Evil Eva Reviews... Attachments

EvilEva Reviews ...... Attachments by Rainbow Rowell.

Dissecting The Cover:

I'm totally digging this cover!

I like that it's simple. I like the double meaning of the title. I like that it's cute without being cutesy.

To me, this cover says "Why, yes, I am a serious reader but with a touch of whimsy. Now hop on my unicorn as I adjust my monocle and straighten my cardigan sweater and we'll be off to Narnia tout suite!"

Let's Review:

Lincoln O' Neill has a pretty boss job title at The Courier: Internet security officer. It sounds fairly bad ass, like he'll be in charge of thwarting hackers and building impenetrable firewalls. Like James Bond on desk duty!

That's pretty far off from what his job actually entails, which is reading other people's emails. He's basically a glorified eavesdropper.

Which isn't exactly what he signed up for.
But there is one bright side to his moral dilemma. Lincoln becomes thoroughly entertained by the correspondence of two of his coworkers.
Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder spend endless amounts of company time spilling the intimate details of their lives and loves; from weddings and weight gain, to boyfriend and baby trouble.

Lincoln knows it's his duty to turn them in. But he just can't bring himself to do it. He also can't bring himself to stop reading their emails.

Which could be a problem. Because Lincoln is fairly certain that he's falling for Beth.
So the big question is this: How do you formally introduce yourself to someone whom you've been technically kinda, sorta semi-spying on for months? 

And the bigger question? How do you declare your love to someone that doesn't technically kinda, sorta semi-know who you are?

Here's What I Think:

Attachments came along at the perfect time for me in by book-reading schedule. I had just finished Matched and was super psyched to start Requiem which would be out... in TWO WEEKS!

I don't know about y'all, but I can't go two whole weeks without reading SOMETHING.

I was in quite the quandary. I didn't want to start Crossed (the next book in Ally Condie's trilogy) just yet. I needed something light and fun to break up the dystopia of it all.

And along came Attachments. It was the perfect chick-lit book with just the right mix of wit, drama, swoon, and fun! 
The story is told two different ways, alternating chapter by chapter between Lincoln's more traditional third person telling and Beth and Jennifer's emails. 
Lincoln is the primary protagonist though. We get to know more about him because we're basically in his head. And what we learn is that Lincoln is pretty much the quintessential nice guy.
He's kind and caring and a little shy. He lives with his mom. Befriends Doris the vending machine lady. Plays Dungeons and Dragons with his friends on the weekends. Takes his nephews to the movies. Goes to his sister for advice. 
But it also means his last girlfriend totally broke his heart. He's not skilled in the art of flirting. He can't hold his liquor. And he's slightly awkward socially. 
But you still root for him. You want him to succeed. You want him to get the girl. You hope that phrase "nice guys finish last" doesn't apply to him. He's just a lovable character.
As are Beth and Jennifer! Their emails are hilarious, revealing, sad, inappropriate, honest, random, and sweet. And even though, because of this format, we only get a few pages of their interactions at a time, they never feel like secondary characters. We learn all about their lives: the good, the bad and the ugly and it's all done with a sense of humor that can only exist between two best friends.
And while I loved the book as a whole, their conversations were my favorite parts. Maybe because they reminded me of myself and Bestie J!
I guess what I'm trying to say is, their friendship actually felt real.
Not like Jennifer merely existed for Beth to have someone to squeal with over her Cute Guy. (Not to say they don't squeal over cute guys. They do!)
I just hate it when the best friend role isn't fleshed out and it seems like homegirl's sole purpose is to drift into scenes, wholeheartedly agree with our heroine, and fade right back out. I like my besties with some personality!
So I really appreciated that Rainbow Rowell gave Jennifer her own story separate from the story she shared with Beth.
Ok, so I've told you about my love for Lincoln, Beth, and Jennifer, but, truth be told, Attachments is a veritable cornucopia of great characters!
There's Lincoln's well-meaning mother who can't let him grow up. His frazzled sister that desperately wants him to.
The saucy and sage Doris.
Christine, Dave, and the rest of the ragtag band of misfits that make up Lincoln's D and D group.
The hard-partying, smooth-talking, occasionally douchey but ultimately redeemable, Justin.
Beth's irritatingly cool rocker boyfriend, Chris. And Jennifer's sweet if often times oblivious husband, Mitch.
Basically, Rainbow Rowell is a genius when it comes to creating characters that are both lovable and flawed. She's also fairly masterful when it comes to building a hilarious story out of a seemingly simple concept.
I mean, sure, Attachments is a zippy, light, little read about office romance.
But we NEED zippy, light, little reads! They give us a much needed break from all the heavy, intense seriousness provided by our various dystopian, murder mystery, psychological thriller, vampire/werewolf love triangles.
So, if your book-reading schedule has recently been slammed with heavy-duty reads, might I suggest you take a walk on the zippy, light side with an awkwardly awesome guy and his love for a girl he's only read about!

