I was drawn in by the premise of THE GLOW, but sadly didn’t love this as much as I wanted to. However, I enjoyed the tone and would recommend this to anyone looking for an interesting story about the wellness industry.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected publication: June 20, 2023

Perhaps it's just a "me" thing, but I am getting tired of books with no likeable characters. I enjoy the 'influencer space' and the projection of everyone having no redeeming qualities just isn't an enjoyable book for me. I did not end up finishing this book.

A big old nothing burger. At the 75% mark, I knew nothing was happening and the characters wouldn't change. Don't waste your time.

3.7 - I loved the first 2/3rds of this book. The inner monologue of PR Jane was witty and quick and relatable; a similar inner voice to Monica Heisey’s ‘Really Good Actually’. Sadly though, I lost the plot and any sense of direction towards the end.

SPOILER

SPOILER

Ok, you’ve been sufficiently warned.

I understand the point is to point out how the wellness industry will still leave you empty if you yourself aren’t fulfilled within yourself but Jane’s ending is plain sad… like the end rambled and I felt hollow and empty and like it just…ended… felt unfinished and like it didn’t quite make the poignant message it wanted to.

The Glow follows Jane, a young woman who works in PR and is desperately trying to save her failing career. When she looks through Instagram hoping to find a new instagrammer to represent she accidentally finds Cass, the leader of a wellness retreat that may or may not be a cult. After visiting the wellness retreat Jane decides to stick with Cass to build her brand and turn her into a famous influencer.

Reading The Glow is what made me realize that my favorite form of humor is satire. In the first half of this book I could not stop laughing. Jessie Gaynor made fun of girlboss culture, the “wellness” industry, the wealthy, and much more. And I thought it was hilarious. Every time there was something utterly ridiculous that came out of Cass’s mouth and was supposed to be “deep” I laughed out loud, or smiled at the very least. Like a lot of people in the book community in the past couple of years, I enjoy reading books about disaffected young women who are struggling financially, socially, and emotional, and that’s what this book delivers. It was almost exactly the book I expected it to be based on the summary.

Unfortunately I found a major difference in quality between the first half of The Glow and the second half. Had it continued in the way it was in the first half this would have been a five star read. But the in the second half Cass became less interesting, my favorite character left, and the story started moving far too slowly. In the second half of The Glow it felt like the author was fumbling for a plot to complete when really this could have been the kind of book that doesn’t have a plot. Instead it gave a forced plot and a week conclusion. The second half of The Glow was a three star read, and that’s why I ended up giving this book four stars.

I recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading darkly humorous books about moody, struggling young women.

Maybe its because I an not follower of holistic healing or because I'm not a millennial, but something about this book missed its mark for me. The Glow is a story about Jane, who's future becomes intertwined with Tom & Cass at wellness retreat called FortPath. Jane is trying to escape a mountain of debt, balancing her ambition, while Cass wants everyone to live their truths. Can the the paths converge? Thank you #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story in exchange for my honest review.

It is important to note that the majority of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the subject matters of the book as well as those detailed in my review overwhelming. I would suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters which contain reflections on promiscuity, derogatory ideology revolving around sexuality, bigotry, financial insecurity, child endangerment, & others.

The intimacy that is acquired by reading is achievable via the talent of a writer who sees the reader, even before their story is written. The reader becomes a notion; an invisible parasite that leeches to the pages of a book with the intent to suck out every bit of marrow, sustaining them until the next spine moulds into their hands. Having such a clear idea of who the reader might be might grant the writer some form of ecstasy. To know that somewhere in the world, there will be a person who wanders down the mossy laneway of a faraway compound, longing to hear the whispers of a mantra indistinguishable from the banality of extremists, is wonderful.

I have been lucky in that, books find their way to me when they are supposed to. I had every opportunity to read this book for months before I finally selected it at random. I would like to think that every book I have come across in my life follows a similar pattern; they are intended to be read at a specific moment & I indulge the tides by following their lead. When I began reading this story I found myself face-to-face with a girl who was the same age as I was; a girl in the corporate world; a girl who is independent, full of life & yet, lost within it at the same time. Jane is a girl who was different from me in all the ways that would have made her a good friend of mine in real life.

Jane is at once a person who I found intriguing & abysmally annoying. I say this with all the confidence of someone who has found themselves in awkward situations & who is sometimes frustrated by the choices I have made. This truth bound me to Jane—I was eager to be part of her world; a world that was mine just as much as it was hers. This fact made our situations interesting to approach. When the story begins we learnt that Jane works in an industry that requires her to be the ideal version of herself at all times. Offering brands the chance to have themselves represented by a company that understands their needs & knows what the world will ask from them.

