Book Review - Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

How did I come into possession of this book?

I bought this book at a cute bookstore in Ann Arbor called Literati. We just happened to walk in when we were in town for a football game, and after seeing a lot of the staff picks being books I really enjoy, I found one by an author I knew but hadn’t read. The fact that it was a staff pick really sold me and that this was Rainbow Rowell’s adult book (I’ve read Eleanor and Park by her as well, but that is classified as young adult). I bought the book and have since used it as part of a postal book club*!

What is it about?

The book takes place in 1999, just before the millenium and one of the main characters is an IT guy who is preparing his company for Y2K. Along with that his job is also to monitor employees emails for anything inappropriate. He gets probably a bit too involved in conversations between a couple of women at the company, but can’t seem to pull himself away from reading about their lives that are so much more interesting than his.

What did I think?

I thought this was a fun quick read. There was nothing too in depth about it but it left you happy in the end. Although that brings me to one of my complaints about the book, I didn’t find the ending to be very believable. And with how Rowell’s book Eleanor and Park ended (very realistic) I thought this one might end in a realistic fashion. Unfortunately, I was let down and I just didn’t think it should’ve ended the way it did.  My other complaint about the book was how formal all the emails looked, if I’m writing an email it is not that formal especially if it is a personal email. I enjoyed the writing, as I knew I would.

Who would I recommend it to?

Anyone who wants a fun quick love-story type of read should pick up this book. I really liked how quick it was and how complete the story felt after being so short. If cute-sy love stories aren’t your thing, I’d steer clear!

*A postal book club is something I heard about on the podcast “Books on the Night Stand” and connected to one through their goodreads group! You are in a group of 6 and each person picks a book and reads it. You then write down your thoughts in a small journal and ship your book and the journal off to the next person! This happens every two months and by the end of the year, you get your book back with everyone’s thoughts in the journal!