Name: Colton Ray's review of Wellness by Nathan Hill
Item: Wellness
Rating: 4
Author: Colton Ray

Nathan Hill

The New York Times best-selling author of The Nix is back with a poignant and witty novel about marriage, the often baffling pursuit of health and happiness, and the stories that bind us together. From the gritty '90s Chicago art scene to a suburbia of detox diets and home-renovation hysteria, Wellness reimagines the love story with a healthy dose of insight, irony, and heart. “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 '90s, 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 to married life, and alongside the challenges of parenting, they encounter cults disguised as mindfulness support groups, polyamorous would-be suitors, Facebook wars, 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, Jack and Elizabeth must undertake separate, personal excavations, or risk losing the best thing in their lives: each other.

A novel

Wellness

Simon Arts

Sleeping peacefully through the urban night, without flinching at the beeps and voices and car alarms and police sirens outside - it's an important marker of transcendence.

Colton Ray

This is the best modern fiction book I’ve read, honestly 

Julia

Really interesting! There are definitely moments where the pacing is a bit off, but as a whole, I like how 90% of the threads and pieces woven throughout the book get picked back up and add to the final picture. The pieces of psych and tech are super super interesting too, and I enjoy how they composite to the whole. 

Towards the second half, I started getting more impatient with the vignette style - I’d get absorbed in one particular plot, only to have that vignette wrapped up and put on hold for a couple chapters. I did find that took me out of the story. 

I also appreciated how much the book hit upon a lot of things I’d coincidentally been pondering lately, and how the characters become more flesh-and-blood for the author placing their stories in a deep context from their families to their families’ families and so on. There’s some moments where I feel like there were more threads to pull re: race/whiteness, heterosexual relationship structures, etc. that also composite to the world and structures of character relationships, but would probably be a lot to try to get into? I appreciate in some ways that the book actually doesn’t get into it versus pretending that the experiences of the characters would’ve been the same regardless of race or sexuality or class, which I feel like other books with similar ambitions have done and done unsuccessfully. 

 I will probably be revisiting this soon to find some passages that stuck out to me. This was kind of exactly the book I wanted to read at this moment. 

Elizabeth

Really interesting! There are definitely moments where the pacing is a bit off, but as a whole, I like how 90% of the threads and pieces woven throughout the book get picked back up and add to the final picture. The pieces of psych and tech are super super interesting too, and I enjoy how they composite to the whole. 

Towards the second half, I started getting more impatient with the vignette style - I’d get absorbed in one particular plot, only to have that vignette wrapped up and put on hold for a couple chapters. I did find that took me out of the story. 

I also appreciated how much the book hit upon a lot of things I’d coincidentally been pondering lately, and how the characters become more flesh-and-blood for the author placing their stories in a deep context from their families to their families’ families and so on. There’s some moments where I feel like there were more threads to pull re: race/whiteness, heterosexual relationship structures, etc. that also composite to the world and structures of character relationships, but would probably be a lot to try to get into? I appreciate in some ways that the book actually doesn’t get into it versus pretending that the experiences of the characters would’ve been the same regardless of race or sexuality or class, which I feel like other books with similar ambitions have done and done unsuccessfully. 

 I will probably be revisiting this soon to find some passages that stuck out to me. This was kind of exactly the book I wanted to read at this moment. 

WOW, already one of my faves of the year. This is probably only not a book for everyone, but it was the book for me. Even though its size was intimidating, I tore through it! Read for 3 hours straight on a flight. I loved the non-linear storytelling and rotating perspective, which made the book feel dynamic and cinematic. I enjoyed how real-world psych and tech research was woven into the book. This book was a fascinating look at the post-internet/Information Age pursuit of the American Dream, especially for people whose adulthood began at the precipe of the big change. This book is definitely auspicious in its scope, and that might be off-putting to some. I actually felt like the auspiciousness served the ideas of the book and was executed mostly well. I felt like it did cause a small bit of drag. I did begin to feel a bit fatigued about 3/4ths into the book, and not because the writing quality dipped. There was just sooo much to get through. I also felt like, ultimately, the couple at the center became rather small by the end, unfortunately. I think a slightly more definitive ending with them would've helped stick the landing for me. Either way, the portrait of the shortcomings as a couple and as people was stunningly clear and grounded. They felt very flesh and blood. The book's reflections on social division, class, and the internet were stunning. Several times, I had to stop reading just to think about everything the author was saying. I don't feel like the book did much with the topic of race head-on, but it didn't ignore it either. That might've had more to do with the character's race and the homogeneity of the world they lived in. For a book that's already so full, I hesitate to say it should've been added, but it would have served the book took take a harder look at the ways race is at play in the dynamics the book was interested in. There's definitely a thread that could've been pulled re: white supremacy as a belief system as something like a placebo! I wish I could have read this in a book club to discuss its richness with others.

In the beginning, I also kinda hated the wife, but in that way, you hate someone who could be the worst version of your own insecurities, an unlovable and unloving controlling perfectionist cynic. I felt she came a long way by the end, but I would have liked to see some of that softness and change in her interactions with her husband rather than being kind of hinted at. The husband wasn't perfect either and had a lot of growing up to do, but I felt more of that growth was documented. I enjoyed the parts of his section that focused on the corporatization of academia, which already has fraught values and cultural norms. Glad I bought this book and will own it for years to come!

