Genre: Adult Fiction
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Something
Borrowed is the
ultimate chick flick, and the story is told from the point of view of Rachel, a lawyer living in NYC. She is your quintessential good
girl and very different from her best friend, Darcy. Darcy is fun,
happy-go-lucky, self absorbed and engaged to Dex, Rachel's friend from law
school. Darcy is the life of the party, and she throws single gal Rachel
a surprise 30th birthday party. At the end of the night, Rachel
and Dex ends up in bed. Oops! What are Rachel and Dex to do...they actually
have feelings for each other.
Griffin brilliantly captured the
emotions and nuances that can be typical in girls' friendships. She explores the
fine line between friendship, love, betrayal and envy. Something Borrowed puts front and center the
competitiveness, jealousy and insecurities that destroys female friendships. The
desire to be better, to be more beautiful, to have the most handsome and
accomplished man, to have the best butt or bosom...you name it. However, the
book goes further by engaging us in the decisions that come in the aftermath of
envy and betrayal. In addition, Griffin does an absolutely good
job of making us like the protagonist, one that we should hate.
As intended (I think), I liked
Rachel, but she clearly needed to grow some gumption. I did wonder if I should be rooting for her; she betrayed her best friend. The book goes as far as to imply that Darcy deserved it, because she was a self-absorbed woman who would have done the same if the tables were turned. I
could not be Darcy's friend; having everything be all
about you gets old pretty fast. I don't understand how Rachel puts up with
her, but Rachel and I are on extreme ends of the personality chart. Darcy was written to be hated making it easier to root for Rachel and Dex.
The premises that there are shades of grey in love and friendship, and
nothing is black and white was prevalent. Stealing your best friend's fiance is
black and white wrong even if she has been trampling over you your
entire life and you let her do it. I had the same uncomfortably feeling I got
watching the movie as I read the book...I was being set up to like Rachel and
Dex while romanticizing infidelity. Then why did I not feel bad for Darcy? :)
Things are not always easy... love, guilt and envy are powerful forces.
I had issues with Dex; he lacked balls. I wanted to yell at him to
man up and get it together. Break up with Darcy already or call it quit
with Rachel and suck it up in your crumbling relationship. Do something!
Anything!
I liked Something
Borrowed though I don't agree with its premises, but Griffin also explores the nurturing and sharing part of female relationships.
The Book vs. The Movie: I read the book last month. I saw the
movie last year and also liked it. However, I always try to read a book before I see the movie. It gives me the
freedom to create my own characters untainted by the movie
depiction. In addition, I get to enjoy the movie angle of the book and the lines adopted from the book. I was a
little disappointed that Darcy who was a brunette in the book was a blonde in the movie. Very Hollywood and stereotypical. As a female,
it made me uneasy.
Ethan (played by John Krasinski) was not a big part of the book, and he was already living in London working on his book. I did appreciate
how the script writers incorporated him into the movie to set him up
for his bigger role in a potential movie version of Something
Blue.
Something Borrowed is a perfect beach read; it is light,
flirty and fun. Griffin did an excellent job.
Have you read "Something
Borrowed" and/or seen the movie...what do you think?"
Beloved, You
are Loved Absolutely!
