Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty (2024)

Sweet Child O’ Mine is the best song by Guns N’ Roses.

Rounding out the Top 3 are Welcome to the Jungle, then Patience. And then Paradise City is 4th. CHANGE MY MIND!

Unfortunately Lauren Weisberger’s latest novel Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty, which takes its name from a verse in my #4 GNR pick, won’t make it onto any of my Top 3 lists either. I’ll get to my reasons, but first let’s break down how the plot about Peyton and Skye, two sisters that are knock-knock-knockin' on 40's door, ties to Paradise City’s lyrics:

“Take me down to the paradise city” = Much of the book takes place in a Stepford Wives-like suburb of New York called Paradise.

“Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty” = Everyone tries to keep up with the joneses, and the women will do anything to maintain their youthful glow including gross experimental beauty treatments.

“I’m your charity case so buy me something to eat, I’ll pay you at another time” = One of the main characters has massive credit card debt from trying to establish a residence for less fortunate girls.

"Rags to riches or so they say, Ya gotta keep pushin' for the fortune and fame” = Peyton’s ambition took her from a community college start to co-hosting a national morning talk show.

"Ya treat it like a capital crime, Everybody's doin' the time” = Someone broke the law by trying to bribe Princeton to admit their daughter, and that someone is going to jail for it.

It’s an interesting idea, isn’t? Breaking down a song’s lyrics to inspire a novel’s plot. I don’t know that Weisberger specifically did that here, but if not it’s quite a happy coincidence. What she does say she did in the Author’s Note is write it during a global pandemic and shortly after the devastating passing of her longtime editor. “Tapping into any small shred of creativity - especially for a book that’s supposed to be a beach read - felt impossible.” Plus, she was homeschooling her kids and dealing with social isolation, as so many were in 2020. After reading that, it all made sense.

You see, the book just isn’t any fun. I thought her last novel, When Life Gives You Lululemons, was a blast, and that’s what I was hoping for here. Instead it’s a by-the-numbers (lyrics?), ripped-from-the-headlines plot with vapid characters and an eye-roll ending. Plus there are some questionable “white savior” elements that may offend some readers.

It’s not all bad, though. The teen daughter is a truly likable, admirable character with an enjoyable storyline, and fans of morning TV (and particularly “The Morning Show” series) will find that aspect entertaining. I also got a kick out of the chapter titles, which show Weisberger still has some pep left in her step.

But ultimately can you forgive a book for just having a bad case of the 2020’s? I’m inclined to, so that takes my 2.5 rating up to a 3 here. I’m rooting for the author to bounce back with a follow up beach read that feels a little something more like a trip to chick lit paradise.

My thanks to Lauren Weisberger and Random House Publishing Group for providing an advance copy via NetGalley for review.

blog: www.confettibookshelf.com

Yeeeeeesssss! After Devil wears Prada, I read several books of Lauren Weisberger : and most of them are quite miss for me! I was expecting something juicy, intriguing, exciting, engaging, addictive from the author for so long and finally she gave me what I was truly waiting too long!
Pick up your pop corn and your favorite red and cancel everything to have quality time with this scandalous read!

College admissions scandal is still an argumentative topic and Julie Buxham’s Admission book was such a great and gripping example you may enjoy. Ms. Buxham mostly concentrated on young adults’ voices at her book but as you may imagine Ms. Weisberger told the story from both adults and teenagers’ perspective, wrapped up with an riveting family drama filled with web of lies: it was smart, interesting, capturing.

The story starts with the introduction of Skye- Peyton: the sisters are polar opposites, chose different directions as their life paths. Both of them seem having it all, succeeding to achieve their goals.

The book’s story progression resemblances mash up between Gossip Girl- Morning Show: Peyton reminds us of Morning Show’s cool, work oriented, anxious Alex Levy played by Jennifer Aniston ( both of them are hosts of morning show, loving their job, having problematic marriages, smart daughters! )

Peyton’s perfectly built life style is about to shatter into pieces after her husband’s involvement into college admission bribery scandal! They pushed their daughter Max to go to Princeton for brighter future plan even though she insisted on pursuing her dreams as movie maker ( I found so many common points with this character. She was definitely my reflection of teenage time! It was so easy to understand her worries after losing her spot at Ivy League. She has to find what she’ll do with her life instead of acting against her parents’ future plans for her! )

As Peyton turns into the biggest element of traumatic scandal, her sister Skye who is happily married with Gabe, raising her adopted daughter in Paradise, a suburban town surrounded Lululemon yoga panted mothers. Even she tried to be helicopter mother, adopting to her new life, concentrating on her new project for under privileged children she works with Peyton’s husband, she fails more and of course the effects of whirlwind scandal her sister’s family involved, reflect her life. She has also big secret she keeps from both her sister and her husband but now her secret is also about to come out to destroy everything she’s worked for!

