Sunday, July 25, 2010

Redeem Thyself, Emily Giffin

Everyone remembers my post about how much I hate chick lit, specifically Emily Giffin's novel Something Borrowed. I stand by my statements made on that particular book. However, last week I traveled from the Vineyard to NYC for a friend's graduation party and other illicit adventures you can only have with college friends (i.e. the express train to blackout city). My chosen form of travel, because it was the middle of July on a Friday with a return trip on Sunday (read: TRAFFIC), was the Amtrak Regional train. People, if you live in the area, never take the regional train. Do yourself a favor and spend the extra to take the Acela. Trust me on this one.

So after a trip that lasted 6 hours (should have been three and a half) down to the city with only heavy reading material like Bret Easton Ellis and Toni Morrisson (still love you guys), I decided the return trip should be a little, ahem, fluffier.

Enter Emily Giffin's second novel and sequel to Something Borrowed: Something Blue. Crafty titles, Emily, really. Props.

But seriously, I could not put the damned thing down! This novel centers on the bitchy friend Darcy rather than pathetic Rachel, and let me tell you, Darcy was 10 times more relatable. I don't know what it was. Perhaps it was her transformation and the new life she creates for herself. Yes, the lines were still uber cheesy, but Darcy's pain is real, and the alienation she feels is something that every person can understand. Seeing Rachel and Dex happy makes the reader's blood boil as much as Darcy's. Maybe I actually liked this book because it was not a fairy tale, and Darcy's emotions are decidedly more raw than most mopey chick-lit heroines. Rachel was dumb, pathetic, and only in Darcy's shadow because she put herself there. Yes, Darcy is spoiled, but in the end Darcy learns so much more, and becomes that much more different of a person that she is easily forgiven. Rachel still sucks.

Kudos to you, Emily Giffin. I doubt I'll read any other novel of yours, but thanks for getting me through the train ride from hell.

1 comment:

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