Book Review and Giveaway: Landline

By Melissa Amster

**Giveaway is now closed**

A couple of years ago, I read Rainbow Rowell's debut novel, Attachments. I enjoyed and devoured it. (See review here.) Her two books since then have been more for young or new adults, but I got them anyway. I absolutely loved Fangirl and it inspired me to write my own fan fiction (with a chick lit flair, of course). Eleanor and Park is still on my TBR pile, but I'm excited to read that too. However, as soon as I heard that Rainbow had a new chick lit novel coming out, I was all about making sure I got my hands on it. And I did...when I met Rainbow at BEA this past spring. Needless to say, I was all excited to crack this book open and it did NOT disappoint!

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 beside the point now. Maybe that was always beside 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? (Synopsis courtesy of St. Martin's Press.)

Landline is Rainbow's first novel with a surreal twist. (At least I'm assuming so, since I haven't heard anything surreal about Eleanor and Park.) Even though it's not exactly about time travel, it still carries the feel of that concept. I love books that have anything to do with time travel, so when I learned about the story line earlier this year, I was instantly sold. And Rainbow did a great job with this new portal through time. I thought it was very clever how she used a phone as a link to the past. There were some hilarious moments that came about as a result of this new discovery.

The characters definitely carried this story along. There were so many different layers to Georgie and those affected how she and Neal navigated their relationship. I enjoyed the flashbacks to how they met and started dating, as well as when they got engaged and then married. It made me think of how my husband and I first met and the journey from our courtship to our marriage. I liked the secondary characters too, especially Georgie's younger half-sister, Heather. She was a foil for Georgie, but they had this underlying friendship that came through to the surface. And Georgie's background with her friend Seth was interesting to read about, especially as it had an effect on her relationship with Neal. Her conversations with her daughters were a lot of fun, especially Noomi, who thought she was a cat and meowed most of the time. The interactions between Georgie and these secondary characters was both entertaining and revealing.

I had a couple of very minor complaints though. One was that the dialogue between Georgie and Neal seemed to go in circles and get redundant sometimes, losing my attention after a while. The other is that one part of the story seemed to drop off to make room for the other part. While the part that stuck around was satisfying, I wish there was more to the part that was left hanging.

Overall, I enjoyed Landline and Rainbow kept me guessing to the very end, turning the pages in anticipation of what would come next. I like her writing style and look forward to reading whatever she comes out with next!

Of course, I have to cast this book as a movie because it would be so cool on the big screen!
Georgie: Drew Barrymore
Neal: I had a hard time casting him, as he was difficult to visualize. The descriptions contrasted each other. My mind keeps going to Adam Pally, but that still seems like a stretch.
Seth: Paul Rudd
Heather: Maia Mitchell
Georgie's mom: Holly Hunter
Scotty: Aziz Ansari

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the book in exchange for an honest review. They have TWO copies for some lucky readers in the US and/or Canada.

How to win:
Please tell us: What household device would you like to possess magical powers and what would it do?

One entry per person.

Please include your e-mail address or another way to reach you if you win. Entries without contact information will NOT be counted (and we do NOT count "Google +" as contact information).

US/Canada only. Giveaway ends July 20th at midnight EST.

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