This book was entertaining criticism and creative commentariat approach to scandals of Upper East socialite. One of my quickest read!

Of course Max was so far my favorite character who tries to find her place in this privileged society, even though she’s smart enough to make her own choices by her unique abilities. She was genuine, quirky and so much lovable!

I loved the sisters’ balancing, dysfunctional relationship style as well!

I’m giving four elite, intriguing, scandalous, unputdownable page turner stars!

This book is absolutely winner! A witty, quick, engaging, surprising, humorous read I was looking forward to read from one of my favorite authors!
Special thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for sharing this year’s one of the most anticipated books’ digital copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

For Lauren Weisberger, the author of The Devil Wears Prada, this is a more underpowered lighter novel but I still found it a entertaining and enjoyable read, a family drama set in New York and in one of its more wealthier suburb of Paradise. On the cusp of becoming 4o years old, Peyton Marcus is married to the love of her life, Isaac, with a quirky 17 year old daughter, Mackenzie, a regular film journal vlogger, who has graduated from exclusive private Milford School, with a place at the prestigious Princeton University. Peyton is a popular morning news anchor, a well paid job that she loves, she appears to be a woman who has everything, the only trouble she is on the never ending treadmill of fighting all signs of ageing, botoxing to the hilt whilst evermore extreme treatments beckon.

Her life begins to unravel when instead of reading the news, she and her family become the news when Isaac is arrested by the FBI as part of a college admissions scandal and faces the prospect of prison, apparently making a 'charitable' donation that secured Max's place at Princeton. In a damage limitation exercise, the suspended Peyton joins Max at Paradise where her more bohemian sister, Skye, lives with architect husband, Gabe, and their beloved 6 year old adopted daughter, Aurora. The chalk and cheese sisters have always supported each other through thick and thin through the years as we learn their backstories, Skye the more academic one, Peyton having the wilder years in her youth, then having to overcome the obstacles she faced in succeeding in the career she wanted. Skye has her own issues, her growing debts, and in her desire to succeed in setting up a residential project for underprivileged Harlem girls to attend the excellent school in Paradise. Peyton's lies are to threaten every relationship that matters to her.

This is not going to be a read that appeals to everyone, there is not the same level of humour to be found in some of Weisberger's other novels, and the focus on the inconsequential and superficial lives of the class of wealthy New Yorkers depicted, exercising their power and privilege for their children, and chasing the latest in vogue trends can certainly grate. Despite this, I found this an engaging and fun read, I liked the character of Max as she develops to become more independent and secures the future she wants. Peyton begins as a woman who has lost her way, hamstrung by her past, lacking self awareness and not recognising what and who is important in her life, and has to learn the hard way to readjust her priorities. Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.

Secrets, Lies, and Scandal.

Peyton and Skye are sisters who appear to be complete opposites. They look nothing alike and their lives are very different. Peyton is co-anchor of the morning news at ANN and Skye is working to open a home for underprivileged young women in Paradise, New York.

Peyton’s life has fallen apart and unfortunately for her, it’s all over mainstream media. Her husband Issac was arrested for a college admissions scam, in which he allegedly tried to buy his daughter’s way into Princeton. Skye is working hard to build something amazing all the while keeping a huge secret.

Taken straight from the headlines, “Where the Grass is Green and the Girls are Pretty” sounded like it would be salacious, scandalous, and downright witty. Unfortunately, for me, the premise fell flat as did the writing, which I didn’t find to be all that clever or scintillating. The lifestyle of the characters and the verbiage used by the author left me wanting and had no bearing on real-life (especially in the times of covid): For example:

“She made standing appointments at the derm and subjected her face and decolletage and, yes, even the tops of her hands to every imaginable laser and chemical peel legally available. One did red spots. One did brown spots. A third did fine lines and wrinkles. Another attacked errant hairs. A fifth did general sallowness. A sixth worked on collagen production. For a short period of time, she’d been pleased with the smoothed, lightened hairless result. And then before she could so much as buy a new foundation, it would all come surging back, a veritable tsunami of wrinkles and brown spots and stubble.”

And

“Their skin was smooth and plump thanks to Botox every ninety days, Juvederm every six months, and five hundred dollar creams as often as needed. They could throw an elegant dinner party for twelve with two hours notice “Sold out” and “booked” or “unavailable” simply didn’t apply to them. Neither did waiting in lines of any kind.”

Needless to say, I was and am the wrong reader for this novel seeing as I have been living in leggings while in isolation with my cat for the last 11 months and don’t plan on getting Botox or Chemical Peels.

