Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty

A Novel

By: Lauren Weisberger

Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer

Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

New York Times best seller

Good Morning America Buzz pick

From the best-selling author of The Devil Wears Prada and When Life Gives You Lululemons comes a highly entertaining, sharply observed novel about sisters, their perfect lives...and their perfect lies.

“Goes down like an ice-cold guilty pleasure on a hot beach-reading day.” (USA Today)

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 17-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?

©2021 Lauren Weisberger (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

“An entertaining page-turner filled with drama and scandal for when you’re lounging poolside this summer...[an] enjoyable read.” (Good Morning America online) 

“[Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty] goes down like an ice-cold guilty pleasure on a hot beach-reading day.” (USA Today) 

“Weisberger never loses her trademark beach-read breeziness as she tackles weighty problems of familial trust with a pitch-perfect blend of humor and poignancy.” (Booklist) 

A great Beach read

This is perfect for a beach read or something to take with you on a trip. It’s easy to pick up and put down without having to think about what was happening when you left off.

I’m not going to recap the story because the title details does that just fine.

The narration is perfect. She does an amazing job telling the story by slipping in and out of characters. Her voice is easy to listen to - so many can absolutely ruin a book.

The ending to the book is annoying. I get why it took the time it did - but don’t take us on this journey and leave the future of the protagonist so up in the air. It isn’t cute or fun - it’s frustrating for the reader not to get any closure for the character we are invested in.

Honestly - if the book stopped just 2 paragraphs before - it would have been better.

Good until the last drip

Therese Plummer performs very well and makes the book worth a listen. The story moves along pretty well until we get to the end, which is anything but clever and far from what we have come to expect from the author.

Okay story with one big thing that bugged me

The storyline was okay. But the big thing that bugged me was that one of the main characters was turning 40 with a 17/18 year old daughter. And supposedly was in college for 5 years and moved around for work before settling into her job more. But the daughter was born and raised in NYC. This disconnect bugged me throughout the entire book since the author brings up the past quite a bit. Seems like an obvious mistake.

Worst Weisberger book, don't bother with it.

Zero plot. Very predictable and boring. Suburbia elitist story that isn't worth listening to. There wasn't a single character you could really get behind and the ending was both predictable but also rushed. I regret wasting a credit on this.

The Woke Schtick is a Getting Tired

This book is so cliche and uninspired that it deserves zero stars. Nonsense, mainstream media drivel where people with money are terrible. White people are terribler. Except the main characters, who are both white and have money, but are somehow ok because they stick to the woke narrative and regurgitate its bullet points at every opportunity. Utterly devoid of creativity. Hard pass.

Good book, but too open ended

I enjoyed this book, but too much was left open ended in my opinion. I can only imagine a sequel is already contracted, or it was written with an intended sequel in mind.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The characters are flawed, but also super relatable. The way she wrote from teenage Max’s perspective in particular felt super authentic, but Max’s mother Peyton and her aunt Skye both felt very real as well.
Chapters were written alternatively from Peyton’s, Skye’s or Max’s perspectives, and while I realise this is chick-lit, I would have liked to have a chapter or two from Isaac’s perspective too (Peyton’s husband and Mac’s dad). It would have been appropriate, I was expecting it and when it became more and more clear it wasn’t happening, I missed it. This is the only reason I’m giving the story 3 stars/4 stars overall.

Not worth it.

Slow, predictable, characters not likable or believable, really not worth investing in the story which pulls from recent real-life events that weren’t interesting at the time either. I like to read this author for fun, frivolous, hold-my-interest beach reads. This was not it. Narration was excellent but I was just bored. Could’ve predicted the ending within the first few chapters.

The reason I didn’t give the book a 5

There is no better narrator than T. Plummer but the ending was one of the very worse. Maybe she intends to continue in her next book. If not then shame on her. Absolutely cut the ending to soon.

But wait, it can't end like this?!

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this one, but to my surprise it kept my interest. I want to know what's next ?! How does this story really end?! Where's the part II?

Pleasantly Surprised!!!

I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book. Became predictable at times, but I ended up loving it!!! Takes you many places and loved the characters and descriptions. Nice happy ending story. Great summer listen!!!