Clocking in at over 600 pages, Wellness is an investment that you should make. I adored this book. Maybe it’s because I am a 40-something married woman living in suburbia with kids. Maybe it’s because I went to college outside of Chicago in the mid-1990s. Maybe it’s because my parents do not know how to use Facebook properly and it drives me nuts. Maybe because I know that feeling of meeting your person and the world just revolves around the discovery you made: each other. Maybe because I am just about to enter my 14th year of that marriage. Maybe it’s because Nathan Hill is a master writer and I was hooked from the first chapter.

Wellness is a true masterpiece. Jack and Elizabeth meet in the 1990s in the artsy world of Chicago. The book goes back in forth between their meeting/early relationship and their current situation: more than a decade into marriage when they are reckoning with their relationships, career ambitions, parenting and just life. I loved both Jack and Elizabeth even though they were not perfect.

This would have been a 5-star book for me save for the ending. I felt like I was missing something and I read it twice! Somebody chat with me about it. On the plus side, I am still thinking about it a week later!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Thank you @knopf and @netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review

This book was oddly written. I had a terrible time trying to follow what was going on in the story. I spent so much time feeling confused that I had to stop reading it.

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the ARC of this title.

I adored Hill's previous novel, [book:The Nix|28251002], and I've been keeping an eye out the last few years, wondering when we were getting whatever came after that. It's been well worth the wait.

THE NIX was sprawling and human and messy, taking a few idiosyncratic turns, and this does a lot of the same thing, using its camera to zoom in and out of its main characters' lives, telling a story at a certain moment but also making sure we get its full context from their past. Hill seems really good at spelling out a character's neuroses and then writing about them in a way that plays on that in a way where it embeds into the text itself.

With both of these books, there's a delightful sense that in the research for these characters' lives, Hill found so much enjoyable in the side research that he needed to share with all of us. This is a book that somehow folds together postmodern art, hypertext, placebos, social media algorithms, and so many other side tangents (and has the bibliography to prove it at the end). As a person who also drops so. many. conversational footnotes, I love this, and the 600-ish pages of this fly by even with all of these enjoyable detours.

Also, it's really funny? Actually proper full-guffaw-in-my-empty-apartment funny, not just polite-chuckle-to-yourself-on-the-train funny.

The first chapter of this does such a good job of setting up its main couple, making you root for them, but also showing them as deeply real, human, flawed people. Everything that follows is a hilarious, illuminating journey. Whatever comes next from Hill, I'm convinced it'll be just as worth the wait.

Like a Master Surgeon, Nathan Hill brilliantly dissects relationships, marriage, and life at the speed of light morphing 21st Century in his hypnotically readable #Wellness. Moving from hysterical to heartbreaking and everything in between. #Wellness belongs in a 100 year Time Capsule, but you should read this brilliant book NOW !

If I had to describe Wellness by Nathan Hill using just one word, it would be RANDOM. There’s a lot going on in this novel. It’s centered around husband and wife, Jack and Elizabeth, and the progression of their relationship from young lovers to an overwhelmed married couple. This part I absolutely loved. In between the relationship stuff, the story touched on a plethora of topics like algorithms, online misinformation, conspiracy theories, health and diet fads, the placebo effect, non-monogamous relationships, and so much more that I kinda blacked out on. In my opinion, this novel was WAY too long. It felt super chatty, wordy, and like I was reading one big run-on sentence. At least 150-200 pages could’ve been easily shaved off. Honestly, if I had read the physical copy instead of listened to the audio, I probably would’ve DNF’ed it at the halfway point. Overall, I enjoyed Wellness for the most part, but must dock some points for the length alone. It’s a 600+ page book that didn’t really have to be. Most of the randomness I found quite fascinating, but also a little annoying and unnecessary. 🤷🏻‍♀️

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- 1990s pop culture
- Chicago setting
- Social media
- Literary fiction
- Character-driver novels
- Family drama & dysfunction
- Marriage & relationships
- Health & wellness industry
- Poking fun at said industry

Wellness releases on September 19th, and I give it 3.5/5 stars!

A very long book, Wellness was a difficult start for me, and difficult to rate because I almost gave up at times.