This was another buddy read with Kaceey.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Random House, and Lauren Weisberger.

Published on Goodreads on 1.31.21.

Fans of Lauren Weisberger will enjoy this glimpse into the life of a media star and her family, with its emphasis on a ripped-from-the-headlines college admissions scandal and on the competitively privileged suburbs. Fans will also probably be more willing than I was to overlook the bland obliviousness of the ultra-privileged characters and narrative tone. I enjoy reading books about rich and/or awful people as much as the next beach reader, but I'm not sure this book is aware that its characters actually ARE awful. And some of their snobbiness just kind of makes no sense - like when Skye, a protagonist, and her friend mock another parent's name choice of Magnolia as "dramatic"...while Skye's kid is named Aurora. I just don't get what's going on here, if I'm being honest. These characters spend an awful lot of time judging and belittling the priorities, values, and taste levels of those around them...considering how legitimately insufferable and dismissively privileged they themselves are.

The story demands that the reader sympathize with a mom who engaged in a little light fraud in order to give her kid a leg up in getting into an Ivy League school, so maybe my expectations needed some adjusting. But I thought there’d be a little more self-awareness from the book as a whole, just a smidge more of a satirical touch when it came to these class-obsessed characters. And there really isn’t. That’s probably why the chapters from the POV of this mom, Peyton, are by far the most successful. As the parent whose obsession with her family’s perfection led to criminal actions, she has less room to pretend she’s holier than thou. Her sister Skye, on the other hand, a former teacher and now stay-at-home mom who yearns for professional fulfillment, just swans around through most of the book being a total snot about every other suburban mom she interacts with, like she’s somehow better than them because she...doesn’t wear yoga pants? She even manages to be inexplicably snobby about libraries having online renewal, a bit I fully do not understand. I could NOT bring myself to care about Skye’s envy of her former colleagues’ voluntourism work or her drama, involving getting way into debt buying furniture and decor for the girls’ residence home she’s starting as a charity/return to feeling smug about her work again.
Peyton’s daughter, Max, also gets POV chapters, and these scenes are the least successful mostly because Weisberger isn’t particularly strong at writing a teenage voice, but also because Max is genuinely an innocent here - albeit a fairly insufferable one in her own right - and there just isn’t much to cover in her chapters. She didn’t know about the fraud in the first place, she spends the majority of the book mad at the wrong parent, and she doesn’t have a lot going on - she gets rejected from the college she didn't even want to go to, she makes some friends, she has a successful vlog...okay. Whatever. She's somehow relatively flawless, so her journey, such as it is, never engaged me.

A lot of my problems with this book can be summed up in the fact that Skye never wears a single bit of makeup, and she doesn’t think about calories when she eats, all of which makes her better than Peyton and the other rich moms! But don’t worry, her complexion is flawless and she’s naturally slim, so she’s still acceptable as a POV character! It's all just a lot of hypocrisy and bewildering snobbish distinctions that don't...really...make sense??

It’s a readable book, I’ll give it that - fast and easy, smoothly written other than the handful of jarringly confusing "wait, but why are you being snotty about that?" moments. But it’s ultimately just a lot of nothing in insufferable packaging, and not really worth the time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Allow me a moment of indulgence her to express my utter disdain for the “sync” feature that declares not only have you finished a book and therefore changes the status on your behalf, but does so before you even get to the author notes and thank yous.

But I guess it did force my hand to jot something down the same night I got done with a book and not wait six months to create a post, so maybe the powers that be know what they are doing.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Even if this hadn't been written by a billion-copy-sort-of-bestelling-author, I would have still picked it up. Because - duh . . . . .

The cover art might have been a little lackluster, but the title is EV.ER.Y.THANG.

Lauren Weisberger will continue to be an auto-read author for me as one of the queens of Chick Lit, but unfortunately I didn’t love this one quite as much as When Life Gives You Lululemons. The really terrible part is my lack of luuuuuuurv mainly stemmed from the fact that I found both of the sisters to be pretty unlikeable, but it’s not like Miranda Priestly - or heck even Andy - back in the Devil Wears Prada days were peaches either. Maybe after my last experience I just hoped for more.

The story here is a ripped from the headlines type about a news anchor who finds her family embroiled in a college admissions scandal. There’s definitely a been there done that vibe - most likely due to the entire world being shut down for a year and the true story of this subject matter playing on a loop for months.

Surprisingly enough, the teenager was the least insufferable person in the entire story, although I did enjoy the sisters’ dynamic and their dialogue was laugh-out-loud-able .....

