Fitness Junkie by Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza Book Review

Fitness Junkie by Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza Book Review

The lowdown from Goodreads

Publication date July 11, 2017

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?

Fitness Junkie by Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza Book Review

Just like that sweet crooner, Shawn Mendes, this book had me in stitches. It’s hilarious. Likely the best thing about Fitness Junkie is that everyone can relate to it because we have all struggled with our own body image issues. Janey is a bad ass southern girl taking NYC by storm when her little pest, Beau tells her she needs to drop some weight because she represents their wedding gown brand & can’t be seen eating a bruffin. A bruffin is a muffin & a brioche hybrid- it’s a real thing; just ask Oprah. 

Janey goes on this quest to drop 30 lbs & enlists the help of her weight-obsessed, but lovable friend, CJ & her cousin, Ivy. Quickly, Janey enters the world of the NYC fitness obsessed elite. She attends spin classes where the instructors treat you like a drill sergeant. She also tries out color-coordinated cardio classes tucked into a secret location. Janey even learns of tropical retreats where they feed you clay (seriously). Janey ventures out to a juice bar & there’s mention of a broth store. To take it a step further, she even plays a freegan for a night & goes dumpster diving.

There are serious Goop vibes displayed by some of the characters and there is plenty of talk about organic, non-GMO, humane, ion filtered, hormone free, anti-inflammatory, turmeric, ghee, vitamin boosting IV treatments, kale, swiss chard & many other “all the rage” diet/health tips. Many of these made me smile because I’ve been guilty of a few of them myself. I seriously laughed out loud hearing about a PR rep for swiss chard with plans for it becoming the new kale. I mean, it will probably happen! Hmmm, now I’m thinking of a swiss chard recipe!

THE VERDICT 

Now, I know this is supposed to be an unbiased review, but I am Really Into this book & Really Into these authors, Lucy & Jo. I read The Knockoff when it was published in 2015 & I loved it. Readers of both will love the small nod to Glossy as it shows up in Fitness Junkie. Lucy & Jo do a fantastic job balancing out the ridiculous diet fads with the real-life struggle of obtaining a healthy image. The story wraps up nicely & left me with a smile & a gentle nod to my girl, Janey. If you love fiction with wee-developed characters, you’ve got to check out Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asain series. Fitness Junkie is sure to be a perfect, fun, easy read this summer (or anytime, really) & it’s guaranteed to make you laugh, smile & possibly rethink your fitness regime.

Special thanks to Lucy Sykes, Jo Piazza, Doubleday Books & NetGalley for providing our copy in exchange for an honest & fair review.

Let’s connect over books! Check out our Fitness Junkie by Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza Book Review on Goodreads.

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About the Authors: Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza

LUCY SYKES has worked in the fashion world as a stylist, fashion editor, and fashion director. For six years Lucy was the fashion director at Marie Claire magazine, and was most recently fashion director for Rent the Runway. Her own children’s clothing line, Lucy Sykes New York, was sold in more than a hundred department stores worldwide, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, and Nordstrom. Together with her twin sister Plum, Lucy moved from London to New York City in 1997, where she now lives with her husband and two children.

JO PIAZZA is an award-winning journalist and editor. She has written for The Wall Street Journal, Elle, Glamour, The New York Times, New York magazine, Marie Claire and Redbook. She is the author of Celebrity, Inc.: How Famous People Make Money, Love Rehab: A Novel in 12 Steps, If Nuns Ruled the World: Ten Sisters on a Mission, and How to Be Married: What I Learned from Real Women on Five Continents About Surviving My First (Really Hard) Year of Marriage. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and giant dog.