The sinister side of the wellness industry is rich ground for a horror novel, but this debut falls short.
In this debut novel, a former pianist takes a job at a groundbreaking holistic wellness company, where she learns the extent to which her new employers will go to make their privileged clients happy.
The unnamed narrator of the book—who eventually takes the name Anna when her employers claim her given Chinese name is too complicated—is the daughter of immigrants who fled China following the Cultural Revolution. Her parents worked as piano teachers, and when the narrator shows skill at the instrument, they devote their limited time and energy to helping her develop it. That skill eventually lands her a place at the prestigious Conservatory in New York City, where she is shunned by her peers due to her talent and bullied for her lack of wealth. When returning to New Jersey following one of her recitals, her parents are in a devastating car accident that requires they be placed in a care facility, and the narrator stops playing piano to take on minimum wage jobs to pay for their care. But when Saje, the face of the wellness company Holistik, comes into the restaurant where the narrator is working and offers her a job, her life begins to change. Given the most cutting-edge supplements and treatments, the narrator begins to see her own body morph into a Westernized ideal of beauty. But as she becomes more enmeshed in Holistik—becoming friends with the owner's niece, taking on additional tasks that show her parts of the company others don't see—she begins to question the moral core of what they do. This dystopian horror story poses questions about race, wellness culture, privilege, and beauty, but it struggles to do so in a way that provides deep consideration. A lack of setup makes the story hard to follow; the author rushes key aspects, from details such as what gift the narrator is given by a friend to larger considerations such as why a stranger offered the narrator a job on the spot that she accepted without question. Although it will keep the reader guessing, this novel ultimately moves too quickly to provide a satisfactory payoff on the many mysteries it lays out.
The sinister side of the wellness industry is rich ground for a horror novel, but this debut falls short.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9780593472927
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
A boarding-school fantasia, with Hilderbrand’s signature upgrades to the cuisine and decor. Sign us up for next term.
A year in the life of the No. 2 boarding school in America—up from No. 19 last year!
Rumors of Hilderbrand’s retirement were greatly exaggerated, it turns out, since not only has she not gone out to pasture, she’s started over in high school, with her daughter Shelby Cunningham as co-author. As their delicious new book opens, it’s Move-In Day at Tiffin Academy, and Head of School Audre Robinson is warmly welcoming the returning and new students to the New England campus, the latter group including a rare midstream addition to the junior class. Brainiac Charley Hicks is transferring from public school in Maryland to a spot that opened up when one of the school’s most beloved students died by suicide the preceding year. She will be joining a large, diverse cast of adult and teenage characters—queen bees, jealous second-stringers, boozehounds young and old, secret lesbians, people chasing the wrong people chasing other wrong people—all of them royally screwed when an app called Zip Zap appears and starts blasting everyone’s secrets all over campus. How the heck…? Meanwhile, it seems so unlikely that Tiffin has jumped up to the No. 2 spot in the boarding-school rankings that a high-profile magazine launches an investigation, and even the head is worried that there may have been payola involved. The school has a reputation for being more social than academic, and this quality gets an exciting new exclamation point when the resident millionaire bad boy opens a high-style secret speakeasy for select juniors in a forgotten basement. It’s called Priorities. Exactly. One problem: Cinnamon Peters’ mysterious suicide hangs over the book in an odd way, especially since the note she left for her closest male friend is not to be opened for another year—and isn’t. This is surely a setup for a sequel, but it’s a bit frustrating here, and bobs sort of shallowly along amid the general high spirits.
A boarding-school fantasia, with Hilderbrand’s signature upgrades to the cuisine and decor. Sign us up for next term.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9780316567855
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
Vintage Follett. His fans will be pleased.
A dramatic, complex imagining of the origins of Stonehenge.
In about 2500 B.C.E. on the Great Plain, Seft and his family collect flints in a mine. He dislikes the work, and the motherless lad hates the abuse he gets from his father and brothers. He leaves them and arrives at a wooden monument where sacred events such as the Midsummer Rite take place. There are also circles of stones that help predict equinoxes, solstices, even eclipses. This is a world where the customary greeting is “May the Sun God smile on you,” and everyone is a year older on Midsummer Day. Except for a priestess or two, no one can count beyond fingers and toes—to indicate 30, they show both hands, point to both feet, then show both hands again. Casual sex is common, and sex between women is less common but not taboo. Joia, a young woman who becomes a priestess, wonders about her sexuality. After a fire destroys the Monument, she leads a bold effort to rebuild it in stone. To please the gods, they must haul 10 giant stones from distant Stony Valley. Of course neither machinery nor roads exist, so the difficulties are extraordinary. Although the project has its detractors, hundreds of able-bodied people are willing to help. Craftspeople known as cleverhands construct a sled and a road, and they make the rope to wrap around the stones. Many, many others pull. And pull. Meanwhile, the three principal groups—farmers, woodlanders, and herders—all have their separate interests. There is talk of war, which Joia has never seen in her lifetime. Soon it seems inevitable that the powerful farmers will not only start one but win it, unless heroes like Seft and Joia can come up with a creative plan. But there is also the matter of love for Joia in this well-plotted and well-told yarn. The story has a lot of characters from multiple tribes, and they can be hard to keep track of. A page in the front of the book listing who’s who would be helpful.
Vintage Follett. His fans will be pleased.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781538772775
Page Count: 704
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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