession with wellness and beauty and that undefinable glow and pretty privilege that some women have been born with. Her motives are to not only pay down the ridiculous debt that looms over her but to also fill that part of herself that wants to be beautiful and comfortable in her own skin. I found myself highlighting and laughing at different paragraphs of her inner dialogue because so much of it is relatable.

I highly recommend The Glow to anyone that wants to read a scathing novel about our fascination with gurus, influencers and the cult of beauty and wellness. The characters and their relationships are messy and awkward but (for better or for worse) they felt like real people to me.

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was a breath of fresh air, offering a welcome change of pace. As a woman in my early thirties navigating the complexities of finding my career path, I found it remarkably relatable. Gaynor's writing exudes wit and authenticity, with her honest and hilarious commentary striking a chord. One particular quip from Jane about attending the retreat perfectly captures her jaded perspective: "If it were a cult, someone would have already made a podcast about it." It's a sentiment many of us can relate to.

I'll be honest, there were moments in the book where it started to lose its momentum, particularly around the midway point. However, the backstory of Tom provided a redeeming aspect to the narrative. Although the resolution may not be extensive, it felt fitting to me. This book embraces a realistic approach, eschewing a fluffy, overly tidy ending in favor of a more grounded and authentic conclusion.

Ok first this book was a good short piece about influencers and I loved that part because it was relatable

What I didn’t like is how there were unanswered questions by the end of the book it didn’t necessarily make it a bad read at all it just left stuff open ended.

I really liked Jane’s character I feel like we all know a Jane and it was fun seeing her in her job trying to sell wellness. Overall I liked it I just wanted a bit more in the end to wrap it up

Jane Dorner is a young New York public relations professional who vacillates between her low-level depression and her self-loathing. She is okay at her PR job, where she tries to get young women with some Instagram fame or disposable income interested in her clients and their dubious wellness products, or she’s okay at it when she’s actually doing it. Which she hasn’t been lately, as she’s been spending too much time online stalking her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend.

When she gets called out on her lack of accomplishments at work, she knows she has to find something that will get her noticed in the wellness industry, and it has to be big. And that’s when she finds Cass.

Jane doesn’t know at first that she’s found Cass. She just knows that there is an Instagram account called FortPath that features photos of nature in all its beauty, simple meals, and a beautiful woman with exquisite skin. Jane thinks she may have found just the ticket. She emails FortPath and accepts an invitation for a weekend retreat, and she packs her bags and heads out.

Once there, Jane meets Tom, who had offered the invitation. But more importantly, she meets Cass, the dewy-skinned beauty from their social media. It’s Cass who is the wellness expert, talking about how to overcome fear and leading meditations and giving big hugs. And the more that Jane spends in her presence, the more she knows that Cass is the product she can monetize.

But can Jane get Tom on board with her ideas for FortPath, and is Cass willing to become the wellness guru that everyone has been looking for? And most important for Jane, will making Cass the sensation she can be finally make Jane happy with who she is?

The Glow is a darkly funny look at the wellness industry and the women who flock to it. Debut novelist Jessie Gaynor has crafted a satire of modern times with a little heart and more than a little heartlessness as a publicist and a meditation teacher try to cash in on women’s insecurities and boredom. We’ve all seen the social media hashtags, passed by the ads for overpriced face serums, and paged through the glossy magazines to see the beautiful people we are supposed to want to emulate. This novel turns all that inside out, to see behind the curtain of a hungry industry.

I really enjoyed The Glow. It’s snarky and self-aware and honest in unexpected ways. There were times when these characters were difficult to like, as they could all be selfish in their own ways. For much of the book they were all trying to find their way in a world that had rejected them, but as the story went on, they all seemed to find paths that fed the well of emptiness within them. There is a lot of darkness to the humor, much of which comes from pain, and maybe that’s what makes it hard to read at moments, that it cuts a little too close to the bone.

But while I was struggling with that pain, I also could not set this book aside. I had to keep reading. I had to know what was going to happen to these characters. Like an extreme wellness journey, this book is painful and challenging, but worth it in the end.

Egalleys for The Glow were provided by Random House through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Smart, funny, and sadly, relatable. I enjoyed every bit of this book. This book had me from page 1. I love the black comedy/satire of this story. Jane perfectly reflects all the awful things we think and say to ourselves in this era of constant comparison.

What does it take to Transcend? Away from the Loudness that prevents YOU from being Present and Open? What blocks YOUR spirit? A NOURISHING weekend with FortPath will help YOU reach your Full Potential.

