When Life Gives You Lululemons

I’ll admit: I side-eyed this book at first. A *Devil Wears Prada* spin-off set in Greenwich, Connecticut? Was this just going to be 10 hours of rich women complaining about their nannies? But *When Life Gives You Lululemons* surprised me by being far sharper—and funnier—than expected, largely thanks to Laura Benanti’s narration, which turns even throwaway lines into comedy gold. Her Emily Charlton is a revelation: the vocal equivalent of a woman who’s smoked one too many cigarettes in the ladies’ room while plotting your downfall, all honeyed venom and exhausted superiority. The real delight, though, is how Benanti differentiates the trio’s voices: Miriam’s WASP-y clipped tones, Karolina’s polished-but-fraying senator’s-wife cadence, and Adriana’s Long Island bluntness. It’s a masterclass in audio acting that makes the group dynamic feel electric. The plot itself is a satisfying, if occasionally uneven, blend of social satire and revenge caper. The first act drags slightly as Weisberger sets up the dominoes—Miriam’s PR exile, Karolina’s political marriage imploding, Adriana’s mom-group warfare—but once the women’s schemes intersect, the pacing tightens into a gleefully petty symphony. My biggest critique? The villain, while loathsome, lacks the iconic menace of a Miranda Priestly; he’s more of a smarmy placeholder than a true adversary. And some of the suburban satire veers into caricature (do *all* Connecticut moms really talk like Real Housewives extras?). But the audiobook’s production is flawless—no jarring edits, no volume spikes—just Benanti’s performance carrying you through the slower stretches. By the end, I was fully invested in these flawed, furious women and their messy triumphs. If you love stories where the revenge is as meticulously planned as a Gilt sale haul, this is your next listen.