In Wellness, Nathan Hill tells the story of a couple from the early 90s to the present. The story starts before they meet and their relationship evolves, The man and woman are both very complicated, complex personalities.

The writing is very descriptive, long-winded which caused me to soak it in at some points, and skim through many others.
The story is interesting and surprisingly deeply informative in some places.

Buckle up.

Thank you, Netgalley, Knopf, and Mr. Hill for the ARC.

I really loved the writing and thw concept of this book. It kept me intrigued. It was also very thought provoking!

I am very sad that I did not like this the way I hoped I would. This 100% is because it was a book not right for this reader. It was an immense undertaking of the author to write a book as detailed and far reaching in subject matter as this, but it was just too out there for me and I also struggle with satire. It is a 5 star read based on how the author went about putting this book together and I immensely respect the writing, but I really did not enjoy reading it at all. I hate saying that! But, I didn't.

I read THE NIX when it came out and while I struggled a bit with that, by the end I couldn't turn the pages fast enough and I felt it was a really great novel. THE NIX was also part historical fiction and I felt I learned something in that context, where as with WELLNESS, it was too much in the weeds for me. There were certainly interesting aspects to it, but all together being 600+ pages...it was just too much for too long. I did want to finish it so I could be as accurate as possible in my review, but there were a few times I considered DNF.

I might have more thoughts to come, but this is where I will leave it for now.

Thank you to AA Knopf for the gifted finished copy/arc and to Libro.fm for the gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: 09/19/2023

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, Knopf and NetGalley for an electronic ARC of this novel.

Wellness, by Nathan Hill, follows the story of Jack and Elizabeth, who come from vastly different background but meet (by fate?) at college students in Chicago. They connect so well, they consider themselves soulmates. But years go by and their fatedness comes into question. Jack, once a starving but promising artist, is teaching art as an adjunct professor, while Elizabeth runs Wellness, which takes the placebo effect to great heights.

Nathan Hill is a good writer, but this novel is very, very long. My interest in what happened kind of waned at times depending on what was going on in the plot or whether it was one of many asides. It's not for everyone but it was entertaining on the whole.

Wellness by Nathan Hill

I did my best to like this book, but only liked some of it. It started out fine introducing Jack and Elizabeth. It fell apart for me with so many interruptions with other extraneous topics. Sometimes it was so poignant and then???

The relationship of Jack (likable) and Elizabeth(not so much) is part of it, but what was the point of the rest? I have to go with the 3 star review crowd and wonder what the 5 star crowd was getting that I missed. It’s just not an easy book to review, and I’m sorry for that. I thank #Knoff publishing and #NetGalley for this ARC for my review.

I have always wanted to read The Nix therefore I jumped at the chance to read Wellness in advance of publication. So glad I did, This is a gloriously messy saga of love,life and reality. Jack and Elizabeth meet in college and believe they are fated soulmates. Yet they both come with histories and baggage that neither claims or addresses. “When you cling too much to what you want, you miss what’s really there”.
Beautifully written and a testament to our times. Well done and thank you Knopf publishing, netgalley and Nathan Hill

This is an interesting novel, but it's so bloated and overly-detailed to death. Nathan Hill can definitely write but he desperately needs an editor that can tell him to trim the fat. It takes Hill 45 pages just to describe one day or one scene. The reading experience becomes very tedious and distracting. The plot is excellent, but there's too many scenes that don't add up to much. It's a mixed bag for me.

I wanted to love this book so much. It was just way too long. There were parts that I lost complete interest and they were either unnecessary or too long. There were other sections of the book that I could not put down but it was very cyclic. There were too many pages coming to keep me motivated to finish.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of Wellness by Nathan Hill.

I enjoyed Hill's first novel, The Nix, and the mix of real life and folktale, and found his portrayal of life experiences to be realistic and honest. Wellness begins the same, two young loves escaping their turmoil from their childhoods and their desire to break out on their own and make their own way.. The feelings of young love, the excitement of new college and first apartments, friendships and adventure drew me in. It was nostalgic, realistic and reminded me of the passion for life that grows into contentment as you grow and mature and settle into routine. I was drawn to reading this novel, wanting to put aside other things to read it, and I almost recommended it to someone before I was done.

