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★★★★✬ 4.5 stars
I am so overjoyed to finally be blogging about this book! I have buddy read it with my blogger bestie Jackie @ Death By Tsundoku, and we’ve decided to do this interview-style post that I like doing so much. So you can read a similarly fashioned review on Jackie’s site where I’m asking her the questions, and today you will be reading me answering hers on my blog.
So let’s not dally and on with the review!
I know this is your first Rainbow Rowell novel. Did you enjoy it enough to continue to read her work?
Okay, so. This is what it feels like to read Attachments:
It’s just so damn refreshing! It’s like a cold drink on a hot day. Incredibly easily readable, flowing and so easily relatable. I am definitely going to read more!
Rainbow Rowell is known for authoring books featuring strong character development and relationships. Attachments is her debut novel. Do you think it delivered strong character development and relationships? Why or why not?
Oh yeah, I think it did! The thing is, Rainbow Rowell just gives you so much to identify with. Surely almost all of us, at least the ladies, have felt like we’re not as graceful as we were at age 16. Surely we’ve all had a nothing-job, the way Lincoln does. Surely most of us will have felt unloved, singled out and pitied at somebody else’s wedding. And I believe that that’s why Rowell’s characters come to life so easily! We can’t help seeing ourselves in them, identifying with them. And the way those characters resolve their problems, make decisions and changes in their lives, make you believe like maybe you’ll overcome those same things as well. Even if you’re still struggling with them.
Out of all these characters, in my opinion, I think it’s Jennifer who had the most growth in a very problematic area.
Both Lincoln and Beth are stuck in some ethical dilemmas. What do you think of the way they were asked to act, and how they reacted to these situations? Would you have made similar decisions or different ones?
That’s the funny thing about this book – I just connected to it in so many ways. Most situations the characters are dealing with, have more or less happened to me. Some problems were literally ones I’ve had or even currently am having. So I was always on the characters’ side! I think they resolved everything very well. What else could they have done?
Our characters are only described physically when others are describing them, and it’s not until late in the book we start to get these details. Did the book descriptions match the characters you saw in your head? What was different for you?
There’s just this thing about me 😀 whenever characters are being described, I sort of… Almost always throw that description to the dumpster and still imagine them the way I want to! (So boo. That must be annoying for a writer to know about me!) Of course, I keep the main characteristics (such as Jennifer being plus size, or Beth being super tall) because they matter in terms of the story, but for everything else? My imagination, my rules! However, I do admit I was surprised about Lincoln being bulky and strong, cause I first imagined him as your typical nerd – skinny and wiry. I’ll admit I had to change my image of him!
One more thing I have to mention about this book, when it comes to appearances. ALL THAT CURLY HAIR LOVE! We don’t have enough of that in books!
(It’s funny though that Beth says tall guys are attracted to short women. Where I come from, nobody’s attracted to short women. It’s all about the long legs. Weird!)
Jennifer and Beth’s emails appear in the email filter based on trigger words. I admit, I spent a good chunk of my time trying to figure out what words triggered them falling into the email filter. Did you do this? Did you ever question whether the emails really should qualify for the filter?
Ha! I actually didn’t. I’m such a gullible reader!
Which characters were your favorite? Why?
Oh my gosh, ALL OF THEM. I couldn’t possibly pick! Like I’ve mentioned before, I could identify with both Lincoln, and Beth, and especially Jennifer. So I couldn’t name a favorite!
Which characters do you think were the most important to Lincoln’s development? Are there any characters you would have cut from the story?
Nope, absolutely none – I don’t think the story had any ‘spares’! As for important ones, I think Doris did a big job of allowing Lincoln to feel more at ease and to get him out of his cave. I loved that relationship so much as well – not only a platonic one, but one between two very different individuals, different ages, too! It was very beautiful.
So that’s it for my review!
