Something Borrowed

My latest book club read. Note: I did see the movie before reading the book and I thought they did a pretty good job interpreting it.

Synopsis courtesy of Barnes & Noble:

Rachel White is the consummate good girl. A hard-working attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid of honor to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy's fiance, and is both horrified and thrilled to discover that he feels the same way. As the wedding date draws near, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience. In so doing, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.

I'm a bit torn about liking this book to be honest. I'm totally not behind someone cheating on their significant other, if they are married or not. This entire book is pretty much about cheating -- both on a significant other and on a friend. Despite the cheating in this book I really did like it. I liked Rachel despite my severe reservations about the decisions she makes, and I liked Dex (her best friend's fiance).

Rachel has been best friends with Darcy since elementary school. They stuck it out through good times and bad, despite the fact they could not be less alike if they tried. Rachel is intelligent and hard working whereas Darcy relies mostly on her good looks to get her through life. The author Emily Giffin makes it very difficult to like Darcy due to this, at least for me. She seems like girls you may know from high school who seem to have the perfect life, the perfect body/face, and the perfect boyfriends. That automatically makes you not like her for the most part, for the rest her attitude finishes it -- she's selfish and more than a little unfeeling for others.

Rachel meets Dax in law school and automatically feels an attraction for him, but she's always had very little self esteem (perhaps due to her friendship with Darcy in my opinion) and doesn't think that a good looking and intelligent guy like Dax can like her. When Dax meets Darcy, Rachel encourages the relationship and after several years Darcy and Dax get engaged. Fast forward to Rachel's 30th birthday party where Rachel has too much to drink and has sex with Dax. 

Dax later tells Rachel that he wasn't that drunk and that he has always really liked Rachel. From this point on an affair begins between Rachel and Dax, which is very polarizing. As Rachel is the main character and the novel is told from her perspective it is difficult not to like her and feel for her in her relationship with Dax. Both she and Dax seem to really love each other, but the difficulty comes with the fact that Dax doesn't immediately break up with Darcy and cancel the wedding. Rachel doesn't grow a backbone until far too late in the novel for my liking and when she does you really want to cheer for her, but yet you shake your head because she is so late in understanding.

I don't want to spoil the end of the novel for anyone, but all I will say is that the only way Rachel and Dax's relationship can be redeemed from it's status of an affair is to demonize Darcy even further. Emily Giffin addresses Darcy's feelings in her follow up to this novel, Something Blue. 

Overall, this book is well written and a light read despite the heavy themes at times. If you end up liking Rachel and disliking Darcy I think you will enjoy this book. If you dislike all the characters involved you may not like this novel at all. For me it kind of depends on where your moral compass lies and how far you're willing to let it swing to the other side.

Grade: A-   

The Lucky One

Sorry for my lack of updates, but let's get back to it!

Synopsis courtesy of Barnes & Noble: 

After U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman buried in the dirt during his tour of duty in Iraq, he experiences a sudden streak of luck — winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph — his lucky charm.

Back home in Colorado, Thibault can't seem to get the woman in the photograph out of his mind and he sets out on a journey across the country to find her. But Thibault is caught off guard by the strong attraction he feels for the woman he encounters in North Carolina - Elizabeth, a divorced mother — and he keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate love affair, his secret soon threatens to tear them apart — destroying not only their love, but also their lives.

My Review:

First off, I'm not a huge Nicholas Sparks girl. I've read A Walk To Remember and have seen AWTR, The Notebook, Dear John, and The Last Song film adaptations. There is typically a stigma with Nicholas Sparks books, for me at least, that the novels always end tragically. I'm not going to tell you how this novel ends, but I was pleasantly surprised.

There were certain elements to this novel that obviously lacked believability. First, Logan walks all the way from Colorado to North Carolina with his dog Zeus. I'm sure this is possible, but plausible is another story. Logan finds a picture of Beth (a woman he doesn't know) while serving in Iraq and after a series of unfortunate events believes that this picture holds a special meaning. He figures out where the picture was taken from evidence in the photo and sets out to find Beth. 

There is obviously a romantic element to Logan finding Beth's picture -- the idea of love at first sight -- but at the same time while reading this I had a major creepiness factor. It almost sounds stalkerish that he would go out of his way to figure out who she was and where she lived and then set out there. He comes into her life and doesn't tell her who he is, how he knows of her, or anything. Logan lets Beth believe that he is a wanderer and doesn't tell her anything further as they slowly fall in love. 