Then, about the half-way mark, it really slowed down. It got a bit long winded, went off on tangents, and it rambled. Two VERY LONG chapters I felt were entirely unnecessary, and overall the book could have been about 250 pages shorter.

Hill draws a lot into this book, still realistic characters and expanding on how life experiences form the people we are, the expectations we have, and how we have expectations (true or not) on those around us based on our histories and previous experiences. There are a lot of topics here, all well researched. Many discussion points on how your surroundings influence your actions and thoughts, whether your surroundings are truth or not. I liked the last chapter when the characters were enlightened, but getting to that point I wanted to just get done. Hard to rate this book because what I liked, I REALLY liked, but other parts were a slog. Lots of topics for discussion here, but if my book clubs chose to read this, I would not re-read just because of the ramblings of those two center chapters. (for those that read The Nix, there were many similarities between Samuel and Jack's mothers. The author must have had some tough relationship issues with his own mom.)

Enjoyed the beginning, I would give it 4.5 stars, but for length and unnecessary content in the middle, I'd give it 2.

Wellness should be on every best of 2023 year end lists. This book is absolutely brilliant! I cannot stop thinking about this book and the topics it tackles.

𝗪𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 (PUB 09.19) is best described by my dear friend Jamie "It was about everything and nothing. And I adored every word."

I started this book in print and was enjoying it. But when I switched to the audiobook narrated by Ari FliakosI LOVED it. The narration took the story to a new level.

At 624 pages and nearly 19 hours of audio there is alot going on- but it always felt just right. There is truly a bit of 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨: algorithms, placebo effect, polyamory, wellness fads, uppity community members, marriage, relationships, psychology and an ancestry full of swindlers and shameful parents . The storyline moves across multiple time periods and is told from multiple perspectives. Jack and Elizabeth's journeys together and apart were thought full of intrigue and insight peppered with heart and humor. The writing was observant and thought provoking in a subtle way that made me sympathetic to characters without feeling manipulated.

FWIW: I also adored Nathan HIll's debut, THE NIX, especially on audio.

"𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧, 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳- 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳- 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺." "𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 . . "

While I enjoyed the 90s Chicago setting, I found the characters boring, which made the story drag.
Interesting and unique plot, but not my favorite.

Filled with gorgeous prose and meticulous detail, Nathan Hill’s Wellness follows two characters named Jack and Elizabeth from student life to marriage around the changing landscape of Chicago from the 90s to early 2000s. Hill explores everything from relationships to careers, the housing crisis and gentrification, art, culture, and wellness. It’s a deep and immersive read, and one you could find yourself lost in for days or weeks. I’m looking forward to checking out the Hill’s acclaimed debut, The Nix.

This is a clever take on modern life. Once I started reading, I was eager to get back to the story. I haven’t read The Nix but will add that to my list.

(3.5 stars) I enjoyed this book, but didn’t quite love it as I did The Nix. Ironically, what didn’t work so well for me was the very thing that the author credits as a positive:

“One of the great joys of writing a book is that it gives me permission to explore the various odd things that grab my attention, to dive deeply into those subjects that puzzle, amuse, or amaze me. This book had many such deep dives. It was a daily process of discovery and wonder, and I’d like to issue a generalized thank-you to all the psychologists, sociologists, neurologists, evolutionary biologists, economists, sexologists, therapists, philosophers, doctors, data scientists, and everyone else working so hard to understand our strange, unruly, miraculous, and messy minds.”

Hill works a lot of research and other details into Wellness through the characters’ professions and backgrounds. I started out liking this, particularly the integration of the child-marshmallow study, but it ended up being too much for me. I would have liked a little more organic feel to the characters and their stories.

This is a little bit nit-picking because I did enjoy the book. I liked the way in which the story was presented, with the first half following the main characters - Jack and Elizabeth - as they meet and marry, and the second half uncovering the secrets of Jack and Elizabeth’s upbringings. I especially liked the character of Toby, their son. His struggles allowed the author room to explore child-related issues that were among those most interesting to me.

So, overall, a book I’d recommend, even if the introduction of related research and other details feels a little forced.