Title: Attachments
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Publication Date: January 2011
Length: 323
Series: Stand Alone
Reason for Discovery: the Internet & the Rainbow Rowell Read-a-Thon
From GoodReads:
"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 . . . ?
Lincoln is a late 20-something year-old who is trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life. He is living at home with his mom who loves cooking delicious meals for him. Lincoln also took a night job reading emails to make sure people are being respectful and appropriate at a local newspaper. Beth and Jennifer are two employees that work at the newspaper and are constantly getting their emails flagged for using inappropriate language or sending too many emails to each other. Lincoln slowly yet surely gets pulled into Beth and Jennifer's world via their emails. He knows that he needs to stop reading their emails, but he can't stop; he is falling in love with Beth.
Maybe it was all of the dystopian novels that I have been reading recently, but this book was just freaking adorable. I had a grin on my face the entire time. I kept making excuses to read just one more chapter. I loved the emails between Jennifer and Beth. The emails reminded me of emails that I would send to colleagues at work. I could have read an entire book of just Jennifer and Beth's emails. I love books that are letters between two characters, because I like to imagine that I am one of the characters writing the letters. Because Beth and Jennifer's scenes primarily take place within the emails, you get a very particular view of these two ladies. I wish I got a more three-dimensional view of Beth and Jennifer; however, this is a minus with the epistolary form.
I also loved to watch Lincoln find himself and figure out who he is (his chapters are told in third person). Self-identity and finding one's way in life are themes that seem to be found only in YA books nowadays. It was refreshing to see an adult trying to figure out who he is and what he wants in life. As a graduate student and in my early 30s, I feel like my life is on hold at times. It was nice to meet a character that is around my same age and is experiencing some of the same issues.
I really enjoyed everything about this book except for the ending. I wished things had gone a bit differently. I don't want to say too much and spoil you. I will just say that the ending was fine and expected, I just don't feel it was the best for the story.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I loved Beth, Jennifer, and Lincoln. I thought that they were relate-able and refreshing. Also, the writing was super clever and spot on. The characters felt real and talked like normal people. If I could tweak the ending, I would, but it didn't ruin the story for me by any means.
I give this book 4 out of 5.
16 comments:
This sounds like a sweet read :) Sometimes its nice to just have a change of reading material. I am so happy this was such a great read for you!
Chanzie @ Mean Who You Are.
It was so nice to read something light and happy. As an added bonus there was no apocalypse in sight! :)
Awesome review! You know I actually just bought Attachments last week and was looking forward to reading it! I am sad the ending wasn't absolutely fab for you. Thank you for not spoiling anything. Now I'm totally curious! :)
I definitely would have loved to see a bit more about Jen and Beth outside of the emails! And I would have loved to meet Mitch- he sounds awesome haha.
It's strange, I didn't really like the ending THAT much either (I mean, I still liked it, just didn't think it was amazing) but I don't know how else it could have ended without leaving readers really unsatisfied...
I need to get more of her books read. I have only read Eleanor and Park and enjoyed that one. I do have Fangirl on hold at the library but I have been waiting a few months for that one to come in. Everyone seems to want to read it.
This sounds truly awesome! Can you imagine having a job where you actually have to read other people's e-mails? And it's really sweet that Lincoln falls in love with Beth just from reading her crazy e-mails to her friend.
Great review, I'm adding this one :)
Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews
Amazing review Pamela! I agree with all your points and couldn't stop smiling when I read how much you enjoyed the emails between Beth and Jennifer. You make great points, I hadn't really noticed before how the themes of self-identity and discovery are rarer nowadays in adult fiction but now that you've said it, I definitely agree and it's a niche that shouldn't be neglected. Thankfully, Rainbow Rowell has another adult fiction coming out next year (Landline), yay! Thanks so much for being part of the readathon as well, your comments were so thoughtful and a pleasure to read :)
Great review Pamela!! I'm glad you liked this one! I've heard great things about this one, and while I won't be reading Eleanor & Park anytime soon I think that Attachments is one that I will try. I really loved Fangirl so I know that she has amazing writing!!
I hope you enjoy it. It was such a lovely read. I can't wait to hear what you think.
Mitch did sound pretty awesome. I agree with you that people would have been unhappy with a different ending, but the way the story was written I could have seen it go either way. I wonder if the story was supposed to have a different ending.
I am reading Eleanor & Park right now, and I am enjoying it. Fangirl seems to be everyone's sweetheart book right now, but you should check out Attachments in the meantime! It definitely deserves more love.
I agree. I think I wouldn't mind having a job where I got to read people's emails. In reality, it would probably be pretty boring. I hope you enjoy Attachments!
I didn't know Landline was an adult book. This makes me so happy! I am enjoying E&P, but in the last year or so, I have started to prefer books with adults as the protagonists.
If I knew the subject matter in E&P, I might not be reading it now. Attachments is just a sweet book. There is a tiny suggestion about a difficult home life in the book, but nothing too specific and nothing too bad. Feel free to email me, if you want more specifics.
This sounds like such a sweet read! I have heard such great things about Rainbow Rowell and have been wanting to read her books for quite a while. Will definitely make sure I read this one! Great review! :)
I was pleasantly surprised. This was such a lovely, well-written adult contemporary. I don't read a lot of contemporary fiction, but I really enjoyed this book.
Leave a Comment