Throwback Thursday: 'Attachments'

Attachments
By Rainbow Rowell
Published: April 14, 2011
Read: December 2013
Format: Kindle edition

Rating: A

“There are moments when you can't believe something wonderful is happening. And there are moments when your entire consciousness is filled with knowing absolutely that something wonderful is happening.”

It's 1999 and Lincoln is a wayward guy in his late 20s who takes a job as an "Internet security officer" because he's not sure what else to do. He works at a newspaper, so most of his co-workers are journalists, including Jennifer and Beth. Lincoln's job is to monitor his co-workers' emails, and he becomes particularly intrigued by Beth and Jennifer's exchanges, leading to somewhat of an infatuation with Beth, whom he's never even met. It sounds like it may be creepy, but it's not. It's incredibly cute and romantic, even if not very believable. 

I loved the three main characters. I found them fun and relatable. If they were real people, I'd want to be their friends. Lincoln has just finished another degree and moves back home with his mom. Through flashbacks we read about his high school sweetheart who broke his heart in their first semester at college. Though it's been nearly 10 years, he's still not completely over that trauma. He's a geek at heart, who spends his weekend playing World of Warcraft with his buddies, but he also craves adventure and wants to meet the love of his life. Jennifer has been married for a few years and is struggling with being unsure if she's ready to be a mother or not when she discovers she's pregnant. And her best friend, Beth, has been living with her musician boyfriend for years, but he shows no sign of wanting to settle down. If you watch Parks and Recreation, he's basically Andy from Season 1, but not as charming and funny. To put it simply, he's a huge jerk and she deserves way better. Which of course made me root for Lincoln even harder.

This story was especially fun for me since I too am a journalist. I like reading about characters I can relate to. And at almost 27, I'm close in age to these three (they're all 28), so that helped even more. I also found it nostalgic and enchanting when the author described the character's outfits and popular songs and movies at the time.

I'm a romantic so I want to believe something like this could happen in real life. But it's not likely. At any rate, I thought Attachments was very endearing and I liked it a lot. It was funny, sweet, charming and just irresistible. It's also a very quick read, which was only a downside because I didn't want it to be over. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book. I really don't think you'll regret it!