Book Review: Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

Book Title: Something Borrowed

Author: Emily Giffin

Genre: Chic-Lit

ISBN: 978-0312-32119-2 
Pages: 322 
Source: Local Library

A quick look at the story:

All her life Rachel's been the nice, obedient, liked-by-all kind of gal and then on the night of her 30th b'day she does the unthinkable - she ends up sleeping with her best-friend Darcy's fiance - Dex!!! She tries to put it off as an accident but realizes that it suddenly doesn't seem all that easy and simple - she seems to have feelings for Dex and it might be mutual.... the rest of the book is all about whether Darcy gets her mind to prevail over her heart or vice-versa...

My Thoughts:

I have to admit that it's been a looooong time since I read a chic-lit. Of-late I have been reading a lot of 'heavy'- content books and decided that I should switch and read a light-book and am glad I decided to pick this one....  I really liked this book a lot. The author, Emily Giffin's writing is simple & attractive and keeps you wanting to read the next page and find out what happens next... I finished this book in a single sitting!! 

The story as I mentioned in the summary, is one that tests the depth of friendship between Rachel and Darcy. All through the 25 odd years that they have been best-friends, their respective roles in the friendship are pretty clearly defined - Darcy is the pretty chick with a domineering and 'I-can-get-whatever-I-desire' attitude and she has a equally good-looking lawyer fiance in Dex, while Rachel is the smart, adjusting gal who is accustomed to always playing second fiddle to her friend and is still single.  On the career-front, Darcy is in a high-profile HR job which totally fits with her hip-n-happening Manhattan lifestyle, and Rachel on the other hand works as an attorney in a law firm which sure helps  in paying her student loans but the job as such is not something which she really cares about.  Then comes along the day when Rachel turns 30 and as the party winds down she finds herself in bed with Dex - who is not just her friend from law-school but also Darcy's fiance!

Usually, such a storyline is not the most pleasant one and the last person one would sympathize with in this scenario, is somebody in Rachel's shoes - imagine... how in the world can one justify a girl sleeping with someone else's fiance, especially if that guy is engaged with your best-est friend!!! Now here is where I feel the author should be commended - though the entire story has been narrated from Rachel's point of view, Emily Giffin has described each of the characters in depth and she has also portrayed beautifully the myriad emotions going through Rachel's mind - be it her love for Dex, feelings of affection and loyalty towards Darcy and above all her guilt at having betrayed her friendship. In the end, I have to agree that the author did succeed in making me feel sympathetic towards Rachel, infact to the extent that I even felt hatred towards Darcy for her arrogant and insensitive behavior towards Rachel!

My take on this book: 

A very nice chic-flick story, with all the drama and is surely a light-read!! Even though the entire story is not something which everyone can relate to, there are lot of aspects of the story am sure each of us can relate with.

The sequel to this book is called "Something Blue" and that has the same story as told from Darcy's point of view. Well, no prizes for guessing that I did read the sequel too, and shall be posting my review for that soon.... :)

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