Something Borrowed

In 2011, the movie Something Borrowed was released; at first I didn't fancy it much, but a couple of years later around late 2012 I fell for the story. I love the title the most. It has two meanings: either that Darcy borrowed the man Rachel was always supposed to be with, or that it indicates the role of the maid of honor, because she is the one that's supposed to give the bride "something borrowed".

In any case, since I became a fan, and knew it was based on a book, all I wanted is part two to hit the cinemas. Now that I read the book, I'm surprised of how much I despised and hated Rachel and Dex. Especially Rachel.

She is not only a traitor but a fake friend and a horrible person inside; I prefer Darcy in the book. In the movie, the show more director, though he stuck to the original story knew how to manipulate the characters and events to make Rachel seem likeable and for the audience to root for her, and wish for Dex to leave Darcy. In the book I felt that the writer was trying so hard for Rachel case against Darcy because she is pretty, smart, fun, loved and lucky.

In real life, Rachel wouldn't have won... ever! And I'm not trying to be mean, she is rotten with personal turmoil and vendetta of her own making. If she hated Darcy so much, she could have stopped being her friend instead of wishing her ill wishes while smiling at her.

The funny thing is, I don't think she even loves Dex in the book, I think the thrill of "winning" something over Darcy is the key factor of who she is and her "love" to Dex. Even if she won him, I don't see it going anywhere after the thrill of the forbidden is over.

In my opinion, I prefer the movie. show less

Heavens, what a tense novel this is. I am finding the dilemma faced by Dex (the about to be groom) and the maid of honour to be very real. I don't know yet how it will be resolved - one part to go.

OK. This novel was excruciating! Of course, we only saw one point of view, Rachel's, but how on earth did she stick with Darcy. I thought I maybe didn't understand it because I never had such a friend from childhood, with all those memories to share before I married. But, a long time ago I read about not tolerating crazy people - they suck you dry. Leave you with a deficit in life. My good sense tells me the same should be said of boring narcissists like Darcy.

Is Dex spineless? as Ethan says. Certainly Rachel is spineless ... she values being show more rational and caring and patient - but she's excessively self-sacrificing - or how much is she a coward? or disastrously passive?

Until finally she asks him the million dollar question. Up till then, she avoids talking to him. She's afraid of the possible outcome if they make decisions. When she makes her demand of him, she doesn't talk about it. She doesn't even explain the Marcus thing. Always, each of them, they are strangely opaque. Not honest? Yet Dex always seemed earnest with Rachel - it mustn't the partner of honest that I thought it was. In the light of what he has told Rachel, how can he then not leave Darcy? He doesn't explain much of the reasoning behind his final decision to Rachel, and what's more thoroughly annoying, Rachel doesn't ask him, and she doesn't fight for him. One can't help but think her love for him is a little shallow, bound up in her passivity, and her competitiveness with Darcy.

Why didn't Rachel bow out of being the maid of honour? Wouldn't that have been the right thing to do once she'd decided to continue her affair with Dex? Parallel to what we expected of Dex - that he should withdraw from the engagement, once the liaison became an affair and he allowed it to continue through the lead up to the wedding.

I loved and hated this novel. it was long, drawn out - which is a pet peeve of mine. I was sick of Rachel's "voice" - or was it simply anger at the stalemate? - Rachel is the narrator. I was frustrated at not getting inside Dex's head. I could do without getting inside Darcy's head, which is why I have no desire to read Something Blue, since it is supposed to be from Darcy's perspective.

I'd have to agree with some other comments below, that this wasn't a romantic comedy - it was neither romantic or a comedy. The writing was clever, and to me it was more of an issues novel.

I'm curious about the movie, but I'm afraid I would find it too depressing!

