Attachments – Rainbow Rowell

You know how mostly whenever you read or see something funny on the Internet, you just kind of smirk without really laughing out loud? With Attachments, there were some genuine LOL moments. I absolutely loved it. You’ll know from my rave review on Eleanor & Park that I love Rainbow Rowell’s writing style. I feel like she captures moments of anxiousness and nervousness in such a relatable (and funny) way.

“Some people count sheep. I self-loathe.”

– Rainbow Rowell, Attachments

But I’m getting ahead of myself, here’s what Attachments is all about:

“Hi, I’m the guy who reads your email, and also, I love you…”

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work email. (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 emails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now – reading other people’s email. 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 realises he’s falling for Beth, it’s way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say…?

I’m not going to tell. No spoilers.

Attachments is such a sweet story. Even though the characters are in their late twenties it made me feel like being back in high school; when you had a crush on someone but didn’t have the courage to talk to them. Lincoln is such a relatable character and I like that the novel is told from his perspective.

The friendship between Beth and Jennifer is also so genuine and sincere that I want to be cc’d in all their emails. I just loved Attachments. I didn’t want the story to end. I’m not going to say much more as I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll leave you with an endlessly hilarious quote…

“So … I’m larking through the Baby Gap, looking at tiny capri pants and sweaters that cost more than … I don’t know, more than they should. 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.”
– Rainbow Rowell, Attachments