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A review by sarahanne8382
Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
4.0
While I generally don't do abridged audiobooks, this was what I had access to, but I guess chick lit is one of the few genres I'm almost okay with speeding through. Romance, and the more contemporary chick lit subgenre, are really all about getting a couple back together for me. While the details make the story more interesting, they aren't all absolutely necessary. That doesn't mean that this book wasn't worth every second, though.
I saw this book while wandering around the airport about a month ago & thought about picking it up, but reasoned that I already had more books packed than I was going to get through on the trip & didn't need to add another one to the mix. A few months before that I saw that one of my libraries had acquired Giffin's Something Borrowed and Something Blue and I thought they looked worth a try, but I was in the middle of finals & so definitely didn't have time to digest them.
So it seems I was fated to read this book, and I really wasn't disappointed. While I think this was untraditional for your typical romance,it's not that unusual for chick lit. Our heroine Claudia loves her job and her husband, but when he wants to reneg on their agreement to not have children, their relationship is put to the test. With many couples now waiting to have kids later in life, and some deciding not to have any at all, it's time someone wrote a book about it. While the ending isn't much of a surprise, I have to congratulate Giffin for not making a clear decision for Claudia on the great baby debate. Because while the decision to have kids is discussed throughout the book, it's not really a debate about whether it's okay for a couple to intentionally remain childless, but more about the struggles that even the best couples can go through.
The relationship troubles of the other women in the book are also great companions to Claudia and Ben's pig-headed struggle. This brings me to my one small problem with the story. Several times Claudia blames Ben for their separation that follows both of them digging in their heels on the baby issue. While it may have been Ben's mind that changed, it was Claudia who decided to move out, and Claudia who later decided to draw up divorce papers, yet from then on she's allowed to uncontestedly claim that Ben deserted her. It's really a pretty minor thing, but when the rest of the book was so good at correctly placing blame and admitting when nobody was at fault, the error was all the more obvious.
One thing to warn you before reading this book, if you already know you want to have babies, all the talk of babies subconsciously makes you want to have them right now. I went shopping last night & was surprised when I walked by some cute baby stuff & was suddenly hit by an overwhelming desire to have a baby of my own right now. I managed to come to my senses pretty quickly, but still, most of the women around Claudia want to follow the traditional couple with children pattern & so hearing all their arguments to convince Claudia that she really should have a baby worked a little too well on me.
My overwhelming desire for motherhood aside, this was a thought-provoking, enjoyable, quick read - just enough substance to not consider it purely fluff.
I saw this book while wandering around the airport about a month ago & thought about picking it up, but reasoned that I already had more books packed than I was going to get through on the trip & didn't need to add another one to the mix. A few months before that I saw that one of my libraries had acquired Giffin's Something Borrowed and Something Blue and I thought they looked worth a try, but I was in the middle of finals & so definitely didn't have time to digest them.
So it seems I was fated to read this book, and I really wasn't disappointed. While I think this was untraditional for your typical romance,it's not that unusual for chick lit. Our heroine Claudia loves her job and her husband, but when he wants to reneg on their agreement to not have children, their relationship is put to the test. With many couples now waiting to have kids later in life, and some deciding not to have any at all, it's time someone wrote a book about it. While the ending isn't much of a surprise, I have to congratulate Giffin for not making a clear decision for Claudia on the great baby debate. Because while the decision to have kids is discussed throughout the book, it's not really a debate about whether it's okay for a couple to intentionally remain childless, but more about the struggles that even the best couples can go through.
The relationship troubles of the other women in the book are also great companions to Claudia and Ben's pig-headed struggle. This brings me to my one small problem with the story. Several times Claudia blames Ben for their separation that follows both of them digging in their heels on the baby issue. While it may have been Ben's mind that changed, it was Claudia who decided to move out, and Claudia who later decided to draw up divorce papers, yet from then on she's allowed to uncontestedly claim that Ben deserted her. It's really a pretty minor thing, but when the rest of the book was so good at correctly placing blame and admitting when nobody was at fault, the error was all the more obvious.
One thing to warn you before reading this book, if you already know you want to have babies, all the talk of babies subconsciously makes you want to have them right now. I went shopping last night & was surprised when I walked by some cute baby stuff & was suddenly hit by an overwhelming desire to have a baby of my own right now. I managed to come to my senses pretty quickly, but still, most of the women around Claudia want to follow the traditional couple with children pattern & so hearing all their arguments to convince Claudia that she really should have a baby worked a little too well on me.
My overwhelming desire for motherhood aside, this was a thought-provoking, enjoyable, quick read - just enough substance to not consider it purely fluff.