Attachments by Rainbow Rowell is a sweet and quirky love story set in the late '90s, centered around an unusual premise. Lincoln is hired to monitor company emails but ends up reading the hilarious and personal exchanges between co-workers Beth and Jennifer. Even though he knows he shouldn't, he finds himself falling for Beth through her messages. The story is full of charm, relatable characters, and Rowell's trademark humor. It’s a light, feel-good read that explores love, friendship, and finding connection in unexpected ways. Perfect for fans of romantic comedies with heart!

Beth and Jennifer are friends who work together and they use their work email for personal exchanges while Lincoln their co worker is advised to monitor email to make sure employees are solely using it for work purposes, while he is monitoring Beth and Jennifer he gets submerged into their lives and just may have to own up to all he knows!

This was a great book. These characters were so fun to follow through the story. This was a book that I had on my radar for a long time and it was the perfect read for this time and place where I needed something light but engaging which would keep my attention, but not cause drama!

Told in both ways via email exchanges through a work email exchange and through a typical storytelling you would see in most novels - I loved that this book had both types of storytelling in this one book. The reason I enjoyed both was because I can feel as though I am missing some pieces of the story when I am reading a book that only has email or letter exchanges, so I am glad this book had both.

This was my first Rainbow Rowell and although I am not sure that I would enjoy her entire backlist, but I am intrigued to see if there would be more that I would like.

I loved everything about this book! It was fun and witty and just what I needed to read. The writing is fantastic and will leave you with a full heart. I love all of Rainbow’s books. She never disappoints!

A quick read and interesting premise. I thought the plot and characters were interesting, but the execution felt lacking. I didn't feel particularly attached to the characters, and it felt weak compared to other Rainbow Rowell titles I've read. Not a favorite but enjoyable enough, and I'm glad this wasn't my first Rowell book. Although I enjoyed it, it wasn't very memorable.

Attachments is set in a newspaper office, just before Y2K hits, in smalltown USA. The Internet is still a novelty and two members of staff - Beth and Jennifer - spend time sending emails back and forth. Clinton is the Internet security officer hired to ensure that staff aren't abusing the new email/Internet privileges, and find himself drawn into reading their emails each night. He learns about every aspect of their lives, from the musician boyfriend of one to the pregnancy woes of the other. Before he realises, Clinton is falling in love.... but how can he possibly tell this girl why he knows so much about her? Is there any chance she could ever forgive him? And does she believe in love before first sight?

This is a perfect chick lit book - it is humorous (and I do mean laugh-out-loud at some points), it is very sweet and it is wise about the ways of love and relationships. I found myself entirely bowled over by Attachments and read it in one sitting.

Part of the reason for this is the delightful format that Rainbow Rowell uses. I've seen the email plot device in other stories, but here the conversations between Beth and Jennifer are interspersed by third person encounters with Clinton, and all the areas of his life. Because of this, it felt both immediate and very intimate.

Clinton himself is a *wonderful* character, and shows tremendous growth through the course of the novel. Usually we see our leading ladies develop into meaningful human beings in chick lit books, but here it was all about Clinton. A victim of a broken heart, he has lived with his mother for a while at the start of Attachments and spends his Saturday nights playing D&D with friends. His night shift work precludes him from meeting people who keep normal hours, and he finds himself lonely and out of touch. Under these circumstances, it seems almost reasonable that he would be drawn into the warm and happy lives of two friends who gossip and tease each other to get through the work day.

The lack of privacy concerning Beth and Jennifer's emails - and the fact that Clinton reads them - could be a source of discomfort to some readers, and might make Clinton a person that they feel unable to sympathise with. I didn't have this problem so much, since every office I work in has some form of Internet security where emails are monitored. Saying this, I would be deeply uncomfortable at the idea of someone reading all of my personal conversations with a friend!

I found that that prose in Attachments, plus the snappy dialogue, lifted Attachments above your run of the mill chick lit novel - this is definitely a superior example of the genre, and one that I would feel very comfortable in recommending to someone who wanted to dip their toe into this style of novel.

I also liked the location. Most of the chick lit novels I read are either located in Ireland, London or New York, so to be given such a refreshingly different location - with all the culture and food and sayings that accompany it - was a real breath of fresh air to someone who has read a LOT of chick lit books.

For me, Attachments is one of those rare beasts - a genre novel that actually becomes more. Becomes something you would enjoy reading time and again, and want other people to read in order to savour the goodness. A really excellent novel and well worth your cash - this one is a keeper!

Love love love this! It was reminiscent of Meg Cabot's boy series as it was told through emails a format I do enjoy when done well. I liked that it was set in 1999 so email was a viable idea and the Y2K plot point helped connected the characters. A clever, fun read with great characterisation.

WHY DID I LISTEN TO ATTACHMENTS BY RAINBOW ROWELL?
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell appeals to me on SO many different levels. There’s the fact that a large percentage of it is told in epistolary format. Also, it is set in 1999 at the height of Y2k. OH YEAH AND IT IS BY RAINBOW ROWELL. While I am not a super fan, I do really enjoy her books. Aside from Carry On, this is the only one I have not read yet. So, when I saw that Attachments was available to listen to on Scribd, I kind of jumped on the opportunity to listen to it.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
Attachments basically follows narrative sections for the parts that are focused on Lincoln – it is told like a regular story. For the bits that focus on Jennifer and Beth – it uses that epistolary format. Lincoln is definitely who you would consider to be the main character. He works at this newspaper as the “internet security officer.” His job is absolutely not what he had expected. Instead of dealing with things like hackers and firewalls, he’s reading the emails of his coworkers and writing up reports.

One day the filter hits on an email between Jennifer and Beth, and instead of following protocol and writing them up for breaking the rules, Lincoln becomes intrigued. So, he really begins reading their emails and ends up falling for Beth over time. The crux of the matter, however, is that Lincoln can’t really introduce himself to Beth or make a move because then he would reveal himself as being a creep.

HOW DID I LIKE ATTACHMENTS?
It’s an interesting experience reading a 1999 set book published in 2011 in 2018. That is really kind of understating it. Like, if this book was written today I don’t know that Lincoln would be considered a romantic hero – sort of. I don’t know that anything would have worked out between him and Beth. But then again, the setting is 1999, cultural norms were different twenty years ago. Personally, I enjoyed Rowell’s debut. Attachments was a fun summer reading experience — even though it’s set during the New Year, essentially. I definitely felt that throwback to Y2k and 1999 all over again. It was a different world back then.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
Laura Hamilton narrates the audiobook of Attachments and does a FANTASTIC job. It was very easy to pay attention to her and follow along. I thought her narration made all of the characters come across as quite endearing. I will say that initially I was reluctant to listen to this via audio, right, because of the epistolary format. However, the audiobook experience was worth my time and I didn’t really feel like anything got lost in translation to this format.

It took me a bit to get into. Admittedly, the hero reading the heroine's emails was a creepy concept to me, but they ended up being sweet together.