Review: Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

genre: chick lit

Good, sturdy Rachel. She always does the right thing. She's an obedient daughter, a responsible lawyer in a big New York firm and an incredibly loyal friend, especially to the friend she's had the longest: Darcy. And now that Darcy is getting married, Rachel is trying to keep being good and sturdy, despite the fact that she, Rachel, is NOT married and has no prospects. But, on the night of her 30th birthday, she ends up with Darcy's fiance and soon decides that maybe he is the man she's really supposed to be with.

Well? Did I like it? Yes-ish and no. Rachel is a very sympathetic character - often whiny, but she often feels the way so many of us feel sometimes - like you can see the fun going on around you but you can't figure out how to be a part of it. Her loneliness, too, can really feel familiar. I guessed that the author had been a lawyer (I was right) because everything to do with that part of her life felt authentic.

Obviously there is all kinds of sleeping around with people's significant others', and even though you know that going into it, it's still a bit annoying. Is there no one who doesn't fool around? One character even stated that there are "no moral absolutes" which, wow, can get you thinking. And while I was usually interested in the plot (I had to know how it worked out in the end, of course), Rachel's inner monologue, while sometimes funny or clever, sometimes just DRAGGED and I had to exclaim out loud to "get on with the plot already!"

Okay. That's all. It's a beachy-read, probably fine if you like a bit of fluff now and then.