Book Review: Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

Something Borrowed 
Author: Emily Giffin
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 336


Synopsis:
Rachel White is the consummate good girl. A hard-working attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid of honor to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy's fiance, and is both horrified and thrilled to discover that he feels the same way. As the wedding date draws near, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience. In so doing, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself. (From Goodreads)

My Review:
My first thought after a wonderful friend recommended this book was, oh boy here we go, just another chick-lit type read that has a predictable ending (we all know I love to be surprised with twists in the plot ;-) ). So I tried it out anyways and although it did take me a little time to get used to the slower pace of this genre that I'm not normally used to reading, I would say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading Something Borrowed. 

Yes, the story is predictable to an extent, but Emily Giffin portrays her characters with so much life and personality that a reader starts to look beyond what will happen in these characters lives and focus on the present. There is too much drama that needs to be understood and fixed before any of these characters can really begin to find themselves. 

Emily takes a reader down the path of two best friends,Rachel and Darcy. Rachel the average person who is always wanting something just a tad bit better, and is always comparing herself alongside her "I'm always perfect. It is all about Me, Me, Me" best friend Darcy. The characters are very relate-able. Although we may not have a friend who is identical to Darcy (let's hope not!) in some way I think everyone, at some point, is a Rachel. Whether we are the work-a-holics who have to follow the rule books or always think of ourselves as average compared to someone who has a very high sense of self worth.

It seems so unfair that Darcy always gets what she wants at such little cost to her that I was happy for Rachel when Dex (the fiance of Darcy and friend of Rachel) hooked up. Although I don't condone cheating AT ALL, there was a part of me that was happy for her. Rachel finally got a piece of what she was looking for. She was able to begin to figure out what she really wanted in life; asking herself questions about who & what mattered most to her.Others have disagreed with me, but I'm going to side with Rachel on this one! 


There were a few things that came up about Darcy that had surprised me at the end... ultimately making the story more exciting. :-)  


I think that there are lots of little ideas that a person can take away from this novel. I love that Rachel finally goes for what she wants. And in a way, Darcy does too she just doesn't know it yet. Life takes turns and we may be blinded as to the direction our lives are taking, but eventually it will lead to a lighted path, we just have to be patient. Something Borrowed was a novel that shows just that!!