Wasteful is a dark contemporary drama with psychological horror, romance, and underground fight-club energy woven through it. The story follows Maximis Eldridge, a nineteen-year-old writer in New York whose life is unraveling under the pressure of unfinished stories, unstable relationships, buried violence, and a growing sense that something inside him is becoming impossible to control.
At the center of the novel is the volatile relationship between Max and his roommate Ellie Stone - a bond built on late-night walks, reckless impulses, emotional dependency, and blurred boundaries. Their chemistry is intimate, destructive, and deeply human. Around them orbit characters like Heather, whose sincerity clashes against Max's self-destructive tendencies, creating a tense emotional triangle fueled by guilt, obsession, and denial.