Similar to other Nicholas Sparks novels there is an antagonist trying to tear apart Logan and Beth. The largest factor in any problems Logan and Beth have though is Logan's inability to be honest with Beth, which was my major issue with the novel. I understand Sparks is trying to create tension and conflict between the characters, but the 'stalker' factor never really died down for me despite Logan having true feelings for Beth.

I did see the movie version of this book and I will say that the film cut out major elements of the story. I don't usually recommend that people see a movie first and then read the book, but this was one case where I would. After reading the book the movie was a big let down, despite Zac Efron's cute factor. 

Overall I would say this is actually a good read, and one of the better Nicholas Sparks stories I have experienced, but only if you can get past how Logan discovers Beth. Some people will see it as 'fate', but others will see it similar to how I did.

Grade: B

Good Christian Bitches

My first review will be Good Christian Bitches (aka GCB or Good Christian Belles) by Kim Gatlin.

Synopsis courtesy of Amazon:

The GCBs of Hillside Park Presbyterian are praying for Amanda Vaughn--or so they claim. Will their evil gossip destroy her reputation, or will she show them exactly how to turn the other cheek

Amanda Vaughn needs some heaven-sent help. She’s divorced her cheating husband and fled, along with her two teenagers, back to her hometown, Hillside Park, a Dallas suburb so upper-class that the question isn’t where to bank, but whose family owns the bank. Amanda is thrilled to be back in Texas—after twelve years in Southern California, she’s ready to leave behind her shallow, Godless life and return to the welcoming Christian world where she grow up. Or at least that’s the plan . . .

But when she arrives, she’s met with some Texas-sized trouble. Her old friends, neighbors, and fellow church members treat Amanda like a long-lost friend . . . until her back is turned. Then the claws come out. Amanda finds herself trapped in a world of salacious rumors, secret affairs, and Bible-study sessions gone terribly wrong. And what’s even more puzzling is that a secret admirer is sending Amanda lavish gifts. Why, she wonders, would anyone send a Mercedes when a simple dinner invitation would do?

My Review:

This book started out pretty strong for me. I liked the character Amanda Vaughn; she seemed sympathetic in terms of her divorce and having to raise two children on her own now. The problems I had with the plot and characters started around page 50. 

Spoilers Ahoy!

Note: I have not watched the television series that was based on this novel, which has now been cancelled by ABC.

Amanda has divorced her philandering husband and moved back from California to Dallas, Texas. She grew up in this exclusive neighbourhood called Hillside Park, full of oil tycoons and trophy wives. Her mother is still alive and living in Hillside Park, but her father has passed. I understand her moving back to live near her mother and get help raising her children. Her daughter is 9 going on 40 and often she is smarter than every adult character in the novel. Her son is resentful about the divorce and moving away from his friends -- all of which I understand, but the kid was so disrespectful to his mother that I wanted to slap him upside the head.

Back to my issues -- Amanda has a 'suitor' immediately after entering town. He sends her an expensive Mercedes SUV as a secret admirer and asks her to dinner. She rejects the SUV and so he sends her $100,000 in clothes from Nieman Marcus, which she also rejects. First off, I don't care what community you come from, but this is so unrealistic. The author is from the Dallas area and I felt like she had no idea what she writing about at times. Sure they have oil tycoons in Dallas and area, but do I believe for a minute that one would send extravagant gifts like this? Not for a second.

I understand that the author is perhaps trying to get a theme across to us of opulence and how it is not as important as what's in your life, but this doesn't come across in the novel. The only themes that come across are that women are trophy wives, gossips, vindictive creatures that only care about money. There is no real feminism in the novel as any strength Amanda had she gives up and lets a man solve her problems.

There are two real villains in the novel and their characterization is so poor that after reading the novel I couldn't distinguish one from the other. Both characters know what they are doing is wrong -- setting up Amanda to fix a troubled ball so she will stay out of the dating pool and leave the men to them -- but they blatantly don't care. I felt some pity for the one villain, but when she reverted back to her ways so quickly after feeling remorse, I was finished.

Overall, this was not a novel I enjoyed reading due to it's unrealistic setting, plot and lack of characterization.

Grade: D

Grading System

Here is how I judge the novels I read. This is completely subjective to anyone else besides myself.

A - Loved it, couldn't put the book down and will re-read it again in the future.

B - Liked it, but it lacked in certains areas from making it an A book. I would recommend it to friends and family.

C - An average read. Didn't float my boat, but didn't capsize it either.

D - Didn't like it and couldn't wait for it to be over. Usually will lack in plot, characterization or reality elements. 

DNF - Did Not Finish the book, as will be explained in review.