Sunday 21 December 2014

Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell


"I love you more than I hate everything else."

Now I had heard many good things prior to picking up this book, only later on learning that it had been nominated for the Best Fiction Book in the 2014 Goodreads Choice Awards. This only drove me to finish reading the novel before all of the votes were cast and the decision had already been made. A couple of days later, I had discovered that it did in fact win the Best Fiction Award, and may I just say it could not have been more deserved.

This was the first Rainbow Rowell novel I had read. I never thought to pick up Eleanor & Park or Attachments mainly due to the fact that everyone I had spoken to had already read them. Whilst it may seem a bit strange for me to base my TBR on thing such as this, I'll have you know that I absolutely hate being spoiled for books. Already learning the plot and ending for the previously mentioned books, I was admittedly soured towards anything Rainbow Rowell had written, knowing that within the space of a couple of weeks, someone would detail the plot line to me. However, this was not the case with this book. I had purposely avoided a majority of my book-loving friends while reading this one, making my experience with this novel feel unique and all my own. I was able to fully enjoy the characters and story line.

I will be honest, it did not take me long to get involved with this book. Within the first few pages, I had already found myself very much engrossed in the everyday life of our protagonist Georgie McCool. Knowing just how much most contemporary reads were supposed to tug at your heartstrings, I had prepared myself for an intense emotional breakdown while reading this book and was rather surprised when I found that the first 200 pages of the book had me laughing instead of crying. And then it hit me. The first two-thirds of the novel were very much reminiscent of a feel-good novel with minor conflict, and in a sense, the entire book was a feel-good story, but the last third had somehow managed to grasp my attention in a way that I didn't know this particular story could.

Rainbow Rowell allows readers to delve into Georgie's past; a past in which Georgie's long time friendship with her co-worker Seth is already established and her first meeting with her current husband, Neal, takes place. Beginning the novel with what seems like a troubled marriage with Georgie finding Neal less and less reminiscent of his former self, and him growing more and more tired of Georgie, this technique that Rainbow uses leaves readers supporting their marriage, instead of holding onto a grudge formed by the first impression we are given of Neal. As the novel continues, we are seeing more and more of Georgie and Neal's life together, and are wondering desperately what could have gone wrong, when everything seemed to have gone right.

Georgie attempts to call Neal, in an attempt to apologise and gain closure from their most recent fight, however, when Neal answers, he is answering the land line from 15 years ago. Georgie discovers this through clues such as Neal's father still being alive and him telling her the year. The year that Georgie and Neal almost broke up. The year that Neal proposed to her. It is this realisation that sets up the central conflict for the remainder of the novel. Were Georgie and Neal really meant to be together? Would things have ended differently if Neal hadn't picked up that phone that day? Our protagonist is essentially left with the decision to either try and salvage her now close-to-broken marriage, or never begin that marriage in the first place.

This book was such an eye-opener for me. I had recently been reading exclusively fantasy and science fiction until I chanced upon this book. The emotional struggles, coupled with the responsibility of Georgie and Neal having children together only add to the weight of the burden carried by our heroine. 

Let me be frank, this book may not make you cry, but you will most certainly feel something towards these characters. You will be rooting for Georgie and Neal's marriage throughout the course of this novel and I would be truly surprised if you didn't fall in love with this book.


“Fitting together is something you work at. It’s something you make happen—because you love each other."

Overall Rating: 5/5 stars


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