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When people talk about “mean girls,” they’re usually talking about teenagers. But in That’s What Frenemies Are For, authors Sophie Littlefield and Lauren Gershell follow the adventures of a bunch of mean mommies in Manhattan, showing that frenemies aren’t just for teens.
The story is set in the poshest of Manhattan communities. Socialite and mom of two Julia Summers is used to being known as a trendsetter—but, lately, her star has dimmed. Things get even grimmer when an accident at their home in the Hamptons means that she’ll have to spend the summer in the city, away from her friends. But when Julia steps into boutique gym Flame and meets spin instructor Tatum, she finds a new project—and she sets out to transform Tatum from a naïve Midwestern girl into Manhattan’s new fitness superstar to boost her own profile in the process.
Of course, you don’t have to live in Manhattan or be fabulously rich to relate to this story. Any woman who’s attended a school function will recognize the mommy power struggle: the peer pressure, the judgment, the backstabbing, and the carefully-balanced hierarchy.
Really, though, if you’re familiar with the pressures and the judging and the backstabbing, this doesn’t exactly make for a fun and relaxing read. You’ll feel the pressure that Julia feels. You’ll feel her anxieties about her questionable friendships and her standing with the other moms. Her relentless determination to be admired by both her young spin instructor and the other queen bees is absolutely exhausting to follow. She puts all of her effort into making herself strong and fit and hip and stylish, and she’s so focused on putting all of the other moms back in a position beneath her that she loses sight of what’s really important. And it’s hard to root for a character who’s so relentless in her mission to be better than everyone else.
Granted, through the process, Julia learns some important lessons about herself, her family, and what really matters. But it isn’t easy to endure all of the selfishness and dangerous mistakes to get there.
While moms will definitely understand the drama in That’s What Frenemies Are For, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll enjoy reliving it during your down time in the pages of your poolside summer read. Instead of getting caught up in this literary mom-drama, you might want to pick up something lighter and fluffier instead.
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