| Accessories By Manufacturer | |
|
|
Email Newsletter
Get info on Sales, Events, New Products, and More!
|
|
|
|
|
| Something Borrowed | 
 enlarge | Creator: Emily Giffin
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $2.00
You Save: $11.95 (86%)
New (45) Used (128) Collectible (1) from $2.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  363 reviews
Sales Rank: 1427
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 1
ISBN: 0312321198
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780312321192
ASIN: 0312321198
Publication Date: April 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
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 fiance. 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. Something Borrowed is a phenomenal debut novel that will have you laughing, crying, and calling your best friend.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 358 more reviews...
 Fantastic!! August 24, 2008
I love love loved this book!!!! I couldn't put it down once I started it. Read the second one too and it had the same effect. Now I am starting in on her third book. I don't know what I'm gonna do once I catch up to her fourth book. Her style is so readable and relatable. A must have! Enjoy!
I loved this book!! August 22, 2008
"Something Borrowed" is a story told by Rachel, an attorney who lives in New York City, along with her best friend from childhood, Darcy, a public relations specialist. Both women are very different, as you see in the first chapter of the book. Their friendship has been strong because of Rachel's down-to-earth sincerity, and Darcy's go-getter alpha attitude. They certainly are a perfect example of "opposites attract", but you soon see how their personalities clash as the story unfolds.
The very first thing that happens in the book: Rachel's 30th birthday party at a bar in Manhattan, Darcy is sent home by her fiance (Dex) because she's too drunk, then Rachel goes back to her place with Dex and they sleep together. So the story is centered around how guilty Rachel is for sleeping with her best friend's fiance even though she keeps telling herself that it was merely a drunken rendezvous and it meant nothing. But as Rachel and Dex do some soul-searching, it did mean something...
This sounds like a character I would definitely not side with, but Emily Giffin is such a great writer that she actually convinces you to be on Rachel's side. I really rooted for Rachel to find happiness and the things she says oftentimes made me laugh out loud. ;) And even though I didn't like Darcy's character, it was because Giffin wrote her so well as a pretentious snob who walked all over Rachel. In my opinion, I felt that Darcy took Rachel for granted for 20 years and she liked to step on her in order to make herself feel good. Although the one complaint I had about Rachel is her indecisiveness to talk to Dex about their situation. Uugh! Thank goodness Hillary got the ball rolling! ;) She was a great character and much better friend to Rachel than Darcy.
Many things happen in the book with Rachel, like trips to the Hamptons, secret get-togethers with Dex, wedding planning with Darcy, and a lot of flashbacks back to how their friendship began. I have to admit that being an 80's child myself, I really enjoyed the pop-culture references when they were younger. ;) And most of all, what kept me so intrigued is the constant question in my head as I read the book: "When will Darcy find out about Rachel and Dex??" That alone kept me on the edge of my seat.
*SPOILER ALERT!!* I really loved the ending of the book, when Rachel and Dex finally end up together. Dex wasn't that strong of a character in the book, and I wish that he was. But I was rooting for Rachel the whole time and she sincerely loved Dex, as he loved her. Darcy just wanted a trophy husband to show off to her mother and friends (it amazed me that they were even together for 7 years, you'd think that someone like Darcy would jump at the opportunity and marry Dex much sooner!).
I was very satisfied with how the book ended and I really wanted more! So, I also read the sequel, "Something Blue". ;) You can find my full review under that book, but in my opinion I really liked "Something Borrowed" better. To me it had more substance and the characters interacted a lot more. But just to find out what happens at the very end of the story, "Something Blue" is an OK light read. :)
Such a good read! August 11, 2008
I picked this book up while browsing books by Laura Weisberger. When I saw that she commented on what a good book Something Borrowed was I was sold. I literally could not put this book down. I stayed up until 3 a.m. to finish it which was totally worth the drowsiness I suffered at work the next day.
I found myself making every excuse as to why sleeping with your best friends boyfriend IN THIS CASE was acceptable! I enjoyed every character in this book and cannot wait to read Something Blue.
Emily Griffin has been added to my list of fav authors!
 Maybe 3.5 stars... August 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have seriously never touched anything even closely related to chick lit before in my life. No Shopaholics, Gossip Girl, Devil Wears Prada, etc. However, I do watch Sex & the City. So that's about as much experience as I've had in this genre. I wasn't really expecting a lot since I typically stick to NY Times Notable books lists but I was kind of pleasantly surprised by this book. First of all, Emily Giffin is a decent writer and her words flow very well. It was easy to read-- at no point was I thinking, "Wow, those words sound so contrived".
