"Something Borrowed" by Emily Giffin

I dislike the term "chick lit". I'm not sure why, but I find it somehow derogatory or demeaning. I don't particularly like the idea that if something is overly saccharine or moral it suddenly becomes a generalization. However, if I were to use the term, that would be how this particular novel and beginning of a series would be categorized.

Rachel is a self-conscious, push-over who doesn't know what she wants from life. Darcy is her highly ambitious and confident best friend from all the way back to elementary school who gets engaged to Rachel's college classmate, Dexter. If you've seen the commercials for the movie-version that released in May 2011 (which I haven't actually seen) or consider the title of "Something Borrowed", you can probably tell where the story is going to lead. I'll spare you from any spoilers the author didn't already offer when naming her work.

I found this to be a fast, entertaining read. It might be something you lend out as a "beach read" to a friend, but it probably won't end up on your "favorites" shelf on Goodreads. Having read the book, I'm under the strong impression that Darcy was meant to be the main antagonist. In fact, Emily Giffin wrote a semi-sequel called "Something Blue" meant to be Darcy's side of the story. I'll be honest, I really disliked Rachel by the time I got to the last page. It has nothing really to do with plot, and I didn't really love Darcy, either.. But I had no respect for Rachel. She was so incredibly wishy-washy and had no backbone to speak of...

“Rachel, why are you waiting?”
“I want it to be his decision. I don’t want to be responsible…”

The thing I just couldn't handle, though, was how she passed off blame and rationalized her decisions based on Darcy's personality. You can't base your moral decisions on someone else. Poor decisions can't be excused just because someone else isn't perfect.

"I think of Darcy, compare our feelings for Dex. She doesn’t love him as I do. She can’t possibly. This will be my final rationalization in the home stretch."

I'd like to say this was in the ultimate plan, but I really felt these qualities were almost glorified. So, even though I was entertained by the plot, I have to say I just didn't care for the main character at all and that really took something away for me.

Still, if you're looking for a quick, fun read about a love, friendship, and betrayal, you might want to look into this one. Personally, I give it a 2.5 or 3/5 stars. It was neutral, possibly a perfect book for a quick day of sand and sun, but not something I would consider reading again or recommending to a friend.