REVIEW: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell (*FAINT)

"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 . . . ?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THIS BOOK. IS 90% DIALOGUE. Let me rephrase that in a way that will mean more to your heart. THIS BOOK IS 90% DIALOGUE..WRITTEN BY RAINBOW ROWELL. Are you squealing yet!? Because I was. BECAUSE I AM. There is not much else besides food, shelter, and love that I could WANT, NEED, and COVET, more than a book made up entirely of Rainbow Rowell's dialogue. Have I said the word 'dialogue' too many times yet? I DON'T CARE!

Rainbow is the reigning QUEEN of back and forth conversation. I cannot even stress to you with MY mediocre words just how insanely fantastic this woman is at writing a scene between two characters. Now, pretend those two characters are in love, and I've pretty much already worked my way into a full on *happy sighing* FIT, and I'm lying on the floor, reading with the book above my head, and trying to figure out how it could POSSIBLY get more perfect than this (note: I've skipped some lines between lines):

"Tell me now, won't you ever wonder what it would have been like to be with someone else?"

"It would be less," he said.

"Less?"

..."It would have to be. I already love you so much. I already feel like something in my chest is going to pop when I see you. I couldn't love anyone more than I do you, it would kill me. And I couldn't love anyone less because it would always feel like less. Even if I loved some other girl, that's all I would ever think about, the difference between loving her and loving you."

BAM! That, my dear readers, is not something you can learn. THAT is raw talent. THAT, is an ability that starts coursing through your veins the second you start DEVELOPING veins. I'm getting deep here. My copy of this book is RIDDLED with post-it flags, pink of course, and all marking a line that will have you marathoning Rainbow Rowell books like you haven't eaten in MONTHS, and her pages are your food. Okay, okay now I'm getting slightly out of hand, but I think it's safe to say that I'm in SERIOUS love with her writing.

SERIOUS LOVE.

I'm sure you were expecting an actual review of sorts here, so I will attempt that now. Attachments mostly follows the life of main character Lincoln O'Neil, who works as "internet security" at a newspaper office. Through email snippets of his "monitoring," we get to know best friends, and co-workers, Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder. In the true vein of You've Got Mail, and Sleepless in Seattle, we bare witness to Lincoln's descent into irrational love with Beth, irrational, because he's yet to actually MEET the woman outside of reading her email. 

I thought the alternating chapters of Lincoln's life, and Beth/Jennifer correspondence was clever, and really helped to cement an understanding of who each character really was at their core-which was tricky in the way of the girls, because ALL we know about them, we find out through dialogue. Obviously though, Rainbow Rowell handled that like a BOSS. I knew Beth and Jennifer, and felt closer to them than characters I read chapters upon CHAPTERS about in other books. Surprisingly, I tended to feel less sure about Lincoln, even though we were basically seeing his entire life spread out in front of us. He was written as a nerdy, introverted character, almost to the point of creepy sometimes. Though, we eventually learn that he was the only one that considered himself as such (you'll see what I mean when you read Beth's ACTUAL descriptions of him..OH, MAN *swoooon*).

The love story in Attachments was merely a "like" story before it became full-blown. It wasn't in your face-it brewed silently in your heart, and the last 5 pages of this book had me HOLDING IT IN MY HANDS (my heart, that is). The ending was fantastic, and sickeningly cute, and wonderful, and my GOD I finished this on Valentine's Day, and even though I don't celebrate it, was inclined to call my boyfriend and give him an earful of mushy LOVE WORDS. But there wasn't just the love, and mentions of it's stirrings, Attachments had so many other issues to address: human issues, ones that we could ALL relate to. Don't let the cover of this book fool you, it was so much more than two people coming together. It was about falling apart just as much, in the many, many ways that people could fall apart.

Rainbow Rowell fans rejoice, this one knocked it out of the park too *happy sigh*.

Recommended for fans of: Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Dialogue.

Group Challenges: Goodreads 100 Book Goal

Personal Challenges: Read (20) Books already on my shelves (#1)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BUY IT:  AMAZON | INDIGO | BOOKDEPOSITORY
VISIT THE AUTHOR: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr