Something Blue: A Novel

I occassionally read chick lit and what annoys me is that all the books in the genre are pigeonholed as being shallow & dumb. There is a wide range and while some books embody that stereotype, others are very well written. I honestly think the first 2 Bridget Jones books are some of my favorite books to re-read ever. Both of those books are hilarious, with sharply drawn characters & fast-moving plots. That being said there are definitely books that live down to the chick lit stereotype. This is one of them.The plot is pretty basic. Apologies for those who haven't read Something Borrowed but I am not going to summarize it. Darcy, the villain of Something Borrowed, abandoned by her baby-daddy, her fake friends, and essentially let go from her job - goes to England to couch surf at Ethan's place while pregnant with twins. She has learned no lessons from her fall from grace so she racks up credit card debt/ignores her pregnancy while leaning on Ethan for emotional & financial support. Ethan, who in Something Borrowed barely seemed to tolerate her as a human being (but admired her confidence), eventually gets tired of her attitude & tells her off. This motivates Darcy to stop being deeply terrible to being slightly less terrible. Her gynecologist falls in love with her (because her beauty is evidently so magical), despite knowing nothing about her besides the fact that she has not prepared for having children in the slightest. Ethan also falls for the slightly improved Darcy (though in Something Borrowed it is emphasized over and over how she is not his type).There is really no leadup or reasoning shown for the whole falling in love with Darcy plotline. She is beautiful but even after her trying to be a "good person," portion of the story she has the depth of a kiddie pool. It doesn't matter that Darcy is not a good person. After all compelling, beautifully written books are written about terrible people all the time. But it is a problem when the book essentially asks you to root for a character who is entirely about surfaces. It's like asking readers to unironically root for a poorly written version of 30 Rock's Jenna Maroney. Trying to be a good person is not an existential crisis for Darcy, but is essentially about her "brand" being tarnished by her stupid and selfish actions so that she is now perceived as a bad person. That makes Darcy <sad-face>. You could write a dark comedy about that but it is clear Griffin does not have the skill for that.There are other major problems with the book. For example, all the character seems to have no internal life or motivations at all for any of their decisions. Darcy chooses to go through with the pregnancy to spite/keep Marcus around, despite not seeming to want children at all. The book asks you to believe that 2 perceptive men, who have seen Darcy at her worst as a human being, fall deeply in love with her because she has become slightly less terrible as a human being AND is very pretty. Once again that would be fine in a dark comedy, but Griffin is also asking the reader to believe that Ethan is incredibly intelligent, both emotionally & intellectually. He sees through Darcy and her manipulations throughout Something Borrowed and the 1st half of Something Blue. But the shallow changes Darcy makes in the 2nd half of the book have him doing a complete 180. Once again maybe this plot journey would be believable if Griffin had made any of her character's decisions make sense. But her writing is all about surfaces just like her characters.You may ask why I dislike this book so much after evidently liking Something Borrowed enough to buy the sequel. The truth is I didn't mind the shallowness of the writing in Something Borrowed because at least the plot made sense/was compelling. The characters in Something Borrowed were not written with much depth either (liking Springsteen is not a personality!) but at least their actions had some sort of internal logic.My advice is not to buy this book and instead read a good chick lit book.

Although I was prepared to dislike Darcy, it didn't happen. I loved her story! Once you got inside her head you could understand her behavior. This story was a journey from misery to joy. And that happiness is possible, if you are self-aware and can acknowledge your mistakes. Great book!

The second half of the book was redeeming. The first half was repetitive, trying to catch people up who did not read the first book Something Borrowed. It was kind of nice to see the other character’s side of the events, but not worth it being half of the book. Still a good book Overall and I would recommend, but it’s certainly not one that I would re-read.

Nice book, nice story, well written. But Darcy is so annoying in the begining of the book. Too annoying I just couldn't care less about her. I didn't realy care about her happy ending. So it is nice to see her journy but she was annoying and selfish for too long in the book for me to like her.

I read the first one, fell in love, and was intrigued to read this one from a different POV. I enjoy the author's writing style and the way this story was done, I couldn't put the book down. Really! I spent 6 hours on my couch on Sunday, finishing this novel. Highly recommend if you are looking for a fun summer read.

I liked this book much better than Something Borrowed. Ethan was one of my favorite characters from Something Borrowed; I had really hoped that Rachel would end up with Ethan instead of Dex. Fortunately, Ethan is back in Something Blue and plays a much bigger role.The love story here has a lot more innocence to it. Confession: I actually cried reading it, it was so touching.If you liked Something Borrowed, you will love this! If you didn't love Something Borrowed because of all the cheating, this is like Something Borrowed, but without all the cheating...