“Well, on that note, I’m headed home to drink a bottle of vodka and listen to Leonard Cohen before shopping for guns online. Thanks for the pick-me-up.” “Welcome!” Skye said cheerily before slamming the door. “If you do off yourself, please remember that I’ve always wanted that white leather jacket of yours….” Peyton gave her the middle finger, but she was grinning as she shifted into reverse.

Where the Grass is Green and the Girls are Pretty is an interesting novel about a college admission scandal. This story grabbed my attention from the very beginning and held it throughout the book. I really enjoyed getting to know the different characters and seeing how the y reacted to different situations. Family is an important part of this book as well as the different relationships between the family members. Friendships as well as familial relationships are tested. The characters are all put in difficult situations and find out who they can count on. This was the first book I read by Lauren Weisberger, and now I understand why so many people love her. I recommend Where the Grass is Green and the Girls are Pretty for fans of books focused on family and scandal.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Therese Plummer and really enjoyed her narration. She did a great job bringing this story to life.

Thank you Random House and Penguin Random House Audio for Where the Grass is Green and the Girls are Pretty.

Full Review: https://justreadingjess.wordpress.com...

*Consequences*

Peyton has worked hard to get where she is. A journalist and now a news anchor. She is in love with her husband Issac and has a quirky intelligent daughter MacKenzie. Peyton is used to the media world and the need to report breaking news then all of a sudden her family are catapulted into the spotlight. Her husband is seen on tv being led away in cuffs from their apartment!!!

When she finds out the reason she is gobsmacked because she is the reason and her husband is taking the fall. She had already discussed what she was planning and Issac specifically warned her it was a bad idea.

All her so called friends distanced themselves away and the guilt starts to eat at her as it ruins the close relationship of her husband and daughter and her sister Skye who is on the verge of opening a new business comes crashing down as her investor pulls out. Then her work put her leave.

The prestigious university that Peyton wanted for Mackenzie rescinds their offer. Was it really worth what she did? To make matters worse she covered a similar story and was outraged.

Will Peyton continue with the lie or come clean? What will she learn from this experience? ….

Literally nothing happened in this book

Peyton Marcus is the co-host of a top rating New York morning television program, she’s married to Isaak and they have a seventeen year old daughter Max. Peyton lives in the limelight, she gets driven to work in the early hours of the morning and only wears designer clothes. Her husband works part-time selling real estate and Max has just finished high school and this will be her last summer at home and then she’s off to college.

Skye Lee is Peyton’s sister, she lives in Paradise an outer suburb of New York, she’s married to Gabe and they have a six year old daughter Aurora. She’s much more down to earth than her famous sister, they look nothing a like and people are shocked when they find out their related. Skye want’s to open a house for underprivileged teens, she’s found a rundown five bedroom building and the girls would be able to attend Paradise’s award winning public school. Despite not having the funds secured yet, Skye can’t help herself, she starts buying items to furnish the girls rooms and turns into a compulsive shopper.

Then everything goes pear-shaped, Isaac’s arrested for paying a bribe for Max to get into Princeton, and it’s illegal. Peyton’s sent home from work in disgrace, Max receives a letter saying she’s no longer welcome at the prestigious college, while waiting for his day in court, and Isaak’s been told to distance himself from his wife

So Peyton and Max move to Paradise for the summer, the entire families relationships are put under the microscope, both sisters learn they need to tell their spouses the truth, face up to the mistakes they have made, and Max discovers her life isn’t over because she didn’t get into Princeton and other opportunities are just around the corner.

I received a copy of Where the Grass is Green from NetGalley and Harper Collins UK in exchange for an honest review, the first book I have read by Lauren Weisberger, I loved all the drama and it won't be my last and five stars from me.
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Well that was painful. I was not excited to pick this book up after the first few days of reading. Repetitive, long and just boring.

2.5 stars for the sugar and spice and all things pretty annoying story.

Writer of 'The Devil Wears Prada' series, Weisberger sticks to the NYC formula in this very chic-lit read. It was like looking at a snowglobe...all contained in a lovely glass casing, shaken a little but you know it will all settle again into a pretty scene.

Peyton Marcus lives an over-the-top lifestyle co-anchoring a popular morning news show. Add the requisite good-looking, highly tolerant husband and slightly rebellious teenage daughter Max. Then mix in a college admission scandal, and an arrest, and the cliched wheels come rolling off.

Skye, Peyton's sister, lives in Paradise (eye-roll), New York, with her own set of (overly dramatic rich person) problems. Her sister's scandal impacts her tear-jerker project, which requires millions of dollars from donors to help a handful of disadvantaged girls. She, too, has the beautiful postcard-perfect Aussie husband and (adopted) child.

