Something Blue

I'm going to give a brief explanation as to why I chose to read this. I'd been warned about Miss Giffin...her vulgarity in particular. But I felt compelled to try out one of her books, anyway. Why? Because I feel something of a kinship to her. She was an attorney who was very unhappy with her career choice. I once saw her in an interview (while I was in law school), and she said something akin to the following: "People who go to law school are people who are afraid to follow their real dreams." It hit a little too close to home, not just because I was afraid that what she said was true for me, but because I wanted to be doing what she does. Writing novels. Well, I I'm working on that...writing a novel that is. I think I was meant to see that interview. And even if I didn't love this book, I do appreciate Miss Giffin's honesty. I needed to hear that. So thank you Miss Giffin.

Something Blue by Emily Giffin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Actually, at times I'd give this one star...and at times I'd give it three or even four. In the end, I'd give it 2.5 stars because it had its redeeming moments and I liked it some of the time. The truth is, I'd been warned* about Emily Giffin's books. However, for other reasons (long story about an interview with Giffin I once saw), I really wanted to try at least one of her novels.

So if you've read the first book (Something Borrowed...and I have not) or if you've seen the movie (and I have), you know that Darcy, the main character here, has just been "betrayed" by her best friend and fiance. Darcy has been doing some betraying of her own yet lacks any ability to recognize her own fault in what happened with both her best friend and her fiance.

In the beginning I really disliked Darcy. She was insufferable. Total self-absorption is not a likable characteristic. In fact, it is infuriating. And she's so over the top that I would call her a sociopath...almost. I'm pretty sure that was Giffin's intent. After setting the reader up with an awful heroine, you know what's coming. Darcy is going to hit upon some rough times. And then she'll be forced to examine her circumstances and her life and take some responsibility for what happened.

And that is where the story fell short. I felt that, in the end when she starts to change, it wasn't believable. I didn't fully buy it that someone who was so so so selfish could pull an actual 180.

I did, however, find her reactions to her pregnancy and motherhood believable and redemptive and touching, even. The truth is that I believe people in real life can and do change. I think that even Darcy was redeemable, but I would have liked to see a little more effort in the process. Someone as selfish as Darcy had a long way to go, and maybe she got there a little too easily for my taste.

*I'd been warned about sex and language, and I'll warn you all who read this. It might be a bit much for conservative readers. I won't read any more of her novels because of it.

View all my reviews