Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Landline
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release date: July 8th 2014
Pages: 320
Genre: adult contemporary
Source: BEA 2014
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Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems besides the point now.
Maybe that was always besides the point.
Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.
When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.
That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .
Is that what she’s supposed to do?
Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I absolutely loved Rainbow Rowell's YA books Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, but I still tried to keep my expectations low for Landline, since this is adult fiction and bound to be different from the YA Rainbow Rowell has written. Thankfully, that wasn't necessary, because I loved Landline too! It's definitely different from Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, but it's amazing in its own way.

I just love Rainbow Rowell's writing. Her humor shines through in this novel, making the whole book entirely pleasant to read. But even though it's accurate, I don't think "pleasant" is giving Rainbow Rowell enough credit - her writing is also poignant and thought-provoking. Despite all of these marriage issues not really being something I'm concerned with at the moment, the novel did make me think a lot about relationships and love and life and all that good stuff. Rainbow Rowell's writing is just so engaging and entertaining and poignant and perfect.

I loved Georgie's voice and character. This goes along with Rainbow Rowell's writing style, but I loved the narrator's humor and self-deprecating way of speaking. Georgie is so easy to relate to, and I really felt for her. I loved the secondary characters, too: Seth, Georgie's mom, and Heather all have really entertaining stories that contribute a lot to the main plot. The only character that I didn't really get to know is Neal, which is kind of problematic, since he's kind of the second most important character, but also makes sense because the novel is about Georgie and Neal spending time apart. 

If anyone else had written the plot, the time travel-esque thing would have probably seemed cliched and kind of ridiculous. But Rainbow Rowell's writing makes it work: everything about the magic phone seemed realistic (even though it's obviously not), and I loved reading about it. I really enjoyed the rest of the plot, too, and loved getting to see the two periods in their relationship play out at the same time. The only thing I didn't love was the ending: it just seemed a little too perfect and happy for me. Then again. I wouldn't have wanted the story to end any other way, so I guess I can't complain.

Landline didn't speak to me quite as much as Rainbow Rowell's YA novels did, but I did really enjoy it. Landline is an equally entertaining and thought-provoking story that will undoubtedly bring a smile to your face. If you haven't read anything by Rainbow Rowell, that needs to change right now, and I can't wait to see what she writes next!

Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Eleanor & Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release date: February 26th 2013
Pages: 328
Genre: Young Adult historical romance
Source: Bought
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Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.
Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.
Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I know I'm pretty much the last person in the YA blogosphere to read Eleanor & Park, so saying this is probably pointless, but if you haven't read it, you need to - it really is as amazing as everyone has said. It's so many things that I don't even know how to describe it: it's weird and awkward and beautiful and just perfect.

The description focuses a lot on the romance, but what I loved the most were Eleanor and Park as individual characters. Eleanor's story had me hooked right away: what she's been through and is still going through is so horrible, both with her family and with the bullying at school. The way that Eleanor describes what happens at her house is so subtle and honest, making it very realistic and even scarier. I wish we'd gotten to know more about the family's past, especially about Eleanor's relationship with her mother before she started dating Richie, and about Eleanor's father. But in a way I appreciated that this is just a snapshot from Eleanor's life. At first I didn't know if I would be able to relate to Eleanor, but I grew to care for her so much over the course of the novel: her vulnerability is so honest and so sad and I just wanted to get her out of this world and make everything right for her.

Park is a great character, too. His issues aren't as glaring and as in-your-face horrible as Eleanor's, but they're fascinating nonetheless. His family dynamics are really interesting: I loved reading about his issues with his dad, but also seeing how his parents step up and do the right thing when it matters most. Park is kind of an ass at first, but I still understood him, and I loved seeing his character growth over the course of the novel.

Then, of course, there's the romance. The way that their relationship develops is very subtle and unconventional. At first, I didn't know how to feel about it: in a way, it's cute, but it still bothered me that their fascination with each other begins way before they ever have a real conversation. Even once they're already together, they're relationship is based more on Park comforting Eleanor by means of distraction, rather than them actually talking about what is going on. This is something that would have ruined most fictional relationships for me, but somehow, it works in Eleanor & Park. Their connection seems real despite this lack of communication, and it makes it even better when Eleanor finally admits to Park what has been going on. I don't even want to call this a romance because Eleanor and Park's connection goes so much deeper than that. Their relationship is unlike any I've read about, and it's just so good.

I could see how some people might be disappointed by the ending, but I for one loved it. Yes, it's sad, but it fits the story. I love melancholy endings like this one, sad but also kin of hopeful, and I always appreciate when stories end in a realistic way rather than unnaturally happily. 

The only issue I have with this book is the cover. The idea is cute, but it really bothers me that Eleanor doesn't fit her description in the story. Cover-Eleanor is way too skinny and her hair is not crazy enough to be book-Eleanor, and I wish they hadn't mainstream-ized her like that. If this is what the cover designers did to her, I'm kind of scared to see what Hollywood will do to her in the movie version...

Like basically everyone else, I just loved this story so much. It's unique and depressing and hopeful and perfect. After this and Fangirl, I'm definitely a Rainbow Rowell fan, and I can't wait to see what she writes next!

Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release date: September 10th 2013
Pages: 448
Genre: Young Adult contemporary
Source: Bought
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In Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.
Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.
Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories? Open her heart to someone? Or will she just go on living inside somebody else’s fiction?

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I'd been hearing all this hype about Rainbow Rowell, and after she appeared on everyone's best-of-2013 lists, I knew I had to give her a try. Fangirl sounded right up my alley, but I was still a little scared I wouldn't love it as much as everyone else did. Luckily, though, there was nothing to worry about - Fangirl is amazing, and I loved everything about it.

Of course, I love that it's set at college. Fangirl is everything I had been hoping the new adult genre would be and - a book with older characters in situations after high school, dealing with more "adult"  issues, but one that is still a Young Adult story at heart. I loved the realistic portrayal of the various aspects of college life - I don't think I've read a new adult book that captures this experience quite so well. The only thing I thought was weird is that Cath has an upperclassman as a roommate - is that normal at other schools? I thought you could only live with people in your own year...

What really made this novel work, for me, is Cath. I connected with Cath so easily because, in many ways, Cath is me - or the me I was a year and a half ago, when I first started college. I recognized my own awkwardness in so many parts of Cath, and it was really reassuring to read about someone who had the same experiences I did starting college. Cath is awkward and anti-social, and I loved it. I also loved her obsession with fanfic, since I went through a fanfic phase, too, and definitely know what it's like to spend all your time on the internet, talking about books...

I loved everything about this story. Cath's relationship with her roommate, Reagan, is so much fun to read about, and the family storyline is really well-developed. And, for once, I absolutely loved the romance! I don't want to talk about this too much, since I really appreciated how you don't know who - if anyone - Cath will be involved with (even though I guess it doesn't matter, since everyone else has already read Fangirl). The story is the opposite of insta-love, it's ridiculously adorable, and I loved everything about it.

The only thing I'm not sure about is the fanfiction. In a way, I liked it - it's really well-done, and I liked getting a glimpse into that part of Cath's life. But it still felt kind of pointless - we only get to read fragments of both the real Simon Snow story and Cath's take on it, which means we never really get to understand the whole story. That's why I didn't really see the point in having them, even if I did enjoy seeing this spectrum of Rainbow Rowell's writing.

I really don't know how to explain my love for Fangirl. I connected with Cath on such a personal level, and I loved being there along with her during her first year of college. Fangirl is a new favorite of mine, and I can't wait to read more by Rainbow Rowell!