Darcy Rhone has a rough life. She's with a guy who doesn't adore and worship her like the ex-fiance that she cheated on. He's also not as "presentable" as her former fiance, Dex, and she's pregnant as a result of the illicit affair. Boo hoo. Furthermore, Darcy refuses to have anything to do with her best and childhood friend, Rachel, who fell in love with said ex-fiance.I must admit that I never really had any desire to read Emily Giffin's books until I saw the " Something Borrowed " movie and loved it. I enjoyed the characters in the movie so much that I wanted to see what happened next. Thankfully, I discovered that Giffin had written a sequel. The first few chapters of SOMETHING BLUE covered the end of the movie (and probably the related book), so it served as a rehash, lest the reader forget what happened.Unlike  SOMETHING BORROWED  which was told from sweet Rachel's point of view, SOMETHING BLUE was told from Darcy's point of view. At first, I found it difficult to read a book from the point of view of a very unsympathetic character. Darcy is not likable and hasn't matured/grown any since the events of SOMETHING BORROWED. Her personality is like nails on a chalkboard. She thinks world revolves around her. In fact, she's upset that neither Rachel or Dex call to wish her a happy birthday after she told them she never wanted anything to do with either one of them again. She also feels like she's one of the "chosen." In one passage, Darcy ponders, "I suddenly wondered what color eyes my baby would have. I hoped for blue, or at least green like mine. Everyone knows blue eyes are prettier, at least on a girl, which is why there are so many songs about brown-eyed girls, to make them feel better."While I was pleased with the novel overall by the finale (I won't give anything more away), I was disappointed that neither Rachel nor Dex -- prominently featured in SOMETHING BORROWED -- barely made appearances in SOMETHING BLUE. However, I appreciate that Giffin took a chance and wrote the novel from a different perspective than the original. Kudos to her for that and for dispelling my belief that her novels were cheesy chick lit. The characters are well-defined and not stereotypical. By the end of SOMETHING BLUE, my eyes were watering.

I purchased this having watched the film version of it's prequel "Something borrowed" and wanting to know what happened to the characters next. I enjoyed this book more than the first one although you have to suspend belief sometimes at the situations that occur and that a miraculous change of character can just happen! The characters seem to have more emotional depth than in the previous novel and I found myself not wanting to put this down so I could find out what happened next. For a light hearted low concentration type of read then this book is worth picking up, especially if you've read the first or watched the film of it. The theme of the prequel that you should just do what you want regardless of the horrendous ways that they behave towards each other because each of them deserves it still doesn't sit that easy with me but it's a fun enough read.

I first read Something Borrowed years ago and remember thinking how much I liked the book, although I found Rachel's character a bit of a pushover and Darcy as a selfish cow. I recently re-read SB and I found myself still enjoying the book, but more curious about Something Blue. I had never actually been able to finish the book. Reading it now, in my 30s, I now have much more appreciation for Something Blue, even thinking it surpasses Something Borrowed. First of all, as much as you want to hate Darcy's character, she is so much more typical and likeable than Rachel's good girl, always do the right thing, moaning and feeling scared character. Darcy is a go getter. She may be conceited and selfish, but she also has traits that we all share - insecurity and fear. You get to really understand her character in this book and I really fell in love with her. Her choices weren't always great, but she is tough and the changes she experiences are realistic in that the person we are in our 20s is not necessarily who we become in our 30s or 40s. Having lived in London made me love the book even more! I can't recommend it enough. :).

The follow up to 'Something Borrowed', I found 'Something Blue' just as amusing and easy to read. EG has a sweet, bouncy writing style that's easy on the brain (so to speak) and her characters are whole and entertaining.Continuing the story of a (not so) spoilt Darcy following her break up from Dex and the revelation of him bonking her best mate, Rachel, this is a coming-of-age tale where Darcy relocates to London to continue her pregnancy, reassess her life and, of course, fall madly in love!Great fun, this novel fizzes with life, an excellent light read...

the follow up to the amazing something borrowed, a rom com with a major twist, this book is really interesting- seeing the same story from Something Borrowed from a different perspective. The journey of personal growth and redemption for unlikeable characters is really interesting to follow and the ending is beautiful- a must read!

I was a bit unsure if "Something Blue" could be as good as "Something Borrowed". However it was a fantastic book alomost as good as the first one. The character of Darcy is not as likable as the Rachel character in "Something Borrowed" but halfway through the book you really begin to feel for Darcy and the situation she has got herself into. I was really hoping for a happy ending for her! I wasn't disappointed!

This is a must-read if you have already read Something Borrowed by the same author. If you haven't read either, buy both books together as this really needs to be read as a sequel. Loved the character of Darcy, a high maintenance pain in the neck to all and sundry, it takes a pregnancy and a trip to London to discover her true self... Very good read!

I found this book hilarious in so many ways, from Darcy who is hell bent on being the number one priority in everyone else's lives, to sweet Ethan who can't seem to catch a break. It made me laugh, get frustrated (thanks Darce), and genuinely smile. Adorable read, well worth the few pounds. Never thought getting wound up by fictional characters was possible until I read this. Great.

I love this book - the perfect sequel to 'Something Borrowed' - one of those books that I return to again and again. Try and read the first book before this one however, so that the reason behind the evolvement of the characters makes sense.

Having seen Something Borrowed and seen the extra bit at the end was pleased to find this for the kindle. Focusing on Darcy this was a good read. Coming to England with no job, some savings, expecting oh and expensive taste is a big step to take. Don't want to give too much away but didn't think she would end up with who she did!

I read this book after watching the movie "Something Borrowed".The book picks up where the movie finishes and comes from Darcy's point of view. I found it very interesting and worth reading. I sped through the book and read it within a few days.Although it was slightly predictable I still enjoyed reading it.Recommended to anyone who watched and enjoyed the movie.

Great read

Nice easy read lovely story line and characters are funny you can relate to them. Read something borrowed first then something blue they link together to finish a good book.

great Christmas gift arrived well packaged and secure. was received on time and was thought to be a great gift will look at this again for gift ideas next year

I read this book as a follow-up to Something Borrowed and really enjoyed it. I like the way it is written from the other perspective to that in the first book and it was just as enjoyable and easy to read.A great holiday book!

Enjoyable,easy read! To begin with seems to repeat much of what happened in 'Something Borrowed' but from Darcy's perspective. Wasn't too hopeful at this point but got better and found myself liking Darcy! Overall a good read:-)