The basic storyline (****Spoilers***) involves a 30 year-old woman, Rachel, who gets drunk on her birthday and sleeps with her best friend's fiance. Her best friend, Darcy, is the "perfect" one and has always gotten what she's wanted in life including her fiance Dex. Rachel, on the other hand, is too much of a good girl to go after things. She waits for things to come to her. Rachel was a fairly decent heroine for this kind of novel-- smart, hard-working, average looking but with self-esteem issues. Darcy, while certainly seems incredibly one-dimensional as the beautiful but demanding diva best friends occasionally has moments when she seems kind of okay (like their little sleepover after her bachelorette party). Dex is supposed to be the perfect man and therefore a little one-dimensional-- and in his outward appearance he certainly seems like it but his lack of a spine and constant indecision grew very tiresome. By the last third of the novel (and ESPECIALLY after reading Something Blue), I thought Ethan was the better guy in almost every way. The BEST character in the book is Hillary. I'd like to read a book about her.
It's not hard to root for Rachel and Dex since Darcy is quite a pain, but at many points in the book, I still couldn't get past the fact that they are still having an AFFAIR and Rachel is betraying her best friend of 25 years. It doesn't matter if Darcy is a bad person or if you think she deserves what she's getting. It's still cheating and their lack of remorse for such a double betrayal really bothered me. I would've preferred if they had just become really good friends at first and developed feelings for each other instead of going straight to the bedroom.
Another thing is that the characterization of Darcy by Rachel (the narrator) gets progressively more negative as the novel continues and Rachel falls more in love with Dex. It did make me wonder-- if Rachel hadn't been in love with Dex, would she have just overlooked Darcy's flaws and stuck by her? It did almost seem like Rachel really just started picking at Darcy's bad traits to justify her affair with Dex. Not to mention, she has been her best friend for 25 freakin' years. And there was a point made in the book about the fact that Rachel does have an influence over Darcy, which made me wonder, if she really thought Darcy was such a horrible person in life, why didn't she try to tell her that earlier? She had 25 years to do so. Whats wrong with "Hey, Darcy. Sometimes you can be a little too much. Can you tone it down a little?" instead of using it as an excuse to have sex with her fiance. She blames Darcy more and more throughout the book for the way her life has turned out, yet she still kept her around. Yet I found it funny that in the end, Darcy was the one to come clean to Rachel not the other way around.
Then there's the issue of Dex and Darcy's relationship. If Dex was really so in love with Rachel all along and Darcy was such a bad person, why on earth did he stay in a relationship with Darcy for SEVEN years? Dex doesn't seem like the pushover type. I could understand if they had only been together for maybe a year or two, but seven years typically means there had to be much more to their relationship than was given credit in the book. I know that the reader is not supposed to see them as a legitimate and functioning couple because that might undermine the Rachel/Dex romance, but it would've been more satisfying to see what exactly made them stay together for 7 years (with neither of them cheating until two months before their wedding).
And in the end, Giffin really used a shortcut by having Darcy cheat too (even if it was long after Rachel and Dex already started a relationship). I know that's how it always works in chick flicks, books, TV, etc. If the "good" guys are being unfaithful, it always has to be justified by the "wronged" one cheating as well (a la Grey's Anatomy). It was just too neat. It would've been more interesting had Darcy been an overall decent person instead of "she had it coming" character.
Overall, it was an enjoyable summer read. Nothing too serious but a lot of fun. Definitely reminded me of Sex & the City a bit with Rachel as kind of a Carrie Bradshaw. And Hillary reminded me of Miranda.
 B+ August 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What saves Giffin's novel from chick lit obscurity is its in-depth characterization of two women in love with the same man. One would not expect to root for an adulteress, but the characters are written in such a way that it is impossible not to. In this novel, it is the little things that make a big difference. Giffin builds up enough back story that reads like your own life, while slowly building a crescendo of reality so near to our own lives, that it feels like you have written the book yourself. It prepares you for a devastating ending, one that would match the real-life narration of the story. Unfortunately, this is where the book takes a down turn. The last thirty pages read like something from a cheap dollar-store romance, full of predictability and plot wrapping that is clean cut and perfect. You feel as if the protagonist and her lover (who himself is created into an unrealistic, living Adonis) are given a Get Out of Jail free card. It is quite disappointing to be so fond of a female character, when, in fact, she turns out to be another manufactured piece of pulp from the chick lit industry in the end.
|
|
|
Site by: Troy Peterson | |
