Rainbow Rowell: ATTACHMENTS

ATTACHMENTS is a debut novel by Rainbow Rowell, one of my favourite authors. Her Eleanor & Park story was stuck with me for quite a while and has a permanent place in my personal library.

That means I was expecting great things from this novel. Especially because Rainbow wrote it before Eleanor & Park. And various reviews, in different magazine, promised the same:

"Heartwarming, romantic and great fun." CLOSER

"A funny, touching portrayal of friendship, loveliness and love in the digital age. " DAILY TELEGRAPH

"Witty, original and easy to relate to. Attachments is an absolute pleasure. " HEAT

It looks good. It looks promising. Let's find out for myself.

First page in and I am already hooked and laughing out loud. Rainbow gets to me straight from start. Incredibly funny. This book looks like it has a great potential, let's hope it will keep up.

Half way throughout the book, I am laughing so hard that my belly hurts. Free crunches. No need for the gym membership. Attachments is a witty, entertaining piece of literature which will bright up your day. Even if you have the darkest day of all, this book guarantees to make you smile.

The story is easy to relate to. Welcome back to 1999.  Two best friends - Beth and Jennifer  - are working for a newspaper. They keep sending each other emails throughout the working day. And as in any other proper company which takes the new invention - INTERNET - seriously, they monitor their employee's mailbox. No words like shit, sex, period, and similar are allowed and they are flagged by IT system. Meet Lincoln. A handsome, over 6ft tall, very smart and very nice computer specialist. Lincoln's job is to monitor company's emails and send warnings to people who break the rules. Somehow, which doesn't come as a surprise,  Beth and Jennifer 's emails end up in the flagged up folder and Lincoln start reading through them. At first, he feels guilty to have such a view into their private lives, but slowly he starts to fall for their charm.

So we have a down-to-earth story and characters. We have a believable settings and a believable story. It's told in a very witty and interesting way. We read the story from Lincoln's point of view but also we get a glimpse to the e-mails sent between the girls. And for me the mentioned e-mails are the stars of the story. They are funny, inventive, smart, very entertaining, like a satisfying piece of a chocolate. They make the story unique and original and the best thing is you fell like you know those two girls straight away because they are like any other two best friends. They are so easy to relate to - the way they talk, they gestures, the secret language of girls. Wonderful.

The book made me laugh out loud. The story is split within 89 chapters, but not one of them was plain and boring. Right the opposite, they're all very amusing. They're all very real and very enjoyable. Every single page brought up a new giggle. The whole story is very easy to follow.

I now understand, why Rainbow Rowell had such a great success with her first novel. Attachments is a light reading which will keep you laughing for hours. You will find yourselves in one of the character and hope that Lincoln and the rest of them will get their Happy Ending.

This book is great if you fancy something heart-warming, easy to relate to and funny adventure. A love story which will keep you warm and cosy all the way through. Rainbow Rowell did just that.

Two out of two novels written by this author has the same trademarks. They are real stories written with a clever and very funny pen. A joy to read. It's like a cup of hot chocolate on a very cold day. Sweet, heartwarming, satisfying, delicious and it makes you feel wonderful. 

Here are some quotes which stuck with me while reading this book:

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

“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.” 

“I didn't know love could leave the lights on all the time.” 

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

“Things get better--hurt less--over time. If you let them.”

“October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace!” 

“You act like getting pregnant is a disease you can catch from public toilets.”