Attachments

By: Rainbow Rowell

Narrated by: Laura Hamilton

Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's Summary

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder, coworkers at The Courier, know the newspaper monitors their office e-mail. But they still spend all day sending each other messages, gossiping about their coworkers, and baring their personal lives like an open book. Jennifer tells Beth everything she can’t seem to tell her husband about her anxieties over starting a family. And Beth tells Jennifer everything, period.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill still can’t believe that it’s his job to monitor other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be an Internet security officer, he pictured himself protecting the newspaper from dangerous hackers - not sending out memos every time somebody in Accounting forwarded an off-color joke to the person in the next cubicle. Lincoln is supposed to turn people in for misusing company e-mail, but he can’t quite bring himself to crack down on Beth and Jennifer. He can’t help being entertained - and captivated - by their stories. But by the time Lincoln realizes he’s falling for Beth, it’s way too late for him to ever introduce himself. What would he say to her? “Hi, I’m the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you?”

With snapping dialogue and irresistible charm, Rainbow Rowell transforms an ordinary IT guy into a lovable and endearing romantic hero and proves that falling in love never happens the way you plan it. Written with whip-smart precision and charm, Attachments is a fresh and energetic debut that marks the arrival of an exciting new voice in fiction.

©2011 Rainbow Rowell (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Just what I'd hoped for

If you're looking for a quirky, fun but poignant listen, this is it.

I picked this book based on the premise--socially awkward IT geek falling for a smart, sassy girl without ever having laid eyes on her, and I wasn't disappointed. The narrating was spot-on and the writer really hit on what it's like to be an Average Joe looking for love.

This story, told entirely from Lincoln's point-of-view, hooked me from page one and I obsessed about it when I couldn't be listening. What a great debut from an author I'll be watching for!

32 of 33 people found this review helpful

Smart and Sweet Rom-Com

This is such a cute story, and I just love the premise. You just know working in an office that IT is monitoring the email and web surfing and I like the idea that this guy really hates to do it.

Lincoln is a nice guy in his late twenties who lives with his mom. He has a plan to move forward with his life but has been dragging his heels. He had a bad breakup and is gun-shy about starting another romance. Even though it’s 1999 he is kind of stuck in the ‘80s and wants a Morrissey haircut and plays Dungeons & Dragons. The whole book actually has a retro feel to it. It’s fun seeing Lincoln come into his own throughout the book.

Another thing that’s interesting is that it takes place in 1999 when the Y2K uncertainty was going on and everyone was freaking out that the computers would stop working in 2000. I remember that on New Year’s Eve CNN was covering the New Year in every country and by the time New Year arrived in California, the whole Y2K thing was a non-event. So, in addition to the email monitoring, Lincoln has the Y2K scare to worry about.

We get to know Beth and Jennifer very well through their email exchanges. Jennifer is married and thinking about starting a family, while Beth has a musician boyfriend and is at the stage where she’s thinking about marriage. I got as caught up in their lives as Lincoln did and the way the three stories intertwine is very well done. It’s so cute seeing Lincoln’s reactions to reading Beth thinks he’s cute. It’s a little stalkery, yes, but Lincoln is pretty harmless.

I listened to the Attachments audiobook, read by Laura Hamilton. Because so much of the book is about the email exchanges, I think it would probably work better in print. It was a little tiresome after awhile hearing the “From Beth to Jennifer” for every email. Hamilton captures the right tone for the story with her narration, and carries off the wittiness of the book well. The character differences are subtle and at first I had a difficult time differentiating between Beth and Jennifer, but after awhile it clicked with me. Overall I just think that due to the nature of the book I would recommend picking up a print copy.

Attachments is sweet and enjoyable like a classic rom-com. And actually, since Beth is a movie critic at the newspaper, there are frequent movie references. It’s smart and romantic and puts a smile on your face.

29 of 30 people found this review helpful

Great listen!

Got this as a Daily Deal. I'm not usually into what I think of as "chick lit" so I almost passed this one up. Glad I didn't. Great story & characters. Narration was perfect. I'll be picking up more from this writer. :)

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

A loveable geek with a unenviable job

I recently had a two day solo driving trip of just under 11 hours and decided a new audiobook was just the thing. I am a fan of novels told in the form of email, letter, etc and this book had some good reviews, so I thought why not?

I hit the road and was immediately wrapped up in the email exchange between two female co-workers in 1999, Beth Freemont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder. As I remember when email was new to business environment and we lowly workers worried someone was watching over our metaphorical shoulder, this brought back some memories for me. In the case of Attachments, we find that the person peering over their should is Lincoln O'Neill. He is a bit geeky, uncomfortable socially and hating the responsibility for reading the email that their software flags as questionable.

