Having read and adored Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park earlier in the year (see my review here ) I was nervous to pick up Attachments. What if it failed to live up to my high expectations?
I needn't have worried.
Attachments is set in 1999, when the internet and email were still novel and the millennium bug was a cause of real concern. Lincoln works at a newspaper office, monitoring emails for inappropriate usage. Beth and Jennifer, colleagues at the newspaper, email back and forth, talking work, life and a cute guy. Lincoln knows that it is voyeuristic and inappropriate, but he can't stop himself from reading their exchanges. Before long he is falling in love with someone he has never met...
My own experiences probably added to my enjoyment and understanding of Attachments. I met my now husband on an internet forum way back in 1997, when meeting people online was still a bit weird. Rainbow Rowell transported me back to that excitement, the constant checking of my inbox to see if there was a new email waiting. I found myself totally relating to Lincoln, reliving the overwhelming 'feels' I had way back then.
Rainbow Rowell taps into her characters insecurities, quirks and obsessions, giving readers an almost alarming insight into their true selves. There are very few authors who manage to touch me as much as she does. Without giving too much away there was one part of the novel that had me in tears, revealed in a way that physically made my heart ache for the characters involved.
Overall, I loved Attachments. The characters are real and believable, the plot unique , the romance acutely painful and beautifully portrayed. A humorous and heartwarming read, I didn't want it to end.
8.5/10
Attachments is out now, published by Orion.
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