I wasn’t sure where this story was going to go. But.....the way it went was never in my wildest dreams what I imagined. These people and others expect that their stay won't be all pampering and relaxation, but they're not prepared for all that the health resort is going to throw at them. It's going to take some work to make change happen, but they have no idea just how far the director of the resort is willing to take things. It's going to be more than fasting, yoga, massages, and hikes in the beautiful countryside. In some sense, their very survival may be at stake—certainly their willingness to fight for themselves will be challenged. Moriarty’s usual wry, spot-on observations about the dramas of real life are missing from this book. Setting all the action in an isolated (and oddly un-chichi) health spa cuts Moriarty off from showing everyday life and culture, which has been one of her greatest strengths. These characters are stranded, unable to go about their daily business of planning, worrying, drinking coffee, and bonding with other women. (Or worrying about what other women think of them.)

Add suspense, humor, insight, a good plot, and decent writing, and you have yourself an excellent book. I was thoroughly entertained. On his third day out he meets a middle-age woman who had fallen out of a chair. Obviously a heavy smoker - some overworked bigwig - who paid little attention to her personal health. Masha was soon having a full blown cardiac arrest. Cover: Simply beautiful, natural, effective & purely Moriarty! P.S. - Do you see an outline of a woman’s body on the cover?Marsha, the head of Tranquillum an extremely controlling and yet intelligent seeming woman who definitely commands everyone’s attention. She constantly talks to her group of guests, monitoring them often and having individual sessions with them.

As the days pass they discover that Masha's methods for transformation are even more radical than they had at first thought. Halfway through, there was a genre-changing twist and things get a little serious. Although I had a suspicion, I was only partially right and the author managed to take me completely by surprise. No spoilers here, but it suddenly became an entirely different story, and the nine must band together for a solution. (I’m being deliberately vague as it’s important to go into this story blind.) There’s an epilogue, which I ordinarily find to be unnecessary but in this case I appreciated it. There are transformations, although not necessarily the ones the guests expected. The gate opens easily when Ben enters the ‘correct’ button code. “Just needed a man’s touch”, he says. Ha!

Napoleon, Heather, and Zoe, are a family that certainly looks healthy. But they're carrying around a lot of grief, anger, regret, fear, and guilt related to a tragedy that happened just three years ago. While it might have been a better idea to go on a cruise or some other vacation, they hope that the time to meditate and reflect might help them move past these issues. A washed up romance novelist, a family broken by tragedy, a has-been football star, a young couple whose marriage is faltering, the wife who has been left for a newer model and the lawyer who has commitment issues. Nine perfect strangers all broken in their own way looking for a make-over, a rejuvenation. Moriarty is heavy on dialogue (which I love) and doesn’t venture out into the wilderness to describe leaves and pebbles (which also gets my stamp of approval). It was only when someone thinks they see a kangaroo on the road that I realized I was in Australia! Kangaroo? I want to see a kangaroo! Must accept that it’s not going to happen here in the states, so sad. Even the word makes me laugh, it’s so playful, jazzy, and rhythmic. If you like snarky humor, as I do, then you’ll find much to enjoy here. I appreciate an author who can write subtle satire and I loved the wit of the author and the sly digs into self-important authors, the publishing industry, our obsession with age, appearance and ‘wellness’, and the psycho-babble of some spirituality gurus. There are too many characters, eleven in all. And readers really get to know only two well: fifty-something romance author Frances and twenty-year-old nice-kid Zoe, who become unlikely allies as the spa experience grows weirder and more challenging.

After the prologue, the first character the reader is introduced to is Frances. This was a great opener for the avid reader who will ‘get’ the subtle and not so subtle digs at the publishing industry and the trends they run right into the ground until they become a parody of themselves, forcing authors to either hop on board the train or wait for their chosen genre to become popular again. So, right away, I knew I was going have to see how Frances fared, and was all in. I couldn’t wait to see what other sardonic observations the author had up her sleeve. She remembered her first-ever boyfriend of over thirty years ago, who told her he preferred smaller breasts than hers, while his hands were on her breasts, as if she’d find this interesting, as if women’s body parts were dishes on a menu and men were the goddamned diners. In the end the guests are indeed challenged in many ways, some of which they definitely didn’t consent to or want to be a part of. There is some healing, some transformative times for the guests and then bonding together to try to figure out the answer to a most urgent puzzle. Your skin is gorgeous!’ Frances gesticulated wildly, probably because she was trying not to look at Zoe’s pimple.”

Linguee Apps

Frances can’t open the gate to the Wellness Resort. She entered the correct code several times - but it still won’t open. Twenty frustrating minutes go by and new guests arrive. Overall: An extremely enjoyable & entertaining read that had me totally engrossed from start to finish! Would highly recommend! He’d thought, full of love and testosterone, that he would protect his woman from bad men and heavy furniture and upsetting food.” She couldn’t shake the feeling that if she didn’t record this moment on her phone then it wasn’t really happening.” Ben let’s us know that the more work she had done on her face and body the less secure Jessica was about herself.