Something Blue - Emily Giffin

Something Blue is the sequel to Something Borrowed, and brings Darcy centre stage. From the first book, we know that she is self absorbed, selfish, fairly deluded and expects perfect things to happen to her. I must admit, I was more reluctant to pick up this book having come down firmly on the side of Rachel in the first novel, but Giffin's writing pulled me in and I found myself completely entranced by the story of Darcy.

The book is almost split into two parts. The first deals with Darcy's life immediately after she finds out of the betrayal by Rachel and Dex. We watch as she tries to make a new life with Marcus, but she soon realises that she was suffering very much from a 'grass is greener' attitude and that Dex might have been the better option. We suffer through a toe-curlingly embarrassing scene as Darcy tries to win Dex back. Her lying and insufferable attitude to relationships and imminent motherhood create the Darcy we loved to hate from Something Borrowed.

However, in the second part of the book Darcy moves to London to try and make a new life, and moves in with Ethan, her childhood friend. It takes an explosive scene between Darcy and Ethan to make her realise that she is about to become a mother and needs to make some changes to her life.

I loved the fact that Darcy really changed over the course of this book, and learnt that appearances really aren't everything. She was still the Darcy who loved luxurious things, and the Darcy who would explode in a temper, but she mellowed hugely and became a true mother.

Sure, there are a number of imperfections in the book. It does provide a fairytale ending, and Giffin clearly wasn't concerned with the accuracies of moving to a different country to live, but I feel these are minor gripes. The course of the book deals with maturity, motherhood and coming to terms with a new life. The main character had a true epiphany and became a better person for it.

When all is said and done, it's still a chick lit book, but definitely more honest and revealing than most. It says a lot that, having read both Something Borrowed and Something Blue, I am now going out to pick up the other books written by this author. Quality work.