THE GODDESS EFFECT

A boutique fitness studio promises life-changing wellness but hides a dark secret.

When Anita, an Indian American woman in her early 30s, decides to uproot her life and leave her stable job in New York City to move to Los Angeles, she’s positive she knows what she’s doing—or at least that’s what she tells everyone. Lying about a guaranteed job opportunity at news outlet Gonzo, Anita says goodbye to her overbearing mother and moves into the Gig, a collective housing community: “I had this wild idea that if I changed my surroundings, maybe I’d become a different person, a better person, a success, how if I put three thousand miles between myself and my mom, maybe I wouldn’t care so much about disappointing her, about not being a dutiful Indian daughter.” Anita tells herself that as soon as she gets settled, she’ll follow up on leads with Gonzo, but instead she devotes all her time to attending classes at the Goddess Effect, a fitness studio that the Daily Mail had called “ayahuasca meets SoulCycle.” Anita’s life becomes completely intertwined with both the Goddess Effect and its elusive founder, Venus von Turnen. But, of course, the promises of wellness are not all they’re cracked up to be, and with a little probing Anita begins to uncover the Goddess Effect’s seedy underbelly. Marikar’s writing is occasionally awkward, with banter that isn't witty and product placement shoehorned into the text (has anyone ever referred to their credit card as their “Capital One”?). That said, Marikar successfully provides larger-than-life caricatures of wellness industry denizens and LA residents at large as well as an outrageous mystery waiting to be exposed.

An exploration of how far a person will go for self-actualization.