Just shock after shock! Wild ride until the end! Told from 3 perspectives it gives a view into the toxic world of wellness and beauty. You'll finish this book and feel like you eased dropped on the conversation that could cost you your life.

In Kelsey Rae Dimberg's "Snake Oil" we find ourselves asking, is wellness real or is it snake oil? That is a question we are posed as readers early on. As an avid Goop/Gwyneth Paltrow fan there are parallels between them and Radical/Rhoda which the author drew from and I loved. The author played off of startup culture and the wellness industry realistically in my opinion and sucked me right into the story.

We meet Rhoda the CEO or She-E-O and Stanford drop out. Dani, a Radical employee has drank the proverbial Kool-Aid or rather vitamins and juice remedies and works on the Customer Worship team with Cecelia who is disillusioned with what Radical is selling. Add in a rogue Twitter account that’s sharing secrets and snark we have a twisty yet realistic novel. I found the characters interesting in a setting we could either see ourselves working, wishing we owned or buying their products. The characters lives are intertwined, complex and relatable.

This book is contemporary, a satire, part mystery and thriller rolled into it and I couldn’t put it down. Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm a sucker for books about 'girl-boss' CEOs who get taken down by employees or customers (but ultimately, by themselves). This is one of those, and I think it's done successfully. It's told from a few different POVs and they all have a different enough voice that it feels fresh, and there are some twists that I didn't see coming. It was a good read with an interesting take on the cult of wellness.

Super super good! The pacing was really good, keeping me interested and wanting to know more about all three women. The shifting of POVs was insightful and also added another layer of suspense, wanting to know who was where doing what and how it would all come together. The characters were interesting and in different spaces I was able to empathize and find where they were both “good” and “bad”.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this upcoming book!
3/5 stars for me

Ultimately, here is what I have to say. I am seeing a trend with chick lit/mystery books that are exploring the dark side of beauty and the industry as a whole. Of course under that is the wellness trend. Maybe it was too soon, but there was nothing new here for me.

Think suspense thriller featuring a Gwyneth Paltrow/ Steven Bartlett mash up.

⭐⭐⭐½ (3.5/5)

This book really excels in the portrayal of startup culture and the wellness industry - while there are a batch of stories in this vein right now, I think the setting of this one was pulled off really well and much more fully realised than e.g. Ripe. The 3 main characters, especially CEO Rhoda, leap off the page, and I found their ambitions and conflicts convincing and engrossing. The pacing kept me hooked and I finished this in just two days.

Without giving any spoilers, I think this book disappointed me as a feminist. There's a lot of gaslight/gatekeep/girlboss going on, I thought this was going to be critiqued but in the end it just felt low key applauded. There was an opportunity to consider intersectionality here - we have race and disability among our cast of characters, but they just kinda appear superficially as characterisation tools without getting a full exploration or conversation. A few other narrative points felt like they could have been something interesting but fizzled into nothing or was abruptly abandoned.

Overall I'd recommend this as a beach read, for thriller fans who aren't as finicky as me and for folks intrigued by wellness and hustle culture.

Rhoda is a girl boss and the founder of a billion dollar wellness company. She is seen as driven and flawless but deep down she fears that it could all be taken away from her. This book examines the concept of female ambition and the downfalls that can come along with it. It was such a good read and I would recommend!

Lots going on, but I appreciated this realistic look at working for a start-up and how social media rules all our lives in one way or another. Thank you to Mariner Books for the ARC!

4.5/5.0

Another well-crafted contemporary social satire that uses vantage point to showcase how jumping to conclusions about the people you think you know can be tragic, with a unique wellness industry spin. Coming September 2024.

Kelsey Rae Dimberg's "Snake Oil" contrasts female ambition with profound skepticism and disdain for deceptive marketing. It alternates perspectives between Rhoda, the ambitious founder of Radical, a wellness company on track to reach a billion-dollar valuation; Cecilia, a "Customer Worship" team member grappling with chronic pain and cynicism; and Dani, her friend and coworker with unwavering loyalty to Radical.

Perfect for readers who recognize shades of grey in human nature and society, but be aware that the novel features a significant focus on pregnancy for those sensitive to the topic.

Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

OK, snake oil literary fiction with a driller harsh vibe. I’ve been really into wood. Skincare mix with a little bit of bizarreness really enjoy this start to finish. The cover is intense and the story just gripped me an interesting how it all pulls in. Read this book and like one setting so good.

The premise and the cover of this book are both SO GOOD. Unfortunately, I couldn't connect with the writing. The pacing wasn't fast enough to draw me in. I probably just expected something different, which happens. I do think there are great elements to this book that will resonate with other readers who have different expectations.

This one was a disappointment for me. Loved the premise but found the book to be very slow paced to the point of boring. I considered DNFing a few times but was interested enough to find out the ending.

I loved this book! I expected the concept to be totally different and loved all the turns this story took. It's hard to say any character is the "good" or "bad" guy and it's easy to see how these flawed characters make flawed decisions. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Amazing. The author (new to me), is brilliant. A true artist. Very few words wasted in this twisty turny novel.
3 women: One is the creator of a female health and wellness company that utilizes all the social media to LIFT her brand (iykyk).
One woman started with the brand in the beginning days and has benefited from the products (so she believes) and is a devoted fan.
One woman works for the brand, befriends the devoted worker/fan, but had a different experience and is bitter.
There is a twisty turn. And, oddly enough, the character that I was sure I wasn't going to be rooting for, I actually found myself rooting for in the end.
I couldn't put the book down (that alone deserves 5 stars as I start and stop many many books and few rarely hold my attention).
Could easily go from book to screen, and I hope if it does, they stick to the story.
In a fair world, this would spend a year on the Best Seller list.

Rhoda West is the founder of Radical, a billion dollar wellness company. She’s stunning, both in looks and in business savvy, but she’s also obsessed with keeping her empire growing and with the fear that she could lose it all. She’s slightly paranoid and will do what is necessary to protect herself and what she has accomplished.

Dani Lang work for Radical and is a true believer. Then she’s hand selected by Rhoda for a dream job. However, it doesn’t take long to realize that something is off with Radical.

Cecilia Cole works in customer care and she’s not a fan of dealing with the disgruntled public. In her spare time she runs a secret Twitter account where she attempts to out Rhoda as a hypocrite. Then she happens upon what she believes is proof. How much is she willing to risk to expose Rhoda and Radical.

Rhoda gets a bad rap here. Even the person who wrote the cover blurb gives Rhoda the shaft….are you paranoid if people really are out to get you? And what is wrong with protecting what you do? If Rhoda were a man there would be no story here. This is a lot of bullshit.

That said, this is but one of many “something sinister going on at a wellness company” books (NATURAL BEAUTY, youthjuice, ROUGE) that have been out recently, but I like the idea, so I think I’ve read most of them. I liked this.