I know there are many four and five-star reviews, but I could not find any compassion for anyone bar Max in this book. It was an over-the-top storyline, with bland characters and a really predictable plot. The self-absorbed and entitled characters did not resonate with me, but I did like the 'possible' satirical poke at their expense. It is one of those reads where consequences for bad decisions are just not acceptable, probable or bearable!

Peyton, married to Isaac, is a successful TV news anchor. She’s a perfectionist and has placed a lot of pressure on her teenage daughter Mackenzie “Max” who is getting ready to go to Princeton. They live in Manhattan. Peyton’s sister Skye and her architect husband live with their adopted daughter in a New York suburb called Paradise. She’s more down-to-earth and while living in an affluent community, seeks to help others. After covering a breaking news story about a new college admissions scandal, Peyton returns home to find her husband being taken away in handcuffs by the FBI. Peyton has to deal with this crisis which also impacts Skye.

Where the Grass is Green and the Girls Are Pretty takes a satirical look at those living lives of privilege. Daughter Max is the character to root for as she is young and has the chance to forge her own direction as her life is turned on its head. I wish I could have felt more for the other main characters. Author Lauren Weisberger has an easy writing style and insightful wit which makes the book entertaining overall. These days, when I read contemporary books, I can’t help but wonder if the dynamics would have been different in a post-quarantine world. I’d be interested in Weisberger’s view of the world moving forward and seeing if the Lululemon-wearing women she writes about will have changed in any way.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read Where the Grass is Green and the Girls Are Pretty in advance of its May 18, 2021 publication.

Rated 3.5 stars.

A perfect beach book that surprises and delights, makes you laugh and cry and sing 80’s hair band music… there is nothing better that Lauren Weisberger’s new novel, Where The Grass Is Green And The Girls Are Pretty to escape to a Paradise, of sorts!

Sisters, Peyton and Skye have a close, brutally honest and tell-all relationship with each other yet their lives have gone in different directions. Peyton, a flawless-looking tv morning show host in NYC with a supportive husband and teenage daughter, feels the pressure to keep up with competition in all realms of her life, including her parenting. Skye, an ivy league graduate feeling stuck as a stay at home mom of a young adopted child in a fancy town, spends her time doing charity work, looking for meaning. Both have secrets so big, they choose not to share and when a scandal breaks out, the ripple effect is detrimental.

Inspired by her younger sister, Lauren Weisberger explores sisterly relationships along with helicopter parenting, secret keeping and coming of age. She has a talent for writing dialog, keeping the reader engaged and laughing. Her comedic flair and outrageous snippets elicit feelings, opinions and reactions from readers, bringing them deeper into the story. From mentions of bathtub births, over the top dermatological procedures, and the temple coat closet to renting chickens for the summer and feeding them vegetable risotto, I found so many things to ponder and chuckle at. The imperfect and lovable characters verbalize our censored thoughts in a way that allows us to sigh in relief that someone had the guts to say it all out loud! The sisters’ relationships with each other and their mother were honest and real and when the secrets were divulged and all was forgiven with unconditional love it brought tears to my eyes. Where The Grass Is Green And The Girls Are Pretty is relatable, binge-worthy and oh, so much fun!

I had the pleasure of talking with Lauren about her new book on the eve of publication day at the Westport Library and here is the video of our interview.

Copy/paste link below to see My Video Interview with Lauren Weisberger (or go to Booknationbyjen.com)
https://westportlibrary.org/aiovg_vid...

Lauren’s Recommendations
80s Hair Band Music – Guns and Roses, Cinderella, Aerosmith, White Snake, Damn Yankees

Book for the summer – The Push by Ashley Audrain

I am looking forward to seeing The Devil Wears Prada on Broadway (based on Weisberger’s debut novel published in 2003) in 2022 with music by Elton John.

A seat at the anchor desk of the most-watched morning show. Recognized by millions across the country, thanks in part to her flawless blond highlights and Botox-smoothed skin. An adoring husband and a Princeton-bound daughter. Peyton is that woman. She has it all.

Until . . .

Skye, her sister, is a stay-at-home mom living in a glitzy suburb of New York. She has degrees from all the right schools and can helicopter-parent with the best of them. But Skye is different from the rest. She's looking for something real and dreams of a life beyond the PTA and pickup.

Until . . .

Max, Peyton's bright and quirky seventeen-year-old daughter, is poised to kiss her fancy private school goodbye and head off to pursue her dreams in film. She's waited her entire life for this opportunity.

Until . . .

One little lie. That's all it takes. For the illusions to crack. For resentments to surface. Suddenly the grass doesn't look so green. And they're left wondering: will they have what it takes to survive the truth?

I saw the not so great ratings/reviews before deciding to read this and I am just a loyal woman to my favorite authors so I decided to give this a shot. The first half of the book I was actually enjoying, to write about a scandal that was so large in the news and not just the news but celebrity news recently was appealing. And honestly, the crime wasn't too crazy to imagine any parent would do. Read the book to understand.

