Something Borrowed

My book club read Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin for our latest book.   I have seen these books at the library and in book stores, and I think I read one a long time ago.  However, I didn't remember a thing, so I was excited to read it this time around and actually write a review for y'all.

Something Borrowed is a chick-lit beach read book through and through.  It is definitely for adults, but teens could read it if they don't mind inappropriate subject, sex, as well as language, and alcohol.  I wouldn't call this a clean read at all.  It wasn't horrendous enough for me to not read it (I do stop reading some books b/c of the content, but I am liberal in my reading compared to other conservative readers- if that makes any sense at all), but it wasn't a wholesome uplifting book.  However, it is a fast read and it is entertaining enough.  I think I would give it 3 out of 5 stars.

The reason for the less than perfect score is the writing style was entertaining, but it had way too many side notes/appendages when reading.  I know that it is Giffin's writing style, and I don't mind appendage stories in my reading b/c I do the same while writing.  However, there was a TON of it, and at times I found myself skipping and/or skimming the side stories/appendages b/c I wanted to read the story and find out what was going to happen.  Therefore, some of the appendages just felt like extra words that didn't add to the story.  I did enjoy that the story had the ending I was hoping for, but at the same time I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to end up even though many parts of the story were predictable.  Yet again, sounds confusing, but Something Borrowed was predictable, but it wasn't obvious in the most important area, the ending.

All in all, if you don't mind the language and the sex, and you like romance/chick-lit, then you will enjoy this read.

Amazon had the following book description:

"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."

A quick side note about Emily Giffin.  I find it quite fun that she is very prevalent in this story.  Giffin also went to law school, and worked at a law firm in NYC, and then moved to London.  There are many parts of Rachel in the story that seem to connect with Giffin.  However, one difference that surprises me is Rachel went to Duke for Undergrad and Giffin went to Wake Forest.  How someone can go to a school like Wake Forest that is in the same conference and relatively close to Duke and therefore probably hate them b/c most people do or at least should (I went to Carolina so I am partial, big time) and still include Duke in their novel is beyond me. :)  Even though Duke was in the story, and Giffin didn't go there, I still think it is fun to see an author's life coming out in their book.  It's like it gives you the teeny-tiniest bit of insight into where their ideas come from.  

All right, enough of this long review and rambling session.  Something Borrowed is a fun read, but it's not a clean read.  Just FYI.