Something Borrowed

by Emily Giffin

This was the February pick for the Blogger Book Club. I’d already seen the movie and had been ‘meh’ about it, so I hoped when this pick was announced that the book would be better. But it was also a solid ‘meh’. And there are some spoilers below, so quit reading if you don’t want to know how the book goes (though, really, you wouldn’t be hard put to guess any of what I’m revealing).

I didn’t have a problem with the writing, or even the general plot. But the characters? Blah. I didn’t like any of the main players, which makes it hard for me really like or get into a book. And yeah, Darcy is a bitch and Rachel is a pushover, and it’s great she eventually cuts that toxic influence out of her life (even though that choice ended up being mostly out of her hands). But actually my biggest issue was with the character of Dex. Sure, he’s handsome and a lawyer and perfectly adequate. But how great/intelligent can he really be if he’s willingly involved with Darcy? Her only saving grace is that she’s hot, because otherwise she’s a manipulative, spoiled liar. So either he doesn’t mind her behavior because he’s spineless/a terrible judge of character, or he’s willing to overlook it because he’s shallow. And then he cheats on her, so obviously he’s not loyal. And he’s a complete coward about choosing between the two girls for most of the book. Not exactly a real catch for Rachel. And I didn’t really buy that she was in love with him; attracted to him, sure, but not in love. And vice versa. I just didn’t believe, from the actions of either one, that they were really in love.

We’re supposed to be happy at the end because Dex & Rachel are together, but honestly I was hoping the book would differ from the movie and she’d end up with Ethan. He was the most likable character of the whole bunch. Sadly, he didn’t get much page time.

So, yeah. A big meh on this one. And I will probably not be reading any of this author’s other books.
 

I give it 2.5/5 stars.