Monday, April 7, 2014

Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

ISBN: 9780525951988
Source: Purchased... with Christmas money.. ;)
Series: No, stand-alone
Release Date: April 14, 2011

     SYNOPSIS
"Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . "
Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.
Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now- reading other people's e-mail. When he applied to be "internet security officer," he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.
When Lincoln comes across Beth's and Jennifer's messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can't help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.
By the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late to introduce himself.
What would he say . . . ?
     REVIEW

If I tell you that Attachments was my least favorite Rainbow Rowell book, I don't want you all to run away screaming. It's true, it is my least favorite of her current three, but Rainbow Rowell is amazing. So to say that just means that the book is fantastic as opposed to mind-blowing such as the other two she's written. Attachments was a lot slower that E&P and while Fangirl was pretty slow, the pacing for that book was perfect. Attachments is told in the point of view of Lincoln, one of the main characters, and also in the form of e-mails between the other main character, Beth, and her BFF, Jennifer, and unfortunately, Lincoln's narrative was what kind of dragged it down for me.

The e-mail aspect was quite hysterical. I think the entire thing could've been told in e-mail form and I would've loved it! I definitely enjoyed those parts the most, especially because Beth and Jennifer at times went out of their way to use words that would flag their e-mails... I suppose as an act of rebellion? They were just fantastic!

Lincoln's parts, written in regular narrative rather than in e-mail form, were a lot slower and at times boring. Unless Lincoln was doing something in relation to work/Beth/e-mails, I was slightly bored. Everything about his mother and sister I could've done without. It got to a point where I wondered if anything was ever going to happen with Lincoln and Beth or if Rowell was just going to break my heart yet again! It was a rather close call because I thought the ending was going to ruin a pretty good book, but fear not! Rowell came through, and while the ending was bordering on completely unbelievable, it had me tearing up and grinning and laughing like a fool. It was basically perfect and I don't care if it probably would never happen in real life.

RATING: ★★★★ 1/2

My only gripes about Attachments besides the pacing (at times) was that I wished it had been a bit longer, to make the interactions between the characters toward the end a bit more drawn out and a bit more believable. Or even just to have an opportunity to enjoy it a little longer.

On the contrary, my favorite part of the story besides the hysterical e-mail exchanges was the romance. I loved that Rowell made it okay to be needy sometimes. We see so many "strong heroines" in YA and adult novels lately. Girls and women who don't need a man, just want one. And while that is something we all attempt to embody, not every girl or relationship is like that. I know I'm needy as hell and in this story, Rowell showed us a strong heroine who just needed to be loved sometimes. And I really, really loved and enjoyed that aspect.

Overall, Attachments, being the third Rowell book I've read, served to truly cement my love for her as one of my favorite authors. I will definitely read anything she puts out there and more than likely will re-read everything she already has out there. So basically, if you haven't read this book, you should. And if you haven't read anything by Rainbow Rowell... well, that the heck are you waiting for?

Oh, and in other Rainbow News, her next novel, and adult contemporary novel, Landline is being released in July of this year. Like I said, I will buy anything she puts out there. Have you heard anything about this book yet? I've basically heard it is excellent, as expected.

Also, have you seen this amazing video reenactment of a scene from Fangirl put together by the amazing Yulin Kuang? If you haven't, you need to go see it. You might die of <3 <3 <3. Yup - you read that right.

Also, also! And this is important for fans of E&P and Rowell in general: Dreamworks has bought the movie rights for Eleanor and Park. And Rowell has been hired to write the screenplay. WHATTT!? I almost died. I know many of you don't like adaptations but I love them as long as they are done right! So how excited are you?! Let's talk!

A.

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A.