Within this world, Jane has found herself ageing out of the bracket of people who seek her out. She is undoubtedly good at what she does & has maintained a client list that boasts great success. Her paycheck is high enough to allow for unprovoked respect with room for her to bloom in the world of corporate executives who all want their social profiles to speak to a luxury that is unimaginable for human consumption. Yet, at the end of the day, Jane goes home alone & she feels her solitude. Where in the world is she meant to go to feel part of anything; who is going to love her?

This story sees Jane lean on her career skills to convince other people that they should trust her. She never trusts other people. Would it be accurate to say that in consequence, Jane is not someone whom others trust? Based on the series of events that see her enrol on the weekend retreat & result in her losing her job, I feel that it is safe to say that the people around Jane are waiting for her to fail. Perhaps, not in an outward way. I do not think that people in Jane’s life think that she is useless but, I believe they think they know her more than she knows herself & this is a very sticky situation to be in.

I have never been to a wellness retreat & therefore have little to rely upon when writing a critique about the one that Jane attended. It was curious to me, in a familiar way, that Jane had been told that the retreat was a cult because someone knew a person who enjoyed going so much that they made it their entire personality. This reminded me of all the things in life that might be viewed in the same light. I think, perhaps, we have lost the essence of the word “cult” in an attempt to name that which is elusive. What leaves me feeling particularly interested in this point, specifically, is the fact that Cass (the alleged cult leader) is almost entirely dissociated from the social experience of the weekend.

Cass is someone who reads as carrying much of herself in rolling suitcases, wherever she goes. Should this story have relief on imagery in any kind of morbid realism, I’m sure that there would have been luggage strewn about the cottage where Tom & Cass hosted the retreat & where they shared their lives. Neither person is entirely independent, neither of them is very much a person in & of themselves & yet, they are enticing to observe.

I think the reason why this story worked as well as it did was that each character was not crafted to become someone else. Jane was originally a bit strange, a little uninterested in her life, & a great deal sick of the flow of the days of her existence. Cass was always someone that wasn’t here, always a little bit to the left, following a star that the wandering eye couldn’t quite see. Tom was a person who was shadowed & sheltered, crafty & eager, he was always the background noise in an empty room. What led to their interactions feeling so awkward, yet immeasurably sincere, is that none of them believed themselves to be anything other than what they were.

The flow of their interactions saw them stumble over each other. Jane was unable to adopt the practices of the retreat & worked tirelessly to make herself known, in an attempt to set herself apart. She longed for the proximity that could be attained in an intimate relationship with Cass. All the while, Cass flew in & out of the social gathering as though this were normal, as though the money these patrons spent was to sleep on the floor of the home, rather than spend time with a person who promised intimacy. Jane loves the imagery of someone who is the polar opposite of everything she represents. Tom loves the idea of being loved & Cass loathes a life where she is unknown, yet she pursues a career reaching levels that make it impossible for people to recognize her beyond her systemically created imagery & sugary mantras.

The chapters that explored the middle stages of the retreat were of particular interest to me because we were able to garner a final glimpse of the characters before they became extreme versions of themselves. This also resulted in these chapters being rather uncomfortable to read because I knew that within the next set of pages, I could be reading about the demise of the ties that bound them together. I grew distant from Jane & struggled to understand why she was so mean to Tom. What part of her person felt so threatened by his sincerity? Why were his secrets of any interest to her?

As the novel progressed I grew more impatient with Jane. I was frustrated that she would lie, openly, to Cass & Tom. These people trusted her to grow their pet project; why would she so eagerly tear them from one another? Ultimately, I do not know that I will ever be met with a sufficient answer. Would it be fair to say that Tom was in love with the attention & care he received from Cass? Is it unkind to state that Cass was perpetually dissociated from love because it had no tangible benefit in her life? It seems as though the essence of the plot circles itself; why can we not be who we are? Why do we need to pretend?

Yet, none of these characters was anything but who they were. Jane was never going to begin working alongside Tom & enhance the atmosphere with truth & trust. Jane was always going to lie, she was going to be conniving & she was going to seek to destroy any threat that she perceived, even the ones that did not exist. Because of that, this story was allowed to be what it was; a reflection of our own lives.

So many people seek something outside of themselves to be made good; to be healed; to be made whole; to glow from the inside out. Rarely, do people look within themselves & wonder why they harbour so much; why their shoulders slouch; why they enjoy the cool breeze of spring; where their heart lies. This style of activity grants people the opportunity to pretend to be vulnerable. Was Cass actually giving anyone revolutionary advice? Was it new science to tell people that water was beneficial for their bodies?

