Set at the dawn of the 21st century, amidst the chaos of Y2K hysteria, Attachments is about a young IT security officer at a newspaper whose job it is to read employee emails that get flagged for personal content. He quickly finds himself drawn to near daily exchanges between two women, and ends up falling for one of them. Torn between his deep interest in a woman he’s never met, and the unethical quandary he’s found himself in, Lincoln has to decide weather to throw caution to the wind and approach her, or respect the boundaries he has been disregarding for so long.
That synopsis doesn’t make this book sound appealing. I admit it. If you told me that’s what this book was about – I probably wouldn’t read it. That just doesn’t sound like something that I’m going to be taken in by. But, Rainbow Rowell has proved to me – as she has to so many of us – that there’s nothing she can’t do. I’ve read four of her books, and fell in love with each and every one of them. The characters feel alive, like people I could be friends with. The romances are organic and familiar. The writing is crisp and witty. I’m literally struggling to remain rhapsodic over someone who’s universally acknowledge (among the cool kids, at least) as perhaps the most enjoyable writer working today. If you haven’t already fallen in love with her, you truly are missing out on someone remarkable.
While reading this, I was struck by how different these books are. While all her characters are likable, and her books tend to be filled with Beta protagonists, Rowell never feels like she’s repeating herself. Landline is the story of a relationship on the rocks. Fangirl is the story of a young woman finding her own way in life. Eleanor & Park is the story of a girl falling in love for the first time, amidst great personal turmoil. Attachments is about learning to move on from a broken heart and allowing yourself to love again.
Attachments is Rowell’s first novel – but it feels fully realized and well-formed. It’s not overly formulaic, and would still be a great read if it was her 10th published work.
Honestly, I’m just kind of rambling, here. I don’t know what to say about either this book or its author that hasn’t already been said. I enjoy her work that it almost seems unfair to measure her on in a 5-star rating system. How can I give her “only” 5 stars when I enjoy her books so much more than every other 5 star book I’ve read? If the book of hers that I enjoyed the least (Fangirl) is gets a 5 star review, how can this be any less than a six? And if she is so good that my biggest complaint is that her books deserve more stars than our ratings system allows, how can I actually sit here and pretend to critique her work?
I’ve said it before: Rainbow Rowell is my spirit animal.
This has been reviewed 21 times in Cannonball history, and has an average rating of 4.25 stars. Among books with at least 20 reviews, this ranks fifth (behind Fangirl, The Martian, Station Eleven, and Ready Player One).
This is my favorite Rowell. It is perfection in a novel for me. The fact that every person I convince to read it comes back and goes, “oh of course you love it. you’re beth.” has nothing to do with it… also my coworker who i online chat with everyday is totally Jen. This is not lost on the two of us.
I don’t think I’ve read a single book of hers where I didn’t think, “oh, this is just a repackaged form of my life.”
See, this and Landline are the only two that I’ve really connected with. I’ve loved them all, but Attachments and Landline are both mirrors back at me in different ways. I was never Wren and I actually had trouble connecting with Eleanor, but Beth at the time got me in ways I never thought possible for a fictional character. Oh, and I totally married a Lincoln. It’s pretty awesome.
I connected with Wren in the sense of going to college and learning to be independent, but it was a fairly tenuous connection. Maybe that’s why I don’t live that one as much as the others.
But my first love was very much like Eleanor. Her life was, at least. And we took in a different friend when I was 17 to get him out of a similar situation. That book hit the closest to home, for me.
This was my first Rowell (because I was lucky enough to discover her early, I still remember the joy of being granted an ARC of Fangirl on NetGalley) and it was an absolute revelation. The e-mail conversations between Beth and Jen so reminded me of getting to know my BFF, we were pen pals, long before e-mail was really a thing. But the constant back and forth and the closeness of the friendship, it was just all there.
I also love that Lincoln falls in love with Beth without having any idea what she looks like. It’s her personality, as expressed in all those e-mails, and I think that’s lovely (even if what he does IS wrong).
This may be weird, but as a beta male who went through a period very similar to the one Lincoln is going through, I found his dysfunctional very identifiable. Not that I ever did anything like that, but I can see how easy it would be to stumble across something for perfectly legitimate reasons, and become attached to it to the point where you don’t know how to make appropriate and healthy changes.
The situation didn’t feel contrived to me, despite it’s somewhat ridiculous premise.
And a book where so much of the space is taken up between email exchanges was surprisingly riveting. This does nothing to dissuade me from thinking Rowell’s grocery lists would be a fun read.
Oh, the situation of how Lincoln falls in love, and keeps reading these e-mails, even when he knows he shouldn’t, doesn’t really feel contrived to me at all. It helps that the reader is also reading along with Beth and Jen’s e-mails, and I at least, fell in love with their friendship and wanted to be their friend, so I can totally see why Lincoln couldn’t stop himself from reading, even long after he knew what he was doing was wrong.
I think the most marvellous thing about Rowell, apart from how all her books are amazing reads, is how much I manage to identify myself in each and every one and feel like she wrote the book for ME. Interestingly, Carry On, my current favourite, is the one where I have the least direct identification with one or several of the characters.
This was my first Rowell as well, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. It and Carry On are the only ones I’ve re-read (so far). I used to call this one my favorite, but I think Carry On may have surpassed it . . . I need you to read that book.
Yeah……I’m going to have to get it. It’s never available on Overdrive, so I’ll just have to break down and get it on Audible or something.
I just got that Christmas anthology, My True Love Gave to Me, and I’m going to read her story in there.
There are a couple good stories in that anthology, I’d say give it a try beyond Rainbow. I picked it up because of her story, but didn’t regret reading the whole thing. (Although there were a few clunkers.)
Last year, when I was badly concussed (which Facebook has helpfully reminded me happened on this day a year ago), I couldn’t read or watch TV or use a computer or screen of any kind, so audiobooks were my only solace. I got Carry On as an audio book (having already bought it in e-book), so I could “re-read” it. I really liked the narrator. As always, I have to add the caveat that I listen to things at x1.5 speed, so the voices get a bit exaggerated.
If you want to read the book, rather than listen to it, feel free to PM me your e-mail address on Facebook. I will happily share a copy with you. Just let me know whether you need a Kindle copy or if epub is ok. I feel very little guilt in sharing the book, as I now own it in e-book, audio and dead tree format. I think Rowell has got her fair share of royalties from me. :)
Thanks! But I’ve gotten it from Audible already. I just haven’t listened to it yet. I work fairly long hours (50-60 hour weeks), and have decent commute. So audiobooks are a key part of my reading habits.
I’ve listened to the audiobooks for all her books (except this one, which I read), and absolutely adored that narrator (Rebecca Lowman). She perfectly captured the tranquility of Rowell’s writing, but had the undercurrent of wit and sarcasm that makes her characters so inviting.
I’ve never heard Euan Morton before, but if he’s half as good as Lowman, it should be an enjoyable listen.