—

“Jane was twenty-nine. She had $97,000 in medical debt, a limitless capacity for disappointing first dates, and a malaise so deep she wondered if it might just be her personality. Lately, she was becoming increasingly concerned about her career and her future—neither of which seemed like the low-stakes annoyances they once had.”

—

Jane is an every-woman millennial in immense medical debt, working a soulless job at a PR firm, navigating the type of insecurities it’s uncool to talk about. One weekend at FortPath — which may or may not be a cult — changes her life.

As Jane seeks to transform FortPath into ~THE~ place for woowoo rich people to flock to, she spirals into versions of herself that force questions around authenticity, vengeance, and the dangers of the wellness industry.

To experience Jane is part disbelieving laughter and part waiting for the other shoe to drop. Gaynor’s writing is funny and sharp, and honest in a way that women in this age of Goop will find al too real. While the first half of The Glow had me cackling and reading passages aloud to those around me, the second half was melancholic and much more subdued. There’s a lot to be said of Jane’s ascension into Scary Woman/girlboss, as well as her constant search for fulfillment, and I’d love to discuss it with anyone else who has read Gaynor’s debut.

Thank you to netgalley and Penguin Random House for this arc in exchange for a review!

I enjoyed the deliciously black sendup of instagram/wellness culture happening here even if the book overall wasn't for me. I don't mind an unlikable narrator, but this one never really clicked for me - it was a delightful read for a few hours on a plane, but I'm not sure it'll stick with me as much as it seems to think it will.

4.5 stars! Jessie Gaynor has written a whip smart black comedy! In The Glow, we meet Jane, a PR writer (or "maven'), living a haphazard life in New York. Still waiting to find herself, Jane is crippled by medical debt and barely getting by. She jumps at a chance to visit a wellness retreat she discovers on social media, thinking she can be credited with the discovery of the next best thing. Once she arrives however, Jane wonders if she has stumbled into a cult, a true visionary, or the next big fake.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this e-arc.*

Jane is a reluctant PR professional -- far from passionate about her job but not sure what else she will do, and needing the paycheck if she is ever to have any hope of escaping from her debt. When her boss questions her commitment to her job, Jane concludes that she must land a huge new client. And she soon identifies the perfect candidate -- Cass, an undeniably compelling and enigmatic guru at the center of a wellness retreat. Jane is convinced that, with her help and some careful molding, Cass can become the next big thing in the wellness industry. As Jane finds herself rediscovering ambition that she long ago gave up on, she wonders what it will take -- for her, Cass, and Cass's husband, her partner in the retreat -- for Cass to become a wellness brand, and what kind of people they will be if they reach this goal.

This is a perceptive and well-written examination of the wellness industry, those that run it, and those who seek it out, exploring interesting themes around ambition, wealth, and connection.

Highly recommended!

Eeekk - I think I am too old for this book. I did not like the main character, I found her annoying, whiny and childish. The plot was very slow, the story was difficult to get into and I did not find it to be very entertaining. It came across as more a YA novel than the contemporary women's fiction that I was hoping for.

Jane is a 29 year old PR guru, whose job performance is calling into question. In order to save her career she needs to find a big ticket client. Jane needs to convince beautiful Cass and her husband Tom (owners of a "wellness retreat") into a high-end wellness brand. She wants to make Cass into someone who can not only make you beautiful but also help you find inner peace - all for a pretty penny. Will she succeed?

Thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

The only thing that eclipses our love of the wellness industry is our hatred of the wellness industry. No matter which side you’re on, you can’t escape it. Even if you hate it, even if you understand intellectually that all wellness culture is is a commodification of our fear of mortality, a way to couch ourselves in the creature comforts of capitalism without ever having to admit to ourselves that we’re part of the problem. After all, it’s for our health!

In The Glow, our narrator, Jane, is living a miserably average life, going through the motions of survival with no motivation for her social relationships or soul-sucking PR job, but with a cloud of exorbitant medical debt hanging over her every decision. She embodies white millennial woman ennui, the particular brand of entitlement that leaves so many privileged women waiting to be handed their dream lives. The worst parts of myself related, painfully, to the worst parts of Jane.

In a last-ditch effort to save her job, Jane stumbles upon Cass, an enchanting, impossibly beautiful woman — you know the type: vaguely spiritual, full of platitudes and pseudo-wisdom, may or may not be subtly leading a cult — running wellness retreats with her husband in New Jersey. Realizing she can make stupid amounts of money off of Cass and the sorts of white women who follow her blindly, Jane attempts to turn Cass into the ultimate wellness brand and quickly has to decide what she’ll do and how far she’s willing to go for power and financial stability.