I truly do recommend Attachments to everyone. Not only is it easy to read, fun, emotional, but also such an amazing gulp of nostalgia – it’s all about the 90’s and early Y2K. It reminded me of my school years so much! Aside from that, the tone of the book is such you will not see anymore. It might be a little bit more touchy, could even offend someone (people take much greater care trying to not offend sensitive people in books today), but I feel like that’s part of the charm – it’s very genuine that way, and it’s so very 90’s indeed. I loved this book, and if you haven’t read it, you totally should. You can grab it here at Book Depository, and yep, that’s an affiliate link, so it supports my blog!
Have you read Attachments or anything else by Rainbow Rowell? If you have, which book of hers would you recommend me?
I’m Evelina and I try to blog about books that matter, with a bit of fun there too! Disability and equality will be topics you see a lot, but there’s also a lot of scifi, fantasy and… GIFs. I’m also the proud founder of #ARCsAnonymous.
This is such an interesting form of reviewing books! Awesome post!
Thanks 🙂 glad you like it! I would totally buddy read with you and post a post like that if you ever want to (and when I have the time again xD) These are fun!!
It does seem fun! We should totally buddy read sometime! I’ve never done it before. Let me finish all the ARCs that are pending right now, and you your huge TBR pile () and we’ll get started! That sound okay to you? xD
Yeah, it might be feasible sometime in this millennium 😀
I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I own her book: Carry On: A Novel, but haven’t read it yet. It is one of those poor forgotten souls on my to-read pile.
I think that’s one of the newer ones? Well, she’s definitely got a nice style, although obviously I can’t vouch for her other books, cause this is the only one I’ve read 🙂
I’ve read almost all of Rainbow Rowell’s books. She’s so good at writing characters. I’m glad you liked this one.
Cool 🙂 yes, it does feel like characters are the strong suit of RR. I feel like I’ll be reading more of her books soon too 🙂
Love this format of reviewing! Your enjoyment for this book is contagious! I have yet to read a Rowell book but sinvce I own Attachments it will most likely be my 1st book of hers. Character driven stories are my thannnng! I live for these types of books & I’m super curious about Lincoln who doesn’t fit the mold of a “self-prescribed nerd” haha! Glad you both enjoyed the read & ty for sharing, boosted this one to the top of my TBR
Attachments is great! I’m sure you’ll love it 🙂 I’m glad you liked it and especially that we made you move it up your TBR 🙂 it’s definitely worth it! Character driven books are my thing too! Have you read A Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet? 90% chance you have, but just in case you haven’t? One of the best character driven books everrrr 🙂
Fun review!! I love this book so much. It is my favorite from her.
Thanks 🙂 yeah, it was a great book. Which one of hers should I read me, do you think?
Hi there, Avalinah (is it Avalinah or Evalinah? Which do you prefer?), DUDE, this book isn’t quite like Fangirl or Carry On. It’s certainly nice, but I felt kind of out of the loop a bit because the characters were way more different than I am. Like, I never worked in an office, and I never had close friendships with coworkers. It was a sweet friendship, for sure, and I like the way the two ladies talked to each other. Some people say that Lincoln is creepy for reading the emails and developing feeling for one of the girls. What… Read more »
Awww thanks Dina 🙂 Evelina is my real name, Avalinah is basically just a letter play on it, so it’s really okay either way 😀 I also didn’t feel like Lincoln was creepy. I don’t know why, he was just honest and sincere and hooked, that’s all 🙂 it’s not creepy… not like he started stalking them with some motives. That would have been creepy. But it sort of just happened to him. It’s funny that you couldn’t relate to them at all – I could relate to like every single character 😀 I haven’t really worked at an office… Read more »
Fun review! I have so many lovely thoughts and feelings about this book. This and Landline are my most favorite RR books. She always fills a book with amazing characters, and like you said, all of them are my favorite. I read this in 2014, and I still remember it being so fun, sweet, adorable. I remember Lincoln and how sweet he was to the lonely older woman he worked with. I especially loved the way she did the romance. The thoughts I jotted down were something about creating a wonderful romance with out the sap and toothache. I just… Read more »
Exactly! The romance was so slow burn, like the kind that doesn’t make you roll your eyes at all! That’s what I loved about it too. And yeah, I loved his relationship with Doris a lot too 🙂 great character.
