Wellness

I’ll admit: I approached *Wellness* skeptical of yet another ‘marriage in peril’ narrative, but Nathan Hill’s novel gutted me in the best way. The audiobook’s real MVP is Ari Fliakos, whose narration walks a tightrope between deadpan humor and creeping dread. His Jack is a masterclass in performative masculinity—all bluster and self-justification—while his Elizabeth is so controlled you can *hear* the seething beneath her polite vowels. The novel’s satire of wellness culture (a $600 ‘biohacking’ retreat, a fitness app that gaslights you) had me snort-laughing on my commute, but the real brilliance is how Hill folds these absurdities into the couple’s slow-motion collapse. The pacing drags slightly in the middle during Jack’s meandering road trip—Hill’s digressions, while clever, occasionally test even Fliakos’ ability to sustain momentum—but the payoff is worth it. What lingers isn’t the plot’s twists (there are few) but the way Hill and Fliakos expose the lies we tell ourselves to avoid admitting we’re lost. A lesser narrator might’ve leaned into caricature, but Fliakos ensures even the most ridiculous moments—like Jack’s ill-advised foray into ‘artisanal’ infidelity—feel tragically human. The production is clean, with no distracting audio quirks, though I wished for more tonal variation in Elizabeth’s sections to match her internal volatility. Still, this is an audiobook that demands attention: funny enough to disarm you, sharp enough to leave a mark. If you’ve ever rolled your eyes at a ‘self-care’ influencer or lied to your partner about how much you *love* their new hobby, this one’s for you.