I received this book for free from Borrowed, Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell Narrator: Laura Hamilton
Length: 9 Hours 7 Minutes
Also by this author: Landline
Published by Penguin on April 14, 2011
Genres: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Epistolary, New Adult
Pages: 336
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: Borrowed, Publisher
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"Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . "
From the award-winning author of Eleanor & Park, Fangirl, and Landline comes a hilarious and heartfelt novel about love in the workplace.
Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (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 e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.
Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now- reading other people's e-mail. 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 realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late to introduce himself.
What would he say . . . ?
Why Did I Listen to Attachments by Rainbow Rowell?
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell appeals to me on SO many different levels. There’s the fact that a large percentage of it is told in epistolary format. Also, it is set in 1999 at the height of Y2k. OH YEAH AND IT IS BY RAINBOW ROWELL. While I am not a super fan, I do really enjoy her books. Aside from Carry On, this is the only one I have not read yet. So, when I saw that Attachments was available to listen to on Scribd, I kind of jumped on the opportunity to listen to it.
What’s The Story Here?
Attachments basically follows narrative sections for the parts that are focused on Lincoln – it is told like a regular story. For the bits that focus on Jennifer and Beth – it uses that epistolary format. Lincoln is definitely who you would consider to be the main character. He works at this newspaper as the “internet security officer.” His job is absolutely not what he had expected. Instead of dealing with things like hackers and firewalls, he’s reading the emails of his coworkers and writing up reports.
One day the filter hits on an email between Jennifer and Beth, and instead of following protocol and writing them up for breaking the rules, Lincoln becomes intrigued. So, he really begins reading their emails and ends up falling for Beth over time. The crux of the matter, however, is that Lincoln can’t really introduce himself to Beth or make a move because then he would reveal himself as being a creep.
How Did I Like Attachments?
It’s an interesting experience reading a 1999 set book published in 2011 in 2018. That is really kind of understating it. Like, if this book was written today I don’t know that Lincoln would be considered a romantic hero – sort of. I don’t know that anything would have worked out between him and Beth. But then again, the setting is 1999, cultural norms were different twenty years ago. Personally, I enjoyed Rowell’s debut. Attachments was a fun summer reading experience — even though it’s set during the New Year, essentially. I definitely felt that throwback to Y2k and 1999 all over again. It was a different world back then.
How’s The Narration?
Laura Hamilton narrates the audiobook of Attachments and does a FANTASTIC job. It was very easy to pay attention to her and follow along. I thought her narration made all of the characters come across as quite endearing. I will say that initially I was reluctant to listen to this via audio, right, because of the epistolary format. However, the audiobook experience was worth my time and I didn’t really feel like anything got lost in translation to this format.
Other reviews of Attachments by Rainbow Rowell:
- Nose Graze – “just made me so happy“
- Girl In The Pages – “a quick and fun read“
- Happy Indulgence Books – “amazing, modern love story“
Purchase or Preview Attachments:
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