I am so glad that I joined in the Booksplosion read-along on Goodreads. I really enjoyed reading Attachments and have rated it 4 stars.
I am rating books in a new way under three sub headings, BOOKS, CRYSTALS, MAGIC, a bit of fun!
BOOK: QUALITY OF WRITING
This is my first Rainbow Rowell book and judging by this I will definitely want to pick up another of her books. I love Lincoln’s character. He appears to me to be like an adult Peter Pan. Still living at home after years of studying, he is stuck in a dead end job. He has a vulnerability about him which makes his transgressions acceptable. He has been hurt before and this is reflected in his choice of work, (which involves a fair amount of solitude working the night shift in a bizarre IT job scouring emails for undesirable flagged references), and in his relationships, (to begin with he only interacts with his sister, his mum and his D&D friends.)
So you can’t help but forgive him that he is reading Beth’s and Jennifer’s emails intruding on their private exchange of friendly banter, because you realise that he is like a big cuddly bear with a warm heart. This is his way of falling in love again, at a distance, so he won’t get hurt. The more he reads their wonderful emails the more he comes alive, and his confidence grows.
The characters are well crafted, and believable. I especially liked Beth, Jennifer, Lincoln’s mum and Doris.
Beth and Jennifer’s warm, caring, relationship comes across beautifully via their unguarded emails.
CRYSTALS: IS THE READ LIGHT HEARTED OR DARK/DEEP?
This is my lightness rating. Is the book light-hearted or will it leave you in floods of tears? For me, it was definitely a light-hearted read. I found the short chapters drew me into the novel, making me want to turn the page to see what happened next. This is the perfect book for lovers of romance, who enjoy a well written story with interesting characters and observations.
MAGIC: DID I LIKE THE ENDING, WAS IT MAGICAL?
****BEWARE SPOILERS BELOW *****
Did the ending satisfy or was it a let down? Before I embark on this I just want to touch upon the food references in the book which were really amusing, and therefore it seems appropriate to add them under my magic section! Lincoln’s mother lovingly cooks copious amounts of food, but he is unable to eat it all and shares his food with Doris, an older lady at work. Doris becomes his way to escape his mother’s overbearing love. He willingly shares half of the food, because he wants to grow up, get a life, be an adult. At first, Lincoln’s mother is upset but when she realises how much Doris enjoys her food, she accepts the situation, and Lincoln is now able to move on with his life and become an adult, and find love again. I found this so relatable as my Malaysian mother is a wonderful cook and always makes lots of tasty food!
There seems to be differing opinions on Goodreads about the conclusion, some people found the ending cheesy. But in my opinion the ending works because Lincoln has been hurt, and is longing for love, and falls in love with Beth without even seeing her, via the medium of her emails to her friend. He means no harm, and is guilty about intruding into Beth’s privacy. He is a nice guy. Beth sees Lincoln, is attracted to him, but doesn’t really know him, yet she senses that he has a big enough heart for her. They are suited because they are both equally eccentric as each other and so is the ending! I loved it.
Find out more about Rainbow Rowell at http://www.rainbowrowell.com.
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