So I suppose you’d recommend Landline next? 🙂
I have never read the first Rainbow Rowell book and I haven’t even a clue which one I should start with. At some point I do want to read her books, but I would need to know which one is the most “up my alley” first. Great review. I enjoyed the format, even if it was a bit hard to read at first. Love the creativity.
Thanks Cassie! Yeah, these reviews are fun for a change 🙂 I have actually read only this one, so I don’t know which one I’d recommend (obviously, apart from this one :D) but I really enjoyed this one 🙂
I have just read Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell and I loved it 🙂 Fangirl is next on my list. I hope to read all her books sson 😀
She’s written a lot of books, it seems 🙂 I can truly recommend this one! It was great 🙂
I have not read any Rainbow Rowell books. This is so clever of you to do a review in interview format. It makes it so much more fun. Glad you loved the book so much. It is always a good read when all characters become your favourites.
Thanks Resh! If you ever want to do a buddy read and review in this format, just write me and we can totally do it 🙂 it’s great fun.
They say Rainbow Orwell writes really good books, and I can personally vouch for this one. It’s not literary, but it’s definitely sensitive, funny and emotional.
Love this review! I know not everyone loved this book from Rainbow Rowell and it wasn’t my favourite from her but I remember enjoying it when I read and I was so invested how Lincoln would resolve his dilemma when it came to falling for Beth. It was an interesting read and I admit I didn’t try and figure out how the emails were triggers by the filter but I do want to reread so maybe I’ll look out for that second time around. Personally, I loved Fangirl, Carry On and Landline… and Kindred Spirits. Eleanor and Park was my… Read more »
Yeah, I also didn’t notice the emails thing being triggers! I’m just too gullible a reader 😀 I often notice that about myself. But on the other hand? At least my enjoyment is easier to achieve 😀
I haven’t even heard of Kindred Spirits! I’ll have to look into it 🙂 looks like RR has written A LOT of stuff, huh?
Thank you for telling me more about all those books, I will definitely be reading more from RR 🙂
I love Rainbow Rowell and have been wanting to read this book which is an adult version of her YA books that I love so much… you really make a strong case for it too Evelina! I love that you didn’t think any character could be cut! So they must have all been utilized well… I love that you throw away character descriptions… I actually don’t need that much about what a person looks like… I more want to know their character and how they react to situations… so I think that’s great your imagination rules! <3
Haha thank you 😀 you should absolutely grab this book! It’s wonderful. I’m sure you’ll like it 🙂 which one of her other books would you recommend to me next?
What an amazing review! Your reading buddy seems to really get you. 😉 But seriously– I always love reading your reviews! This was SO MUCH FUN TO DO! Must do moar. I’m glad you found Rowell’s work so refreshing. It’s one of the reasons I adore her so much! Plus her characters?! You’re right that she gives her readers so much to identify with. The part which fascinates me is that I imagine that her writing would be relatable to anyone living in a first world country. ANYONE. Male, female, young, old, who cares? All the characters are well developed… Read more »
I’m glad you liked it!!! Yeah, I’m very glad we did this. It was LOADS of fun. Gotta do it next year, at some point 🙂 I’m so glad you like my reviews! I can’t wait till you read the review of Endurance that I’m posting next week. I am so proud of that review. It’s rare that I feel like that about a review. I should go catch up with your blog though, looks like you just caught up with mine xD Yes, I also feel like a lot of people could relate to this book, although I read… Read more »
[…] the blog! If you liked this review format, you can read other buddy read reviews on my blog here: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, The Punch Escrow by Tal M. Klein or Red Rising by Pierce Brown. P.S. If any of […]
[…] Have you not read Attachments yet? Well you should! I can’t outright call it chick lit, because it steers somewhat into the territory of The Rosie Project and so on, making it accessible to guys as well (in my opinion), but I guess it will primarily remain a ‘woman’s’ book anyway. It’s an incredibly witty and sweet story! It’s about people who may have been different but still want to be loved, and it’s also about seeing yourself differently than others do – as well as about stereotypes. But I think, first and foremost, it’s about the friendship between women, and you… Read more »