Review & Excerpt – Be Well by Sarah Flocken
Synopsis
Summer 2009: Brand-new college graduate Ann Ward has sent out nearly three hundred job applications, but nobody will employ her. The last thing she wants to do is leave Los Angeles, return to her desert hometown, and live in the shadow of her fame-hungry televangelist father–and it’s starting to look like that’s her fate. Thankfully, Ann’s luck turns after a humiliating failed job interview, when she meets the magnetic founder of upscale holistic wellness collective Sagebrush. She’s quickly drawn deep into the privileged, demanding world of Sagebrush, inventing Anneliese – a dubious new persona – to fit in.
But when her funds run out and her lies blow up, Ann must choose between facing reality or doing whatever she has to do in order to get the future she wants. Both a “funny ha-ha-” and a “funny oh no” read for anyone who survived the Great Recession, Be Well explores just how easy it is to believe in something unquestioningly–and lie to ourselves and others–when everything feels uncertain and the future isn’t guaranteed.
Amazon
This book will be released on June 23, 2026. Preorder today!
Excerpt
The evening air on my face is cool, and everything somehow smells cleaner than before. A clearer vision of my life ahead takes shape and fills me with hope. Walking into the Sagebrush lobby after work at my first real job, one that’s challenging and fulfilling. Heading home, glistening after an invigorating hot yoga class, just sweaty enough but not drenched and haggard. Walking into the apartment at Millennia and casually asking Lindsay about her day, feeling no pangs of jealousy when she dives into the latest work drama and her plans with other people. Walking with Elyssa and Tori down a leafy street through a weekend farmer’s market, looking through all the offerings from book vendors on the sidewalk. Moving through the world like someone who knows what they’re doing.
When I get back to my room, I do a complete purge of my Facebook page. I feel a tiny pang of guilt as I untag remaining photos of me and Sam, but I have to remember that as far as anyone knows, Anneliese is an only child. It would just complicate things if it looked like she had a sibling. Besides, all Sam has of me on his Facebook is like one picture from graduation day. The rest is him being a dipshit in the kitchen at house parties with all his same friends from high school.
Come to think of it, it might be a good idea to just hide every wall post and status that references Blanco Valley. The guilt comes back as I do this too, but it’s not like I’m hurting anyone by doing this. Nobody from Blanco Valley probably cares or misses me that much anyway. Maybe my mom but thank God she’s not on Facebook yet. I wonder if she’d tell people where she was from if she were in my position. I don’t know.
To banish that thought from my head, I hit “request” on the “Sagebrush – Members Only” Facebook group and sit up a little straighter as I plunge back into the black hole of Monster.com.
Review
What were you doing in 2009? I was working for a bank, and I remember all of the financial hard times people had when it came to homes and so much more. I can’t imagine what it would have been like when I graduated from college with no job prospects on the horizon.
I’m just going to say it up front, Ann is a hot mess. She is creating a past to avoid her reality, lying to everyone, and her new friends? I saw the tell-tale signs of a cult from a mile away. But sometimes people will do desperate things for friendship.
While I couldn’t relate to Ann, I could empathize with everything she was going through. I didn’t agree with her decisions, but who doesn’t make unwise choices when they are young?
I thought the ending was interesting, I won’t spoil anything, but Ann made the best of her situation.
We give this book 4 paws up.
About the Author
Sarah Flocken is an author who writes unhinged fiction for the silently enraged. Be Well is her first novel. She is also a public relations professional, comedian, improviser, and pun contest host (yes, it’s a thing) with performance credits worldwide. Los Angeles will always hold a piece of her heart and blood pressure, but San Diego is the place she calls home.
