When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger is a fun and comedic story that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The Devil Wears Prada fans will enjoy the reappearance of beloved characters. This is the book to take on your next beach vacation.
Lauren Weisberger is a best-selling author of women’s fiction. She is most known for The Devil Wears Prada, the fictional take on working with Vogue’s Anna Wintour. Those characters in that story, and more so with the film, are engrained in pop culture memory. With When Life Gives You Lululemons, Weisberger focuses on the character of Emily, the other assistant to Miranda Priestly, which was a star-making role for Emily Blunt. As I mentioned in my preview, I haven’t read the direct sequel, Revenge Wears Prada but it isn’t needed for this story, as this is a standalone.
The story features the perspectives of Emily, her friend Miriam, a powerful attorney turned stay-at-home suburban mom and Karolina, a former supermodel, arrested for a DUI despite not being drunk. The women band together to clear Karolina’s name and reputation but they all learn some life lessons along the way.
Lululemon gals
Anyone who has taken a boutique fitness class has seen an abundance of Lululemon workout gear. The explosion of that brand also opened the doors for athleisure, (which for someone who works at home, I’m all aboard that trend). In a sense, though, the workout clothes almost represent exclusivity as spending over $100 for leggings is not an option for some people. However, in the affluent town of Greenwich, Conn., it seems to be a requirement, among many other things.
This story takes a look at women of a certain class and race in an extremely high-end suburban place. There is plenty of superficiality but, most of the time, it’s a humorous look at it. Emily’s reaction to the women of the neighborhood is hilarious and let’s face it, some stereotypes are true.
Some of the descriptions of these women sound outlandish, for instance, throwing a viewing party for a newborn with plenty of booze and no baby in sight. But there was so much in the novel that rang true to this certain demographic. Let’s just say, I’ve heard the term “mommy makeover” more than once in Scottsdale.
Multi-perspective
Something I enjoyed was that Weisberger wrote the story from the viewpoints of the three women. While the focus is helping Karolina, the other two women are dealing with their own battles and struggles to find their place in life. So, the reader is able to fully immerse in all their stories too. I like how these three women stuck together. It’s something we don’t always see often, fiction can sometimes show women ultra-competitive. It might seem like a little thing but I believe it’s important to show all kinds of female relationships. I also enjoyed how they work together to take down a man that is causing Karolina so much trouble.
Other thing to note with perspective, this novel is a quick read. I’m not kidding when I say you can take it on the beach, you’ll probably finish in a day.
Reappearance of beloved characters
Emily is a great character. She’s brutally honest and while in reality, it would be hard to take, it makes for an entertaining character. I think her character arc from The Devil Wears Prada makes sense and I like where she’s at in the end of this story. Hopefully, Weisberger re-visits her again down the road.
I wasn’t sure how the reappearance of Miranda Priestly would work or even make sense. But it’s actually very enjoyable and also rang true to the character we know from the original story. Andy, remember her?, makes a very brief appearance as well.
Sometimes a book is just pure enjoyment and there’s not wrong with that. That said, I can see some frustrated with how all the women act in this story so do keep in mind that some characters are shallow at times.
However, if you’re looking for a light read that doesn’t have much conflict, this is the one for you.
