| | |  | Amazon Kindle | Home » » » Something Borrowed | | | | | | | Description: | | Something Borrowed tells the story of Rachel, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the consummate good girl---until her thirtieth birthday, when her best friend, Darcy, throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiancĂ©. Although she wakes up determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from. As the September wedding date nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. In doing so, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk all to win true happiness. Something Borrowed is a phenomenal debut novel that will have you laughing, crying, and calling your best friend.
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Average Customer Review:
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152 of 177 found the following review helpful:
Great Book!!!Jan 28, 2005
By Mercedes L. Johnmeyer
"The Most Happy"
OK, I normally HATE chick-lit books, and that was what I was expecting when I picked this up, but actually, I loved it! I read all the reviews before starting this, and seeing as how everyone raved about it, I gave it a shot. So glad I did.
Rachel and Darcy have been best friends since their childhood in Indiana. Now they are both living in NYC and Rachel has just turned 30...and also just slept with Darcy's fiance. When I first started reading peoples reviews, I couldn't believe how they all rooted for Rachel and Dex...but after getting deeper and deeper into the book, I was doing the same thing! I actually grew to despise Darcy. She was so incredibly immature for a woman of 29 yrs. How Rachel managed to stay friends with her all that time was beyond me, but I loved the character of Rachel.
She's so down-to-earth, and I found myself saying a bunch of times, 'I know EXACTLY what she means!!', or, 'I've been there, and that's just what I was thinking to'. The ending was also really good. Half of it was a complete surprise, and I was very satisfied with the other half. I'm really looking forward to 'Something Blue' coming out this summer. Hopefully it will continue the saga of this very entertaining group of people. I definitely recommend!!
104 of 125 found the following review helpful:
 Awful EndingMar 19, 2009
By J. Bigornia
*SPOILERS*
I knew that I was getting into a book about disloyalty and infidelity when I decided to read it. However, I found the author trying to pass off Dexter as a romantic hero with Rachel and her friends gushing at how courageous he was when he broke off his engagement with the best friend of the girl he's sleeping with as an obvious misnomer and a little manipulative on the author's behalf. Because really, their reaction should have been "Finally!"
I know that cheating happens, and their immorality was not the problem I had with the book. However, let's just call things as they are. It's one thing for Rachel to think of Dex as courageous, but her level-headed friends realistically would have said "Thank goodness he came to his senses" rather than being impressed. I hate it when authors throw little things like that in to get the reader to still like and side with the main characters. I thought this book was supposed to be about there being a gray area.
But to make matters worse, in case the reader had any remorse for Darcy - Rachel's best friend of 25 years and Dexter's fiance - the author made sure to rid the guilt completely by having Darcy admit that not only is she also having an affair, but with Mark, Dexter's friend from college and Darcy's two-time substitute for when she needed someone to take Dexter off her mind. But because Darcy & Mark's affair happened a month into Dexter and Rachel's relationship, when they were already exchanging I Love Yous, the author decides that maybe she allowed too much gray area for the audience to still feel sorry for Darcy...after all, Darcy's affair happened around the time she felt insecure because Dexter had been distant and not having sex with her anymore. So just in case the readers turn on her, the author revealed that not only has Darcy been sleeping with Mark, but she's pregnant with his child!
I was a little offended that the author felt the need to go that far...and though some may say it was her need to please the audience, I felt like it was more her way of trying to fool us into siding with Rachel and Dexter. It would have been a much more interesting book if Darcy had found out the truth and Rachel just had to deal with the fact that she hurt her best friend. Despite all the built up jealousy and resentment Rachel has towards Darcy for always being self-centered and the prettier and more confident of the two, she still had no right to sleep with Darcy's fiance. I found the "Oh well! Darcy not only did what I did, but she's worse because she's pregnant!" ending sloppy and shallow. I especially hated that Rachel felt Darcy's infidelity was harsher because Rachel had only deceived Darcy...whereas Darcy deceived both Rachel and Dexter. Oh please! Rachel's nothing relationship with Mark is HARDLY comparable to the ten year relationship Darcy had with her fiance Dexter.
And to all the reviewers who said it's a realistic portrayal of infidelity are merely mistaken. If everyone who cheated with their best friend's fiance was "rewarded" with the fact that their best friend was doing the same and pregnant...well, then these same reviewers wouldn't have complimented the author's "great" twist ending.
By the way, was I the only one rooting for Rachel to be with Ethan? I found his sense of humor charming and his friendship with Rachel endearing. Dexter, on the other hand, I found positively boring. His descriptions were always surrounded by narrations of how he handsome he was. Are the readers supposed to be impressed by that? Oh well.
54 of 65 found the following review helpful:
 ConflictedJul 13, 2009
By Joyful
There were many aspects of this book I did not like, and I agree with most of the negative reviews. Rachel is not a heroine in any sense of the word. She was an incredibly unsympathetic character, as was Dexter. Cheating on his fiance, with her best friend, made me dislike him from the very beginning. The fact that he continues the relationship with Rachel, and got jealous when she was just kissing other people (never mind he's engaged to someone else!) made him seem very immature and manipulative. Rachel was a heroine that the reader never really gets to know. If anything, you feel pity for her because she is so pathetic.
The ending was not only predictable, but I felt cheated after reading it. I would have much preferred Rachel and Dexter ending up together and having to deal with the fact that their affair made them not-so-nice people and having Rachel realize that maybe she is the bad friend, not Darcy. I did not like that the author tried to prevent you from feeling any empathy for Darcy by making her the "worst" of the bunch with her own cheating. However, I did not feel bad for Rachel or Dexter after Darcy's revelation. Rachel seems very holier-than-thou since Darcy deceived her and Dexter, but I did not see any blameless party in the situation.
The only "bright spot" in the book that I found remotely realistic was the portrayal of toxic friendships that are so common in women today. I could relate to their high school days and even later in their friendship when it was always an unspoken competition. That aspect of the story was something I found real and interesting. However, that never excuses one for stealing someone's fiance. That proves that Rachel is the real frenemy, not Darcy.
12 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Like eating cheap chocolateJan 30, 2006
By Tway
That's exactly what reading this book was like. You can't put it down, devour it all in a sitting or two, then end up completely unsatisfied when it's all over. The writing was interesting and I particularly liked the many insights, but Rachel got off too easy - far too easy for a fictional character, anyway. Darcy, typecast as the 'evil' friend, tied up the ends altogeter too nicely. I was waiting to see how Rachel would have to pay the piper, but apparently she didn't have to get her hands dirty. In the end, the reader is the one left covered in dollar-store chocolate.
44 of 53 found the following review helpful:
 A step beyond "chick lit"Jul 10, 2004
By E. Griffin
Like so many other current novels, Something Borrowed focuses on good looking, successful, fun, and somewhat outrageous women in Manhattan looking for true love. The similarity to these other books ends there, as Something Borrowed explores an illicit relationship from the perspective of the woman having an affair with her best friend's fiance. Rachel is a transplant from Indiana, unhappily employed in NYC as an associate at a law firm. Her best friend, Darcy, is engaged to marry one of Rachel's friends from law school. Darcy is the perfect girl--pretty, vivacious, always gets what she wants, although somewhat petulant and demanding. Just a few months before the wedding, Rachel has a one night stand with Darcy's fiance that develops into a full fledged love affiar. Emily Giffin treats what could be an awkward topic with respect and empathy for all the characters. Although Darcy is at times portrayed as a stereotype, most likely to be a better foil for Rachel's good girl persona, the reader is also treated to Darcy's sense of fun and loyalty. This is a remarkably well written first novel, and one that I highly recommend.
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