Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
April 14th 2011 by Dutton Adult
Hardcover, 336 Pages
Review Copy
Beth and Jennifer know their company monitors their office e-mail. But the women still spend all day sending each other messages, gossiping about their coworkers at the newspaper and baring their personal lives like an open book. Jennifer tells Beth everything she can't seem to tell her husband about her anxieties over starting a family. And Beth tells Jennifer everything, period.
When Lincoln applied to be an Internet security officer, he hardly imagined he'd be sifting through other people's inboxes like some sort of electronic Peeping Tom. Lincoln is supposed to turn people in for misusing company e-mail, but he can't quite bring himself to crack down on Beth and Jennifer. He can't help but be entertained-and captivated- by their stories. But by the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late for him to ever introduce himself. What would he say to her? "Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you." After a series of close encounters and missed connections, Lincoln decides it's time to muster the courage to follow his heart . . . even if he can't see exactly where it's leading him.
Review
Some of the funniest conversations happen in email and Jennifer and Beth (newspaper journalists) are pros at it. So much so that they share many personal things and funny things using their company email addresses, which has a strict policy of no personal emails. Because of this rule they actually have a position in the company which monitors all employees emails, looking for red flag words like sex, perverts and porn. The lucky guy who gets to do this is Lincoln, a twenty something single who still lives with his mom. Under normal circumstances Lincoln would have reported the girls emails but something about Jennifer draws him in and he gets wrapped up in the emails and all the things going on in their lives. He's attracted to Jennifer's humor and her personality and slowly he begins to fall in love with her.
When I first started this book my initial reaction was thinking nobody emails like this, but once I actually got into the story the emails kind of disappear and the flow becomes very easy and I found myself liking this humorous story, basically a very huge email conversation between two friends that reads super fast due to the formant of the book and comes off entertaining with many laugh out loud moments. While there was very little character face to face interaction, the emails told a personal story which helped connect me to Jennifer and Beth. Lincoln is shown in the first person so the reader does get personal thoughts and activities to break up the emails in the novel and give it a smooth flow through transitions. The novel is set in 1999 although the feel of the book was very 80's. I kept picturing Jennifer and Beth with big bangs and neon clothes. Lincoln resembled a guy with feathered hair and a black tie, Im not sure why I couldn't get past these character images, but that's what my mind conjured up, it was kind of like being trapped inside The Wedding Singer with the lingo and culture references to entertainment, shows and actors.
Rating
Attachments is recommended to adult readers and contains: Language, sexuality, topics and discussions on romance, drinking, sex, fertility, dating and the entertainment culture.
3/5- Contemporary-Humor
Thanks to Publisher and Tlc for Review Copy
I thought the premise of this sounded so funny when I heard it... we have so many issues with people looking through our e-mails at work... we don't talk about bad things but anything remotely not work related becomes an issue, LOL. Sounds funny. I hate when I know a book takes place in a certain time and I picture something so different, LOL!
ReplyDelete80's style girls are my favorite, probably because I was one of them. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'd probably have the same reaction, T. Like, people don't say this in e-mail, especially circa 1999, but I guess you'd be surprised.
And I just don't see how being trapped in The Wedding Singer would be a bad thing. *pulls out Aquanet*
@Missie- haha- Aquanet- I used so much of that in Jr. High I prob helped create the global warm scare!!
ReplyDeleteI love the Wedding Singer...I just wouldnt want to live in it! I want to live in something like Ever After or Enchanted...;D Ohhhh or The Matrix!!
@Jenny- You might like it, I know you review a lot of womens comtemp.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds so cute! I like the idea that we learn about the characters in a different way with their emails, and what a job Lincoln would have trying to monitor everyone's exchanges!
ReplyDeleteYour review for this one reminds me of a book I read called TTYL which was written in all instant messages.
ReplyDelete