Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell

ISBN: 9781250049377
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover (signed by Rainbow herself!)
Series: No, Stand-Alone
Released: July 8, 2014
Goodreads  |  B&N
     SUMMARY

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems besides the point now.
Maybe that was always besides the point.
Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.
When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.
That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .
Is that what she’s supposed to do?
Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

     REVIEW

Reviewing a Rainbow Rowell book seems almost pointless by now. After this fourth book, Landline, we've all kind of figured out that Rainbow can do no wrong. She's a literary genius. She writes unique yet real stories about people we come to love, and she has managed to make me feel something different for each book - Attachments: happiness, contentment; E&P: absolute devastation; Fangirl: like I'd found my soul-book. And now with Landline, it's mostly left me pensive, with a tiny bit of heartache and happiness mixed together.

I was as big of an emotional mess throughout this book as Georgie was which made it that much better for me. I felt like I understood so much of Georgie's feelings but at the same time, she taught me so much, too.

I'm getting married soon and it was a little scary thinking about being married as long as Georgie and Neal have been. Georgie says at one point during the book, "You don't know at 23." Basically saying that it's impossible to know what you're getting into, what your life/marriage is going to be like in five years, ten, fifteen. But reading this book gave me a very different perspective. Even through their struggles, I found Georgie and Neal's story (from very beginning of their relationship to the end of the book) to be beautiful and inspiring.

Most of all, what I love about Landline and all of her other books, Rainbow makes me feel like it's okay to not be perfect - physically, mentally, emotionally. I, along with the majority of the female (and some male) population, struggle with self-confidence and accepting the fact that we're not all going to be skinny and tall and blonde and beautiful. Not that those things are bad, but Rainbow's characters make me feel like I can love and be loved and do things I love and do them well without looking like what society says is perfect.

On a much less sappy note, I adore Rainbow's writing style and I LOVE all of the HP references in this book (and some of her others). I went to her book release in Manhattan on July 8 and she said that "Harry Potter made this book," referencing, I think, some inspirations and fun things she used while writing the story. Needless to say, the HP references cemented my love for Landline, as if I needed anything to cement it anyway.

RATING - ★★★★★ - Loved it!

Landline was one of my most anticipated reads this year and it didn't disappoint. Definitely one of the best books I've read so far and another fantastic novel to add to repertoire. It made me laugh and cry, but most of all it made me think and that's something I really love in a book. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

     FAVORITE QUOTES

"Pretty soon she'd have been with Neal longer than she'd been without him. She'd known herself as his wife better than she'd ever known herself as anyone else."

"She thought of all the times he'd stayed up late to help her with a script. The way he'd lived at her right hand after Alice was born (when Georgie was depressed and in pain and terrible at breastfeeding). The way he never made her feel crazy even when she was acting crazy, and never made her feel like a failure even when she was failing."

"Georgie hadn't known back the how much she was going to come to need Neal, how he was going to become like air to her. Was that codependence? Or was it just marriage?"

"'It's not like that,' Georgie said. 'You'll see. It's more like you meet someone, and you fall in love, and you hope that that person is the one - and then at some point, you have to put down your chips. You just have to make the commitment and hope that you're right.'"

Have you read Landline yet? Was it everything you ever dreamed of? 'Cause it sure was for me! I loved this book and I can't wait to talk about it with you!

A.

Feature and Follow Friday: A Dinner Invitation

It's been a while since I've participated in anything: Feature and Follow, Top Ten Tuesday, Waiting on Wednesday, etc. I was on a little hiatus over the Easter holiday - three weeks to be exact - but now it's over and I'm back in the game... sort of.

I'm kind of taking my time getting back into the swing of things because.... (and this is a secret just for my fellow bloggers)... I've started writing again. Many of you probably don't know that I go through phases of writing for months, non-stop except to work, eat, sleep and use the potty. Then I poop out and don't touch a thing I've worked on for months. So I'm going full force this time, except with the intention of taking breaks and non pooping out and maybe, finally, possibly, hopefully attempting to publish (probably self pub) something. So with that being said, I want to start looking to authors and see what tips worked for them. Obviously mainly self-pub'd authors but even some bigger names. Which brings me to the reason I'm here today:

This week's Feature and Follow Friday question is:

What living author or authors would you like to have dinner with? (Try to think beyond JK Rowling)

That little addition kind of screws me up because honestly, my answer is J.K. Rowling. But for the sake of being a good sport and thinking outside the box, I've come up with my next answer(s) which were almost as easy as the first:

Rainbow Rowell,

Jodi Picoult,

and Nora Roberts

Rainbow Rowell is a recent addition to my list of favorites and I would love the chance not only to meet her, but to pick her brain about her amazing books and her writing process.

