Helpful Score: 8
First of all I had high expectations for this book because I loved her other three! It took me a long time to get into the book and it seemed to just drag on. I did not enjoy it as much as I expected I would!
Helpful Score: 7
What a disappointment. "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue" were both funny and smart and enjoyable. "Love the One You're With" was slow and depressing. Maybe it was the switch from a British setting to an American one, but the magic is gone.
Helpful Score: 6
This book was frustrating because although the dilemma faced by Ellen is believable and one that many women could likely relate to (she must decide between a sometimes selfish but loving husband and an old flame who resurfaces during the first year of her new marriage), the unlikable characters make the book less enjoyable. Although the author's first person narrative does a good job of conveying Ellen's conflicting feelings about her life and desires, neither of the two men seemed worth the trouble!
Interestingly, what I considered the most believable scenes came at the end (which I won't ruin for you.) I just wish the beginning 3/4 of the book was as enjoyable.
Interestingly, what I considered the most believable scenes came at the end (which I won't ruin for you.) I just wish the beginning 3/4 of the book was as enjoyable.
Helpful Score: 5
I really enjoyed this book. I can see how some readers would think she's whiny or ungrateful, but I really found myself relating to her feelings. I thought the story played out nicely. Probably the best Giffin book I've read.
Helpful Score: 5
I enjoyed this book, although it wasn't as lighthearted or fun as her previous books, I thought. Although some of the characters seemed two-dimensional, the story and main character's dilemma were very realistic. And I loved the ending. I hope Emily Giffin's fifth book comes out soon.
Helpful Score: 4
The first Emily Giffin book I've read. Not as funny and light hearted as I was expecting, but pretty decent. Actually addresses a pretty believable issue.
Helpful Score: 4
Ellen married her best friend's brother, Andy, and quickly finds herself deeply submerged into a world she in unfamiliar with. In the midst of her unhappiness, a chance sidewalk meeting with the-one-who-got-away, her ex-boyfriend Leo, ignites long-forgotten feelings and turmoil. Ellen is forced to choose between the perfect husband and the passionate lover, and the decision isn't easy.
Not as strong as Giffin's previous novels, and regarding a subject matter I am less interested in, I still enjoyed this book. Typical to Giffin's style, the story is fleshed out with just enough description so that you're feeling truly involved, but not skimmy through superfluous language. She weaves the story with just the right amount of wit and suspense that you find yourself unable to put it down.
Not as strong as Giffin's previous novels, and regarding a subject matter I am less interested in, I still enjoyed this book. Typical to Giffin's style, the story is fleshed out with just enough description so that you're feeling truly involved, but not skimmy through superfluous language. She weaves the story with just the right amount of wit and suspense that you find yourself unable to put it down.
Helpful Score: 3
I will start off my review stating that through most of this book I wanted to yell, shake, or throw something at Ellen. I get the whole second guessing of important life decisions. But she took this shit to a whole other level. Thank God that in end she seen the light. I think a lot women encounter their own Leo at some point in their lives. A man who's hard to completely let go of, for one reason or another. If she would have chose that path, I can almost guarantee she would have had nothing but sorrow and heartache. As for Andy he was all the traits you would want in a husband...steadfast, charming, funny, sweet and uncomplicated. She was more than lucky to have him. Real love is about using your Heart and your Head! Glad she figured that out.
Helpful Score: 3
Ellen has the prefect life or does she? This book is about what could have been. I enjoyed this book although I didn't enjoy it as much as Emily Giffen's other books.
Helpful Score: 3
I have read all of her books, this was my least favorite of her books, and i found it dragged a bit in the middle- i found it hard to feel any sympathy for Ellen the main character. She struck me as selfish. Anyway- i loved the end of the book so that helped a lot. Emily Giffin is a fantastic author who truly knows women, I would read any book she came out with.
Helpful Score: 2
There seemed to be no drama to it until the very end. The whole book was one boring straight line. It was my least favorite book by Emily Giffin.
Helpful Score: 2
This was my first Emily Giffin book and I totally agreed with the other reviewer who said it was slow and depressing. I didn't like Ellen (the main charachter) at all. And I didn't like "Ellen's" (read: the author's) seemingly endless ponderings on how rich people are really just people .. or at least her husband's family was supposed to be. Plus, she never really seems to have a true dilemma over her ex, just sort of goes with the flow while "knowing" she "should" be feeling guilty. Yuck.
Helpful Score: 2
The main character (Ellen) is a realisitc, as she is a woman trying to establish herself as an individual, apart for her successful and rich husband and his family. Things spin out of control after a chance encounter with an old flame, a man who's difficult to completely let go of, for one reason or another.
I liked the book overall, even though it was fairly predictable. However, I did find the ending very rushed. Ellen spends so much of the book completely conflicted and then everything seems to clear up in her head and in her heart in the last 15 pages of the book. I would have liked to see a more realistic resolution to the various relationships strained by Ellen's inner conflict.
I liked the book overall, even though it was fairly predictable. However, I did find the ending very rushed. Ellen spends so much of the book completely conflicted and then everything seems to clear up in her head and in her heart in the last 15 pages of the book. I would have liked to see a more realistic resolution to the various relationships strained by Ellen's inner conflict.
