Ratings27
Average rating4.1
OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK • From the New York Times bestselling author of The Nix, a witty and poignant new novel about modern marriage, the often baffling pursuit of health and happiness, and the stories that bind us together "A hilarious and moving exploration of a modern marriage that astounds in its breadth and intimacy." —Brit Bennett, author of The Vanishing Half When Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students in the nineties, the two quickly join forces and hold on tight, each eager to claim a place in Chicago's thriving underground art scene with an appreciative kindred spirit. Fast-forward twenty years, and now they're grappling with the routines of married life, the challenges of parenting, and the indignities of aging—not to mention cults of positive thinking, polyamorous would-be suitors, Facebook trolls, NIMBY protests, and something called Love Potion Number Nine. For the first time, Jack and Elizabeth struggle to recognize each other, and the no-longer-youthful dreamers are forced to face their demons, from unfulfilled career ambitions to painful childhood memories of their own dysfunctional families. In the process, they have to undertake separate personal excavations or risk losing the best thing in their lives: each other. Moving from the gritty nineties Chicago art scene to a suburbia of detox diets and home-renovation hysteria, Wellness mines the absurdities of technology and modern love to reveal profound, startling truths about intimacy and connection. In this follow-up to Hill's electric debut, Wellness reimagines the love story with a healthy dose of insight, irony, and heart.
Reviews with the most likes.
Jack and Elizabeth meet and fall in love and marry and have a child and buy a home...and everything falls apart. Jack and Elizabeth explore their marriage and think about their childhoods and contemplate what they have learned from science and life.
I finished this book feeling satisfied. The relationships the author described, the characters he created, the situations he shared—all felt genuine, full of conflicts and resolve and all rooted in patterns from the past.
The book is quite ambitious and covers a lot of themes that I found incredibly interesting, ranging from psychology, pseudoscientific health treatments, conspiracy theorists, media literacy, social media algorithms, love, open marriages, parenthood, and more. However, there were times when I got lost in tangents that were too far off from the plot or lingered for too long. Despite that, the book ultimately came together wonderfully. Both Jack and Elizabeth's journeys in questioning their histories, identities, and their place in the relationship broke my heart more than a few times. Jack is a romantic artist with a tendency for people-pleasing, while Elizabeth is a scientist who struggles to accept love and success. I found the tone of the book to be overall cynical, yet hopeful.
I would have given this book five stars if it were shorter and if it didn't commit one of my least favorite book offenses: chapters with no names or numbers. But all in all, I still recommend it. If you find any of the themes mentioned intriguing, then you will most likely enjoy this book. It's lengthy, but it's worth the read.