Attachments

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Fiction
2012 Penguin Group
Finished on 3/25/14
Rating: 4.5/5 (Terrific!)




Publisher’s Blurb:

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that someone 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…? 

“Hi, I’m the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you…”

Attachments is a fast, funny romantic comedy about three people at the end of their 20s, at the end of the last Millennium. It’s a book about falling in love with the person who makes you feel like the best version of yourself. Even if it’s someone you’ve never met.

Yes, I’m a sucker for romantic comedies; When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, Bridget Jones’s Diary… you get the picture. Last year I fell in love with Rainbow Rowell’s teen sensation Eleanor & Park, so I was more than excited when Bellezza sent me a copy of Attachments, which of course, languished on my nightstand for far too long. I finally picked it up and before I knew it I was sucked in, unable to put it down! I loved the email format, which alternates with Lincoln’s internal monologue, but it took me a long time before I could keep the two young women straight. You know how it is when you read a thread of emails. You stop looking at the name of the sender and just read the content. (Well, maybe not in really life, but I do this a lot when I read an epistolary novel.) I had to constantly remind myself who was married and who had a boyfriend. But otherwise, I was hooked and couldn’t wait to get back to the book at the end of the day. I enjoyed the snappy dialogue between Beth and Jennifer and found myself laughing out loud on several occasions, which is always a sign of good book!

The novel is set in 1999, which quite honesty doesn’t feel like it was 15 years ago! Doesn’t it seems like just a few years ago we were all in a panic about Y2K? Like Eleanor & Park, Attachments is full of pop culture, which makes for a fun read for this nostalgia lover.

Rowell is quickly becoming a favorite author and now I’m eager to give Fangirl a try. I’m so sorry I missed her book signing at our store last year, but she’s a local writer, so maybe I’ll get another chance!

Final thoughts:

I loved this book! With a likeable cast of characters, snappy repartee, tenderness that avoids sappiness, and local references to Lincoln and Omaha, as well as to the publishing industry (which I’ve grown more and more familiar with in the years my husband has been writing and editing for a national publishing company), Attachments has all the ingredients for a great beach read. This one’s going on my re-read shelf!

Go here to read my review of Eleanor & Park.