Review : Something Blue
Something Blue by Emily Giffin
Pages : 338
Genre : Fiction, Contemporary
Series : Darcy & Rachel, book 2
My Rating : 
What it’s about :
Darcy and Rachel have been friends forever – that is, until Rachel betrays Darcy in the worst possible manner, by stealing Darcy’s fiancé Dex just before the wedding. Darcy, blind to her own faults, can’t understand why her dear friend would do such a horrible thing to her.
When her luck seems to fail her more and more and no one’s there to help her, Darcy flies away to London to stay with an old friend. There, she has to live with the consequences of her actions, but also face the person she really is.
My Thoughts :
Something Borrowed was one of the first few books I reviewed here on this blog, and I remember enjoying it so much that I immediately went in search of its sequel, Something Blue. I wasn’t sure Giffin could really make me appreciate Darcy, a woman who seemed to have few redeeming qualities, but my curiosity for the other side of the story won over these doubts.
Since it had been a little while since reading the first book, I was afraid I wouldn’t remember enough to really get into the novel. Fortunately, Giffin summarizing the events from Darcy’s point of view helped jump start my memory and within a few pages, I was comfortably situated. And ready to fall for Darcy.
Yes, Giffin really did make me like Darcy. From early on, Darcy has much more depth than I would have given her credit for. It helps that her narration isn’t in the present tense : instead, she is talking from a future point in time, thinking back on these events with a somewhat critical eye. Along the way she sometimes point out how silly or selfish her actions were, but most of the time she lets her actions, good or bad, speak for themselves.
There’s also a romance element, and it’s sweet, and I liked it. It’s also complex, because people are complex, and this, I liked even more. There’s a bit of uncertainty but nothing over the top. It made the story even more heartwarming.
I did felt Darcy turned on her wheels rather quickly, going from bad to good in 60 seconds, but since it was time for her to change, I didn’t mind it much. I still had a great time and read through her story compulsively, finishing the book in one day (a rare event this year!)
Fans of Something Borrowed should definitely give Something Blue a try. Darcy has more than one surprise in store and Giffin’s writing highlights her story with a lot of talent.
A lot of my friends are fans of Giffin’s work, so I really want to give it a try.
Thanks for the review Kay. We couldn’t agree more.
I re-read Something Borrowed earlier this year, and really need to give this one another read, too. I first read it shortly after finishing Something Borrowed the first time around and was afraid I wouldn’t like it because I had grown to love Rachel & Dex and wanted to read more and more and more about them. But you’re right, Darcy turned out to be a much more interesting character than I had expected. And Ethan! Who I will now forever picture as John Krasinski, thanks to the SB movie – his portrayal of Ethan was the best part of that movie, in my opinion.
I love this book! I actually ended up enjoying it more than Something Borrowed which surprised me since I despised Darcy so much.
I’m right there with you! I wasn’t sure how I was going to read an entire novel about Darcy, who so rubbed me the wrong way in Something Borrowed, but she definitely won me over. And I agree that it was a good call to have the story told in the past tense, so Darcy could point out when she was acting badly and agree with us as readers. Giffin is a great storyteller!
I also really liked Something Borrowed, but then wasn’t as interested in trying this one because of how much I didn’t like Darcy! I still to this day think very highly of Giffin because the storyline in Something Borrowed is really difficult to make appealing, but she managed to do so!
But did you ever see the film that was released based on the book? It was SO bad. Really really painful! It just goes to show that what works as a book doesn’t always work as a movie…
I have never really been enticed by these books, but after reading your review of this one, I want to go out and get both of them! I love it when an author can make a complex and evil character understandable in some way, and it sounds like this book does that very well. I loved this review, and am now eager to start this book. Thanks for the very intriguing and thoughtful analysis! Happy Halloween!
I’m totally with you! Darcy really won me over in this book. Giffin is super talented and I’ve actually enjoyed all of her books.