Synopsis:
Claire is a failed 28-year-old musician recently outed from her band. As if that isn’t bad enough, the band ascends into wild popularity with an infuriatingly catchy song Claire helped write, which is now being sung by her curvy, gorgeous replacement.
Without a stable job or any promising options, Claire fears she’ll have to go home to her bible-thumping parents, with her tail between her legs and her grandiose dreams shattered.
That is until her cousin finds her a gig as a “music leader” for a posh play group in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Though it’s not Claire’s idea of a long term career path, she jumps at the opportunity to keep herself rooted to New York City. How hard could it be, singing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” to a bunch of infants?
As soon as Claire walks though the threshold of Whitney’s penthouse apartment, she knows this isn’t just any mommy clique.
This is the realm of always-Instagram-ready mothers, who have snapped back into shape with mommy-and-me yoga and stroller jogging classes. With the help of Whitney’s booming Instagram account, the mothers in the group get free juice cleanses, organic diaper rash cream, and even special access to personalized vitamins that promise to have them feeling like Super Moms instantaneously.
From all outer appearances, these women want for nothing. They’ve been blessed with adoring husbands, beautiful children, luxurious homes, and all of the complementary and obscenely over-priced mommy swag their hearts could desire. The group is even offered an opportunity to be photographed for a swanky coffee table book about Instagram famous moms.
When Amara, the most normal of the moms and Claire’s closest acquaintance, asks Claire to babysit for a much needed date night , the picture perfect veneer cracks. Claire unwittingly discovers the secret to the mommy group and their enviable goddess like visages. And it’s a secret that could ruin them all, in more ways than one.
I get an almost guilty pleasure out of reading chick-lit depicting rich wives and mothers and all of the fictional shenanigans (that I truly hope are based in reality) they get up to. This book was chock full of catty secrets, underhandedness, and even an elicit affair. *gasp* The book bounces around from perspective to perspective so the reader gets a full picture of what each character is thinking throughout the telling, and the rational behind their individual actions.
On top of the drama, there’s something extra entertaining about reading the trivial, superficial issues women from the upper crust find themselves fretting over. But if I’m being honest, during this time of rampant social media use and the obsessive need to appear perfect through such platforms, there’s a relatablity there too. Who among us doesn’t get a thrill of gratification from empty compliments from strangers and recognition for the most mundane moments we are compelled to share with the world? How we appear feels so important, that skewing reality becomes commonplace to the point it doesn’t even register we’re creating a fictional universe. As this story progresses, this issue is touched on again and again, and couldn’t be more accurate.
Whitney seems like a born and bred WASP, owning the trophy wife game with flawless grace. But that’s not who she is, and this place is far from where her origins are rooted. Amara comes off as sarcastic and hot-tempered in the beginning, with her extra cranky baby and suppressed professional passions. However, that first impression begins to slip away as the story unfolds and the reader gets a peek into why she uses her wit as a defense mechanism. And Claire, for all her flighty, free loving artist quirks, turns out to be much more perceptive and observant than she might appear from the onset.
It’s a book that helps ground the reader’s understanding of reality, versus what is presented at face value (after being airbrushed and photo shopped into unrecognizability.) It’s also a fun book that had me laughing through out. I think this will be an especially popular purchase this summer, and is definitely a book readers should indulge in poolside or at the beach! A few other favorites I recommend from this genre are When Life Gives You Lululemons, Fitness Junkie, and That’s What Frenemies are For.
Get your copy by clicking on the book! 🙂
Happy & healthy reading!
Lexi