The book wasn't a fun read. Constantly complaining, constantly crying, constantly self pitying... but, I honestly can't stand when a character complains when their life is beautiful. You live in a wealthy and privilege area, I would say that's lucky and be grateful. You are able to stay home and do what you want with your life, so do it and stop complaining. This seemed to throw in all the politic blah blah in this book and how all privileged people are horrible (sure there are those people) but if these people are so horrible then why live there and let your child deal with their horrible children? You don't have to live in that horrible area then, you have the funds to live in a beautiful well to-do area that is less what you hate and more what you like. Plus, the characters were the people they were complaining about...

To me it read Lauren Weisberger's grievances with a certain lifestyle and group of people instead of a novel with a compelling story.

Yeah this wasn't it. It hovered way too closely to the actual collage admission scandal and did a really poor job at not addressing the parallels between what was happening in the fictional scandal.

I really didn't enjoy some of the writing, the repeated use of talking about "dying", "could've killed you" etc. didn't come across believably. And also why did she have to bag out docs so much, there is nothing wrong with wearing docs :(

I don't think Peyton's character was written well, for someone who works in the industry, could she actually have been that shocked to learn that she would be taken off air. As much as Weisberger tried, I did not sympathise with Peyton and there wasn't a good case built around it. The character felt very one dimensional and a lot of the characterisation was contradictory.

The storyline of Max was great, her dialogue and scenes were good but it was way to similar to the real story of Olivia Jade and the actual scandal so it does feel like a rip-off and that there wasn't any new commentary or perspective that was offered in this re-telling.

Would've been a dnf for me but I paid full price for it eek

The title is deceptive, to say the least- or maybe not- if I’d searched the Guns &Roses hit, Paradise City, I might have been more prepared for the darkness under the green grass and the superficiality under those facades. I missed Weisenberger’s tart snappiness and often comic repartee, swathed in designer goods and the ridiculous trappings of the ultra wealthy; this time the author dug into the college admissions scandal with little hope of developing charm or humour. Peyton, her main character never really redeems herself although daughter Max is worth fighting through the pages in hopes of finding her worthy outcome.

This is “chick lit”, yes, but without sass. I guess Weisenberger had a tragic year, and she’d lost her funny mojo. She’s forgiven for that- we ALL were crapped on by the pandemic. Maybe her next book will find the acerbic wit returning.

Three stars, droopily.

Thanks to PRH International for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read most of Lauren Weisberger’s novels (only have left The singles game) and, although Devil wears Prada and Lululemons still remain my favorites, I found Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty a light and enjoyable read. It takes a fictional look into the college admission’s scandal that came to light a few years back, affecting the lives of all those involved even indirectly (am I the only one that imagines the character’s with Lori and Felicity’s faces?)

Peyton is a successful TV anchor, happily married to Isaac and mother to Max, a 17 yo going to college in a few months. Princeton, no less! Skye, Peyton’s older sister, lives in the suburbs and is focused on the creation of a house for underprivileged girls. When Isaac is arrested, accused of having bribed her daughter’s way into college, all their lives will turn upside down, forcing them to take a deep look into themselves.

Max was my favorite character, hands down. It was so disheartening to see how her parents didn’t take her opinions into consideration while trying to force on her what they thought was best. I know every parent wants what’s best for their children, but some of them seem to forget that their kid’s lives are their own and not a second chance for them to live/do how/what they would have liked.

I had a bit of a hard time warming up to Peyton. I could not understand how she could put her career ahead of everything else, even when it was causing so much pain to her family. As the story progressed you could feel her struggle and her final decision surprised me in a really good way.

Skye’s problem was so relatable cause, honestly, online shopping is the devil’s work!

Weisberger’s writing was witty and fun and made of this look into the lives of the privileged a surprisingly relatable one that I absolutely recommend.

Lauren Weisberger is an incredible creator of unforgettable powerful female main characters (The Devil Wears Prada’s Miranda Priestly will go down in history) and in her new novel, Weisberger gifts her readers with Peyton Marcus.

Peyton is a bubbly “America’s sweetheart” morning news reporter whose personal life is suddenly thrust into the spotlight when she is live on air covering a story of a college admissions scandal and then her husband is promptly arrested for bribery charges relating to their daughter’s admission to Princeton University, and this sets up the plot of the novel, with what happens the Marcus family and their daughter’s reaction, and there’s a complete b-plot in the novel with Peyton’s relationship with her sister and the charity project that her sister is working on. I will be honest that the b-plot really bored me. I didn’t care much for the sister’s character or her story and found myself skimming those chapters. I got a little bored.