Helpful Score: 1
I was so disappointed with this book. I loved her first novel, and it's been a downhill slide for me with the last 3. The one in particular was hard for me to finish.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this story. So much that I ordered Something Borrowed and Something Blue right away.
Helpful Score: 1
My least favorite of her works. I thought that it was so disappointing after reading Something Borrowed/Blue, which I completely fell in love with. And then reading Baby Proof, which was pretty good. But this story was just off. I didn't like the male characters at all and I didn't even really like Ellen. I couldn't feel for her. I will say that her latest - The Heart of the Matter is really good.
Helpful Score: 1
I decided to read all of Emily Giffin's books back-to-back a few months ago. This was my least favorite. It just seemed like the author was writing a book for a deadline and did not take the time to truly develop the characters and the plot. It was difficult to relate to the characters and truly invest yourself in the story.
Helpful Score: 1
I cant believe so many people did not like this book, or our main character or her two loves. This is the first book I have read by her so I nothing to compare this book to. It was funny in parts, but many complained not enough. I think this was much more a real life situation. I liked the character, I could understand her being torn. I was not bored, or disappointed in this book.
Helpful Score: 1
This book raises several interesting questions-Did you marry the right person?? What would have happened if you had decided differently? What exactly is cheating? Holding hands? Wanting to do more? Can you marry a person from a completely different background and stay happy? Enjoyed this book, right up to the last few pages-found the ending just a little sappy? Otherwise, a good read.
Helpful Score: 1
I really liked this book but it is light reading. I disagree with Andy being boring-he was "comfortable" which is what a good marriage should be and the "other man" will always seem more exciting. I think Ellen did the right thing because she knew Andy was the right guy for her-not because he was boring. I loved Leo and he was everything Andy wasn't but he also would never be the right guy for Ellen. Loved this book as well as all of the others by Emily Giffin-can't wait for the next book.
Helpful Score: 1
One of the worst books I have ever read. Had to believe that this is the same other as Something Borrowed and Something Blue. I hated Ellen and wanted to grab her and shake her violently and ask her what the h*** is wrong with you. Disappointed in this book is a huge understatement.
Helpful Score: 1
I was not impressed with this book--it seemed to much like a "moral" lesson to me. The main character is married, and she chooses to stay married and honor her vows rather than take a chance to rekindle a former flame. I'm not saying that I disagree with the decision made, just that Giffin could have made it more palatable to stay with the one you've married--you stay for more than "it's the right thing to do." She could have made the character of Andy (the husband) more attractive and exciting, but instead the reader finds herself pulling for Leo, the former flame because of the thrill and excitement he brings to Ellen's life. Let's face it, Andy's BORING, and none of us wants a boring marriage to a boring man. Although I'm all in favor of Ellen staying with her husband, Giffin makes it feel like the wrong decision by her portrayal of surrounding characters, and even Ellen's sister seems wishy-washy about her relationship advice to Ellen in the end. I did not think this was one of Giffin's better novels.
Helpful Score: 1
Light chick lit book, enjoyable quick read. Takes the reader through the what if possibilities, process, ect of considering different life choices...including the man the main character did not marry.
Helpful Score: 1
I am a huge Emily Giffin fan, so I was very excited to start reading this one. However, it didn't take long for my excitement to turn to disappointment. I just couldn't get into it. I read about 4 chapters until I couldn't read the rest. The idea of the book was a good one I suppose. I do think a lot of people question whether or not they have married the right person and wonder what may have happened if they'd made other choices in relationships. There was just something about the way it was written that didn't quite grab me. It was so bad that I didn't even care what happened in the end.
Helpful Score: 1
I LOVED this book. Quick and easy read. Great sense of humor and easy to relate to. Recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt themselves in a similar situation.
Helpful Score: 1
This was definitely my least favorite Giffin book. The main character, Ellen, is SOOOO annoying. She has an amazing husband, family situation, and life, and then allows another man who destroyed her life to potentially wreck it all over again. I almost quit reading it about halfway in simply because I wanted to shake some sense into the main character and quite honestly just couldn't tolerate her anymore. I did finish the book, but the ending was super-annoying too. I liked all Giffin's other books a lot, and can't wait to read her newest one, but this one was just not a winner in my opinion.
Helpful Score: 1
The flightiness of the main character was a little annoying at times, but overall the book was a very enjoyable read and was a great reminder about the importnace of loving the "good guy" over the jerk.
As someone who enjoyed her first three books immensely, I was sadly disappointed in this book. The main character is not sympathetic and frankly the words, stupid and idiotic came out of my mouth as I read the book--towards the end, I just about stopped reading it because I just couldn't stand her anymore. While I was "happy" she stayed with her husband, I never really got the "aha moment" that convinced her to stay. I won't be as anxious to read her next book.
It was okay, she just seemed kinda whiney in the end.
I don't know what it is about Giffin's writing, but her books are highly addictive, even though, on the surface, they are about the common, almost boring, details of "real life." She also has an amazing way of developing a character who is thinking and doing extremely controversial and unsympathetic things - at least by society's standards - and making their dilemma wholey understandable and relateable.
