When Life Gives You Lululemons

This was absolutely fantastic and I stand by that, even though I started explaining one of the major subplots to a male friend who's into action movies and he kind of looked at me like "what on earth are you on?" Women's fiction, it's great.

This was really sweet, quite funny, and had a great plot to keep the story moving (although I really I would have even enjoyed just reading about their maniacal lives because Weisberger can make anything fun.) I appreciated the female comraderie, though I was very concerned about the amount of vaginal plastic surgery that was spoken of frequently.

The references to DEVIL WEARS PRADA were interspersed quite well--the author knows it's been 15 years and that we don't remember every detail, but she's show more aged up the characters respectively and has thrown in some Easter eggs for those of us who remember.

Thanks, Simon & Schuster, for the e-galley! I think it's time for me to catch up on all the Weisberger books I have yet to read. show less

I don’t think novels like When Life Gives You Lululemons are for me. Actually, I don’t think novels like When Life Gives You Lululemons are very entertaining anymore. I get that the story is supposed to be mocking the very milieu it describes, and yet, given everything that is happening in the world, the story felt inappropriate.

There are two specific areas which bothered me. The first is the obscene amounts of wealth, privilege, and their trappings discussed ad nauseam within the story. I get that it is fun to get a glimpse of how the other half lives, and normally I can have some fun with those stories. When Life Gives You Lululemons to me crosses the line between funny to just plain sad. We don’t need examples of people in show more positions of power abusing that power to affect others. We have that almost every single hour of every single day and have had that every day since November 6, 2016. We don’t need examples of over-the-top birthday parties where all the girls get $300 blowouts. We don’t need to descriptions of cars that cost $100k or people who have nannies and housekeepers and chefs. Most importantly, we do not need another story about someone in power using it to make the life of someone else miserable because it helps him achieve his goals and because he can. Again, we get too much of that in our daily lives to want to read a story about how wealthy the wealthy really are and how the powerful keep trying to screw over the less powerful.

The other area that bothered me is with the obsession with outward appearances. Between Emily mocking those wearing athleisure wear, Miriam bemoaning her baby weight, and Karolina being described as too thin and sexy – all of which occur numerous times throughout the novel, the mystery of why women have body image problems is a mystery no longer. In fact, so strong is the message that being extremely thin is the only way to be happy and have a healthy sex life that I finished the novel feeling deeply uncomfortable about my own body. I began to question my love of leggings as well as what I wear around the house versus in public. Even worse, I felt disgust at my weight. Novels like When Life Gives You Lululemons only perpetuate negative body stereotypes, and I feel like they have no place in this world anymore.

The thing is, while I suspect Lauren Weisberger is mocking the Greenwich community for its first-world, one-percenter problems, I am not certain this is the case. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion When Life Gives You Lululemons is meant to be a supposedly fun glimpse into the lives of the über rich, where we find out they are just like us except with a lot more money and people to do their work for them. This is not The Devil Wears Prada with its story of someone who eventually turns down the trappings of the wealthy and fashionable in order to obtain personal happiness. This is a story specifically about those people Andy left – people who are wealthy and fashionable and, let’s face it, petty. While ultimately all three women have to go down paths previously mocked in order to obtain their happiness, the story is just not the same. It is not inspirational but discouraging on many fronts.

Maybe this type of story is your thing. Maybe I just don’t get the genre. But I cannot ignore the way When Life Gives You Lululemons made me feel both while reading and after I finished it. What is supposed to be amusing is disgusting. Plus, the lesson about opening yourself up to happiness where you least expect it gets lost behind the bombardment of top-tier brand names and unending discussions of weight, clothes, and general physical appearances. The entire story is distasteful on many levels, and it is going to take me a long time to get over the feeling of repugnance I feel just thinking about it. show less

I daresay i recommended this book all over Facebook and to friends this summer - but didn't share my review here, so time to rectify the situation!!

Emily Charlton might have been my favorite character from The Devil Wears Prada, so this book was a delight! Lauren Weisberger delivers her usual snappy dialogue, in a light, fun, fast paced read. Emily is her snarky self, and we meet two friends: former model Karolina, who gets herself in a bit of a pickle and needs Emily's help as an image consultant, and former attorney-turned-stay at home mom, Miriam, who joins the fight to help Karolina. Told alternately from all three points of view and set in the Greenwich, Connecticut, it's filled with the over the top stereotypes of lunching ladies show more clad in Lululemon and views of ridiculous wealth and privilege.

