Book Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Attachments

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Genre/s: Adult, Romance, Chick-Lit, Stand Alone

Released Date: February 12, 2012

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Synopsis:

"Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . "

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 . . . ?

My Thoughts:

“Do you believe in love at first sight?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Do you believe in love before that?”

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell is the best example of what love-before-first-sight would be like, if it ever existed. There is no typical boy-meets-girl, no meet-cutes (Jen and Lincoln's, doesn't count) and no romantic gestures. But it was a love story, a very sweet and uber cute love story of how a guy can fall in love with girl before he can even see her.

Lincoln expected to work as an internet security guy in a newspaper company - building firewalls and such - but instead he worked as a sort of email police, reading flagged emails of the employees and warning them if they were violating the company rule. It was a really boring job for Lincoln until he read Beth and Jennifer's hilarious and interesting email conversations.

Beth and Jen were using the company email for personal purposes and that was against the policy. He knew he should report them to the boss but he can't make himself do it. He became fond of them and soon, he found himself falling in love with Beth even though he doesn't know what she looked like. How will he introduce himself to Beth and what would she think if she found out he was reading her emails?

I heard a lot of great things about Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park and Fangirl this year (well, you must be blind if you didn't notice all the hype) but I wasn't sure if I'm ready to join the craze yet. So, I decided to read Rowell's debut novel first, just to see what her writing style was like and HOLY FUDGE, I was awestruck! 

I didn't know it was possible for me be so entertained and not get bored in a story that doesn't have a boy-girl interaction but Rowell proved me wrong. She effortlessly made me love and care for her characters individually, then made me root for them to be together. I can't even believe this is a debut. Also, if you were put off by the Adult label of this book, well, don't be because it was a clean adult read regardless of the red flagged words.

Lincoln was a really sweet and handsome guy but he has a low self-confidence level, still living with his mother and he doesn't have a lot of friends aside from his Dungeons & Dragons buddies and Justin. To be honest, I thought he was pathetic in the beginning but then I realized I was a huge hypocrite because I am just like him at some degree so I didn't hold it against him anymore. Lol! :P

He was lost and doesn't know what he wanted in his life yet (I know I'm not the only one who can sympathize with that). Then I learned about Sam and his college life and now, I know where the self-doubt and uncertainty came from. It broke my heart because Lincoln was a really great person, he deserves to be happy. In the course of this story, we'll see how he changed and developed into a better version of himself as he let go of everything that was weighing him down and live his own life, independently.

Beth to Jennifer : Um. I think you’ve got a lot invested in this baby. You’re the one carrying it.

Jennifer to Beth : 

Yes, but Mitch is more attached to it.

Beth to Jennifer

 : Your umbilical cord begs to differ.

Like Lincoln, we met Beth and Jennifer from their mostly funny but sometimes problematic email conversations. Both of them were realistic and relate-able characters with weaknesses, flaws and family issues. Their charming personalities shine through in every email and I can't help not to love them. The other supporting characters were also memorable like Sam, Doris, Greg, Justin, Chris, Mitch, Eve, Lincoln's mother, etc. Every one of them has an important role in Lincoln and Beth's love story and it was a pleasure to know them all.

Overall, Attachment is an AWESOME read! Rainbow Rowell is an amazing author and from now on until forever, I will read anything and everything she wrote (even her to-do list). I will highly recommend this to rom-com fanatics and contemporary lovers whose looking for an awesome feel-good book.

My Rating