The Nix is one of my all time favourite books so i was wary about reading this as it sounded very different , would i like it as much ??!! YES!

It's essentially a story about marriage and how after the initial first decade or so of wedded bliss has past the relationship starts to crumble. Kids , boredom and daily life have settled in and partners start to wonder if the best is now over . It's a story about choices we make, expectations we have of ourselves and our loved ones and it's also about social media and how this now effects us (in essence a very current story).

It's not a page turner in terms of plot but it's all about people and lives and you will become immersed in their journey . Maybe a tad too long for some but could read his writing forever .

A great follow up to the Nix

Nathan Hill’s *Wellness* is a compelling exploration of marriage, aging, and the pressures of modern life. The story follows Jack and Elizabeth, who first meet as idealistic college students in the '90s, drawn together by their shared ambitions and the vibrancy of Chicago’s underground art scene. Two decades later, their relationship has evolved, but so have their struggles. As middle age sets in, they confront personal demons—from unfulfilled career dreams to unresolved trauma from their dysfunctional families. These challenges push them to face themselves, as they realize that their connection, once full of promise, is now at risk.

The novel takes readers from the gritty energy of '90s Chicago to the antiseptic world of suburban wellness culture, where detox diets and home renovations offer a distraction from deeper issues. Hill skillfully critiques modern obsessions with health, self-improvement, and technology, using them as a backdrop to explore the complexities of love and intimacy. With a mix of sharp humor, deep reflection, and emotional insight, *Wellness* reimagines the love story, offering a fresh take on how we navigate the messiness of life and relationships in the modern world. It’s a beautifully written, thought-provoking novel that resonates with anyone questioning the balance between self-care and connection.

'Wellness' is a highly impressive and supremely pleasurable second novel from Nathan Hill, author of 'The Nix'. This novel explores the relationship between Jack and Elizabeth, starting with their first meeting in Chicago in the 1990s before fast-forwarding two decades when they are facing various challenges in their marriage.

Hill moves between different points in time, from Jack and Elizabeth's childhoods to the present day. This non-linear structure adds immensely to the enjoyment of reading it as some of the later accounts of earlier incidents in Jack and Elizabeth's lives provide the answers to questions that have previously been posed. Above all, this is a novel about the stories we tell about ourselves, and this theme manifests itself in a variety of ways, including Jack and Elizabeth's 'origin story' as a couple, Elizabeth's work analysing the surprising potency of the placebo effect, Jack's identity as an artist and photographer, and his father's increasing fixation with algorithm-fuelled online conspiracy theories, as well as the stories Jack and Elizabeth tell about their families and childhoods.

This is a beautifully written and crafted novel, with much to enjoy in Hill's prose style. It is frequently laugh-out-loud funny but at the same time a deeply serious novel, full of psychological insight in its exploration of contemporary America. This is definitely one of my favourite novels of 2024 - many thanks to NetGalley for sending me an ARC to review.

I love Nathan Hill’s writing. The Nix is one of my favourite books ever. This one didn’t wow me as much as The Nix, but it was an enjoyable journey nonetheless and I just love Nathan Hill’s unique voice.

The book is amazing. Despite the fact that sometimes it wasn't easy to read it, It exceeded all my expectations diving deep into so many important topics in a time, analysing the world surrounding us and connecting it to particular character's inner world. The feeling that the author is curious and very educated person never left me reading this masterpiece.

I"ve been eagerly awaiting Hill's next book since reading THE NIX, and I thought Wellness was even better. So sharply observed without ever losing the page and plot.

Wellness by Nathan Hill is the literary equivalent of a meeting that could have been an email. For 607 pages, or 18 hours and 57 minutes, you will wade through narratives within arcs within stories within the main plot that, for the most part, could have each been reduced to a few pages and still had the same relevancy or impact on the overall book.

Though well written, it is hard not to feel frustrated by this excessive loquaciousness as, at the heart of it all, there is a really compelling story about the humdrum of humanity - births, deaths and marriages, midlife crises and extramarital affairs, friendships and family. However, the protracted nature of some of the side quests, and the repetitiveness of others, left me losing sight of the actual story at multiple points, and it took me weeks to listen to it as a result (I never would have stuck it out had I been reading it).

