Release Date: 3rd July 2014
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Adult
My Rating:
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?
I have declared my love for Rainbow Rowell already, so it is inexplicable that I haven’t read this book already. This poor book has been left in my pile of TBR books which form my bedside table for a long time now and I don't know why I waited so long to read it. Or... I do, but I don't know why I bothered to let other people’s opinions affect my decision on what to read. This is the very reason for me avoiding reviews for books I am excited to read because I am for too susceptible to others opinions and will let them affect my reading experience. This review demonstrates why this can be a bad thing.
It’s Beautifully Written, Which Should Come As No Surprise To Anyone
In some ways I am glad I waited more than a year to read this book, it meant that when I did finally read it my thoughts were completely my own. This book contains more of Rowell's wonderful words, and as Kaja has said about her writing, it is just like a warm hug, you want to wrap yourself up in her writing and never let it go. If I could have any author narrate my life it would be Rainbow Rowell because her writing is beautiful, even when writing about something as difficult as the potential breakdown of a marriage and all the ways you have gone wrong in your relationship.
Rowell is probably one of the most talented writers I have ever had the pleasure of reading because her writing is insanely easy to read (seriously, this is how all stories should be written) but still so beautiful. She is talented enough to make even the most mundane things seem interesting. I would probably read a shopping list she wrote and find it interesting, I am probably a bit biased.
So It Was Fantastic And Nothing Like I Expected
I had no clue what to expect going into this book. Sure, I’d read reviews where people seemed uninterested, they brushed it off or said that they didn’t enjoy it for whatever reason, so I probably had lower expectations about this book than I have any other Rowell has written, but I had no real clue about the actual story. I knew to expect a magic phone connecting Georgie to a past version of her husband, but that does not do justice to what this story actually is. It is magic set in the real world, and that is my favourite kind of magic.
If I were to compare this book to any other book I've read I would have to compare it to Cecelia Ahern's writing, more specifically her magical realism books because that is what this book is. It is a normal book in every way apart from that magical phone which connects Georgie with past Neal. Every other element of this book is a contemporary read about a woman who is questioning her relationship when she is unexpectedly alone at Christmas whilst her children and her husband go to his mom's for Christmas. I loved Georgie's questioning and denial and her inevitable acceptance of the impossible which occurs. And I absolutely loved how you saw these characters develop and change, and the continual flashbacks to the past. I just loved all of it and I was sad to see the book end, but at the same time so inexplicably pleased by the ending. I could have happily kept on reading and I doubt I would have gotten bored.
Overall, This Was A Masterpiece
My only question is why hasn't Rowell written more books like this one. I love her YA books, don't get me wrong, but her writing perfectly fits the adult world of writing too. I will always read anything she writes, so I may not be the most unbiased of readers, but Rowell writes a perfect novel with the most wonderful of characters, I found myself falling in love right along with Georgie and I am completely confused as to where the less than stellar reviews came from on this one.
This was probably more a character study than a book. There isn’t so much a story happening as there is an intense piece about characters and how they have changed and grown with life around them. Maybe that’s what people were dissatisfied with, they were expecting more action and instead got wonderful characters with emotional writing, and that is a completely different thing to read. Either way, I disagree with the majority on this one and would happily include this book as one of my favourite books of the year.
Why haven't more people read and raved about Landline? Have you read it, and what were your thoughts?
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