Book Review #52: Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

Hey Guys x

I was given this book years ago, but I didn't get around to reading it properly until last week. I honestly don't know why I waited so long!

It's about a girl called Rachel who has a best friend called Darcy. Darcy has always been the girl who has everything, with her stunning good looks and bags of confidence, Rachel has never been able to compete. So when Rachel wakes up the morning after her 30th birthday party to find herself in bed with Darcy's fiancé, she doesn't feel that bad about it. But will Darcy find out what happened? And can Rachel and Dex stop themselves from doing it again?

I really enjoyed this book. I watched the movie before I saw it so I knew what to expect, but the book was miles better than the movie in my opinion.

The first thing that I realised in the book was that, there is not one character that I liked. The character of Rachel is one that you're supposed to sympathise with, because she is a victim of Darcy's selfish attitude. And I get that, but that didn't make me like her. If I am best friends with someone, that is a choice. And if I choose to be best friends with someone, then there's no way in the world that I would do something like that to them. Rachel acts like the victim when she's just as selfish as her best friend. The only thing that separates them is that she isn't as 'pretty'.

And then there's Dex, a physical representation of the fact that men are trash. He is trash. He is having his cake and eating it too, and Rachel is too worried about ruining everything to ask him what his stance is on their relationship. He refuses to make any decisions regarding either of the women in his life and when he finally decides, he gets hailed as a good person!

And we have to talk about Darcy. She isn't a nice person in the book, in fact, she's pretty awful. And I understand why Rachel feels resentful towards her. She's selfish, and mean, and she treats Rachel badly. In this book, we only see Darcy from the point of view of Rachel, so it seems a bit one-sided. But I've been reading the sequel to this book, from Darcy's point of view, and can confirm that so far, she's just an awful person wrapped up in an aesthetically pleasing package.

I hated the end of the book, and the end of the film, for different reasons. Mainly, the character of Ethan. In the film, he is a prominent character who deserved a happy ending. I loved his character and wanted more of him in the book. But in the book. he is only mentioned a handful of times, and he lives in London from beginning to end, so he's not a prominent character. This changes in the sequel, but in terms of this book, I wanted more of him. However, I also think that no one got what they deserved, and that sucks.

What was good?
I really loved the way that the book was written, and I loved the fact that I was so obsessed with a story where I didn't care very much for any of the characters. I don't know if this was the intention of the author, but I think that's amazing.

What was bad?
As I already mentioned, I didn't like the characters or the ending. So much so that I'd actually love for the ending to change, because right now I can't get on board with it.

Overall
I would definitely recommend this book, and it's film counterpart. While the film is a rom-com with not a lot of substance, the book is so much more than that. It's thought-provoking and gripping and it'll definitely keep you invested!

Lou