Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

“Do you believe in love at first sight?"

He made himself look at her face, at her wide-open eyes and earnest forehead. At her unbearably sweet mouth.

"I don't know," he said. "Do you believe in love before that?”

Attachments was Rainbow Rowell's first book and the last book of hers that I haven't read. Thankfully, I received a copy through Cannonball Read Secret Santa three (?) years ago. Recently I decided to dust it off and give it a go after I killed yet another ereader*.

The story is set in a newspaper office. Lincoln is our main character. He spent a long time in college getting a degree in computers. Now he has graduated and works nights in the IT department. His main task is to read emails that get caught in the filters. Lincoln doesn't like his job, except when he gets to read the emails between Jennifer and Beth. They unashamedly banter with each other through their work emails, and Lincoln keeps reading when they get caught in the filter. For some reason, he doesn't send them a warning like he should. After a while, he starts to feel like he knows them. Soon he finds himself falling in love with Beth.

Of course, it's a complicated situation because he hasn't actually met Beth. He doesn't even know what she looks like. Also, she has a cool rock guitar-playing boyfriend. Finally, there's the tiny matter of how he invaded her and her best friend's privacy. That one is tricky. It gets even cuter/more awkward when Beth starts mentioning Lincoln in her emails, referring to him as "my cute guy."

Overall, Attachments was a good read. I liked all the characters, and the structure of the book was interesting. Beth and Jennifer mostly appear in email form between chapters from Lincoln's perspective. Overall I think Rowell's YA titles are better, but she is an amazing writer and I love all her books. Thank you to my Secret Santa and sorry it took me so long to appreciate your gift.

*Technically I didn't kill my first ereader. It has a crack in the bottom corner that 1. I can't explain but 2. makes reading on it a pain in the arse. The second died after I dropped it from my locker at the bookstore. The third, and latest, met an untimely end after I dropped it in the parking lot at work. Somehow this drop caused the little chargey thing to break off, and the thing was already having enough trouble charging as is. I'm considering a new one, but the expense is a bit much and I'm nervous because they don't seem to hold up very well and I seem to be a klutz.