Book Review: "The Glow" by Jessie Gaynor

It's August 2025 (where has time gone?) and I'm reading more wellness horror/thriller novels. I'm going to admit it, the more I read of this trend, the more tired it seems. It was super original to begin with but there are only so many stories you can write about basically the same thing and each time, they get worse. Ling Ling Huang's Natural Beauty will always be the original book because, in my opinion, it is the best written. After that, we take a bit of a turn with EK Sathue's novel Youthjuice. But, I think The Glow by Jessie Gaynor is really toeing the line between what we would consider a good novel and what we can pick apart and say 'this isn't original at all.' Let's take a look at where it stands...

Jane is the main character of this novel and, like our previous main characters, is 'bogged down' by middle class life. Honestly, this whole 'whiny middle class woman' stuff is starting to get annoying but, if there is anyone who can do it ironically is Ottessa Moshfegh. Well, apart from being slightly whiny, Jane is a woman faltering at work and she's almost fired for low performance. She needs to undergo a self-transformation and searches the superficial wellness market which often includes cartoonishly described parodies of Gwyneth Paltrow. After some time, she meets a...

cartoonishly described parody of Gwyneth Paltrow. (sighs in predictable)

This is at a wellness retreat because a character who *checks notes* is drowning in medical debts that are several figures long can afford to go on an expensive retreat for wellness run by a cult leader who is very clearly only out to swindle people out of their money. I mean, it seems like a good idea on paper but once you start thinking about it, it becomes rather silly. Cass is the wellness cult leader who speaks in zen-riddles and has a flawless output - so basically Tree from YouthJuice with even more annoying Platrow-isms. I hate the way these people speak and yet, I actually think that the author may have done that on purpose. We're supposed to think they are stupid.

The retreat is called FortPath. It's a bunch of linen-wearing nutjobs in rural New Jersey. Members cry about their bowels, eat meals made from one ingredient and participate in some weird activities that don't sound very 'well' being to me. Back at home, Jane starts to try to work Cass into the branding for 'experiences'. There's a whole ton of marketing crap which isn't very interesting but in the end, Cass becomes their client. The authenticity of the retreat doesn't become cheapened because Cass is a bit of an idiot swindling people out of their money, but because Jane is a bit of an idiot swindling people out of their money. I don't know, but the writer doesn't do a great job of hooking us on to a character with morals and honesty. It's just a bunch of terrible people working together to be a bit more terrible.

On the sidelines you've got that odd marriage story between Cass and her husband (Tom). I'm not sure why we needed that included. Jane wrestles with some weird complexes about inferiority and envy. Eventually, she starts to experience the middle-class's worst problem: performance burnout. I said that sarcastically. It actually takes her quite a bit of the book to discover that monetised self-care and wellness scams are actually just a whole lot of bullshit. So, she is definitely dimmer than most. I enjoyed the author's satire of the wellness industry but the characters are just unbelievably unlikeable and so, it becomes almost unreadable from time to time.

All in all, I would say this book is probably the worst of the wellness horror/thriller novels I've read. It simply doesn't have a character that the reader finds is likeable and honest with the reader, it also has a storyline which is overly packed with stuff - some of which the reader wouldn't care about. The writing is okay and the author has a good sense of satirisation, especially when it comes to building the tension and conflict within a character. If you're looking for less body horror and more mediations on the marketing aspect, then I would recommend this one to you. But the main message gets lost in the fluff.