In this book, we meet Ellen Dempsey Graham who struggles through a decision between the man she married and the love of her life who once broke her heart. Ellen's journey touches on the growth process of every woman in her 20's who, while trying to get to know herself, develop her career, establish a foundation of self-esteem, also dates, and sometimes falls in love with, men who change her course of self-discovery, with mixed results.
Who among us doesn't have at least one man in our past whose chemical attraction was so strong it could pull us out of ourselves and our better judgment, despite the consequences? From this novel, I'm guessing Emily Giffin does.
In this book, we meet Ellen Dempsey Graham who struggles through a decision between the man she married and the love of her life who once broke her heart. Ellen's journey touches on the growth process of every woman in her 20's who, while trying to get to know herself, develop her career, establish a foundation of self-esteem, also dates, and sometimes falls in love with, men who change her course of self-discovery, with mixed results.
Who among us doesn't have at least one man in our past whose chemical attraction was so strong it could pull us out of ourselves and our better judgment, despite the consequences? From this novel, I'm guessing Emily Giffin does.
Very good, light summer read! I enjoyed all of Emily's books!
This is the best book I have ever read! It was such a fun and quick read... yet left me wanting more! I had to go and get the rest of her books just to get more from Emily Giffin. I guarantee you won't want to put this book down either!
This was a really good book. Emily Giffin did not disappoint. I really like her writing style. This had a good story and flow to it just like her other books.
This is a light book with a predictable outcome. Quick read.
Loved It!
Quick easy summer beach read. Gives you an outlet to ponder the 'what if' about that certain guy who isn't the one you are with.
Not as good as her first 3 books, but still pretty good.
Love this author, makes for a very interesting, quick read.
was a good read
I tried to read this book after reading Something Borrowed and Something Blue (which I loved), but couldn't really get into it and never finished. After reading her latest, Heart of the Matter, thought I would try this one again, but it was such a struggle for me to get through. Plot seems weak and just was not a good read for me.
Not my favorite Giffin book, but still a decent read.
Emily Giffin's fourth novel does not have the deep character-reader connection her debut novel, SOMETHING BORROWED, did, but it is a fine book of its own. The characters are well-drawn, and the plot may be thin sometimes (for instance, I felt as if the thing about Ellen's mother's death could have been more employed), but overall it is a good book.
Great book and fun read! Emily Giffin really writes great stories!
I personally did not like this book. The main character was weak and pathetic. The whole premise of the story was stereo-typical and ridiculous to me. I had to force myself to finish it. This book confirms that I need to stop reading "Chick-Lit".
I did not like this book nearly as much as "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue" which were two of my very favorite chick-lit books. It was ok, Not fantastic.
Humorous and a quick read.
Very good book. I highly recommend it.
Loved this book! Really gets to the heart of the matter of the difference between faith and fate.
GAH! I couldnt put it down, I reallly felt like I was with the main character and had the choices she had too, It made me think about my life too! Excellent novel!
The book was well written. Enjoyable easy read. Not as good as some of Giffin's previous works. But still worth my time.
I couldn't put it down. Beautifully written. I look forward to her next novel.
Didn't think this would be my cup of tea since it's Chick Lit; however, I was really impressed. So impressed that I have read all of the authors books minus one and none of them disappoint!
Wonderful story. Really enjoyed this book.
This was another lackluster book from Emily Giffin (Something Borrowed seems to be the only one that she could actually make interesting). The whole premise was interesing, but she just led it into a boring, not worth my time read I again reccomend not wasting time on another of Emily Giffin's rather boring books.
I enjoy these whimsical books, this one was a little more troubling with what I would consider a more serious tone and I found myself pleading witht he main character to make the right decision.
All I can say about this book is WOW! Amazing story, great for someone who has been torn between two lovers at one time or deciding on making the right choice, and great for those who haven't. A truly wonderful story!
The book was very good and kept you intrigued through out. I really enjoyed the story and would recommend it to anyone.
The best one I've read of Giffin's yet
Very entertaining read by Emily Giffin. Every woman has always wondered 'what if' regarding their previous loves, but Ellen almost takes it too far... the thoughts she thinks, and the things she does will have you laughing out loud and upset with her all at the same time. Def recommend.
Not much to this one. Boring story, boring characters. The ending was not much of a surprise. Skip it!
A friend let me borrow this series of books and I normally don't read books of this genre but I will have to say I have enjoyed the 3 books that I have read and will read others by Giffin.
LOVED IT! Probably my favorite Giffin book so far...
I was aggravated with the book at first but then part way through I discovered that the main character had more integrity than I thought. Her reasoning was plausible. I ended up really liking this book! You will too!
cute cute cute
I have read her others and thought I would enjoy this one. I did not. I could never get into it. By page 100 I said forget it. Just could not like the characters or the story.
One of my favorites reads this year! Loved having no idea how it would truly end. Would she pick the boyfriend or the husband?!
Enjoyed it so much and it's companion book Something Borrowed as well. Easy reading and holds your interest.
Not my thing but others may enjoy.
This book was great. My favorite so far of Emily Giffins.
great book!
