Review: Attachments

I actually discovered Attachments by Rainbow Rowell while looking for something I could secretly e-read at work. Because I prefer paper books, I went to the library and checked it out. I was intentionally searching for a novel that didn’t cover any heavy topics and was likely to make me smile. Having previously read Landline and Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell—both of which I also recommend—I knew I could count on Rowell to deliver the feeling I was hoping for, and she did not disappoint.

I didn’t realize until I finished the book that Attachments was Rowell’s debut novel! Published in 2011, the story is mainly told from the perspective of the character Lincoln O’Neil, who takes a job as an internet security officer for a local newspaper after moving back home. The novel is set in 1999, and part of Lincoln’s job is to monitor any interoffice emails flagged by The Courier’s content filtering software.

In this role, Lincoln gets to know best friends Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder because their personal emails to each other are consistently flagged by the software. Even though Lincoln is supposed to send a warning to anyone who misuses their company email, he never issues one to Beth or Jennifer because he thinks they’re funny and kind of cool. Before he realizes it, Lincoln falls in love with Beth even though they’ve never formally met.

This was such an interesting and easy read that I can easily give the novel a full 5-star rating. Each of its characters was well-developed and easy to imagine, including the side characters. It was also funny without falling into the same super sappy romantic tropes as Hallmark movies and grocery store paperbacks. Part of what contributed to that was that Rowell didn’t shy away from some of the more complicated and variable aspects of adult dating and relationships.

My only critique of the novel is that I wish the main characters had fallen in love a bit earlier so I could have basked in the warmth of their love a little longer. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed Attachments and recommend it to any reader aged 18 or older.