Jodi Picoult is one of the first authors I ever loved and everything of hers I've ever read, I've loved. Seriously. And I've read a lot of her novels. I'd love to talk over dinner and find out how she always packs one hell of a punch into each and every novel she writes.

and Nora Roberts: My writing hero. Though I've strayed a bit from the romance genre in recent years and while I know Nora tends to be a bit predictable and redundant in some of her newer novels, she is still the queen of descriptive passages and strong characters (female, especially). She is the first author I ever loved, and yes she has her faults but she'll always have a place in my reader's heart and maybe, maybe one day I will have the chance to pick her brain, too, about how she writes in such detail and sticks to such strong and willful female characters in different storylines.

So consider this my official dinner invitation:

I cordially invite you, Rainbow, Jodi and Nora, to a night out on the town with the highly sought after author of the blog I Solemnly Swear: Amanda (that's me!) :)

So ladies, will you have dinner with me?!

What authors would you like to have dinner with?

Happy Reading!

A.

Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

ISBN: 9780525951988

Source: Purchased... with Christmas money.. ;)

Series: No, stand-alone

Release Date: April 14, 2011

Goodreads  |  Amazon

See all other Rainbow Rowell reviews on this blog

     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.

Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

ISBN: 9781250030955
Source: Christmas gift! :)
Series: No, Stand-Alone
Release Date: September 10, 2013
Find it on Goodreads
See all of my Rainbow Rowell reviews

     GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.
Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.
Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

     REVIEW:

What's that movie that had the line, "You had me at 'hello'"? Jerry Maguire? That's what came to mind when I pondered how I felt about this book after just reading the first page. I feel like a cheeseball for saying it, but it is what it is. This book, at its most basic points, is about a young college-aged girl who writes Simon Snow (Harry Potter) fancfiction. Gay Simon-Baz (Harry-Draco) fanfiction. This may seem strange to you. It seemed strange to me. But after reading the book, it seems to fit perfectly. 

After reading Eleanor and Park, I didn't think there was any way I could be as obsessed with Fangirl as I was with E&P. In actuality, I feel completely different about the two books, but in some way, exactly the same. I loved them exactly the same is what I mean, I guess, but for completely different reasons. E&P made me swoon, and it was almost entirely focused on the love story with bits of Eleanor's terrible life on the side.

With Fangirl, we meet Cath. We submerse ourselves in Cath, getting to know who she is, relating to her - because let's be honest people: Cath is one of the most relatable characters in YA contemporary fiction these days. We get to see what her life is like and for more than a quarter of the book, while there is some setu , there is no real development between her and a love interest, which I found refreshing. As many of you may know from experience one way or another, a lot of us bloggers/readers/writers suffer from anxiety, depression, etc., and it was comforting to find out through Cath and her experiences that we are not alone. It was, at times, hard to read and see some ridiculous decisions (that we would have likely made ourselves) unfold on the page but it was also enlightening. Basically, thanks to Cath, we maybe don't feel as alone as we did before, knowing that someone out there understands us, even if it is just Rainbow Rowell in the form of her characters.

I suppose I'd previsously thought of myself as emotionally incosistent as far as reading about certain topics  unless the reading materials dealt with something specific, e.g. a break up, family issues, death, rejection - in other words, something I'd dealt with personally. But Rowell had my emotions all over the place with this novel and not always for any of those specific things I mentioned. I cried over things directly related to reading and writing and that was a first for me.

Everything about this book felt personal. Not just the fact that Cath is so relatable and much of the story revolves around reading and writing, but every little nuance, every little word, feels like it was written with the specific reader in mind and it brought me even closer to the story (if that's even possible). Am I even making any sense right now!? I hope that the people who have read this book understand me. For those of you who haven't, obviously the only way to understand this review is to go read the book. So, go on. Read it.

About three quarters of the way through, I spent about one chapter thinking that this book was taking a turn out of the extraordinary into the... ordinary. I thought it was leaving the world of absolute uniqueness and sliding slowly into cliche. I hoped beyond hope that the ending wouldn't be lame and anticlimactic. Well don't you worry - I was wrong and the story was fine. It just had a slightly slow chapter but the ending was perfect. I had to go back and read the last two pages a couple more times because I just didn't want to leave Cath and her life behind.

