never have I disliked a book more than I did this one, If possible I would give this book a negative star rating, Unfortunately goodreads will not allow me to do this, So instead Ill describe why my initial response upon finishing this book was one of depression at the realization Ill never get the time back in my life that I wasted reading this book.
My extreme distaste for this story stems from a number of things, To begin, I pretty much hated all the characters, Every single one. Across the board theyre incredibly unlikeable and empty, Even the main character Ellen who I think were supposed to sympathize with, comes across as shallow, I'm incapable of feeling bad for her, When faced with picking between her wealthy, well connected husband and an exboyfriend from the past “the one that got away” she makes the wrong choice in my opinion.
The ending of the book is predictable and entirely too neatly resolved, It left me wondering what the point of reading this was! It will take something drastic
to convince me to read another of Griffin's books again.
Like maybe a natural disaster, . . in which I end up trapped somewhere with nothing to read but one of her books, The story began with Ellen Graham, who reasoned shes got OCD and thus counted the days since she got married with Andy.
And it had been eight years and sixteen days since she heard his voice again, And bumped into him while walking the streets, Her ex lovers voice. Her former flame. The one that got away, Her Leo.
Ellen got great taste in photography, she had the talent and skill, So when Leo offered her a job to take pictures of celebrities, she grabbed the opportunity, She didnt tell her husband Andy about her encounter with Leo, No, she hid it and managed to forget about her husband while she was with her ex, As the reader, I was hurting,
Andy no longer filled her wifes thoughts, Andy seemed to be getting farther and farther away from Ellens mind, Andy, poor Andy.
After reading the book, I was left hanging, I didnt know what I am looking for, but somehow, I felt like there should have been more story to it.
While I was contented with how Ellen and Andy ended, I still had this feeling that Ellen shouldnt have done what she did.
But it was just me,
“Sometimes there are no happy endings, No matter what, Ill be losing something, someone, Maybe thats what it all comes down to, Love, not as a surge of passion, but as a choice to commit to something, someone, no matter what obstacles or temptations stand in the way.
And maybe making that choice, again and again, day in and day out, year after year, says more about love than never having a choice to make at all.
”
Emily Giffin expertly wove a tale of love entangled with infidelity, trust, presumptions, choices and decisions.
While I have been vocal about my uneasiness with unfaithful married couples, I couldnt really put down a good book.
The authors writing had been effective, because it made me mad at her and Ellen, To me, thats a brave trait authors should all practice and possess! sitelinkLove the One You're With is a standalone, women's fiction/chicklit novel written by author sitelinkEmily Giffin.
Ms. Giffin's novels have been hit or miss with me, and when they miss, they miss big time, I have zero appreciation for marital affairs or romantic deception in general that end in happilyeverafters, so when the married female lead began making cringeworthy choices when an old flame resurfaces, I considered doing a onewoman boycott.
I finished the book though and I'm happy I did, Fortunately, this novel's title came true at the end, and although I had a “That was close!” feeling, I was left feeling hopeful and satisfied :
An interview with Ms.
Giffin was included at the end of the audiobook I listened to, I've often wondered why she doesn't write your typical, fun chicklit with likable characters and she answered this by saying that realworld relationships aren't always pretty.
They are far from perfect and people make choices that go against the grain sometimes, and she reflects this in her writing.
As a reader, I can acknowledge the value in this, If all books were rainbow and unicorn braincandy then many learning/growth opportunities would be lost, I guess today I was just craving more of an escape, and Ms, Giffin's reallife fiction didn't quite give it to me, . . I spent too much of my time squeezing my eyes shut at the suretocome consequences, But her style is obviously working for lots of readers, so read the synopsis of her some of her books and see if they're for you!
My favorite quote:
“I think of how life takes unexpected twists and turns, sometimes through sheer happenstance, sometimes through calculated decisions.
In the end, it can all be called fate, but to me, it is more a matter of faith.
” I was very disappointed by this book, I really liked her other novels and found them to be quick, fun, beachreads that still conjured up some feelings and life lessons.
I felt nothing with this book except anger towards the main character and sort of annoyed at certain scenarios that were so incredibly far fetched that it made me say "Are you kidding me" out loud.
I wasn't rooting for anyone I wasn't happy at the end of the book, or sad that it was over like I was with Something Blue.
I found the story was lacking substance and that with a different spin, it could have been a much better, more believable story.
And what exboyfriend waltzes back in to his married exgirlfriend's lifeyears later and thinks that he's good enough for her to leave her marriage even though they've had zero contact I had a difficult time understanding or seeing the significance of Leo and Ellie's past relationship in order for it to have the obsession effect on her almost a decade later.
I understand she was a mess when they broke up but shouldn't she have dealt with those feelings before she got married Their interaction was minimal but when they were together, I didn't feel the intensity that she talked about so much.
Which was why I felt the cheating part was so disgusting because there was nothing there, And I believe that she started cheating the moment she held hands with him on the plane right up to the sneaky emails, texts, phone calls, and kiss scene at the end.
Even though in Something Borrowed, cheating is a main element to the story, she wrote it in such a way that you didn't hate Rachel or Dex for doing what she they were doing, instead you understood.
You don't have to agree with something to understand it and that's what was lacking for me in this novel.
I just felt like the story didn't go anywhere until the end and then everything happened in like a two hour span and that was that.
She had all these lifechanging moments squished into like three sentences, The thing I like about Emily Giffin is that she doesn't talk down to her readers, Nor does she assume that everyone who wants to read a light, fun, chick book gives two hoots about what brand of clothing the heroine wears.
Her books aren't cerebral by any means, but they're smart,
This is a story about a happily married woman who runs into the One That Got Away.
The encounter brings up a host of memories and feelings and is the catalyst to a series of events that will leave her wondering if the life she's chosen is the life she was meant to have.
I thought the character of Ellen was written very well, So well, in fact, that it makes me wonder if the author has been in this situation or if a close friend of hers has.
I particularly thought the fact that Ellen had lost her mother at an early age was handled very well.
This aspect of Ellen's life influenced many of her decisions and gave some insight into her psyche, In almost every chapter Ellen who is also the narrator mentioned how much she missed her mother, and while some readers might think it was too much, it felt real to me.
I've had close friends lose a parent and I know that it is something they think about every single day.
I also thought Giffin perfectly captured the nuances of a new marriage both its simple joys and its bumps in the road.
It occurred to me that unmarried readers might not fully appreciate Ellen's feelings or motivations as marriage is something you can really only understand if you've experienced it.
While the character of Ellen was superbly developed, I thought all of the supporting cast including the husband, the exboyfriend, the sister, and the best friend were lacking.
Although the book is written in the first person from Ellen's perspective, I thought more could be done to make these other characters come to life.
This is particularly true of the character of Margot, Ellen's best friend and sisterinlaw, I just didn't care about her,
Finally, reading this book made me ache to return to New York! It wasn't about the glamour and superficiality of New York like so many "chick lit" books I've read, but I thought it really captured the essence of what NY truly is: the burroughs, the culture, the pace.
The feeling of being at the center of the world, .