Landline

I love Rainbow Rowell; in the past four months I have read every book she has written. She is a Goddess who can do no wrong and breaks my heart in the best ways.

Unfortunately, I don’t feel the love for Landline like some of the other people on CBR.

Please don’t shun me!

Let’s start with what I did like: This a book for adults. The main character is a mid-thirties, married mother of two. She has a career in television and is trying to balance her work & home life. Now, what I didn’t like: There is a magic fucking phone.

I’ll be honest here. I bought this book because Rainbow Rowell’s name was on the cover. I’d only heard of Landline in terms of “Rainbow Rowell has a new book coming out” and hadn’t looked up any reviews. I didn’t read the dust jacket- I just bought it.

Georgie McCool (adorable name) has to miss the holidays with her husband’s family in Omaha to work on scripts for the TV series she has worked a decade to get into the pilot stage. Her husband, Neal, takes their two daughters to Nebraska and begins ignoring Georgie’s phone calls. Desperate to talk to her husband, Georgie calls his mother’s landline from her own mother’s house and is connected to her college aged husband. It’s Christmas in 1998, right before Neal proposed (after a similar fight) to Georgie- who must decide if she should mess with the past.

I had a similar issue with Twisted Sisters (by Jen Lancaster) this year. A generic chick lit story that sprinkled in astral projection. “Magic Phone” is just not what I was expecting, especially since Rainbow Rowell’s books are usually so rooted in reality.