The weakest of the three Rainbow Rowell books I’ve read so far (Eleanor & Park and Fangirl–review coming soon–being the others), Attachments is nonetheless a wonderful story told in an interesting way.
“Every woman wants a man who’ll fall in love with her soul as well as her body.”
In case you missed Caitlin-G’s review a few days ago (this is what happens when I borrow all her books–everything I write comes a few days after her submissions), Attachments is about two women who work for a newspaper. One is married and dreading getting pregnant, the other is dating a perpetual manchild who wants to be a rockstar. In defiance of the company policy against using email for personal chats, they message each other constantly about every aspect of their lives. Lincoln, who has been hired to read “flagged” emails, becomes obsessed with their friendship.
I loved the emails — Rowell does a great job of demonstrating friendship through such a narrow construct. My only real issue was with Lincoln–he was like a male Mary Sue (is there a term for that? please share!). He’s incredibly handsome, but doesn’t know it. He’s smart, but trapped in this little job. He’s a total nerd (D&D, etc.) but goes to clubs with his other friends. Rowell humanizes him some by giving him a backstory with a girl, but mostly, I wanted him to go away so I could read more emails!
Still, it’s a fun story and I devoured it whole. It’s a sweet story of falling for someone before even seeing them — another You’ve Got Mail. But, like reading The Fault in Our Stars before any other John Green books, I have shot myself in the foot and expect nothing short of spectacular-ness from Rainbow Rowell, and this does fall a bit short.
And like John Green it’s because we’re reading them out of order. She’s clearly progressed as a writer and Attachments was her first novel