Julia has it all, a successful husband that makes good money, a fabulous NYC apartment, a house in the Hamptons, and a Nanny who practically runs her household.
Why do we know this? Because Julia tells us chapter after chapter. Julia came from money and made it her life mission to remain at the upper echelon of the New York social circle.
One day, after school drop off Julia and her two besties, Grace and Lindsay are making summer plans for the Hamptons. When Julia receives a frantic call from her husband, her planning comes to an abrupt end. Faced with a large scale renovation, Julia is forced to spend the summer in the city.
After dropping a $500.00 donation to a school silent auction, Julia wins a gift basket with a gift certificate for a private spin class lesson with newbie Tatum. Soon with nothing else going on to fill her days, Julia decides she is going to take poor little unsophisticated, clueless Tatum under her wing. After a series of unfortunate events, Julia is dethroned from her pedestal and must find a way to claw her way back to the top.
It’s hard to discuss this book without revealing spoilers. Julia is a hard person to root for. Between the mundane rants, her over 35 mean girl mentality, and narcissistic behavior I was over it. In fact, around chapter 33, I was hoping she got whatever was coming to her. Julia could not or would not take accountability for her behavior! EVERYTHING was EVERYONE else fault. Julia takes little to no responsibility for anything that goes on around her. The way she treats the people in her life will make you scratch your head.
I wanted to give up after a few chapters but kept going because I wanted to see how it ended. There were a few parts that weren’t plausible, and after everything that happened, we assumed that Julia redeemed herself. Really? She doesn’t deserve redemption; she deserves a swift kick in her Hermes Bag.
Frenemies fits the bill as a quick summer read and reminded me of When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger. One thing I must admit, all the talk about spin class made me sign up for one at my gym!!!
Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
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