Book Review: Something Borrowed

Today
Will be a big blog day for me. I posted a small blog last night about the passing of my WoW subscription expiration date, but other than that, I've been missing in action.
 But enough about that! On to the review!
I've been seeing these commercials for a movie called Something Borrowed. It features Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin and is based off a best selling novel by Emily Giffin (I keep wanting to say Griffin, but its GIFFIN). The trailer eludes to being in love with your best friend's fiance, and the back of the cover of the book I picked up on Saturday pretty much says the same thing.
Rachel, the consummate good girl, has always been overshadowed by her beautiful, spoiled best friend Darcy. Then on the night of her 30th birthday, Rachel has too much to drink and sleeps with Darcy's fiance, Rachel's old friend from law school Dex. It turns out though that as the affair continues, Dex and Rachel are deeply in love with each other. As Darcy's wedding date draws near, Rachel avoids the subject of Dex's impending marriage, then realizes she can no longer avoid it. Things begin to spiral out of control and she is faced with choosing her best friend, or her possible soul mate.

Why would I read this chick book anyways?
I have always been incredibly interested in, and incredibly influenced by cheating individuals. And not those cheap nights where one drink leads to a weak moment and it really means nothing. I'm talking, the affair is "true" love and despite the repercussions, the cheating couple ends up together in the end. Like Brad and Angelina; Leann and Eddie. My dad and his wife.
i do not have a good relationship with my father and I especially have a terrible, Cinderella type relationship with his wife, my stepmother. The worst part of it all is that his wife was my mother's maid of honor in my parent's wedding.
From what I can see, my stepmother has been romancing my father for decades and decades. In fact, at their wedding last year, i was forced to stare at a picture of them back when they were younger, when my mother and father were together. Scenes like these cheapen their relationship to me. My father claims she's his soul mate, yet despite everything, he originally turned my stepmother down to marry another woman 6 months after divorcing my mother. (Yes, that's right. I have an ex-stepmother). And alas, almost a decade later, they finally had their dream wedding last summer, which my brother refused to attend, and I watched, suppressing sobs, while staring at a picture of my young, cheating father, alone in the front row. I spent their reception, sitting next to my grandmother who gloated to everyone in passing, isn't it about time. They were destined to be together. Took them long enough. I worked hard to get them together.

It's a well known fact that most women are very Pro Jennifer in the Brad/Angie/Jen problem. I do not like Angelina, but respect her charity work. I think Brad is stupid and I don't understand his sex appeal. Sure he's handsome, but while women were staring at his butt in Troy, I was dreaming about Eric Bana's toned arms wrapped around me. Brad needed a haircut. I wish people would leave Jennifer alone, like the way I wish my dad's family would leave my mother alone. Calling her nasty names because she spent her 10 post marriage years raising my brother and I alone, instead of running off with another man and marrying as soon as the immigrant papers went through.

Oh shut up. What about the book?
Right, so here we have Rachel who in all terms is a sweet girl. She is smart, works a job she hates, and bends to her beautiful best friend's every whim. Darcy is an incredibly villainous young woman, who gets everything she wants with a flip of her hair. Her confidence is something I came to envy, like Rachel. And I watched her turn from best friend to evil rival. She throws tantrums, turns everything so that it's about her, and ends up being even more hateful towards the end.
But what about Rachel. The other woman is supposed to be the despised, evil one.
It may be from my extremely bias position, but I did not understand the relationship of Rachel and Dex. Yes they were best friends in college and he seemed to genuinely love her. And Rachel exudes enough flip flopping guilt that I feel for her. And since Darcy is a bitch, it makes it even easier to want Rachel to win Dex.
My problem with the relationship is Dex. If someone loves someone else, how could the spend months promising to marry another woman. How could he sleep with her? How could they continue the affair, if they truly loved each other and never wanted to be apart? This I do not understand.
Perhaps its my jaded view on love.
I am terrified of marriage; I am terrified of being cheated on. I am terrified of my mother-in-law breaking up my marriage so my husband can be with a woman his mother chose. These are things I do not want to experience.
And even though Something Borrowed had me rooting for the other woman, as I devoured page after page, I couldn't help thinking about how twisted the book made me feel. 
Because cheering for the other woman was like cheering for my stepmother. And I wonder, did she feel sorry for herself, the way Rachel did. Did she see my mother as the evil Darcy, stealing her true love.
My stepmother has no qualms about expressing her bitterness and rivalry with my mother. She claims my mother is jealous of her fabulous life. She expresses hate and disdain for my brother and I because we will always be the bond that binds my mother and my father. My stepmother will never be rid of my mother.
And then it becomes clear. Who the Darcy and the Rachel is in my Something Borrowed tale? 

In the end
Something Borrowed was a great debut novel by Emily Giffin. She has four other books out and I would consider reading them all.
Review: B+