REVIEW: Fitness Junkie by Lucy Sykes, Jo Piazza #bravethebacklist
Fitness Junkie
by Lucy Sykes, Jo Piazza
Publisher: Doubleday
Publish Date: July 11, 2017
Kindle Edition
304 Pages
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Chick Lit
When Janey Sweet, CEO of a couture wedding dress company, is photographed in the front row of a fashion show eating a bruffin--the delicious lovechild of a brioche and a muffin--her best friend and business partner, Beau, gives her an ultimatum: Lose thirty pounds or lose your job. Sure, Janey has gained some weight since her divorce, and no, her beautifully cut trousers don't fit like they used to, so Janey throws herself headlong into the world of the fitness revolution, signing up for a shockingly expensive workout pass, baring it all for Free the Nipple yoga, sweating through boot camp classes run by Sri Lankan militants and spinning to the screams of a Lycra-clad instructor with rage issues. At a juice shop she meets Jacob, a cute young guy who takes her dumpster-diving outside Whole Foods on their first date. At a shaman's tea ceremony she meets Hugh, a silver fox who holds her hand through an ayahuasca hallucination And at a secret exercise studio Janey meets Sara Strong, the wildly popular workout guru whose special dance routine has starlets and wealthy women flocking to her for results that seem too good to be true. As Janey eschews delicious carbs, pays thousands of dollars to charlatans, and is harassed by her very own fitness bracelet, she can't help but wonder: Did she really need to lose weight in the first place? A hilarious send-up of the health and wellness industry, Fitness Junkie is a glorious romp through the absurd landscape of our weight-obsessed culture.
My Review:
Have you ever been a part of any fitness craze? I learned after trying different things that I'm just not the kind of person who is going to find her inner light and that I need active, really physical classes to get me moving... it's where I take out all my pent up emotions. Kickboxing is the perfect outlet. And recently I found indoor rowing which is way better for my back. But to meditate, ohm or let the universe decide my fate isn't the person I am. I don't begrudge the person it DOES work for - everyone has their own path in life. You do you. I'll do me.
It's satirical, it's satirical, it's satirical. I kept this mantra in my head as I read it because if I didn't I think I would've dislocated an eye - that's how many time I kept rolling them as I was reading this damn book. There are definitely some cute moments but mostly it felt like one big body shaming, cultish, anti-feminist read. SATIRICAL. I kept reading because Janey is a character I ended up quite liking a lot. She tries the new things and has this inner turmoil of is she/isn't she that I can relate to. But so many times I just wanted to be like WAKE UP JANEY SWEET! I had to find out how this was all going to end. I knew the direction it was going to go in, but I had to finish out the adventure. Unfortunately it just didn't work for me.
Not my cup of green juice. Nope. NEXT!
★★
Not my cup of green juice. Nope. NEXT!
★★
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