The year is 1999 and Earth is in the grip of the Y2K frenzy (I actually remember this time so well… I had a Y2K Beanie Baby). Lincoln is employed at a newspaper as internal security – monitoring the employees emails. Words such a porn, sex and fuck are flagged for Lincoln to read and reprimand the people doing the wrong thing. Beth and Jennifer’s conversations are constantly flagged but Lincoln can’t bring himself to notify them they are breaking company rules. Their conversations are too entrancing, and there’s something about Beth that he can’t seem to let go of.
Attachments was such a fun and cute book. I love Rainbow Rowell’s writing and I loved the concept. Firstly, this books characters were in their late 20’s which was such a nice change. I found their conversations and lives relatable to my life (even though I’m only 24 but I’m also basically a grandma). Also the fact it was set in the 90’s was a breath of fresh air because it brought me back to my childhood and made me feel so reminiscent.
Lincoln’s character is so adorable, if not a LIIIITTLE morally grey. He’s so awkward but sweet, and handsome without realising it! I also loved the friendship between Beth and Jennifer because I found them really supportive of one another and realistic! Some downsides of this book were mostly the pacing as the whole storyline was slow and steady (in a good way) and then the end was really rushed which disappointed me! Also, there’s one part where Beth and Jennifer are having a conversation about a woman in their office who’s dressed “provocatively” and they’re being SUPER slut-shaming and basically say she’s dressed like that to make up for the fact her storylines are rubbish. Hmmm. It pissed me off to be frank. It makes me wonder if Rainbow has some internalised misogyny going on. The conversation added nothing to the storyline. It just made me side-eye Beth and Jennifer who I honestly thought were progressive and cool.
This book is the perfect read for around Christmas/New Years. It’s also cute and fun and just really enjoyable if not for one very odd moment of slut shaming in an otherwise pretty wonderful book. I give it 4/5.