The story is hilarious, but underlying the humor Karolina is the victim of lies and deception, and the trio handles it in the only way you would expect them to. This is all over the top, eye-rolling fun.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book. All opinions are my own! show less

As a huge Devils Wears Prada Fan I was so excited to read more of my favorite character from that book, Emily's, story. And this did not disappoint! Emily is basically the star of this book and rightfully so. She is hysterical, and witty, and we all wish we had a friend so honest and straightforward, don't we?

After her run with Miranda, Emily is off on her own doing some 'Olivia Pope - Scandal" type work. And it suits her well. BUT there's some young competition (coincidentally named Olivia) in town that is threatening to steal most of Emily's high-profile clientele. Along with her childhood friend Miriam, drowning in all things mom-life suburbia, and Karolina, an ex-model Emily knew from her Runway days who has found herself in a bit show more of a scandal herself, this threesome of women bands together to overcome some serious life obstacles.

I thought the story was written really well and happily read it in two days - the plotline was pretty solid and kept me intrigued throughout - I was mad, I was sad, I laughed... and oh, did I mention Miranda?!?! Yep, shes back, too! There's even a cameo from Andy!

I enjoyed When Life Gives You Lululemons. Although I can't help but feeling that Miriam bored the hell out of me. Karolina a bit as well, but her story kept me on her. So, it's safe to say Emily clearly and deservedly took the spotlight on this one. Although, I find it extremely hard to believe Emily Charlton went to summer camp, would ever wear sweatpants, or, especially watch sappy crap on TV like This is Us, Emily is still the character we all know and love - and I still want to be her BFF! show less

I was wary going into this one as I have not read any of the other books in the Prada series although I did see the movie. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could read this easily as a standalone novel. It is a hilarious observation of motherhood, the suburbs, friendship, and how women come together in a crisis starring the incredibly sassy Emily Charlton. At first, I could not imagine her in a setting other than as Miranda Priestly's arrogant assistant at first but I could easily see her in the suburbs in this book. It is hilariously tongue in cheek and laugh out loud funny.

A special thank you to NetGalley, Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lauren Weisberger is back and so is Emily Charlton!

Readers will remember Emily from The Devil Wears Prada as Miranda Priestly's chief assistant. Emily is now living in Hollywood and is an image consultant for the rich and famous. Although her roster of clients includes high profile celebrities, she is losing clients to another younger image consultant and seems to be in a downward spiral. She needs to put herself back on top—nobody does damage control like Emily, but the problem is she is hopeless when it comes to social media.

Karolina Hartwell is the ex-model wife of a senator on track for the presidency. Their life show more seems picture perfect until Karolina is arrested for a DUI with a Suburban full of children.

Although the women met at Runway years earlier, Miriam is the link between them. She was a partner at a prestigious Manhattan law firm, but decided to move to the suburbs of Greenwich, CT to spend more time with her children. Being a stay-at-home mom in a wealthy affluential neighbourhood sounds like every woman's dream, but Miriam is discovering that it is more stressful than her high-profile job.

The three women band together over Karolina's woes to navigate their way through life in the burbs. All is not as it appears, Hollywood has nothing over Greenwich.

Can I tell you that I tore through this book? It was completely addictive and indulgent. And the title...can we just take a moment to appreciate how clever and cheeky it is?

Weisberger has penned three very different, but as equally intriguing, characters. Fans of The Devil Wears Prada are not going to be disappointed. In my opinion, this was far better than Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns and I'm wondering if it is because this book came home to the characters that made the series what it was, Emily and Miranda.

This book should be top of your summer reads pile. Perfect for discussing with your girlfriends over your favourite cocktails! Cheers, Lauren Weisberger. show less

I don't care that this is not amazing literature, or that it didn't have phrases so exquisitely turned that I highlighted large swaths of it. This was a fun read-by-the-pool book that sped my conversion to vacation mode (it always takes some time to decompress) by at least a day.