Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Landline

by Rainbow Rowell

July 8, 2014

310 pages

Goodreads  Indigo

Goodreads Summary:

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble;it has 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 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?

Review

So I really enjoyed Landline. It was a different read than my usual cup of tea but it was great! In all honesty I was prepared for some boring parts but there were none. I found myself wholly invested in the storyline and eager to see it how it will all work out.

Georgie's marriage is hanging in the balance when she decides to forgo spending Christmas with her husband Neal and their two daughters to work on a deal with her BFF, Seth, that could make their dream come true (sorry for the mouthful). When she loses contact with Neal, which never happens, she begins to rethink all that's happened between them since they met. As she recounted every precious memory, we got to see just how far they've come in their relationship. Georgie asked herself all sorts of questions. It was basically non-stop however, I didn't find her in the least bit annoying. I felt it was all very legit. I even found some of it relatable. Her line of thoughts weren't pointless but held true and valid concerns.

I love the idea of the phone. Georgie called it the "magic fucking phone". I should probably have felt more sympathetic because she thought she was losing her mind but I couldn't help and laugh every time she called it that. That ordinary old phone enabled her to see her life more clearly than anything before. I was cheering Georgie on when she pulled that crazy stunt at the end. You go girl~

One of my favourite thing about Landline is that it's full of dialogues. I added in my own "awwws", "ohhhs" and "ahhhs" ;) There were mega hilarious moments like when Seth dished out The Hobbits references as insults. They were mean yet again, you cannot help but silently appreciate the hilarity of it. My absolute number one favourite line is when Neal said "I love you more than I hate everything else" to Georgie (p.71). So awkwardly sweet~~ It resonated so much with me I had to share it with my fiancé. We even started analyzing it haha!

The Before gave us an answer to our/Georgie's suspicions and the After made my heart swell with warmth. I found myself really loving everything to Landline. Rainbow Rowell really knows how to make you feel!