Namaste, all! Ohhh I’m bummed! I absolutely loved Pink Glass Houses so I jumped at the opportunity to grab this one but it just didn’t have the same effect on me. I struggled with the word salad of yogi talk for sure. I did enjoy the catty drama when it appeared though!

The Namaste Club follows a hodge podge group of individuals who embark on a journey of self-discovery and empowerment through yoga and mindfulness, but is it truly achievable to not judge others? Is everyone really here for the right reasons?

Overall, it’s an easy read that is perfect for a light escape!

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for my advanced copy!
Pub. Date: July 1, 2025

What a fun read!

When a group of strangers, eccentric in their own right, gather for a new-age wellness retreat is the sweaty swamplands of South Florida, what could possibly go wrong?

Think Carl Hiaasen blended with Liane Moriarty's Nine Perfect Strangers and garnished with a dollop of Bravo Housewife flair.

I also read the author's first book, Pink Glass Houses, and thoroughly enjoyed it!

This is Asha Elias at the top of her game. I devoured this biting, hilarious novel in two or three sittings. It's not just a fun mystery; it effectively satirizes the scary and regressive undercurrent in the wellness industry. In short: I came for the drama, but stayed for the perineum sunning.

I think this was cute! It was a different take on a murder mystery type of story. I think that it could have done with some more editing and more concise points throughout. I sometimes felt like the author was getting a little lost in describing mundane points and it kind of took me out of the story a bit because it was getting long and unnecessary. I think we need more yoga fiction books!!

I thoroughly enjoyed Asha Elias’ book Pink Houses and she didn’t disappoint with her newest novel. Once again set in Florida at a yoga retreat which turns out not to be as soothing and enlightening as the attendees expected. Thank you for the ARC.

The Namaste Club is a great read! I loved all the characters and the plot of this book. It's a great beach read! I really liked Asha Elias' voice and can't wait to read more!

SO FUN!! The Namaste Club is the story of a week long yoga retreat set on a lake in Florida. Throughout the story we get to know the leader, the women who attend, and the one male who is there. The story is light and funny, and quite compelling - I read it in record time and chuckled through the whole book! It is reflective of so many aspects of our current wellness culture and women in their 30s and 40s. The women perform yoga, meditate, and even go hunting. The one "cute" male makes his rounds! By the end of the week, disaster occurs, but ultimately, the story ends on a happy and incredibly satisfying note! Loved it!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I enjoyed The Namaste Club by Asha Elias. I will definitely check out her other book. I liked the writing style. The book kept my interest from the beginning. I liked how each chapter was a different character and the story was told from their point of view.

Definitely worth a read!

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Yoga instructor Shakti leads a small group of her most loyal yoga students on a week-long retreat at the Namaste Club. They’re joined by one recently disgraced PTA mom, the two Namaste Club caretakers, and the resident 12-foot gator for a supposedly restful week away from their urban lives.
Told through multiple perspectives, a skipping timeline, news articles, and an interrogation; readers follow along piecing together how a man turns up dead at the property, missing an arm.

Overall this book was an easy read. The multiple perspectives kept it interesting, each character struggling through personal issues, interpersonal relationships, and an attempt to find what they’re lacking at the retreat. Any lull in pacing ended with a change of perspective. Through the middle of the book, several characters blurred together and lost their personal voices. Way too much emphasis was put on the ‘before’ that left me feeling like the build up wasn’t worth the ending.
The final twist of the book had me questioning how it made sense and was even possible instead of cheering on the characters.

The Namaste Club is equal parts laugh-out-loud funny and biting commentary on the absurdities of modern wellness culture. The characters are unapologetically flawed, and their over-the-top antics kept me thoroughly entertained. The Florida setting was vibrant and quirky, perfectly complementing the chaos unfolding within the retreat. Bubba the alligator was an unexpected star, adding a layer of suspense (and hilarity) to the story.

While the pacing occasionally lagged, the sharp humor and ridiculous scenarios more than made up for it. This is the perfect escapist read for anyone who loves a little drama, a lot of satire, and a peek behind the curtain of privilege.

This is both a well-crafted satire on the wellness industry and a cautionary tale on cultural (mis)appropriation. While there are plenty of authentic practitioners, many ancient spiritual practices have been co-opted by the Western capitalistic system for the benefit of those wealthy enough to afford them in the name of enlightenment. This novel pulls back the curtain in a simultaneously humorous and disheartening way to reveal the darker side of the participants at a luxury yoga retreat.

The author has done an admirable job in fleshing out the characters as the storyline progresses day-by-day from multiple perspectives. Each has his/her own unique reason for attending the event and, ultimately, demonstrating that all is not what it appears to be.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

Wow! What an exciting, humorous, nerve-wracking ride! I am so glad I read this!

It took me a few chapters to get the characters straight as the story is told from several varying points of view, but once I grasped who was who, I settled in and couldn't stop reading. The characters are beautifully developed and the descriptions were vivid and sensual. I felt like I was right there in central Florida with them.

I appreciated the tongue-in-cheek look at the wellness industry (it was LOL funny in several places) but also how the author developed the mystery of what happened to Daniel by including several red herrings along the way. Each of the women at the retreat grew in character in some way throughout the book, and I enjoyed the highly dramatic moments as much as the humorous ones.

