March 26, 2012

Sometimes it just feels good to read a mindless, girly book – “Chick lit,” so they say. If you want to feel smarter or more enlightened upon finishing a book, Something Blue by Emily Giffin is not for you. Just saying. But if you like to unwind with an easy read after a hard work day, I think you’ll enjoy it.

This book is a sequel to Something Borrowed, the story of Manhattan attorney Rachel – a bookish type who, against her usual nice girl character, falls in love with and subsequently steals her best friend Darcy’s fiancé. While that’s typically a big “no no” in girl world, Darcy is not exactly a girl you root for. She’s self-absorbed, shallow and superficial. She also winds up pregnant from an affair she’s having behind her fiancé’s back (before Rachel snags him). This story made its way to the big screen in 2011 in a film with the same title starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson and Colin Egglesfield.

Something Blue is written from Darcy’s vantage point after baby-daddy dumps her and her ex-best friend (Rachel) moves in with her ex-fiancé. Like any self-absorbed character we’ve met in books or real life, Darcy only sees life from her own perspective. In her mind she’s done nothing wrong and deserves none of the unwelcome drama that has come her way. I like that Giffin portrays Darcy this way, rather than turning her into a victim. I didn’t like Darcy when I read Something Borrowed, nor did I like her as I was reading Something Blue.

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As the book goes on and Darcy flees to England to escape the cruelty that is her New York life, we start to learn that when someone loses everything, she has to take a hard look in the mirror. So goes the journey of Darcy as she gains pregnancy weight, struggles with her finances and watches her male roommate fall for another woman as she falls for him. This girl can’t win! Darcy isn’t a complex character, but she is, at times, a sympathetic one.

The book follows a typical formula of girl-who-loses-it-all-finds-herself-and-falls-in-love, which works well for Giffin’s storytelling style. The way she writes makes it difficult to put down the book – it feels like talking with a friend who is always about to share something really juicy. She also has a talent for writing really steamy love scenes – something few writers do well. 

If you need a great beach read for an upcoming vacation or feel like losing yourself in a fun, girly book, give Emily Giffin a try.