It was quite perplexing to find a surge of visits to my blog when I checked out my site's analytics. It turns out the recent release of the move, "Something Borrowed" spawned an interest in the topic, which I have a book review on. It had an amazing 1,723 page views just on the entry alone! I have not had a chance to see the movie, but if it is anything like the first book, then I will try to catch it, heck I'll even get the blu-ray!
As a thank you to the movie's PR group for upping my number of visitors, I am sharing with you again my review on Emily Giffen's 'Something Borrowed' and 'Something Blue'........
Title: Something BorroWed
Author: Emily Giffen
Synopsis:
Something Borrowed tells the story of Rachel, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the consummate good girl---until her thirtieth birthday, when her best friend, Darcy, throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiancé. Although she wakes up determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from. As the September wedding date nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. In doing so, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk all to win true happiness.
For a first try at chic lit, Emily Giffen delivered an interesting novel that marked her entry to the New York Times Bestsellers List. Quite a feat, but definitely well deserved. The story of ‘Something BorroWed’ is eye-catching. From the moment I read the synopsis I knew it is the next novel on my list.
I was curious with the author’s approach to telling the story of an affair between Rachel (Maid of Honor) and Dex (Bride’s Fiance and Rachel’s Bestfriend since Childhood) and still have Rachel come out as the heroine that readers won’t resent.
Normally a person would not side with the adulteress, right? But Ms. Giffen made sure Rachel would not be hated. In fact, the author portrayed her as the victim of Darcy (the Bride) by narrating several ‘memory flashbacks’ of the friendship when Darcy had ‘lied’ and ‘used’ Rachel. Although the situations seem petty compared to adultery, the reader will begin to understand that Rachel, in fact, is the underdog. Because Darcy was more beautiful and sexy, Rachel took it upon herself to take the role as the ‘inferior’ friend, the person who will never be good enough, and she believed her parents, their common friends, and just about everyone knew this to be true.
However, in the process of finding every possible excuse to reason with her guilt, Rachel realizes that she has been living in the shadow of her friend clearly because Darcy prefers it that way and she herself did not have the courage or confidence to do things otherwise.
The novel was amusing and witty. The only parts that bothered me is Rachel’s obvious lack of self-confidence and her tolerance for her unhappiness with her job, family relations, etc. But I suppose Ms. Giffen had to establish this in order to bring the heroine to a complete catharsis…that Rachel will learn a valuable lesson, find her inner strength, and finally stand up to what she wants in life and fight for her own happiness.
Overall, nice girls will like this book. Nice girls will say, “Finally! A novel that proclaims Nice Girls finish FIRST {and not the Bad/Sexy/Seductive/Manipulative Girls}!” Therefore, I like this book!!!
Title: Something Blue
Synopsis:
From the New York Times bestselling author Emily Giffin comes a novel that shows how someone with a “perfect life” can lose it all—and then find everything.
Darcy Rhone thought she had it all figured out: the more beautiful the girl, the more charmed her life. Never mind substance. Never mind playing by the rules. Never mind karma.
But Darcy’s neat, perfect world turns upside down when her best friend, Rachel White, the plain-Jane “good girl,” steals her fiancé, while Darcy finds herself completely alone for the first time in her life…with a baby on the way. Darcy tries to recover, fleeing to her childhood friend living in London and resorting to her tried-and-true methods for getting what she wants. But as she attempts to recreate her glamorous life on a new continent, Darcy finds that her rules no longer apply.
It is only then that Darcy can begin her journey toward self-awareness, forgiveness, and motherhood.Something Blue is a novel about one woman’s surprising discoveries about the true meaning of friendship, love, and happily-ever-after. It’s a novel for anyone who has ever, even secretly, wondered if the last thing you want is really the one thing you need.
Review:
Wow! This follow-up novel to 'Something Borrowed' really sealed the deal for author Emily Giffin. She's not a 'one novel wonder' at all! She can write...and write really good! In fact, I like this sequel to Something Borrowed even better!
The story of Something Blue (by the way, the title is really clever! Just when you thought it was a use of the bridal expressiong 'something borrowed, something blue...', what it stands for is an introduction of Darcy's story as a soon-to-be single parent!) is narrated by Darcy, and therefore you get to see her perspective on what happened with the Rachel-Dex-Darcy-Marcus saga.
Just when I had cast Darcy Rhone as the completely narcisstic and manipulating friend to have (a judgement I based on the first book), I find out that she, in fact, is a victim of her environment and her upbringing. She is born beautiful and she is treated 'special' all throughout her life. She has thus morphed into a completely jaded person, whose sole basis for happiness are all things material. Her statement summarizes this, "...I understoond that at a tender age of three that with beauty comes with perks and power."
But even if Darcy does relish the advantages that comes with her looks, she also can't help but feel insecure next to her bestfriend Rachel, the brainy girl with the average looks. This is dangerous because both friends would then nurture a hidden competition with each other, which would eventually would culminate in the deterioration, and then eventual loss of the friendship.The readers are then challenged...how can you forgive betrayal?
Darcy couldn't have put it any better when she said, "It suddenly occurred to me that no matter when his affair with Rachel had begun, she hadn't been the cause of our breakup. Dex and I had split because we weren't right for each other, and because of that fact, he had been able to fall in love with her. Had we been on solid ground, Dex wouldn't have cheated on me. The realization was somehow freeing, and it enabled me to let go of another sliver of resentment toward both of them." That ephiphany on Darcy's part says a lot.
Darcy, by the end of the novel, becomes a heroine. She realized her mistakes, she owned up to them, and she courageously changed for the better. In other words, she took the readers in an engaging ride to maturity and ended up to be someone a person can truly admire.
