Book Review: When Life Gives You Lululemons

When Life Gives You Lululemons

by Lauren Weisberger


Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: June 5, 2018
Date Finished: April 28, 2018

I was provided with a free e-copy of this novel though Netgalley by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.  All thoughts expressed below are my own!

Synopsis:
I'm sure you've heard of A Devil Wears Prada and either read the book, seen the movie, or both.  When Life Gives You Lululemons is written in the Devil Wears Prada universe and reintroducing yourself to those characters (or at least Miranda and Emily) will definitely help you enjoy this one!

When Life Gives You Lululemons tells Emily's story - Emily is now in her mid-thirties and living in LA as an image consultant to celebrities.  She ends up in Greenwich to visit her childhood friend Miriam and gets ensared in suburb drama and managing the image of newly defamed Karolina.  All of the characters are equally delicious and will quickly draw you in.  The Goodreads synopsis is copied below:

New York Times bestselling author Lauren Weisberger returns with a novel starring one of her favorite characters from The Devil Wears Prada—Emily Charlton, first assistant to Miranda Priestly, now a highly successful image consultant who’s just landed the client of a lifetime.

Welcome to Greenwich, CT, where the lawns and the women are perfectly manicured, the Tito’s and sodas are extra strong, and everyone has something to say about the infamous new neighbor.

Let’s be clear: Emily Charlton, Miranda Priestly’s ex-assistant, does not do the suburbs. She’s working in Hollywood as an image consultant to the stars, but recently, Emily’s lost a few clients. She’s hopeless with social media. The new guard is nipping at her heels. She needs a big opportunity, and she needs it now.

Karolina Hartwell is as A-list as they come. She’s the former face of L’Oreal. A mega-supermodel recognized the world over. And now, the gorgeous wife of the newly elected senator from New York, Graham, who also has his eye on the presidency. It’s all very Kennedy-esque, right down to the public philandering and Karolina’s arrest for a DUI—with a Suburban full of other people’s children.

Miriam is the link between them. Until recently she was a partner at one of Manhattan’s most prestigious law firms. But when Miriam moves to Greenwich and takes time off to spend with her children, she never could have predicted that being stay-at-home mom in an uber-wealthy town could have more pitfalls than a stressful legal career.

Emily, Karolina, and Miriam make an unlikely trio, but they desperately need each other. Together, they’ll navigate the social landmines of life in America’s favorite suburb on steroids, revealing the truths—and the lies—that simmer just below the glittering surface. With her signature biting style, Lauren Weisberger offers a dazzling look into another sexy, over-the-top world, where nothing is as it appears.
 

Review:
Lately I've been drawn to light and fun reads and When Life Gives You Lululemons did not disappoint!  I loved getting to know Emily Charlton and definitely want her as my new best friend.  She's honest (to a fault), sarcastic, annoyingly thin, and beautiful.  She abhors the suburbs and isn't shy to tell everyone that while drinking Starbucks and giving them the middle finger!

There are three main storylines in When Life Gives You Lululemons:
1. Emily is trying to save her career and survive time in the suburbs while her husband is away in Hong Kong.  How will she survive the boredom?  Will she be able to bounce her career back or is she hopelessly old and behind the times?  Her career as an image consultant had me thinking Scandal but with hot celebrities instead of government insiders!
2. Miriam is new to being a stay-at-home mom and her identity is definitely in crisis.  Does she want to go back to work?  Can she stop binge eating in the middle of the night and get back to her pre-pregnancy body and marriage?  Is her husband cheating on her?  Miriam is the (super rich) down-to-earth friend in this novel.
3.  Karolina is an ex supermodel who was in a loving marriage to a US Senator and raising their 12-year-old...until she was not.  She was pulled over for suspected DUI, which caused her marriage to implode and forced her to move to Greenwich to escape the tabloids.  Can she save her marriage?  Get her son back?  How will she survive the scandal?



I loved all three storylines and really enjoyed how Lauren Weisberger tied everything together.  These characters aren't perfect, but they are fun to read about and live vicariously through.  Much like many of my recent reads - this is isn't a high brow literacy read, but it is fun - the perfect book to take on a flight or bring to the beach or pool!

This book will make you laugh and also help you realize that maybe your problems are just a bit more manageable than you thought.  I definitely recommend When Life Gives You Lululemons, especially if you enjoyed A Devil Wears Prada!

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