To Fill Up & Live BookClub | Attachments

Thursday, July 31, 2014

On the last Thursday of the month, we review books :) Only the second month in and I'm seriously loving it. Click here for more information or check out the link in my navigation bar.

Let's talk about this book, shall we? We shall.

Title: Attachments

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Publication: 2011

Major Characters: Lincoln O'Neill, Beth Fremont, Jennifer Scribner-Snyder

Main Plot: Lincoln never saw himself as an "internet security guard", reading other people's emails and looking for prohibited, personal content. Beth and Jennifer's emails always get flagged as they chat back and forth about their lives, and Lincoln always reads them without reporting it. Soon, he finds himself mesmerized by both their emails and one of the women as well. But how do you tell the woman you stalk on the internet that you love her?

Favorite Quote(s):
"I'd know you in the dark. From a thousand miles away. There's nothing you could become that I haven't already fallen in love with."

"I was born in February, but I come alive in October."

"I think I missed my window... My get-a-life window. I think I was supposed to figure all the stuff out somewhere between twenty-two and twenty-six, and now it's too late."

"It's so easy for someone else to say, 'Don't worry. Everything's going's going to be all right.' Why not say it? It doesn't cost anything. It doesn't mean anything. No one will hold you to it if you're wrong."

"I'm larking through the Baby Gap... And I get totally sucked in by this ridiculous, tiny fur coat. The kind of coat a baby might need to go to the ballet. In Moscow. In 1918. To match her tiny pearls."

"Everything has been a disaster since I decided my life as it was wasn't good enough."
My Rating: 4.8
To begin, let me clarify the incessant number of quotes listed above. That's the edited version. I had to cut like half of the ones I had originally. There are so many quotes from this novel that I just really connected with. Which brings me to my next point, I just really connected with this novel and it's protagonist. The only other character that 'got me' in a way that made me wanna scream it from the rooftops was another one of Rainbow Rowell's characters, Cath from Fangirl. (You don't want to get me started on that book! OMG. A review is coming for that one, believe me! Just know one thing, Fangirl is the reason I can't give Attachments 5 full stars.) I'm convinced that Rainbow and I are just on the same wavelength. Yes. We are on a first name basis. No. She doesn't know it. But she favorited 2 (TWO) of my tweets, so that's basically best friend status, know what I'm sayin'?

Back to Attachments. Lincoln, our protagonist, is 28 years old and feels like he has no real direction. I can relate to that. Not only is he struggling to figure out what he wants to do, he feels so trapped by his age and what he's currently doing, that he has trouble figuring out what he really wants to be doing. (Hello? Is Rainbow trying to tell me something?!) On top of that, Lincoln is dealing with his family members' expectations, unsure as to whether they match his own. The only part of Lincoln that I couldn't grasp at first was how he derived happiness from reading the emails of two women he'd never met or even seen before. After thinking about it, I realized - isn't that what we're doing right now? If you're reading this right now and are one of my readers (and I hope you are!), aren't you doing so because reading about my life intrigues you and brings you a bit of happiness, although you've never met me? It's an interesting thought, and when put in that way, the whole internet creeping doesn't seem so bad.

The novel was hilarious in such a real life way. I laughed my way through at least a dozen Beth-Jennifer emails. (Small spoiler: 4th quote is from an email and said by a very not-pregnant woman.) The snark was off the charts and their friendship played out in such a real way. I connected with so many of the characters and they carried the story straight through to the end. I felt for each of them when they went through difficult situations and I found myself rooting for them. Rainbow created characters that I wanted to see happy regardless of what I personally felt or how toxic I thought a situation was, which is not something that normally happens for me. I found myself saying "well, so long as she/he's happy" frequently. Even the characters, who I clearly wasn't suppose to like, were portrayed in a way that made me understand them. When I didn't agree with their decisions, I still understood how they could feel a particular way.

Without question, I recommend this book. Rainbow combines humor with reality in a way that makes you feel like you are part of her world, cheering the characters on as they deal with many of the same dilemmas you encounter everyday.

Have you read Attachments? What did you think? We didn't promote it much (we will next month), but if you wrote a review, link to it below!



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After much deliberation (Kay & I are quite indecisive!), the August book of the month is a new release, Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty - an adult book about lies, kindergarten, murder and parenthood. How do those things go together? Join us in reading the novel to find out! Click the book to find out more!

This cover!

2 comments:

  1. ah i fahreaking loved this book.
    this quote!! "I'd know you in the dark. From a thousand miles away. There's nothing you could become that I haven't already fallen in love with."
    omg.
    seriously. the like last 10 pages are like the best last 10 pages i have ever read. LOVE.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great review and Im so glad we chose this one! The book is so quotable! I had to stop myself from putting too many quotes in my review (and I had to cut my long review short as well - brevity isnt my strong suit haha). A great read! Excited for next month!

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