PS: I've read some comments about "cheating" being the theme of the novel. Mmmm. Rachel is racked with guilt about it. I don't get that sense from Dex. Though he doesn't want to cause Darcy pain ... It seemed to me the guilt should be reversed. He was the one who should have felt guilt, as he was betraying both women by not committing wholeheartedly to either. Who was he? He was painted as quite noble - possessing worthy traits. Yet his conduct was reprehensible. It didn't seem logical that he would stay with Darcy unless it was out of pure cowardice. And Rachel's guilt distorted her good sense - as evidenced by her continued sycophantic behaviour towards Darcy. I found my feelings about Dex's reprehensibility startling - as I usually believe it is the single person - the one outside the established relationship - around which her life spins and goes nowhere - who plays the fool, and forfeits her life. And this is somewhat deserved since they are the outsider. But in this novel, I didn't think that - it shows the manipulative power of both Rachel's narration AND her passivity. Most of the time I felt that Dex alone was the cheater. Of course, both cheated. If he had chosen Rachel, I could have forgiven them both ...

Jennifer Wiltsie is the audiobook's narrator - she has a charming velvety voice, and I have a feeling Rachel benefits more than she should from her talent! show less

I discovered Emily Giffin with her latest book, Love the One You're With, which my husband bought me as a gift. I felt Love the One You're With was realistic up until the ending which fell flat and left me disappointed as a reader.

Not so with Something Borrowed. Giffin's first book chronicles the saga of thirty year old Rachel, best friend and maid of honor to Darcy, who is engaged to Dex, Rachel's one night Incident turned lover.

Most love triangles are complicated and have been explored countless times in literature. Giffin's book is unique since it not only is told from the mistress's point of view, but the mistress is portrayed as a likable young woman and her morale dilemma encompasses more than just love, but her self-respect and show more worth as a human being.

The ending was satisfying.

I enjoyed Something Borrowed and would recommend it to everyone who has either been in a love triangle or had a conflicted friendship. show less

I'm a high school English teacher who likes poetry and wine, so I turned in my man card a long time ago. Still, when my wife said I should read this book, I hesitated. The cover is a soft pink. It has a wedding ring on it. These gave me pause.

Fast forward a few years to when I've just finished reading Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale and need something less epic in scope and language to read. Something Borrowed was still on my nightstand. (I'll also confess that, since my wife first read the book, I have met the author--our relationship is somewhere between casual acquaintances and friends--and I felt a wave of guilt over not having read this book.)

I'm sorry I waited so long.

Something Borrowed, as my wife described it, is "chick lit for show more smart people." It isn't Charles Dickens, nor is it trying to be. It's clever, witty, and seemingly dead-on about life for twenty-to-thirty-something professionals in Manhattan. Sometimes the plot is familiar, and a handful of minor characters--like Les the workaholic boss--are straight out of Central Casting.

If plots that are (at times) predictable run you off, two things will redeem this novel for you. The first is the writing. It's sharp and observant in a slightly cutting but not overly-bitchy way--picture a smarter and less mannered Sex in the City, for starters. Conversations are dramatized without undue dramaturgy, and there are longer scenes of description that do not drag but merely underscore the significance of what has or is about to happen. Emily Giffin knows when to show us a scene and when to just tell us a few things and move on. Her writing is at its best when describing and showing people. The main character, Rachel, offers insights not only about the people and the Manhattan life around her, but also about herself, her own feelings and interior plottings and calculations.

Which leads to the second thing that's very strong about this novel: the main characters. Rachel sweeps you up in her story--written in present tense, Rachel's narration pulls you along effortlessly--and reveals a lot about herself and her woes while avoiding saccharine, pity-party theatrics. Her best friend, Darcy, is a raging narcissistic bitch who is also a lot of fun to read about--she sharpens every scene that she's in and makes you understand why, even though she can be insufferable, everyone puts up with her, even cares for her. Dex, Darcy's fiance, could almost be a fantasy pin-up--brilliant, courageous, sensitive, and hot--except that he's portrayed as a real human being with emotions and baggage of his own...in other words, he's not perfect. (Although some readers might disagree.)

