Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Source: Paperback, Published March 27, 2012 by Plume
Verdict: Excellent
Book Description:
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 . . . ?
Upon finishing Attachments, I commented right away on Goodreads here that this novel was a joy to read. And I think that might best sum up how I feel about this fantastic book.
A blend of email correspondences and third-person narration, Attachments brings us into the lives of three main characters during the Y2K-obsessed year of 1999. Lincoln and Beth (along with her best friend Jennifer) are fantastic and vivid characters. Through very sharply funny and emotional emails, we get to know the wants, hopes, secrets and tragedies of Jennifer’s and Beth’s lives. And Lincoln? Working the evening shift at the same newspaper, bored out of his mind in a job he kind of hates, he’s reading emails as part of his internet security job to flag and report any suspicious, non-work related emails. Beth and Jennifer’s email correspondences should, according to the new company policy, definitely be flagged and reported by Lincoln. But there’s a problem: he’s hooked on their emails. He comes into work looking forward to read their interactions and hear about their lives. He’s especially captivated by Beth’s writing and finds himself growing more and more enamored of this funny and talented movie reviewer. Except, as we know from the book description, how can Lincoln- awkward, shy, unsure of his life- bring his email fantasy to life? How can move beyond an email fascination to facing and getting to know Beth in-person, without having to spill his secret?
Overall, I loved this book. Smart, funny, romantic, and hopeful- about everything I could ask for in a contemporary adult novel. In a style similar to the epistolary nature of Meg Cabot’s extremely entertaining Boy series, Attachments encompasses what I think is the best of the (lacking) area of twenty-thirty somethings adult fiction. I can’t wait to read Rowell’s Landline- an adult fiction title to be released this July- and to (finally) hunker down and read Eleanor & Park.
Note: This review, written by me, originally appeared on Fabbity Fab Book Reviews. Minor edits have been made.
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