Monday, May 16, 2011

Book (& Movie) Review: Something Borrowed

I discovered Emily Giffin the summer after my freshman year in college, and loved her books right away. The two that she had out at the time were Something Borrowed and Something Blue, and aside from catchy, awesome names and super fun cover designs (which she has carried over to the rest of her books, which someone with OCD-like tendencies with books appreciates), they are so well-written and relatable. Since then, I've bought (and read multiple times) the rest of her books, even taking the day off last year when her newest one came out. She is definitely one of my favorite authors.

With most chick lit, I really care about the story. Well, most books actually. I don't necessarily get really invested in the characters or spend my reading time thinking about the people who are actually invovled in the story, unlike some people (Nathan). But Emily Giffin's books basically force you into thinking about the characters because they're so well-developed and not perfect, stereotypes of people. If anything, they're more like real people because they have personalities, flaws, and depth.

Her storylines have depth, as well, in that the choices that the characters make and the situations they are put in aren't black-and-white in terms of what's right or wrong. For example, in Something Borrowed, Rachel falls in love with her best friend's fiance. But you find yourself understanding the circumstances surrounding the affiar. Her other books are the same, in that sense, but with different characters exploring different challenging topics, such as cheating, children, and questioning a marriage, all in the same world, meaning she does have characters from other books re-appear, which I love.

I think the characters vs. storyline really came into play in the movie adaptation. I have been so excited for Something Borrowed to come out, because I follow Emily Giffin on Facebook, and she has been talking about it from the very beginning. (This is another one of my favorite things about her--she is really excited about her fans and does lots of contests and giveaways and interacts with everyone often.) And I finally saw it Friday for girls' night. And, contrary to my normal "the book was way better and the movie sucked" reaction to most movies made from my favorite books, I really liked it, and thought it perfectly captured the spirit of the book.

There were actually few major changes in the movie, story-wise, and most of the changes seemed to be character-related. Ethan, played by Jim from the office, had a bigger role in the movie than the book, which I loved. Another character, Claire, was a little crazier but I thought it provided some good opportunities for humor. And while I didn't love the idea of Kate Hudson as Darcy, she did a great job. There were only two things I didn't love, and I can't go into them without ruining the movie.

Overall, I was very pleased, and I will definitely go again if anyone wants to go!

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