Jack and Elizabeth have been married for 20 years, meeting in college as two teens from very different backgrounds yet similarly estranged from their families of origin. They connect instantly, finding a family among the misfits they go to school with. After many years together, they settle down, have a son, and begin to lose sight of themselves, both individually and as a couple. THIS is the heart of the story - the monotony of marriage, the fighting, the things left unsaid, the growing apart and coming together. Some of the asides added colour to who Jack and Elizabeth are as people - his sister’s story, her daddy issues - but the vast majority were superfluous to requirements.

I love long books but I hate feeling like I'm searching for the story. Your reader shouldn't have to work so hard!!

I have well passed the pub date for this. I had a physical ARC also, and I really really wanted to love this… but I didn’t. I’m sorry

Jack and Elizabeth are a middle-aged couple at the dip of the curve of their marriage.

The book explores their entire relationship, from when they first met as broke students in the 1990s living across from each other and watching each other from their windows, how they got together and then at various points through their lives and watch as their son Toby grows up. We also learn their backstories and how their childhood experiences influenced who they've become and how they relate to each other.

This book went off on an excessive number of tangents, some which really held my attention and others which didn't engage me to the same level. Two of the standouts for me were the work Elizabeth did in Wellness and Laurence, Jack's father descent into online conspiracies

As a result of the various targent the book lost me along the way.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5949571695

After a slow start, this blossoms into a wonderful book. It meanders about across different perspectives, time periods and subject matters in a way that initially seems to make no sense at all, save that they are all loosely connected to the marriage of the two protagonists, Jack and Elizabeth, but all the intricate threads eventually come together into a coherent and very moving whole. The amount of research that must have gone into it is staggering. There is the occasional feeling that the two main characters are just vehicles for the plot, or a point that the author wants to make about life and the human condition, but when those points are made so thoughtfully and elegantly, who really cares? This is a truly beautiful examination of both an individual realationship and the bigger picture for all of us.
My book of the year so far.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC.

This book was divisive on my book social media. People either loved it or couldn't get through it and I unfortunately couldn't get through it. This was a DNF for me sadly.

I DNF-ed this at 25%, after realizing I will not gain anything from reading this. The plot, was there one!? I'm not sure.

Unfortunately I cannot give feedback on this book as it disappeared from my shelf even though I had downloaded it and it had not reached the expiration date. A pity as I was looking forward to reading the book. Hopefully it is just a glitch and the book will reappear and I can read it. Am giving it the average rating on NetGalley so I don’t change the stats.

This is an epic read, it’s the story of Jack and Elizabeth, it spans from their childhoods to when they met and through their marriage. It’s very funny in parts but it is also tremendously sad in parts . Elizabeth owns a company called Wellness where clients are given placebos in the forms of medication and made to think they are real. Jack is a photographer and teacher. Both of them have problematic childhoods but in very different ways . I felt for poor Jack, his mother blaming him for everything, but his love for her shines through. They have a son who has problems which Elizabeth struggles to cope with. It’s a book about marriage and love. It’s also tackles the pros and cons of technology. It is very philosophical at times and makes you think what complicated lives we lead sometimes. I enjoyed the writing and although it is a long novel , I engaged with the characters.

‘Wellness’ by Nathan Hill is set in the 1990s when Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students amid a vibrant art scene in Chicago. The novel follows the ups and downs of their relationship over the next 20 years through to middle age when they are married with a young son. Jack is a photographer while Elizabeth works at a wellness lab specialising in using placebos to treat disorders. The character development is exceptionally detailed, although some of the deep dives about psychology and algorithms could have been a little more concise. Still, unlike most doorstopper novels which deal with complex social issues – ‘Wellness’ is a hefty 600+ pages – it doesn’t take itself too seriously thanks to Hill’s sharp eye for humour and cynicism. I enjoyed Hill’s debut The Nix a lot and his second novel doesn’t disappoint. Many thanks to Pan Macmillan for sending me a review copy via NetGalley.

A touching, delicate and intriguing portrait of a marriage from a sublime and sensitive new writer. There’s a lot to love in this debut and I can’t wait for more.