I might not seek out a book that guides me through gratitude just as I might not seek out the help of a person who claims to be able to centre each of us to ourselves. That being said, someone else will. This is neither bad nor good. This is simply a reflection of the distinguishing factors of our society. Some people need to be reminded to eat lunch or to drink water; some people need to be reminded that it is okay to take a break. Other people might find these same reminders pedantic. We benefit from finding ourselves in the midst of a rotation of people who might better guide us even if that means eating zucchini without dipping sauce.

Does the wellness industry pray upon people who, like Jane, are eager to hide from the constraints of self-work; the tiresome effort of waking up every day in a world that requires us to try our best, every second of every day? Does the wellness industry wreak havoc upon the lives of people who cannot attain the powerless glow of skin untouched by UV rays? It is not ignorant to say that it depends on the person & it depends on the culture & it depends on the society & it depends, ultimately on what is being sold.

Gaynor sold her readers the opportunity for ridiculousness. She welcomed everyone into a world that was filled with smog & long hours spent by the need to pay for food & housing. She allowed her readers the ability to choose whether or not they would follow Jane, a ludicrous liar, on a stingy car ride into the countryside. Every aspect of this book had me eager to consume it like the cashew stew that was prepared for the patrons. I was hooked on this story from the jump & I remained entertained until the parting words of its closure.

With that being said, this is Literary Fiction, it is not palatable for all. The characters in this story are extremely unnerving; sometimes quite bewildering in their ridiculousness. Yet, they are exactly who was needed to allow the narrative of this story to shine. There didn’t need to be a great declaration of love for Cass to remain sheltered from true intimacy, nor did we need to see Tom speak to Daniel about the logistics of moving in with him. These things take place in the story as they do in real life; oftentimes hidden from our gaze, they are uncomfortable secrets kept snug in the chests of the wanderer. I loved every minute that Gaynor allowed me to sit with that knowledge.

I would revisit this book in a heartbeat. I feel that there is much to learn from people who feel there is nothing new to life than that which they know. I eagerly await the moment whence Gaynor has decided to put pen to paper; leading me down a new dirt road, introducing me to flawed, selfish people. I cannot wait for the shuttle to pick me up near my home & bring me, once again, to a place, unlike anything I have ever known. Tinged with the familiarity of an intentional dream, cloistered in the safest, dewiest place of all, the heart that makes skin glow & eyes shine—the mind.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, & Jessie Gaynor for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

First of all, love the cover! If you could have skin like that, wouldn't you join a cultish wellness retreat? That's what Jane is thinking when she finds Cass and Tom, who run a retreat out of their NJ home. This could be the big client she needs to elevate her PR career and get her out of a mountain of medical debt.
This is a sarcastic, tongue in cheek look at the wellness industry along the lines of 'Nine Perfect Strangers' or celebrity sites like 'Goop'. Do these folks really look that great due to the practices they preach, or is it just good genes?
Cass makes vapid speeches about the center throughout the book that just seems to attract more and more followers. Jane knows what will sell and leverages this to the hilt, all the while knowing the pull and influence Cass will have on the beauty industry. This is a fun, fresh take on the influencer culture and what a large part it plays in today's society.
A fast, entertaining read!

Get read to laugh and cringe while reading this wickedly dark comedy.Perfect for the beach or a vacation read. Jane is a single woman navigating the world of public relations in New York City while trying to get out from under crushing debt. She attempts to save her career by discovering and branding the next big thinkg in wellness. The author successfully skews both the commodization of the beauty and how social media our sense of "realness". My one concern with the book is the ending felt aprupt and didn't feel like an ending to me,

Sadly, The Glow didn't really work for me. I've read a few novels in the same vein satirizing the white American female obsession with self-care, beauty, and skin care regimens, but I don't think The Glow added anything new to that conversation. While the protagonist Jane has some great millennial zingers and relatable hard truths, I thought the novel was overall light on plot and social commentary. I didn't really care for any of the main characters; some of Jane's interior thoughts and millennial moments—especially when it came to her bleak dating life—were relatable, but she was also profoundly insecure and seemed more like a teenager than a 29-year-old woman. I also wasn't sure I completely understood Jane's obsession with Cass, the woman who runs a spiritual retreat that Jane finds on Instagram—Cass is both owner of "the Glow" that Jane so desires and a potential pathway to the shiny career Jane wants. It's odd that Jane was both unambitious and wanted a high-powered career.

It was good, but I struggled to stay focused and invested in the story at times. Maybe it was the pacing, but something was just off. Still, I liked the general tone of this book, somewhere between dark and funny. There will be readers who will like this.

I really wanted to like this book more, the idea of it was intriguing and as someone who has been in the wellness industry for years, i know it's pitfalls. The style was humorous and ironic, but over time it felt hard to care about the main character and the direction the book took. People seem to either love this or find it just ok. I am in the second group but would try another book by this author

3.5

eARC provided by NetGalley.

The Glow is a dark, satirical comedy that takes aim at the wellness industry. We follow a main character who’s stuck working in PR with a huge sum of medical debt hanging over her head. She then makes it her mission to land a promising instagram wellness guru, and turn her into a high end wellness brand.

I was really intrigued by this novel, and I was constantly reaching to pick it back up. I do want to add that I was expecting for something big to happen/unravel at some point, so I’m not sure how I feel about the ending. I like the way it was wrapped up, but I also wanted a bit more.

Additionally, I felt like more could have been done with Cass’ character. It’s alluded that Cass knows how to manipulate those around her to get to where she wants, but that aspect wasn’t explored as deeply as I expected.

In conclusion, this was a solid, funny read. This was my first time reading anything by this author, but I will definitely keep my eye out for any of their other work.

Ah, I wasn't a big fan of this book and I tried so hard. It was very different than I thought it would... Jane who is in PR, under thousands in debt and single- goes on a "wellness retreat" to pretty much keep her job. There she meets Cass (very Zen, eats only Zucchini) and Tom (sneaks in the basement for cold pizza, robotic emailer) and she realizes she actually has a different mission. The beginning really dragged for me and took awhile to speed up. Just an eh for me.

Jane is desperate. She’s desperate to keep her NYC PR job, to pay off the medical debt that’s crushing her, and to feel something other than her typical cynicism and indifference. In the midst of a work crisis she finds herself drawn to the Instagram photos of Cass - an alluring woman who runs a mysterious wellness retreat in NJ. After a weekend at the retreat Jane realizes this is her ticket to the success she’s always dreamed of. It’ll just come at a cost for everyone. I love books about influencers and influencer culture so this was right up my alley. Seeing Jane and Cass sacrifice elements of their authenticity and identities (and, in some cases, become truer to and more emboldened by those aspects of themselves) is exactly the sort of conversation around the relationship between identity, branding, social media, and selling out that I want to read. However, many of my questions were left unanswered by the end of the novel. Did it fizzle for me? I’m not sure. Maybe I just craved something more blatantly acerbic by the final paragraphs.

My goodness. I originally requested this book #1 due to the beautiful cover, and #2 the synopsis sounded like something right up my alley. Normally when I write my reviews for the arcs I've read on NetGalley, I go into depth explaining exactly why I liked the particular book. But this book is SO GOOD that I honestly don't even know what to say. This book was perfection from beginning to end. Jessie Gaynor is a force to be reckoned with and I have no doubt that she, her editor and publisher know what a gem they have on their hands. In the close to 60 arcs I've read and reviewed, I've never once said this because I've never been so impressed by a debut novel. EVERYTHING about this book was so good that I honestly can't pinpoint exactly what the good parts were because they were ALL good. THIS is satirical peak literary fiction and I need more of this from Jessie. I honestly thought at first that someone else might have ghost written this because it is so well written that I couldn't understand why we're only just now hearing from miss Jessie.

Dear lord, I beg you to fund whatever this woman wants to write in the future. I will be the first in line when this book is released in hard copy and I better be auto-approved for all of her future works. Haha.

But seriously, Jessie writes better than Otessa Moshfegh, Halle Butler and the usual gang most people think of when they think about super talented literary fiction writers. I can't believe how fucking good this book was. A++, 5000000 stars. Love it to the moon and back.

This novel made me want to go on a wellness retreat just for the oddness of it all.

Cass is discovered through social media by a woman named Jane. Jane is a flailing PR person who gets paid to talk people into trying out new things. When her performance comes into question, she tries to revive her career and her standing within the company she works for by seeking out Cass and the wellness retreat she runs.

Becoming entangled in finding ways to profit off Cass and her retreat, Jane makes it her full-time job to turn the cult-like retreat into a high-end wellness brand. What will she lose in seeking the power and fame she desperately wants? Will she lose herself or come to find she’s so much more than she thought she could ever be?

If you’re into strange plots, cults, and obsessive behavior, this book is definitely for you. With a rich imagination and a knack for creating unique characters and a quirky story, Gaynor captures what it would feel like to be a newcomer discovering wellness retreats for the first time.
I especially enjoyed the dynamic between all the characters featured, NPC or not.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Yes, Jane, I’d happy buy a vibrator from you.
I found myself really liking this unlikable narrator. I’ve read a lot of books lately with wellness retreats and influencers taking over as the new thriller tropes, but this one was fresh and fun. Stands out from the pack.

This was not for me. Not a fan of this genre. Seems like a fun read for those why enjoy this type of book.

I liked but did not love The Glow. I appreciated reading it and felt that the descriptions of New York and the social media scene were true-to-life, but I had a hard time identifying with the characters.