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A review by jkamler
Who is Wellness For?: An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who It Leaves Behind by Fariha Róisín
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
1.0
I honestly struggled to get through this book and thought about giving up on it several times. Near the end of the book I just longed for it to be over already.
As others have said, the book does not really examine wellness culture through a sociological lens, but is mostly a memoir of the author’s childhood abuse and pretty broad spiritual claims and generalizations. I hate to even admit this but I also found the author to be a little obsessed with suffering and overindulging in a victim mentality. I really wanted to enjoy this book because I believe in centering voices of color and I was invested in the criticism of wellness culture, but I just resented the experience the entire time. I pushed through to the end but honestly should have just called it quits.
As others have said, the book does not really examine wellness culture through a sociological lens, but is mostly a memoir of the author’s childhood abuse and pretty broad spiritual claims and generalizations. I hate to even admit this but I also found the author to be a little obsessed with suffering and overindulging in a victim mentality. I really wanted to enjoy this book because I believe in centering voices of color and I was invested in the criticism of wellness culture, but I just resented the experience the entire time. I pushed through to the end but honestly should have just called it quits.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Incest, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Fatphobia, Genocide, Body shaming, and Abandonment