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astoriareader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
- Jack & Elizabeth are married & have a son together. They’ve been together for about twenty year, and they met in college in the early 90s while living in Wicker Park.
- The book centers around these two characters, but it jumps around in time a lot. We get to learn their backstories & childhoods.
- After 20 years together, Jack & Elizabeth struggle to recognize each other, and Hill intertwines back stories to give us deeper insight as well.
- 600 page sweeping story.
- Deftly executed + amazing character development. Hill flushes out the back stories to our two main characters. We get to see them at their highs and their lows.
- As a former psych major, I loved all the psychological references & the general psychological meanderings.
- This book tackles a giant range of topics, such as love, marriage, conspiracy theories, parenting, trendy fitness programs, Facebook algorithms, placebos, polyamory, trauma, poignant social media commentary, “the Secret”, 90s culture, and provably lots more that I am forgetting.
- Hill is a master at storytelling, and I resonated with his writing style. The book feels so real, relatable, and human.
- I really loved the exploration of how humans grow & change. Jack & Elizabeth are not their twenty year old selves for eternity. What do we do with that? What is love? How do we evolve as humans, and what does it mean if our life partners have evolved in different ways?
- Hill clearly researched a lot of topics & even includes a bibliography. He’s smart, and I enjoyed his commentary throughout the book.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, and Child death
Moderate: Infidelity and Cancer
fkshg8465's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Child death, Drug use, Cancer, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Bullying, and Fire/Fire injury
tiggerrd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child death and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Cancer
creativerunnings's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Death of parent, Mental illness, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship
tarajoy90's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death and Emotional abuse
Minor: Cancer
caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
- WELLNESS is a book that is so sprawling and layered that I am having a hard time collecting my thoughts about it.
- Hill is such a master of slowly unspooling a story, giving us each piece of a character's life at the exact moment it's needed, which somehow makes a slow, character-based novel feel like a page turner.
- It's possibly I simply connect too deeply to this book, given that I'm someone who thought she'd be an artist of some kind who is now married in the suburbs...but I think even if you don't identify with that particular part of the story, there will be something in Jack and Elizabeth's lives that rings true to you.
- The more I think about this book, the more sure I am that I can't condense it into an Instagram caption. Consider this an open invitation to come chat with me about it if you've read it!
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, and Sexual content