Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

Yes I am aware that I have not put anything new up since January.  BUT I did read 4 novels and dealt with Winter quarter which was actually a bit traumatizing.  Yes I read 2 of those novels in the past week but I still managed to read them.  So there.  As for the first 2 books, well I just haven’t been able to find the energy to write them up yet…  hopefully they will be coming soon.  Enough about that though.

I bought this book on a whim.  The movie looked cute and it was 20% off at Target, and I needed another book to read… so why not, right?  It isn’t my usual style but branching out can be a good thing.  The book is told from Rachel’s POV and she is a lawyer (5^th yr associate at a NY law firm) and about to turn 30.  She is also single and best friends with a modern day barbie (Darcy) who is engaged to a great guy.  This guy, Dex, was Rachel’s friend from law school and she convinced herself that they were just friends, and so introduced him to Darcy.  And since Darcy always gets what she wants, she and Dex have been dating for a few years and are now engaged.  Rachel is of course the Maid of Honor since she is Darcy’s oldest and best friend.  Darcy throws Rachel a surprise 30^th birthday party but gets smashed early  and Dex has to take her home.  He comes back for the party and the night ends with just Rachel and Dex at a bar.  They catch a cab home and suddenly Dex is kissing Rachel…  This starts an affair that will last all summer with the end date his September wedding to Darcy.  We get a nice look into the past as Rachel tries to console herself.  And it does seem that Darcy deserves this.  She really is a jerk and is extremely jealous of Rachel.  It is hard to be friends when you can’t turn off the competition.  Meanwhile, Rachel tries to convince herself that she is okay with just being the other woman but you can tell she really thinks that Dex is going to call it off with Darcy… which he doesn’t.  Fortunately Rachel has two friends that are looking out for her and her alone.  They keep her grounded amongst the Darcy-mess and Dex-sex.  She tells Dex to make a choice (and to pick her) and takes a week of vacation to Europe just 2 weeks (or so) before Darcy’s wedding.  The night before she leaves for London, Dex tells her that he chooses Darcy.  What a douche.  He tells her he loves her and strings her along and then, wait, jk, you still aren’t as good as Darcy.  Good thing she is going to London, which is also pissing Darcy off because it means she is neglecting her MOH duties.  Her friend Ethan helps her get over (well start to) Dex and get a better perspective on her friendship with Darcy.  This is all a step in the right direction.  And then she comes back to New York, and Dex is waiting for her.  He called off the wedding so he could be with Rachel.  So they are happy and about to do the nasty and then Darcy comes over.  Dex jumps in the closet as Darcy comes in to whine to Rachel.  Yeah, Darcy still hasn’t figured it out even with Dex calling it off, because well who would cheat on Darcy?  Turns out she has also been having an affair, and with Dex’s good friend Marcus.  Oh yeah and she is also pregnant.  Well she ends up finding out about Dex and Rachel because of a misplaced watch.  So it is all out and Rachel and Dex are pretty happy though neither are talking to Darcy or Marcus, understandably.  Yay!  Happy ending.

This book was pretty entertaining.  It was written well and moved at a good pace.  I got a little tired of hearing Rachel hope and hope that Dex will call off the wedding because he is sooo in love with her.  It got a little irritating after awhile.  Hilary saved this part of the book by totally calling her on it, especially because Rachel claimed this would never happen when the affair started.  I was extremely happy that she put an end to it AND told Dex to pick her!  Finally standing up for herself.  There is no reason that she doesn’t deserve happiness and not many people get a second chance like she did.  I was glad that it ended up working out in the end, even if Dex picked Darcy at first (which was really lame).  That was probably thrown in there for everyone to say “I told you so” only to have it smack them in the face when he calls off the wedding.  Not necessary but I guess it made the book more interesting and allowed for the fun diversion through London, which I did enjoy.  Overall I did really like the book and I do want to see the movie, even though they changed a few things.  =]