Happy & You Know It

Genre: Contemporary / Chick Lit

Book Type: Physical

Author: Laura Hankin

Pages: 384

Publisher: Berkley (May 19, 2020)

Book Description:

A dark, witty page-turner about a struggling young musician who takes a job singing for a playgroup of overprivileged babies and their effortlessly cool moms, only to find herself pulled into their glamorous lives and dangerous secrets…. After her former band shot to superstardom without her, Claire reluctantly agrees to a gig as a playgroup musician for wealthy infants on New York’s Park Avenue. Claire is surprised to discover that she is smitten with her new employers, a welcoming clique of wellness addicts with impossibly shiny hair, who whirl from juice cleanse to overpriced miracle vitamins to spin class with limitless energy. There is perfect hostess Whitney who is on the brink of social-media stardom and just needs to find a way to keep her flawless life from falling apart. Caustically funny, recent stay-at-home mom Amara who is struggling to embrace her new identity. And old money, veteran mom Gwen who never misses an opportunity to dole out parenting advice. But as Claire grows closer to the stylish women who pay her bills, she uncovers secrets and betrayals that no amount of activated charcoal can fix. Filled with humor and shocking twists, Happy and You Know It is a brilliant take on motherhood – exposing it as yet another way for society to pass judgment on women – while also exploring the baffling magnetism of curated social-media lives that are designed to make us feel unworthy. But, ultimately, this dazzling novel celebrates the unlikely bonds that form, and the power that can be unlocked, when a group of very different women is thrown together when each is at her most vulnerable.

Thoughts:

If you liked Big Little Lies, you will love this book. As a mom, there were so many parts of each character I could relate to… The need to be the “perfect mom,” lose weight after you have a baby, keep it all together, make sure you’re doing “all the right things,” socializing your child, wanting to stay at home, wanting to keep your career, wanting to feel desirable, feeling exhausted, the list goes on and on. How the women deal with these things had me sympathetic at times, shaking my head at times, but ultimately rooting for them each to be happy.

I loved the drama in this book and they way you get snippets of the women’s pasts that make them who they are and explains why they act as they do. Full of drama, scandal, popularity/need to feel attention, parenting, desire, friendship, sisterhood, career, and secrets – I highly recommend this book.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️