But the novel is ridiculously funny at times, (the chapter titles alone made me laugh out loud multiple time), and I loved everything about Peyton Marcus and the chapters involving her work life. Weisberger’s writing is so fun and witty, some of her pop culture insight just cracks me up. The first 20-25% was SO good, I couldn’t put it down, and then I think the novel fell flat in the middle, but it had a very redeeming end. I think it will be a popular read in people’s beach bags this summer.

3.5 stars.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an advance copy.

Peyton lives a posh lifestyle co-anchoring a popular morning news show. She, her daughter Max and husband Issac have different opinions on life but make sure they are always picture perfect. Until, while working out Peyton cuts on the news and sees her husband being arrested in guess what ....Another college admission scandal! (Insert eye roll here)

Meanwhile, Skye, Peytons sister is living in Paradise New York has her own set of problems going on. She is in desperate need of funding for a girls home she is trying to open. However, after her sisters scandal donors aren’t biting to give her any money for the project. She’s in mounting debt with no end in sight.

I just could not like this book the way other reviewers liked it. It was an overwhelming amount of characters, story lines, back and forth majority of the book. I found most of the characters to be self absorbed, privileged, annoying and looking for a pity party. I don’t feel bad for people that flaunt their wealth and then have to endure the consequences for bad decisions. Lastly, can we please find a new story line!?!? The college admission scandal angle is not creative! We’ve seen it on the news cycle over and over again, let’s move on to something else!

Ps : the title absolutely made no sense with the story line and that really annoyed me

Enjoyable read, but somewhat predictable. I thought of Lori Laughlin the whole time. I’m sure many of you did too.

I choose this book without based on the fact that I have enjoyed other books by Lauren Weisberger, not to mention that the title (lyrics from the Guns 'n Roses song, Paradise City) suggested to me that it might have some throwback themes to lates 80s...maybe it did, I don't know...I couldn't finish the book. I got within 75 pages of the end of the book, but just couldn't read another page.

I guess I should have read what the book was about, or I wouldn't have bothered with it in the first place. I'm guessing the premise must have gotten the green light because of it's topical relevance with the recent admissions scandals in the US...but it's enough we have to read about it in the news, did we also need a fiction book about it?

Could I ever believe that Peyton (or anyone, for that matter) could "accidentally" get caught up in an admissions scandal? Was I supposed to sympathize with her or feel sorry for her? Did her sister Skye have the lamest mild-life crisis in the world, racking up thousands of dollars in credit card debt purchasing essentials for a school she was trying to open for under-privileged girls before she had secured the necessary financial backing?

The sky is the limit with a great fiction writer like Lauren Weisberger, but this was sadly not up to her usual standards. The writing is solid -- there's no question that Weisberger is an excellent writer -- it's just that this story was not engaging, fun, or humorous like some of her past works.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance reading copy for review.

Given the title, I was hoping for lots of 80s music references, but that was not the case. Instead, there were plenty of over done stereotypes and way too much talk about stopping the aging process for a not quite 40 year old.🙄

I feel like you have to be in a specific sort of mindset in order to feel any sort of empathy for the 1%.
That Rory Gilmore (in the later seasons) type of character, so entitled, so convinced that there's only one way to live.

The downfall for this book was that it had many characters, each one worse than the one before. So as soon as you felt like maybe finally you were getting used to one POV, you'd get thrown to another character, and you had to start the cycle of love-hate all over again. Thinking back now on who I hated the most, it's even difficult to choose one.

I'll start with the youngest, Max, because she's the one I realized I hated first. She took any opportunity to complain, even though she's a privileged teen who's never had a hard day in her life. Her being a wannabe youtuber fit like a glove. Like her complaining about feeling like an outcast:

“Instead, Peyton had always carefully couched it in socially acceptable phrases, likely all approved by some teen specialist shrink she consulted.”

Oh, woe is you because your mom cares... Oh, no...
Her whole thing in this book was simply to complain, about her education, her nonexistent friends, her rich parents, and her rich private school... Not one scene in this book isn't interrupted by her complaining. She's like that Debbie Downer SNL skit. Could not stand her.
Why should we feel sorry for her?????

Max took a sip of water from her new steel water bottle, which had been a gift from her mother. “I read it’s the coolest one—everyone has them,” Peyton had said. Which was so typical: Ifeveryone hadit, she should, too.

The author's ultimate mistake was that instead of granting some introspective aspect to these characters, she just focused on elaborating on the most useless minute details. Who wants to read a whole paragraph describing what's in Grandma's bag after her trip? No, seriously, who's the intended audience that would enjoy this?

