Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Attachments
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publication: March 27th 2012, Plume
Format: Trade Paperback
Source: Own Copy from NBS
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Kobo | National Book Store / Fully Booked (PH)

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 . . . ?

Misfit Review:

I didn't really know when I'd pick up to read Attachments when I first got it out on a whim while impulsively shopping for books. I guess it happened after I got my first Rainbow Rowell book during Christmas and I knew deep, deep down that I needed another one. Attachments wasn't that book, but Eleanor and Park wasn't available, so I ditched that and got Attachments instead. It took months before I picked up the book. I regret thinking I wouldn't love it. I did. I loved it way too much.

“I’d know you in the dark,” he said. “From a thousand miles away. There’s nothing you could become that I haven’t already fallen in love with.”

So, it all starts with an email where Jennifer and her friend Beth are talking to each other about the most random of things. In the company that they work in, they are not allowed to use their company emails for personal chatting. When you are caught, you might get fired. The one who mans that job is Lincoln, who still lives with his Mom after graduating again from college and seems to be having a hard time moving on from his past relationship with cheerful Sam. Lincoln might not like his job so much, but he enjoys reading Jennifer and Beth's emails. And he's fallen in love with Beth in the process.

What I love about this novel is how the characters are each their own, especially Lincoln. He seems like a huge lump of negative energy, really and sometimes you can't help but be annoyed with him. But I honestly just found him to be very adorable. Beth and Jennifer are the two people in this world who you'd wish you could be friends with. They are such fun! Even though you only get to actually read their emails, you find yourselves curious with the lives they lead and it's actually quite cinematic! The characters are not at all lackluster because of their personalities and the conflicts that challenge their being, Lincoln especially.

“Things get better — hurt less — over time. If you let them.”

I never would guess that a male character could be this sensitive and thoughtful of so many things. And then his physical description doesn't actually match his thoughts and actions most of the time. I honestly had been imagining Channing Tatum while reading the book. Because we all know Channing Tatum is well, sensitive!

“Do you feel like he ignores you?"

"No. I feel like he doesn't see me.”

You find yourselves committed to the characters and the situations presented. Even a wedding could feel like such a huge deal to the reader, especially when the character isn't exactly a huge fan of the upcoming wedding. There were many vulnerable situations in the book, from Lincoln's past lovelife, his relationship with his Mom and sister and even with his friends, but that one moment with Jennifer losing her baby, that broke me. OH SO INSTANTLY! It wasn't such a huge shocker for the readers. We were kind of given subtle hints, but when you find out that it actually happened, you just... I put down the book for a while and just. Yeah. stay. I need to get my feels out.

“I know that people change. I thought ... I thought we're going to change together. I thought that's what it meant to be in love.”

Attachments, in my opinion, is Rainbow Rowell's most underrated and under appreciated book. Well, if you compare it to Fangirl and Eleanor and Park that is, mainly because it focuses more on adult relationships rather than teens, but it has become one of my favorite books of all time because of it's simplicity, allure of the protagonist, and a great plot line, that to some might be a bit complex or unappealing, but to me, it was genius! Kudos to Rainbow Rowell for making this wonderful story! 

So grab a copy of the book now for you will be left feeling attached! :)

About The Author:

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Rainbow Rowell writes books. Sometimes she writes about adults (ATTACHMENTS and LANDLINE). Sometimes she writes about teenagers (ELEANOR & PARK and FANGIRL). But she always writes about people who talk a lot. And people who feel like they're screwing up. And people who fall in love.

When she's not writing, Rainbow is reading comic books, planning Disney World trips and arguing about things that don't really matter in the big scheme of things.

She lives in Nebraska with her husband and two sons.