I received this ARC from @houseofanansi as part of their book subscription bundle, and was immediately interested after reading the synopsis. Agnes is a new writer who, through luck, ends up in a sort-of friendship with Geia, a popular lifestyle celebrity, which earns her a seat at an exclusive wellness retreat led by Geia on a Greek island, with the concept of writing an article about it for Vogue. Struggling with impostor syndrome and a skeptical eye on “Wellness”, Agnes struggles, both with writing about the retreat and participating in it. But she also starts to realize that there is something unusual going on, and starts to investigate.

Overall, I enjoyed this book! There were a few parts of it that didn’t really land with me, but it didn’t stop me enjoying the book. Once it really picked up, I couldn’t stop reading until I got to the end. The mystery is revealed slowly, and it kept me turning pages. I also sympathized a lot with Agnes and her view of “Wellness”. Geia is very much a Gwenyth-Paltrow character, and discussions between her and Agnes have some great tidbits about beauty culture and the obsession with health and wellness quick-fixes.

I think another part I liked is that Agnes seems to change her relationship to wellness at the retreat. Like her, I generally see the cornucopia of wellness activities around my hometown with something ranging from suspicion to cynicism. But that’s not to say that being in such environments and people hasn’t probably been a good influence on me in some ways. I don’t believe that attending an ecstatic dance class will solve my problems, but it might help some people, and really, why shouldn’t we dance like nobody is watching? With maybe some external influence, Agnes seemed to have a similar growth at the retreat.

If you’re looking for a quick, mysterious read, check out Goddess! Publish date January 2023. Thanks Anansi for the copy!