I legit felt that the author was building up to laugh at these characters. I remember thinking about a third of the way into the book, "Hard to see if the author is trying to laugh at these characters or get us to sympathize?" Because if it's the latter, the trick is up.

Usually, I read these kinds of privileged storylines with another POV to pop the bubble. Like with the books Friends and Strangers, or Little Fires Everywhere.
This book did not have the element of letting them see that they were in a bubble and subsequently popping it.
The recommendation on the back of this book to read it with a co*cktail in hand at first made me mad because of the privilege it contained in it - not everyone can afford the luxury of being poolside with a co*cktail on vacation - and then I realized the co*cktail is necessary in order to drown out these privileged voices.

I had to step away from this story multiple times in order to tone down my anger
I felt like I was similar to hate-watching it, I was hate-reading it. I hated them, but I also couldn’t look away from the train wreck of this privileged bubble. I completed this book with mighty struggle.

I only got to enjoy this book when bad things were happening to the characters. That's not the intended effect of the author. The perspectives kept switching from bad to worse characters with barely any consequences to their atrocious actions.

I mean this is a great segue to Skye, the sister of the main character. It might get spoilery here because I can't contain my thoughts when it comes to her. Skye being a home wrecker and a shopaholic who doesn’t take responsibility for her actions was the straw that broke the camel's back.
She takes on zero accountability for her constant spending and lying. And yet, she gets a happy ending of adopting another child, oh but without mentioning to her husband that, by the way, she’s in thousands of dollars of debt. But why mention something like this when the author can magically fix everything with Max gathering money. Not her own money, of course. These über rich characters only get richer at the end. That's what felt the worse of it all. How about they give from their own pocket instead of begging from others? Why should they get to receive the public's money when they don't give their own???
Infuriating book.
I kept waiting for an outsider POV to call them out on their elitist BS but nope everyone got a happy ending they didn’t deserve. This is why we can't have nice things

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If you’ve now got that song stuck in your head, you’re welcome and if you’re trying to figure out what song I’m talking about get off my lawn 🤣 Nothing says summer like a new Lauren Weisberger book and this one was juicy! Ripped from the headlines this follows Peyton, a prominent news anchor who’s world comes crashing down after her husband is arrested for participating in a college admissions bribery scandal. You also hear from Skye, Peyton’s sister and Max, Peyton’s daughter. I love mother/daughter stories AND sister ones so was super happy you get both here.

Peyton was one of those characters that will simultaneously drive you nuts with her selfishness and piss poor decision making skills but also will make you laugh and somehow she is endearing? Skye was far more relatable for me as she was fully entrenched in the mom life but my hands down favorite was Max. She’s very aware of her privilege and isn’t exactly comfortable with it and seeing her growth throughout the book was sweet and charming. Definitely recommended to add to your summer TBR, this was multilayered, entertaining and an ideal beach read

Highly readable story about the expectations self-imposed on women when they're students, daughters, mothers, sisters, wives, and professionals. Peyton and Skye are siblings in their late 30s, and to all outside appearances, they have the world in their hands. Both deal with insecurities and struggle to keep their glossy outside image intact. When Peyton makes a stupidly bad moral choice, the glossy image for both sisters falls apart. I enjoyed reading how both Skye and Peyton dealt with their individual disasters, and especially enjoyed the characters of Max and Marcia. What I also loved about this story were both husbands -- both supportive of their wives and strong in themselves. Refreshing to read a book where the bad guy isn't a guy. This will be read as a distracting summer confection but there is a satisfying moral and message here.
#netgalley #laurenweisberger #Wherethegrassisgreenandthegirlsarepretty

This book really misses the mark story-wise, and is full of distracting editing errors and plot holes. Not worth your time.

What would have been great, and fit with the title, is an in-depth exploration of a few characters in Paradise who have actual secrets and entanglements other than credit card debt or covert plastic surgery.

Happy endings abound in situations where no happy endings should exist - if reading about privileged people who come out all right after committing adultery, major crimes, betrayal and lying to one and all concerned, then you will be very happy with this book. Money never seems to be an issue, and when it is, it magically drops from the sky (or a plot contrivance).

So this was a 2.5/3 star read for me. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get into this book and I found myself not connecting with the characters or the storyline.
I love Lauren Wiesberger and have been a fan of all her previous books, however, this one for me just didn’t work.
Peyton and Skye are complete opposite sisters who look nothing alike and are nothing alike.
Peyton is a news anchor and her life has suddenly fallen apart when her husband is arrested for an admissions scandal.
I think even though this book wasn’t for me it will definitely be a beach read hit.

Thanks to Edelweiss and NetGalley for my advanced ebook copy.

3 1/2 stars. It was good but not quite a 4. I really overthink these stars.