The premise is simple: on her thirtieth birthday, Rachel, who is single and constantly in the shadow cast by her best friend, party-girl Darcy, drinks one too many and ends up in bed with Dex, who in a few short months will be married to Darcy. Awkward! But Emily Giffin takes the time to explore not just the pratfall comedy that Hollywood would make of this in a movie but also issues of loyalty, betrayal, friendship, and love, along with the ever-present issue, for Rachel, of getting older and having fewer and fewer options for potential partnership bliss.

I often joke with my students about genre devices. Romantic comedies, for example: boy meets girl, boy almost gets girl, boy seems to lose girl, sad emo music plays while it rains, then boy redeems himself and gets girl. Something Borrowed is a romantic comedy of the old school set in early 21st-century Manhattan, a version of Bridget Jones' Diary that you could actually imagine happening.

Rachel's voice was fun to read and hear, and I'll miss it and her. Until the next time I pick up the novel. show less

Author Emily Giffin can certainly tell a story. Rachel, the narrator, is a Midwest girl transplanted to the East Coast--first Duke for college, NYU for law school, and now working as a lawyer in a Manhattan law firm. Rachel has lived her life "by the rules" until her 30th birthday, when she sleeps with her best friend's fiance.

What I liked: Rachel felt real, for the most part. She is somewhat self-reflective and does grow and change over the course of the book. The flashbacks to elementary, middle, and high school back in Indiana were right-on. Rachel's friendships with Annalise and Ethan are authentic and heart-warming. The descriptions of life for successful twenty-somethings in Manhattan also seemed real, but how would I know?

What I show more didn't like: For someone as intelligent as Rachel, for her to be so blind to Darcy's true personality for over 20 years is astounding, and very sad. It only took one or two anecdotes for me to want to take Rachel by the shoulders and shake some sense into her! Yes, Rachel does occasionally see Darcy for who she is, but she quickly dismisses it or turns it into a condemnation of herself. I understand that Darcy is the bright candle to which all the moths are drawn, but after getting singed once or twice (or fifty or five hundred times), don't you think the moths would learn? Maybe not... and that is a sad commentary on popularity vs. friendship.

What else I didn't like: Dex and Marcus both remain rather one-dimensional. I realize we are seeing them only through Rachel's eyes, but I would have liked to know them more fully.

So, to sum up--I read this book in a day. It's a quick read, very well-told, but the problems I had with the characters kept me from giving it more stars. I understand Giffin's next book picks up where this one ends, but is told with Darcy as narrator. I may keep my eyes open for that... show less

I loved this book. I loved the main character Rachel, and I loved how the entire book, I could feel myself fearing that I would become her. Not because I have a best friend like that, but because I honestly think that my world would suck horribly and I know I'm just like her. At the end of the day, I am a nice girl, I am a doormat, and the few times that I have done something with little to no fear for personal pleasure, it has always backfired.

I can honestly assign so many traits and characters to each and every one of my friends in correlation to the book. I know that I am not the perfect Rachel, however I do embody so many of her qualities. I have no Darcy in my life to speak of, however I have befriended girls like her in the past show more and have usually let them steal the spotlight when we were in public. Lastly, Hillary is my Adam. Sorry dude, you're yet again a chick character, but you are honestly the person in my life who will yell, tell me the things I don't want to hear, and stick up for me when I am allowing myself to be put down or hurt.

The writing was so easy to read and I honestly couldn't put it down. I had to take a break from it, but I read it so quickly that I never wanted it to end. I even saw the movie first, and I still couldn't put the book down.

I honestly have decided to make this book an inspiration for the way I allow myself to be treated in life. Reading how Rachel justified things in her head helped me to understand why it is that I do the things in my life that caused me stress and pain. This book is acting as a warning to me for future incidents. show less

Something Borrowed is not my typical read, yet I found it to be a delightful change to my usual selection. I really found myself rooting for Rachel, the heroine who is also committing a villainous act- having an affair with her best friend's fiancée. I had absolutely no sympathy for Darcy, the self-centered best friend, and kind of glad Rachel was sticking it to her, even if it was secretly. Maybe it is because I saw the movie first. Fun read with a not so typical chic-lit plot.