Right, so, no one will dispute that this is witty and present and, ultimately, something like but not exactly the precise thing of poignant, but it's also just deeply and profoundly depressing, so.

3.5 Wellness is a portrait of a marriage. Jack and Elizabeth as college students with their lives and ambitions a head of them. It started out with a bang. Elizabeth has a PhD in Psychology, and she analyzed everything! To the point that it became humorous. Following them through the hills and valleys as well as parenthood was great fun but then hit the brakes with Jack's algorithms on Facebook and his relationship with his dad. The book felt very long, but I really liked his writing and for the most part Wellness is an entertaining read. I'm looking forward to future books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf

I have to say this is another book that would have been SO MUCH BETTER if it was edited. While it was a good story I felt I had to slug my through so much effluvia that it diminished the rating

I really loved this book! It reminded me a lot of Candy House and had both an interesting family story and a fascinating premise about the future and how it looks! I enjoyed the characters and their foibles and found the story both believable and funny! Will definitely read more Nathan Hill now that I've experienced Wellness! 4.75 stars~!

I really loved this book. On the surface, it's a story of a couple, from the charming (or maybe creepy) way they meet, jumping ahead to years into their marriage. But it delves way more into what makes each of them who they are, from events in their childhoods (each traumatic in different ways) and before they meet (college/finding themselves). Are they a true match, or were they simply seeking in each other something they felt they needed when they met, both feeling alone in a big city? and is the person they each fell in love with the real person, deep down, or a facade of how they wished to present themselves and be seen? Are they still compatible many years later with a kid on the mix? The book has some really fascinating tangents about monogamy, love, relationships, etc, and these characters are realistic, flawed, believable, lovable. If you really love a complex and fast moving plot, this might not be for you, but if you like to dig deep into characters, psychology, and sociology, read it!!

Real Rating: 4.75* of five

The struggles that all who form, and sustain, the heavy bonds of matrimony are evergreen plots because most of us have some experience of them. It doesn't matter how much you love each other, it matters how committed you each are to the friendship you share with your chosen partner. Love ebbs and flows, common interests wax and wane, people grow and change, and what makes couple-stories so endlessly interesting is how they are shown managing...or not...these deeply familiar challenges.

It is absolutely clear to me that Author Hill, in his second novel after the startlingly assured The Nix, has honed his craft to a sharp edge. He doesn't shy away from the difficult or the painful parts of commitment. The hateful, hurtful things people say when they are in a deeply enmeshed relationship are both unique and common. There is a certain kind of dynamic in US couples of different socioeconomic backgrounds that's central to this book. We are taught that ours is a classless society, but it is not. The wealth of one family is always a weapon in the couplehood of one its members; a more effective one when the other partner is not from equal wealth.

That bludgeon goes both ways, of course. After a child is born, dynamics change, often for the worse, as incompatible parenting goals are a major cause of divorce. In this story, the couple...a daughter of wealth and privilege, a psychologist, and a deeply wounded soul who feels shackled and devalued by her working class artist husband...are twenty years into a commitment neither can remember why they made.

It absolutely does NOT help that they're living in a surveillance-capitalist society that valorizes getting and spending, when neither has a set of core values instilled from solid bases in love to resist these relentless pressures. It is obvious Author Hill has little use for facile patching-up life hacks or quick-fix lifestyle gurus. He dedicates a lot of space to social media's machiavellian algorithm driven effects. (Coulda been less for all of me, but hey...) The thesis is, however, what good is hacking or fixing stuff too fragile and hollow to last? Your old marriage is not delivering the same thrills...move on, get something new and better.

Right?

Not necessarily. Not even desirably. Open your mind to the possibility that just maybe your life doesn't need to be fixed. Maybe instead your relationship to your life needs to be recalibrated, reassessed, revalued. This being a message I resonate with, I found the read compelling and involving.

Does learning to make the best of it mean settling? Mean getting less out of life? Or is it instead the way to find deeper, more important ways of being who you are inside this long-term commitment to yourself, and your partner, to be well and truly together?

Wellness is that endlessly relatable journey, set in a time where even asking that kind of question isn't encouraged by anything around us. Anyone in a couple, past or presnt, ongoing or ending, will find a lot of deeply interesting details to muse over. A lot of richly textured background to admire, even envy. A lot of deep and scary emotions to batten on from the safe remove of fiction.

I'd rate this the full five of five were it not for what felt to me like the author's rather-too-evident need to overshare. A funny thing to say in a review of a novel about intimacy, I know, but I'm left a bit overfamiliar with his opinions of the self-help/new-age/quick-fixery. A couple times, okay; after a while, what is this really about, Author Hill?

I'm highly recommending this read for all partners in a long-term relationship to load onto the Kindle this #Booksgiving. It is manna from heaven to feel seen in stressful times; family "Togetherness" is rough any time, but now...? Bring some independent comfort with you this Yule.