Brava to the author for a story well told! I can see this as a movie, no doubt.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and publisher, for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Marrow for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Another sassy satire from Elias, say no more! I absolutely LOVED Pink Glass Houses so I was thrilled to receive this ARC. Rich people behaving badly is one of my favorite tropes and nobody does South Florida justice like Elias. The Namaste Club is thrilling, sexy, laugh-out-loud funny and boasts a cast of characters that you can’t decide to love or loathe.

Elias masterfully weaves together a colorful cast of Miami’s elite to tell the story about what happened at the Namaste Club, a lavish yoga retreat for reflection and redemption, during Transcendence Week. Over-the-top in the best way possible, we follow the hilariously superficial journey of two mom friends that found themselves trauma bonded and recently divorced, an extremist local mom and self-proclaimed trad wife who got herself into a sticky situation, a billionaire’s daughter taking a vow of silence, the “token man” looking to further his journey as an apprentice, and their fearless and charismatic yogi leader. All come to the retreat with their own baggage and stamp of self-deception.

The Namaste Club vividly deconstructs the absurdities of modern wellness culture, and gives a peek behind the curtain of what really goes on at these luxe retreats. The plot is well balanced and flows with no shortage of cat fights, secrets, thrills, and murder… oh and daily “hikes” and downward dogs. A page turner from the jump, flowing from how each of the attendees found themselves making the trek to the retreat on their own journeys of release, relaxation, and redemption to their big aha moments of self-discovery, that may be just as simple as embracing their own flaws.

5/5!!!!

The Nameste Club is hilarious! I literally could not stop laughing at so many different parts of this story. The characters were everything, annoying, funny and a little odd. Sometimes you really do just need to read a silly not serious book and have a good time and imagine you are a character in the book.
This is a funny book I highly suggest for times you need a break from your usual reading preference and get out of that book slump.

The Namaste Club is a great mystery and friendship story. I liked the quirky Florida characters and setting (except Carol Ann...we need to hate her). The plot was unusual. I'm really glad that NetGalley allowed me to read this book for a review.

It was a compelling read, but it needs a good edit -- both for pacing/length, but fact. Brahmin is spelled wrong throughout the book and there are certain other things about Indian culture that don't quite track. And poor Bubba!

The novel’s ensemble cast is as colorful as the South Florida sunsets. With her post-divorce wealth and sharp tongue, Indira and her best friend Jessica, on a quest for self-rediscovery, bring plenty of drama and comedic flair. Barbara, with her vow of silence, is hilariously out of sync with the rest of the group, and Carol Anne’s presence adds an unpredictable energy to the mix. And Daniel, the too-good-to-be-true yoga instructor, ties the whole group together while providing plenty of swoon-worthy moments and intrigue.

But the show's true star might be Bubba, the twelve-foot alligator whose lurking presence creates a delicious undercurrent of tension throughout the retreat. The fact that someone will inevitably meet their fate in his jaws is teased with perfect timing, making every interaction at the retreat feel like it’s leading to a moment of chaotic reckoning.

Elias skewers the excesses and contradictions of wellness retreats with razor-sharp wit. From Shakti’s influencer persona to the superficial promises of transcendence, the satire is spot on without ever feeling heavy-handed. Beneath the humor, though, is a surprisingly heartfelt look at the characters' vulnerabilities and struggles, making their antics relatable even in their absurdity.

The pacing is brisk, and the narrative balances laugh-out-loud moments with suspenseful twists. The setting—complete with guest villas, picturesque lakes, and a lurking predator—is vividly described, grounding the humor and drama in a lush, tropical atmosphere.

The Namaste Club is a wildly fun ride that’s as much about self-awareness as it is about indulgence and disaster. Fans of dark comedy, ensemble dramas, and unhinged retreats gone awry will find this novel impossible to put down.

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

Everyone else seems to love this one - I don't know if it is because I am one of the last people to refuse to jump on the yoga bandwagon, but I found it not to my taste at all. There is a lot of actual yoga in here, particularly in the beginning, and as a person who knows nothing about it and really doesn't care to, I kept getting distracted by the detail. I also found the women and their lives uninteresting, and even the opening murder description - alligator and all - wasn't enough to draw me in.

I am absolutely the wrong reader for this one. I was invited to try it, and gave it a go despite my innate sense that it was not going to be for me, but I was not able to connect with the story at all. I went with three stars because I don't feel that I'm able to judge the quality of this one at all, and NetGalley forces you to rate...

Even though the intent of this type of retreat is to bring calmness in the midst of quiet meditation, the complete opposite occurs due to the mishmash of personalities and the reason that each individual came. Jessica came with the thoughts of bolstering her own self respect and confidence due to her constantly questioning herself and believing she was not enough. She lived on the coattails of Indira, her business partner and self proclaimed sister. Indira came with the intention of removing herself from the situation with her daughter and how she, like Jessica, were completely ostracized by their families due to marriage choices. Carol Ann was encouraged by her husband to join due to her extreme behavior that led her to be on national television. To Beau, she was posed as a reputation risk. She judged people throughout the entire of the book due to her political and religious beliefs. What was interesting is that it was she that was delusional in terms of her own life. Shakti knew what it was like to be judged based upon her past, a past that Daniel was determined to expose. Each person came with a past and it was interesting to see how the practices did each character reveal what they liked about themselves, what was hard to change, and who they wanted to become. The ending was fantastic as each like Barbara, took a vow of silence.

I was invested from the first page and so glad I was able to read this book. The characters had that charm that I was expecting and enjoyed the overall feel to them. It all worked in this universe and was glad everything had what I wanted. Asha Elias wrote this well and was glad I got to read this.