The Goddess Effect by Sheila Yasmin Marikar – Review

Despite its initial focus on wellness and self-improvement, The Goddess Effect is a contemporary fiction novel with an investigative twist. Though light-hearted and refusing to take itself too seriously, Sheila Yasmin Marikar’s novel is laced with moments of depth that remind us of our value as individuals in a world filled with robotic sameness.

The Goddess Effect is the debut novel by Sheila Yasmin Marikar, an author and journalist who has been published in a number of reputable publications. Officially releasing on 1 October 2022, I read the book early through the Amazon First Reads scheme for September, choosing it from the list thanks to its intriguing description.

Synopsis

Journalist Anita is sick of her life in New York, and after being phased out of her dead-end job, she takes a decisive leap, moving to Los Angeles to sky rocket her career, find enlightenment, and get in touch with wellness culture. After joining a fitness self-improvement movement called The Goddess Effect, spearheaded by feminist lifestyle guru Venus, Anita submerges herself in the world of workouts. Though her life may be falling apart, Anita finds purpose in committing to sweating it out in a room full of determined women, only to find out during a group retreat that Venus and The Goddess Effect aren’t as concerned with the “wellness” of their clients as she thinks…

Review

I tend to shy away from novels that are built around social media, which is why I read so much fantasy. For the first half of this book, I thought that it was going to be the same way, that there would be a distance between me and the narrative because I struggle to engage with social media in fiction. However, by the second half of this book, that was no longer the case.

Anita, as a character, becomes very entertaining. Her brutally honest insights about herself and others are a refreshing deliverance of modern-thinking, which is plagued with keeping up appearances, social-media fuelled comparisons, and shaky considerations of our own internalised racism, whether we are ethnic minorities or not.

I also found her reasoning for buying into the shady Goddess Effect and sticking to it believable, which leads me onto all of the other characters. Marikar’s supporting cast were an array of millennial and wellness LA pseudo-stereotypes, all sporting deeper underlying personality traits that prevented them from being too cliché, getting the point across that nothing is really ever as it seems.

Finally, I liked that finding love was not the route to Anita’s salvation or self-discovery, romance only playing the part of a tiny, conscious detour throughout the plot. While it was there, it stayed decisively away from centre stage, lurking in the background instead while Anita focused solely on getting her life back on track.

“I had wanted a tribe, a girl gang, a thing to which to belong, as if association would magically make me a secure person… Everyone is a hot mess, even, perhaps especially, the people who seem to have it altogether.”

Sheila Yasmin Marikar, The Goddess Effect

Now for the elements that were not as great. Though I may have claimed Anita is an entertaining character, it’s also worth noting that the things that make her entertaining, along with her thinking in hashtags and captions, can also make her unlikeable in the beginning. However, I do think this is the point. Her lack of direction and insecurity at the start of the novel shows in her blatant lies and poor choices.

Next, though I liked the plot twist, I’m not sure how believable it is. Since this is a spoiler-free review, I won’t say anymore. Following on from the twist, though, I found that the end of the novel was extremely rushed, jumping from the big reveal to a time-skipped Epilogue so fast I was left whiplashed and confused, though mostly satisfied by the end.

I would recommend The Goddess Effect to anyone looking for a light cult-ish book, anyone who likes contemporary fiction and/or critiques of the wellness industry, and anyone looking for a book with a main character who isn’t white.

Now, I gave this book three out of five stars. Even with the few drawbacks, I had a good time reading it and it definitely held my interest until the very last page. I didn’t love it, but there was nothing entirely disappointing about it.

If you’ve read it, I would love to know what you thought. Leave a comment down below or find me on Instagram to chat!