Wellness is the story of Jack and Elizabeth’s relationship from their first meeting in 1990s Chicago to current day. In their early days they convince themselves that they are soulmates but are now questioning this whilst trying to reconnect / regain that original spark, through somewhat questionable means.
These attempts allow the author to bring in many aspects on modern life, especially life hacks or wellness products we use telling ourselves they will improve our lives without thinking about what is really important in life.

This book resonated with me personally as I am the same age as the characters so could relate directly to how my life has changed in similar ways to theirs. I too was a 90s alternative teen an am now accepting my more settled life in early middle age. The book ultimately made me feel thankful that this isn’t really a bad thing.

The characters are multilayered, so even though I found them dislike able at times they were very believable and ultimately Imfelt compassion for them.

I have seen some criticism of the tangents the author takes but I felt they were realistic as the book spans such a length of time. To me it is understandable thatbthe characters would grapple with the many changes that have come about over the last 30 years. They were also written in such a way that brought some humour which balanced out some of the sadder parts of the story.

I don’t reread books often but this one covers so much ground that I will happily revisit this one and take time to reflect on some of the questions it brought up for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the chance to read this in return for an honest review.

It’s probably an oversimplification, but I put big books into two categories - worth it or not worth it. Unfortunately, Wellness fell into the latter category for me.

Wellness is a big book with a bit of everything - some lovely descriptive writing, a decent story of the evolution of a marriage and midlife crisis, pop psychology and social commentary. While there were elements I quite liked, it never really coalesced for me into a book that I could love.

Long-winded and verbose, with so much excessive detail and repetition, there were points in the book where I really wanted to throw it aside - the passage with their son Toby and his fussy eating was so ridiculously intense it made me hate the book for a time - and it took all my willpower to keep going. I wanted to see how the story would develop and come together so I persisted.

What did I like? I liked Jack’s story more than Elizabeth’s, in particular Jack’s father’s spiral into a world of online conspiracy theories. I liked some of the stuff on the placebo effect (to a point). The citations of multiple studies throughout the book wore on me very quickly - if I wanted a pop psychology book, I’d have read some non-fiction. At what point does meticulously researched spill over into self-indulgent over-citation?

Was it worth the commitment? No. It’s not a long book that feels like a short one. On the contrary, it felt interminable. It seems to be tipped for Booker success but I’d read The Bee Sting twice over before I’d read this again. It scraped a pass for a mediocre 2.5/5⭐️ from me.

*Many thanks to @picador for the arc via @netgalley. As always, this is an honest review.

This was absolutely incredible - I have not yet read The Nix so I didn’t know what to expect going into this book in terms of narrative style but I loved it,

It was so smart and witty, and kept my attention on every page. I also found it well paced, and loved how small details would come back round to elevate a point later in the novel. Hill has such a clever way of intuitively examining minute details of life that are, almost painfully, accurate and relatable, and I just found myself so actively engaged through the entire book.

Where to start with Wellness.

It was the @tiredmammybookclub pick for January, and if there’s one way I love to start the new year, it’s with a hefty book that takes me almost the full month to read. Step in then the latest novel from Nathan Hill, who you might remember, also wrote The Nix.

I started reading Wellness on ebook and got stuck at 2%. My brain just would not let me read any further, so I switched to audio and then it flew along for me.

This is the story of a couple; Jack and Elizabeth who we meet in the 90’s when they’re both young and hopeful, and of course, in love. The rest of the book is about them, now twenty years married with a child and struggling in their relationship. As well as career issues, their kid isn’t making friends, and as a couple they somehow get embroiled in polyamory, a mindfulness group that’s actually a cult, the wellness industry, placebo trials, and Facebook conspiracy theorist arguments.

There’s A LOT going on, is what I’m saying.

Parts of it are really engaging and then at times it just feels like a series of tangents, rather than an actual storyline.

The writing style of this book is absolutely unique and for that alone it’s an interesting one to read. That said, I’m not sure who I would recommend this too as it can be both a frustrating and a rewarding read.

I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. I am looking forward to reading The Nix though, as it sounds like a premise I would be into.

With many thanks to @netgalley for my early copy, all opinions are my own as always.