Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Attachments

Rainbow Rowell

Publication Date: April 14, 2011

Hardcover, 323 pages, Dutton

Genres: Adult, Contemporary

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"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 . . . ?

My Review

I finally had the time to read another Rainbow Rowell book! And it was good. Not as fantastically fabulous as Fangirl, and not as deep and thought-provoking as Eleanor & Park, but still good, in its own cheesy romance, Hallmark-move-esque kind of way.

I knew going into this book that it would be nothing like Rowell’s other books, but I still needed to read it. Rainbow Rowell is a goddess, so all of her books must be read. However, I was expecting something a little bit cuter and fluffier than what I got. See, I was picturing something like Meg Cabot’s Boy series, where the entire book is told in email format. Instead, Lincoln, the main character, had very long chapters and only Beth and Jennifer’s conversations were in email form. This would have been okay, except for the uniqueness of Lincoln’s voice kind of wore off by the end of the book. I loved his inner monologues in the beginning, but they got a little whiny and repetitive as time wore on.

That being said, Lincoln is a VERY unique character. He’s a D&D player, a college student for life, and a gym member. He’s just such a well-rounded person. He doesn’t simply do one thing like other main characters in a book would. He does real-life things. He did make some stupid decisions, though. Again, real-life things.

I wasn’t too attached to Beth and Jennifer, either. They had their LOL moments, but sometimes I felt their emails didn’t really add anything to the main arc of the story. Additionally, I didn’t find myself connecting to either of them as much as I’d hoped I would.

I also want to talk about the end of the book, but I can’t really delve into specifics. Let’s just say it was too easy. I was hoping for a more realistic situation.

All in all, Attachments is probably my least favorite RR book, but it’s still a good one.