I found myself engrossed in the lives of Beth, Jennifer and Lincoln through ups and downs, all while trying to see into their future and determine how their lives would come together. Along the way there are plenty of funny one-liners and some poignant moments when I was glad I was listening alone. In the end, I was glad to have spent 9 of my hours with this group and wouldn't mind having them over for dinner and a visit some day.

Laura Hamilton did a great job of narration, with some clear speech patterns that helped me to keep everyone straight. There are a few points along the way with some short sentences that forced a number of "Lincoln said", "Christine said" "Lincoln said", but these are easily overshadowed by the engaging presentation and story. Well done!

25 of 27 people found this review helpful

Pass the Velveta

Jennifer to Beth, Beth to Jennifer format of emailing friends who never seem to meet face-to-face grates on the nerves. Both friends wonder if the grass is greener and mysterious boy hired to read company emails falls for Beth. Predictable and frankly a little silly. Enjoyed her other two books; seems to have her finger on the pulse of teenage angst. I paid $3.95 on sale for this one, so don't feel like I wasted a credit.

22 of 24 people found this review helpful

Wonderful Story and Narration

What did you love best about Attachments?

The genuine sincerity of the characters. I love that Rowell was able to find a balance with each of them. So often I find a novel with characters that are clearly good and bad, and that's not how real life works. I applaud her for creating such realistic people and situations.

What did you like best about this story?

It was refreshing to have so much of the novel written as emails to and from Jennifer and Beth. It works for people, like myself, that don't like to get tied down in the imagery. The emails only give the readers the important details, and we get to skip all the filler.

Which character – as performed by Laura Hamilton – was your favorite?

Lincoln. He was charmingly uncomfortable with social situations, and I loved that about him.

Was there a moment in the book that particular moved you?

I'd say if the rest of the story hadn't won me over, the last line of the story would have.

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

Hurray for Daily Deals!

This is a book I wouldn't have purchased had I not seen it for sale on the Daily Deal. For $2, I thought I'd take a chance and boy did it pay out.

I was on a road trip so I was able to listen to it in it's entirety in one day. I laughed, I cried, I longed for the ending I wanted but couldn't see how in the world it would ever happen. It was an incredible LIFE story... Love, life, family, friends, coming of age...if it can be called that being about a guy in his late 20s. It was so enjoyable and definitely had it's twists and turns. There were predictable moments too, but not in a bad way at all. I loved the humor, the silliness, and the overall "realness" the story had. It felt like these were actually people that could exist, and they were people I wanted to know and hang out with. Well, all except for his Lincoln's friend Justin.

I liked that it was CLEAN. No graphic sex or anything of that nature. Justin had an obsession with the F-word though. But it was his character. I feel like we all know "THAT guy" and we all kind of despise that guy... but he had his moments. Just be prepared for a ton of cussing whenever he's involved in a chapter. I share my books with my parents, and this is one I WISH I could share, but I know they don't like swearing and would not appreciate listening to it, despite how good the rest of the book was.

SO. READ it. It was an easy listen, but with humor, romance, friendship, heartache, tragedy and gumption. Definitely a repeat listen, and a high recommendation from me. Enjoy!

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Not worth the hype...

Any additional comments?

This book starts off EXTREMELY slow!!!!!!!!!!!! It doesn't get remotely interesting until about chapter 70. I don't really see what all of the hype is about, honestly. I just couldn't really connect with the characters. Lincoln is a nice guy, but I couldn't connect with him. The email conversations between Beth and Jennifer were interesting, very nice dialogue. Outside of that, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Beth to Jennifer.... Jennifer to Beth

This was not my favorite listen and ranks in the solid middle for me. Definitely a 2.5 star audio. At times it was very funny and clever. Other times, it was boring and trite. I definitely laughed a few times. But all in all this wasn't an audio book where I couldn't wait to switch on my Ipod to hear more. I actually think I would have enjoyed this in print.

I found the email exchanges annoying which is a major problem since the story unfolds over email. It was just one endless email loop from "beth to jennifer" and from "jennifer to beth." The narrator didn't do a great job at giving distinctive voices to the characters so it was one running voice throughout the story.

24 of 29 people found this review helpful

You get what you pay for...$3.99

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A believable story with development.

If you’ve listened to books by Rainbow Rowell before, how does this one compare?

I haven't and I won't

What didn’t you like about Laura Hamilton’s performance?

It was okay.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It slightly distracted me while I was driving.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful