Book Review: Attachments

~ Emily Bourque
“There are moments when you can’t believe something wonderful is happening. And there are moments when your entire consciousness is filled with knowing absolutely that something wonderful is happening.”
― Rainbow Rowell, Attachments
Book Title: Attachments
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publication Date: 2011
Genres: Adult Fiction, Chick Lit, Humor
How I Found It: Mentioned on The Perpetual Page-Turner
Goodreads Rating: 3.97 Stars 
My Rating: 3.5 Stars

“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 . . . ?

I’ve been reading some really heavy books lately. PTSD, child suicide, rape, etc… I’m not sure what draws me to these books, other than I get so emotionally invested in them that I escape from my homework and to do list for a while. However, after trying (and failing) to read The Kite Runner, I knew I needed a change of pace. Lucky for me, I had 3 big ol books waiting for me at the library, begging for my attention. The first one I picked up was Attachments, mostly because the cover was adorable (and a PUN! Which I LOVE!). Rainbow Rowell (I know, I know, but just forgive that name for a second…) has been making a huge splash in the YA world with her novels Eleanor & Park and Fangirl. She wrote Attachments before making the leap to YA, so I was interested to see how this novel would turn out. (I also have Fangirl and Eleanor & Park on reserve at the library, but there’s a waiting list.) Blah Blah Blah. Anyway. I have been craving something light, but I have a hard time getting into books that don’t have some depth to them.
Luckily, Attachments fit the bill. I kind of fell in love with Lincoln, the main character. He is goofy and ginormous. He reads people’s email for a living, but he hates feeling like he’s snooping. He plays Dungeons and Dragons every Saturday night, and he lives with his mom. Ok, so he’s not someone I would really want to date, at least at the beginning of the story. But he transforms throughout the novel. And it’s pretty awesome to witness. He grows, he falls back, he keeps pushing ahead, he keeps trying to make his life better. It’s pretty awesome. Of course, he is a man who is written by a woman, and thus, pretty romanticized in terms of his thinking. (It is Chick Lit, after all.) But I won’t hold it against him. I knew what I was getting myself into.
The downside is that the novel is written in 3rd person and I’m a sucker for a good 1st person point of view. However, Rowell makes up for that with her use of emails as our primary way of getting to know Beth and Jennifer. These women are intelligent and witty and real. I feel like the conversations that these girls share would be the same types of conversation that I would share with my friends. Of course, the novel is set in 1999 before IM got real big, so email is the medium of choice.
Anyway, I give this novel 3.5 stars. It’s a good relaxing read if you’re trying to pass the time and not think too deeply. Also, the love story just gets so swoon worthy at the end.

“Every woman wants a man who’ll fall in love with her soul as well as her body.”

“I’d know you in the dark,” he said. “From a thousand miles away. There’s nothing you could become that I haven’t already fallen in love with.”

“He knew why he wanted to kiss her. Because she was beautiful. And before that, because she was kind. And before that, because she was smart and funny. Because she was exactly the right kind of smart and funny. Because he could imagine taking a long trip with her without ever getting bored. Because whenever he saw something new and interesting, or new and ridiculous, he always wondered what she’d have to say about it–how many stars she’d give it and why.”

“I want someone whose heart is big enough to hold me.”

“What did he have to mope about, really? What more did he want?…Love. Purpose. Those are the things that you can’t plan for. Those are the things that just happen. And what if they don’t happen? Do you spend your whole life pining for them? Waiting to be happy?”

“The worst thing about the internet, as far as Greg’s bosses were concerned, was that it was now impossible to distinguish a roomful of people working diligently from a roomful of people taking the What-Kind-of-Dog-Am-I? online personality quiz”

“I didn’t know someone could love me like this,” she said. “Could love me and love me and love without…needing space.”

Published by Emily Bourque