Nathan Hill's Wellness is a poignant and humorous exploration of the complexities of marriage and the challenges of maintaining a long-term relationship. The masterful storytelling brings the characters to life, making them both relatable and endearing. The author's sharp wit and keen observations of human behavior add depth and complexity to the narrative. There's a reason why this book is one so many are talking about.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

I absolutely loved this novel - Following the couple at different stages of their lives and parenthood was fascinating. There were also laugh out loud moments and the writing was overall very sharp and engaging. I loved Hill's previous novel (The Nix) and this held up to that high standard. I am looking forward to reading everything he publishes in the future.

This was a different book than I normally would read, I had a hard time getting into the book. I did finish and would recommend this book.

Slow progression, but manages to stay intriguing enough to keep going. Would recommend half-heartedly.

Another 5 star book by Nathan Hill. The 20+ year story of Jack and Elizabeth captivates you with the first few lines. The author's skill at storytelling this 20 year span is remarkable. I would read this again and again. This would make an excellent book club book.

Why did I wait so long to read this? It was the length (600+ pages) that was intimidating to me, and while I do still wish that it had been a little more concise in a few spots, I loved it. The writing was so smart, telling this masterful portrait of a marriage with these deep dives into various interesting subjects - psychology studies, the beginning of the internet, real estate, parenthood, relationships, art, Chicago, the plains of Kansas. Absolutely worth the read! Now I need to go back and check out the Nix!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. 4.5 ⭐️

Late in his bold, brilliant and bulky novel WELLNESS, author Nathan Hill (THE NIX, 2016) writes: “…[C]ertainty was just a story the mind created to defend itself against the pain of living. Which meant, almost by definition, that certainty was a way to avoid living. You could chose to be certain, or you could chose to be alive.” Despite the many subjects and concerns of the narrative, which include but are not limited to the wellness industry, art, conspiracy theories, polyamory, algorithms, re-gentrification and Kansas prairie fires, the book, which covers nearly three decades of the complicated marriage of Chicagoans Jack, an artist and professor, and health consultant Elizabeth always circles back to its powerful central idea: the impulse we all share to create stories — about ourselves, our relationships, and the world around us — that we often confuse with certainties, much to our detriment. This is a tricky, demanding read but Hill’s expert storytelling and sharp insights about contemporary American culture make this a masterful plea for critical thinking in a time in which so many of us are battling each other with concocted rather than authentic realities.

I loved this book, its in-depth look into the two main characters was so much fun and sometimes sad to read. There was love, hate, sorrow and everything in between, which is something I really appreciate. I did feel the book was too long, but still enjoyed it overall.

I don’t even know how to put this in to words, what this book has done. I found it so relatable. Cathartic almost, at times.

This is about two people, Jack and Elizabeth. And we dissect their lives and their histories and their traumas and their marriage and their relationships with their parents… I was just completely swept up in their lives for all 19 hours of this audiobook,

It’s about love and modern times and technology, and yes in some places about the wellness industry. (Though if that’s your thing you may not love what is has to say.)

It gives you things to think about but also is just enjoyable for the story and the characters.

I will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author and check out his backlog.

The narrator did a great job and delivered the book perfectly. I highly recommend the audio.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC.

Wellness by Nathan Hill is a novel that’s as sprawling and complex as the relationships it explores. It took a while for the plot to find its footing, and I wasn’t sure what to make of the characters at first, but once the pieces began to fit together, Hill’s talent as a storyteller truly shone through. This book is filled with layers—of marriage, identity, and the absurdities of modern life—and it takes its time peeling them back.

It’s admittedly a long read, and there were moments when I wondered if it could have been trimmed down. Conversely, sometimes I felt like the journey down what seemed like a tangential path was not only a welcome reprieve from the main storyline (just as a buffer!), but I genuinely enjoyed learning the information. By the end, I realized that every detour and tangent had a purpose which made it all the sweeter. The depth of emotion and the beauty of Hill’s prose made it all worthwhile. I joked while reading that it was a "yapper" but upon reflection I'd be hard pressed to part with any part of the story because, in its entirety, it was stunning.

If you’re willing to let it unfold at its own pace, Wellness is a deeply rewarding read, and the popularity is so deserved. Hill’s exploration of love, time, and the messiness of human connection is poignant and powerful. I could recommend this to anyone, and I love that.

“Wellness” by Nathan Hill is a warmhearted satire that chronicles our “perfectly, stupidly, dreadfully elegant” accommodations to life. Spanning decades, the novel follows Jack Baker, a talented photographer, and Elizabeth Augustine, a quadruple major at DePaul. Hill skillfully weaves together academic satire, love gained and lost, and the complexities of relationships, making this a captivating read that leaves you wanting more.

This book was unfortunately not for me. It was taking too long to get into the meat of the story, and it could be about 200 pages shorter. Some editing could have made this one better. I did DNF around 30%.

This is an astounding work, hard to believe it’s the author’s second book, as they usually suffer the sophomore effect. I don’t read the author’s first book, but I definitely want to after this!

A boy meets girl, Gen X 90s marriage, building a forever home, parenting, and so much more, this is complex, well-developed, emotional, and kept me coming back for more. I’ll be thinking about this for a while.

I’m done… I feel like this book had a nice solid start. But at 57% in, I’m wondering where is this going? What is he talking about now? Why does it matter? Why is this story SOOOO wordy? All signs that the constant meandering has proven to be more distracting than engaging in my case.