The Glow’s brand of wellness felt a little outdated — the boho-chic millennial white woman doing colonialist yoga and eating a raw diet while manifesting her truth isn’t necessarily the prevailing wellness trend right now, though she always lurks in the shadows (sorry, in the love and light) — but I don’t know that that’s a bad thing. It’s not necessarily more insidious or cult-like than the other insidious cult-like wellness fads, but it is one of the easiest to critique and parody. Which is exactly what The Glow does. It’s not particularly groundbreaking or exposing, but it also doesn’t need to be. The satire sits at the surface and points a finger at all of us.

I loved this book as much as I love making fun of myself for how much I love goop and Gwyneth Paltrow (so much).
The writing was fun AND funny and Jane was somehow unlikeable and painfully relatable at the same time and I can’t get enough of the criticism of the the self-care industry. Gaynor is definitely an author I’ll be watching for more from in the future and has “auto-buy” potential for me!

Jane sees Cass and Fortpath as the way to save her PR career- and pay her bills-but she finds life doesn't always work that way in this often funny and sometimes silly novel about the wellness industry. Cass is a larger than life figure who has established a wellness facility, only eats zucchini, and spouts all sorts of nonsense. Can Jane turn her into a bigger star? That's where Tom comes in-he's the only likable and thoughtful character in this novel. It might feel familiar in parts (thanks Goop for bringing us opportunities to laugh) but it's fresh in others. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Might be a love or it or hate it kind of read but Gaynor's got a good sense of humor and the storytelling is on point.

This was a fun fast paced story, practically a satire, of the beauty, health and fitness influencing world. Jane Dorner is a publicist at a large, successful firm where she finds herself treading on thin ice. While scrolling social media, she comes across a beautiful woman who represents an intriguing wellness retreat and Jane is instantly obsessed. She sends an email and receives immediate response where Jane is invited to attend, free of charge, one of their 3 day seminars. She is given no information about what will happen over these 3 days, but is cryptically informed that after joining the FortPath family, ‘all will be revealed’. Leary but curious, Jane attends the retreat hoping to land the next big white whale of a client to secure her position at the firm as well as help her dig her way out of a mountain of personal debt. Smartly written with lots of dark humor, this is a modern and culturally current story. And the pages flip fast so buckle up! Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on June 20, 2023

Thank you Random House for my Netgalley copy of THE GLOW by Jess Gaynor, out 6/20/23.

This book was SO fun to read and was right up my alley! It follows Jane, a desperate young publicist trying to save her career by turning a charismatic leader of a granola retreat center she found on her Instagram Explore page from #HealthIsWealth and #LoveYourself hashtags into a hot, new self-care wellness brand. A satirical lit fic read on wellness culture and social media influencing??? Say no more.

This is the most millennial book ever following a woman struggling with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt. Forced to call everything as a part of self-care as ‘inherently’ feminist’ for her job, she simultaneously goes on lackluster dates with men she knows are not interesting but still hopes they text her back. Like, imagine dealing with women who do HoLiStiC colon hydrotherapy for hundreds of dollars when gay men have been doing at-home enemas for ages LOL.

If you liked Nine Perfect Strangers, Booksmart, Cultish, No One Is Talking About This, White Lotus, Dolly Alderton, and Lularich… you will love this book! This book is ridiculously deadpan and hilariously entertaining. I laughed out loud on multiple occasions and the authentic accuracy will make you gasp (you’ll relate if you’ve ever memorized the back of a shampoo bottle while taking a shit because you forgot to bring your phone into the bathroom). If the capitalist hellscape of wellness culture has you fractured and burnt out, pick up this book.

The ending could have been more climactic maybe, but it worked. The blurb is, "Are helping people and making money mutually exclusive? And once you become a girlboss, can you ever go back?" LOLOLOL I loved this book. Jess Gaynor girlbossed too close to the sun with this one. Read it, please!

I really enjoyed The Glow and it was an interesting read on PR behind beauty and wellness. I think the writing was sharp and I was intrigued about this story from the first page. I would have loved to get a little more insight from Cassie’s POV. They describe her wellness group as a cult in the beginning, but it’s not as crazy of a story as I was expecting. I think more insight from Cassie would have made it all come together a bit more but overall I really enjoyed this book! I look forward to reading more from this author!