Oh, I’m so torn about this one.
On one hand, it was very entertaining. Like all Emily Giffin novels, I raced through it — barely pausing between sentences, between chapters. It was interesting and often amusing and filled with (mostly) likeable characters, but . . .
But.
It felt shallow. Ill-conceived (eh, pun intended). I wasn’t entirely comfortable with where the story was headed, and I definitely wasn’t comfortable with where it wound up.
But look. If you’re a Giffin fan, you’ve probably already tread down the path of Baby Proof — like, years ago — and don’t need me to tell you to grab it or not grab it. If you like women’s fiction, chances are favorable you’ve come across the author’s work — and I certainly have. This was actually the final book of her backlist I had to pick up, and I’m not sorry I read it.
Would I read it again? Nope.
The gist of our story: Claudia Parr thinks she’s happily married to Ben, a man with whom she shares a no-child vision for their lives; Ben decides that may not actually be the case; marriage crisis ensues. In the end, Claudia must decide if she’s secure in not wanting to be a mother — and if she’s comfortable with Ben going on to parent with someone else.
That’s it.
It’s a pretty long book centering on one precise issue, but I actually thought Giffin handled it well. Of course, because our narrator emphatically declares she does not want a child — and stands to lose her marriage because of it — she sees babies everywhere. One sister desperately wants to be pregnant, but can’t be; another friend thinks she is going to have a child with her married lover, but fate might have other ideas. Basically, it’s all the babies all the time in Claudia’s world . . . and everything gets complicated.
If this sounds like a read you’d enjoy and/or you like Emily Giffin, you’ll probably dig this one. It was not my favorite of her books — that distinction would go to Something Blue — but, you know, it was passable.
3.5 out of 5!
Pub: 2007 • Goodreads • LibraryThing • Amazon • Author Website
Personal copy purchased by Meg
write meg! 
This one has been on my to read list for years (basically since I read and loved Something Borrowed and Something Blue). For some reason it always kind of gets pushed to the back of the list. Sounds like I’ll probably keep putting it off for now!
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I enjoyed her first book but wasnt really able to continue reading beyond that because I found her writing to be shallow to the point of grating. Its unfortunate to hear the trend has continued in her writing.
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I’ve read and enjoyed Giffin’s books before. Read most of them while I was in my chick lit phase and that seemed to be all I consumed. I might pick this one up if I need a little chick lit fix.
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I’ve read a few of her books, and my reaction is usually that I am entertained, but not altogether impressed. They are easy reads, and can be cute I guess. Predictable. I definitely don’t want to read about all babies all the time though. I’m past that stage. But I remember back when we were TRYING (fairly unsuccessfully) to have kids, and it seemed like they were coming out of the woodwork.
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This book sounds appealing to me on the one had, because I also don’t want any kids, but if it is “all babies all the time,” that kind of kills it for me.
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This was the first of Emily Griffin’s books that I read and personally, I really enjoyed it. Maybe it’s because I have nothing else to compare it to. I guess I’m picking up something blue!
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