What Would You Do in This Situation?

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

When my long time great friend Leighanne gave me this book, she said, “I’m interested to know what you would do in this situation.”  With that in mind, I read thinking about what would I do in this situation?  Since I’ve been married for 10 years this year, I should have put myself in Tessa’s shoes, but I felt like Valerie was a more relatable character.  While the relationship between Valerie and Nick was growing, I just kept saying, no, please no, don’t do it Nick. 

Of course I have always been in the camp of once a cheater, always a cheater and if Simon were to cheat on me, it would be the end of our marriage and relationship.  But, as I read this book I don’t know if I would say I changed my mind, but hearing Tessa’s side of the story I can understand how she could feel in the situation.  There was a theme of one type of affair is more forgivable than another.  Tessa says that she could not forgive Nick if he loved her.  I don’t know if I agree with that, one night stand versus love, either way the trust has been taken out of the relationship and I would have a very hard and difficult time letting go or forgiving. 

All of that to say, I have not been in this situation and I praise the Lord for that.  I have had friends that have suffered after an affair and watched them hurt deeper than I thought possible.  And to watch their pain and anger vacillate and then the decision making process. 

The book was good, true to form for Emily Giffin.  Interesting characters with a fast paced story.  This is not going to be a mind blowing read, but it was thought provoking.  Enjoy and Friends, Keep Reading! 

Something Blue

Something Blue by Emily Giffin

Spoiler Alert for Something Borrowed!  If you have not read Something Borrowed first and plan to, do not continue this blog.  If you have read it and do not plan on reading either books, continue on!  Enjoy! 

 

Darcy Rhone, best friend of Rachel White and ex-fiancé of Dexter Thaler has been wronged.  She knows that she can never be second place, but somehow Dex is caught in the closet of Rachel on the day that their wedding is cancelled and Darcy had no idea.  Darcy has never come in second place especially not to Rachel.  Now she’s pregnant, alone for the first time in her life and has nowhere to turn because Rachel and Dex are dead to her.  So she does what any pregnant single woman would do, she escapes to London to stay with her childhood friend Ethan.  As her due date draws closer and she learns more about herself than she ever wanted to, changes take place that would surprise anyone who knows Darcy, especially Darcy herself. 

I enjoyed this book so much.  I loved Giffin’s writing, and her character development.  We met and got to know Rachel in Something Borrowed, of course Darcy is the bad guy in the first book so I was concerned starting Something Blue that I was going to hate Darcy throughout the book knowing all that I knew about her from book one.  I knew as Giffin was building her reputation and character that I was not going to enjoy her point of view.  I knew that there was going to have to be a redemption moment of some type and I waited patiently.  As the story continued there is a salvation moment and every once in a while the old Darcy would spring up, but the new Darcy would beat her back into submission. 

I loved the symbolism that Giffin used both in Borrowed and Blue.  With Something Borrowed, Rachel was going to be the loaner of a lace handkerchief in Darcy and Dex’s wedding.  Not only was the handkerchief borrowed, but also Rachel borrows the groom.  She literally goes throughout the entire book planning on giving Dex back to Darcy like she had just borrowed him for a short time.  Of course we do not lose any sentiment in Something Blue.  Darcy uses a piece of her blue baby blanket at the end of the book that has a lot of symbolism.  I love that it all ties together, maybe not everything is happy, so I wouldn’t call it a happy ending, but I would say that the books tied up nice and neat in the end.

In Something Blue, we knew that Darcy was pregnant, at the beginning of the book she just knows that the baby is a girl.  Well the audience should be bright enough to know that the baby is a boy with the title being “Something BLUE.”  No surprises on gender.  I will leave a few surprises for anyone who did not heed my warning of spoilers and you’ll just have to read the book to find out what happens. 

So, what do you think?  Have you read other Emily Giffin books?  What did you think of Borrowed and Blue?  Keep Reading my friends!

The Groom is Usually not the Something Borrowed!

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

Rachel White is an independent attorney that works and lives in Manhattan.  She is an easy going, dependable, ever present friend and if someone was to describe her while growing up the phrase “goodie two-shoes” might have been used.  Rachel turns thirty and her best friend Darcy throws her a huge party to celebrate, Darcy also gets wasted and has to leave the party a little early.  Dex, Darcy’s finance and Rachel’s Law school study partner and friend stays behind to keep the birthday girl company, one thing leads to another and Dex ends up in Rachel’s bed.  Rachel immediately regrets her actions and longs to put the one night stand behind her, but Dex has feelings deeper for Rachel than either one of them bargained for.  As the wedding date gets closer and Dex and Rachel’s hidden relationship grows more intense, Rachel is overcome with jealousy of Dex and Darcy’s real relationship and regret for what she is doing behind her longest closest friends back with her fiancé.  You’ll have to read it to see how the web of lies and deceit grow thicker as the novel moves forward.

This was a “beach read.”  This is the term I give chic lit usually, but mainly it was a fun book with great characters that give you enough depth to get to know the characters, but you don’t need a dictionary to understand half of the dialogue.  I enjoyed Rachel’s point of view and I’m always a fan of first person books. Rachel and I had several similarities and therefore I was able to connect easily with her character.  She was passive and allowed Darcy to walk all over her because Rachel could always see the good within her friend.  Rachel is a giver and therefore when she found that she was frustrated with her self-induced situation, it was hard for her not to give Darcy or Dex whatever they needed or wanted from her.  I also felt that Rachel knew herself.  She may not always understand or know why she was doing something, but she knew her thought process behind her actions and generally knew all of the possible outcomes.

I found the friendship dynamics interesting.  All girls know a Darcy, we may not have been friends with her, but we all know someone who is just like Darcy in every way.  I also know people who are not absolutely like Darcy, but maybe have several of her bad attributes, I find these people are usually selfish and do not have a lot of self realization, they usually don’t think anything is their fault and always find blame with others.  For this reason, I have a hard time relating to people like this and I am not exactly looking forward to Something Blue since it is from Darcy’s perspective. 

I am slowly trying to get through my stack of borrowed books, Something Borrowed is mine, but Something Blue is my friend Leighanne’s and therefore I am anxious to get it back to her since I’ve had it for quite some time.  

What’s on your “to read” book shelf?  Do you borrow more books than you can read in a year?  Keep Reading my friends!