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Friday, September 19, 2014

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Book Review: Landline

You guys, if you haven't figured it out by now based on our other raving reviews, we're big fans of Rainbow Rowell. So when Goodreads alerted me to her new book soon to be released, you better believe I preordered it within the next 10 seconds. And to have that arrive fresh and new on my kindle on release day was a dream come true. 

Landline by Rainbow Rowell is a sweet and nostalgic novel that shows us how easy it is to forget your significant other and how hard it is to win them back.
Georgie's marriage is in trouble. She is also a writer in Hollywood, and just before Christmas she may have received the break of a lifetime, but not for her marriage. Someone wants to produce her TV show idea. It would no longer be her writing on someone else's show. People would be writing on hers. The catch? She and her writing partner have to put together a pitch and a full series worth of scripts within a few days, and that means skipping Christmas with her two girls and husband, Neal. The idea tears her in two, but she figures one Christmas is worth sacrificing for a better life for everyone because of achieving everything the ever wanted.

She knows Neal will be upset, but she doesn't foresee him taking the kids to Omaha to stay with his family for Christmas without her. As her career and personal lives come to a head, Georgie wonders if she ruined everything. If it's all her fault, and if one dream is worth ruining another.

That night she discovers a way to talk to her husband in the past. It's not time travel, but a strange and miraculous way to reach back to past Neal. A great responsibility rests on Georgie's shoulders. Should she convince past Neal to continue down his current path towards the life she's ruined, or should she decide that he's better off without her?

I absolutely love Rowell's writing in this book. Having read another book of hers before, I knew that Rowell's voice is very unique and present in her writing, but I was also interested to see if she could manipulate that voice to suit another set of characters. She did. The writing style is everything you want from this author without it being too much of the same. The voice and tone is unique to the characters and situation while still maintaining her signature style. It was a joy to read.

It was also painful to read. Real talk, I live in Los Angeles, my significant other is a writer, and some things in this book were really close to home. I saw a lot of myself in Neal and a lot of my SO in Georgie. It was scary how spot on some of Rainbow's depictions of their lives are to real life. Now, my relationship is not in trouble and my SO is far from so removed as to skip Christmas, but there was a strange echo of real life in the story for me that made it all the more real.

Now, don't think that this book is all sadness and breakup. It's far from that. Because Georgie is able to reach out to her husband (then not-yet-husband) and take an almost literal walk down memory lane. You see how they met, fell in love, and built a life together. You also see how that life slowly falls apart, and you become more and more invested in Georgie's desperate attempts to put it back together.

If you're looking for a fun, quirky, romantic, sad, nostalgic, semi-sci-fi book this is it. If you've ever been in love, ever had a rough patch in a relationship, and ever looked back to past happy times, this novel will transport you back and make you feel all of that all over again.

Title: Landline

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Genre: Romance

Recommendation: Yes

Best Reader Audience: Adult Female Readers

Final Rating: Four out of Five mugs of hot chocolate 

Want to communicate with the past? Use the link below and your purchase will help support the Lone Book Club!




2 comments:

  1. I just put it on my Audible wishlist - thanks for the recommendation!!

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    Replies
    1. Yay! Glad you liked the review. Let us know what you thought of the book!!

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