Liyah 🤎

WOW, already one of my faves of the year. This is probably only not a book for everyone, but it was the book for me. Even though its size was intimidating, I tore through it! Read for 3 hours straight on a flight. I loved the non-linear storytelling and rotating perspective, which made the book feel dynamic and cinematic. I enjoyed how real-world psych and tech research was woven into the book. This book was a fascinating look at the post-internet/Information Age pursuit of the American Dream, especially for people whose adulthood began at the precipe of the big change. This book is definitely auspicious in its scope, and that might be off-putting to some. I actually felt like the auspiciousness served the ideas of the book and was executed mostly well. I felt like it did cause a small bit of drag. I did begin to feel a bit fatigued about 3/4ths into the book, and not because the writing quality dipped. There was just sooo much to get through. I also felt like, ultimately, the couple at the center became rather small by the end, unfortunately. I think a slightly more definitive ending with them would've helped stick the landing for me. Either way, the portrait of the shortcomings as a couple and as people was stunningly clear and grounded. They felt very flesh and blood. The book's reflections on social division, class, and the internet were stunning. Several times, I had to stop reading just to think about everything the author was saying. I don't feel like the book did much with the topic of race head-on, but it didn't ignore it either. That might've had more to do with the character's race and the homogeneity of the world they lived in. For a book that's already so full, I hesitate to say it should've been added, but it would have served the book took take a harder look at the ways race is at play in the dynamics the book was interested in. There's definitely a thread that could've been pulled re: white supremacy as a belief system as something like a placebo! I wish I could have read this in a book club to discuss its richness with others.

In the beginning, I also kinda hated the wife, but in that way, you hate someone who could be the worst version of your own insecurities, an unlovable and unloving controlling perfectionist cynic. I felt she came a long way by the end, but I would have liked to see some of that softness and change in her interactions with her husband rather than being kind of hinted at. The husband wasn't perfect either and had a lot of growing up to do, but I felt more of that growth was documented. I enjoyed the parts of his section that focused on the corporatization of academia, which already has fraught values and cultural norms. Glad I bought this book and will own it for years to come!

Really could have been edited down, but there are many beautiful passages, especially that intro. I still prefer the plot of his first book, but the characters here are wonderfully nuanced and detailed.

         I’m not gonna lie, I started this book fully expecting to hate it.  This was an Oprah book club selection, and she has a tendency to be pretentious with her book club picks, so I just assumed I would find this one a tab too bourgeois for me.  I keep reading her book club picks because they’re some of the most talked about books every year, but I usually don’t love them.  This one was also one of the Book of the Month Club selections, so I went for it, hoping to be wrong about Oprah’s book choices. 

            I was!  I was wrong (savor this, I won’t admit to being wrong very often)!  The story, while slow-moving, was compelling enough that I kept going through the parts that made me want to throw it across the room.  It’s a big book, it would have caused some serious damage.  One of the things I hate the most in a book is when the author gets long-winded, and Nathan Hall definitely got long-winded more than once, however, it was easy to overlook because I wanted to keep going. 

            This couple faced obstacles that many couples face: boredom, complacency, lack of communication.  They disagreed on quite a few major life choices, which placed their relationship in a state of limbo for a while.  This particular situation is entirely relatable, for just about anybody who has ever been in a long-term relationship.  These are the types of storylines that draw me in and make me invested, the storylines that I can relate to.  I won’t (and truly, I can’t…because then my review will get rejected) dive into specifics because they’re a tad to NSFW.  I just hope everyone gives this one a chance despite it’s size and the fact it’s an Oprah book. 

            While not the best review I have ever written, I just wanted to make sure ya’ll knew that this book is worth reading. 

Kristen Claiborn

         I’m not gonna lie, I started this book fully expecting to hate it.  This was an Oprah book club selection, and she has a tendency to be pretentious with her book club picks, so I just assumed I would find this one a tab too bourgeois for me.  I keep reading her book club picks because they’re some of the most talked about books every year, but I usually don’t love them.  This one was also one of the Book of the Month Club selections, so I went for it, hoping to be wrong about Oprah’s book choices. 

            I was!  I was wrong (savor this, I won’t admit to being wrong very often)!  The story, while slow-moving, was compelling enough that I kept going through the parts that made me want to throw it across the room.  It’s a big book, it would have caused some serious damage.  One of the things I hate the most in a book is when the author gets long-winded, and Nathan Hall definitely got long-winded more than once, however, it was easy to overlook because I wanted to keep going. 

            This couple faced obstacles that many couples face: boredom, complacency, lack of communication.  They disagreed on quite a few major life choices, which placed their relationship in a state of limbo for a while.  This particular situation is entirely relatable, for just about anybody who has ever been in a long-term relationship.  These are the types of storylines that draw me in and make me invested, the storylines that I can relate to.  I won’t (and truly, I can’t…because then my review will get rejected) dive into specifics because they’re a tad to NSFW.  I just hope everyone gives this one a chance despite it’s size and the fact it’s an Oprah book. 

            While not the best review I have ever written, I just wanted to make sure ya’ll knew that this book is worth reading. 

Colton Ray &
Wellness by Nathan Hill

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Colton Ray &Wellness by Nathan Hill

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Colton Ray &
Wellness by Nathan Hill