Attachments

by Rainbow Rowell

[Ashley]

Nose Graze — Young Adult book reviews

OH MY GOD, YOU GUYS!!! Attachments was such an amazing surprise, and I adored it! I'll admit.. when I first read the synopsis, my thought was, "That sounds... weird... and a bit creepy." I wasn't going to read it. Then I read Fangirl (which I didn't even love) and when I finished it I bought Attachments straight through my Kindle app on my phone right then and there on a total whim. Afterwards I was even kind of like, "Why did I just do that?" But it happened, and then I read the book.

I guess I'll start by saying that I could totally relate to Attachments in so many unexpected ways. First, I related to the romance because I met my boyfriend online. In Attachments Lincoln falls in love with Beth before he even meets her, just by reading her emails. Well I fell in love with my boyfriend before I even met him in person. We just spoke online and I completely fell for his personality through there. So although the situations aren't identical, there are some serious overlaps and it was awesome. I got it. I completely understood why you could fall for someone based on personality alone, without spending a real second with them.

But on top of that, I even found myself relating to Lincoln as a person, which surprised me a bit because he's a guy and I don't usually connect to male characters that well. But I really saw myself in Lincoln. He's in his late 20s but he's kind of struggling with where he fits in in life. He doesn't know what he wants as a career, he's worried that he's just a zombie walking through life but not really living it, he's a bit awkward, and he's living at home with his mom. Now I'm not really any of those things, but I still really felt like I could see myself in Lincoln. I think it's largely the job thing. Lately I have been thinking, What do I want to do with my life? so when Lincoln had those thoughts, I totally understood them.

I almost feel bad for this, but I really enjoyed watching Lincoln dig himself into a deeper and deeper hole with Beth. Once he started reading her emails for more than just his job, he crossed a line. After that point, how could he possibly meet her for real without telling her that? But how could he tell her that without freaking her out? And he just kept digging a deeper and deeper hole for himself. It was kind of sad and entertaining at the same time. I just wanted to hug Lincoln because he was such a nice guy and I just wanted everything to work out for him!

And then there's Jennifer and Beth. I loved them both! Their back and forth emails were so much fun to read!! They were sarcastic, hilarious, pathetic, sad, happy... all of it! Their stories felt so genuine—like they were straight out of someone's real life. They made reading this book so quick and easy, because I just wanted more of their hilarious commentary and daily life worries.

Above all, Attachments just made me so happy. It made me love reading again (not enjoying the last few books I've started put me in a bit of a slump), and it just made me feel like everything in life will work out. This book left me in such a great mood and my whole experience reading it was just overwhelmingly positive. I always had a smile on my face or was laughing out loud. This might even be one of my new all time favourites! Also, it totally has me wanting to read more adult books...