I wasn't entirely sure what Rowell's intention was with Cath's twin sister, Wren. I couldn't tell if she was trying to teach us (and Cath) some kind of lesson with her, or if Wren was learning her own lessons and we just got to sit back and watch. It was hard to understand more than the basic function of their relationship as twins and best friends because the book starts right off with Wren pretty much "breaking up" with Cath. I don't think I felt their chemistry together as BFF's and it was hard to move past the dislike I had for Wren for most of the book.

Oh, I suppose you'd like to know about the romance aspect of the book? After reading E&P, which no YA contemporary romance will ever compare to, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the romance didn't really begin until a quarter to halfway through the book. It was sweet and slow and funny and heartwrenching and everything I could've wanted. It was very different from Eleanor and Park's romance in that it wasnt an entirely painful experience to read. Cath and Levi made me happy. They made me a little sad at times, but they definitely made me feel happy.

I loved Cath's character development overall, but mostly I loved that she didn't change that much. She learned to stand up for herself, and learned to let go a little and move outside of her comfort zone, but she was still the Cath we can all relate to so much and definitely learn something from.

Last but not least, I need to talk about the feelings surrounding Simon Snow (aka Harry Potter) and books/writing in general.I read a review of Fangirl that mentioned how Fangirl makes us feel validated in our feelings about books and writing, and that no, they aren't just books. The person who wrote that review (I can't remember who, so sorry!) was so right. That is exactly how I felt because Fangirl kind of reminds us that we are all in this together. Our families and friends don't quite understand our obsessions, but we understand each other, and it's books like this one that remind us of that.

Toward the end, the way Cath and Wren felt about the story, the books, the fanfic, everything... it felt so real because it's something so many of us have felt and experienced before. I've never really read any fanfic but I have to admit that I would probably have a hard time getting into it because I love the real stories so much. But after reading this, while I might not be quite ready to enter to the world of fanfic, I have a new respect for it, for sure!

     RATING: ★★★★★

I didn't think I could love anything as much as Eleanor and Park, but here I am telling you all that I love it just as much. I've found a new favorite author and I've already gone and ordered her other book, Attachments. I've never read a more relatable character or story than I have with Cath in Fangirl and it is something that I will definitely be rereading in the near future.

It was an amazing read and I absolutely loved it! Have any of you read Fangirl yet? Please tell me what you thought! I loved this book so much that I can't wait to talk about it with all of you!

Get a second opinion
Thoughts and Pens [2 star rating]
Ash Wednesday [3.5 star rating]
Writer of Wrongs [4.5 star rating]

A.

Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

ISBN: 9781250012579
Source: Purchased
Series: No, Stand-Alone
Release: April 12, 2012
Find it on Goodreads

     GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.

     REVIEW:

I read this book weeks ago and I still don't think I can form coherent thoughts about it. I am still one giant ball of wrecked emotion. How can I explain any of what I felt?

Well.... I can tell you that Rainbow Rowell's writing style is fantastic. I can tell you that her character development was beyond anything in this genre that I've ever read. I can tell you that she made me fall in love with the characters, she made me swoon over a 16-year-old boy (um, can we say ew in real life?) and want to be a friend to Eleanor when she had so few. The romance was never cheesy, I never wanted to roll my eyes or not be immersed in this book. I laughed so hard at times and cried so hard at times. I am big fat ball of WRECK over this book.

The small things that annoyed me were that every five sentences there was another 1980s movie or song reference, and yes, I was born in 1989, but I had no idea about any of these movies or songs. I didn't like feeling like I needed to do research in order to understand an young adult romance novel. So I hope I didn't miss anything important with those references as they were all lost on me.

Either way, I was all over the place emotionally with this book. I couldn't stop crying when it was over. I immediately gave it to my sister who finished it in two days and was also a wreck over it. This may very well have been the best book I have read this year. Thank you, Rainbow Rowell. Thank. You.

     RATING: ★★★★★

Isn't it amazing how when you hate a book, you can go on for hours and hours about it? But when you love a book, you struggle to find the words to explain why? That's how I feel with E&P. I don't feel as if the words I have are sufficient to explain how much I adored this book. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. That is all I can say.

Have any of you read this book? Did you absolutely adore it as much as I did? I can't wait to read Fangirl (which I got for Christmas - woohoo!) and continue my love affair with Rainbow Rowell's writing. I can't wait to hear from you all on this one!

A.