Swoony Times:

You may be wondering how a book can have such a high swoon-quotient when the two main characters don't even meet until the very end.
Well the answer is simple. I have no idea.
But Rainbow Rowell does! In fact, she's kinda mastered the shizz.
You can practically FEEL the tension between these characters! From Lincoln's unrequited lust to Beth's experimental longing. It's a sweet, will-they-won't-they, intense tummy-knotter that keeps you desperately turning the pages til the very end.

Bonus Shizz:

Reading Emails!
TRUTH SERUM TIME: I think I might be a bit of a voyeur, y'all. I totally look in people's windows when I'm driving at night if their blinds are open and their lights are on. And I wonder what they're doing and if they're watching something on TV that I like. Or I think "Hmm. A burgundy living room wall? That's pretty bold. I don't know if I could live with that. It's a little distracting."
I mean, I'm not so bad that I snoop in people's medicine cabinets. I mean, we all have some kind of diarrhea medicine in our bathrooms. After all, everyone poops. So what do I care what brand you use? Answer: I don't.
I will however ALWAYS that a gander at your bookshelves. And I'll totally silently judge you if you don't even have a bookshelf. (I mean, what is that about!?!?)
Anyhoozle, the point of that tangent wasn't to frighten you into never inviting me over to your home, I was just trying to explain why I find it so fun reading other people's emails. Because I'm evidently a really fucked up individual.
I mean, it's not like I read other people's emails in real life. That's an invasion of privacy. But I do like when books are written in this format. I feel like we get to know the characters in a different, maybe more authentic way. Plus it makes for a quick read!

Author Stalker Status!
I realize that I'm kinda just gushing at this point in the review but I can't help it, you guys. I LOVED this book! I LOVED the characters! I LOVED the idea! And I LOVED Rainbow Rowell's writing style! So much so that I immediately went out and purchased Eleanor & Park. And then made a note to remind myself that Rainbow's next book (titled Fangirl!) (sqeeeeeee!) will be coming to bookstores September 10th!

Noteworthy:

From page 137:

"There's never been a moment," he barely said, "when I didn't recognize you."
She wiped her eyes. Her mascara smeared. He nudged the merry-go-round into motion. He could kiss her now. If he wanted.
"I'd know you in the dark," he said. "From a thousand miles away. There's nothing you could become that I haven't already fallen in love with.

Hear that? That's the sound of me swooning! This is why nerd boys are the absolute best!

From page 318:

She laughed. It was better than he could have imagined. Like a giggle falling off its chair.

I just love that line!

Mix Tape:

Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen!




If You Liked That, Try This:

The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot.

The Scale Of Judgment Says:

...... 4.

This book will make you 1.) literally laugh out loud 2.) want to call up your best friend and 3.)  hope that an adorably awkward guy is reading your emails and dreaming of the day he'll get up the courage to talk to you.   

******

Music from Grooveshark.

Evil Eva Reviews... Pandemonium

EvilEva reviews ...... Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver.  

WARNING!

This is the SEQUEL to DELIRIUM!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Dissecting The Cover:

Um, I don't get this cover at all. I mean, I get that it matches the second Delirium cover (which also didn't make any sense.) (I'm also a little peeved because even though it does match the second cover, it totally does not match the first cover which is the copy that I own. So now my Delirium series won't look cohesive on my bookshelf. I'm being  punished for buying this book BEFORE it got out-of-control popular! I call shenanigans, Harper Collins!)
Anyway, I guess the foliage is supposed to represent the Wilds? Although there was never a point (nor would there ever be a point) when Lena would be frolicking among the flowers. It makes me wonder if whoever is responsible for these covers has even read the book between them.

Let's Review:

Lena made it over the fence and into the Wilds. Alex wasn't so lucky. Now Lena will have to learn to survive without him. Luckily she meets a girl named Raven who saves her from near-death and introduces her to a whole homestead of people like her and Alex.
People that don't believe love is a disease. People that believe you should have a choice. People against the Deliria-Free America organization. People with a plan to overthrow them.
After what happened to Alex, Lena is determined to join the fight.
With the help of her new found friends, Lena heads back to the city to put their plan into action.
But an incident with Julian Fineman, the son of the DFA's leader, could ruin it all. Or it could completely change everything.

Here's What I Think:

You may recall that I abso-fucking-lutely LOVED Delirium. Also that I've been stalking Lauren Oliver (in my mind only, of course) since reading Before I Fall. So obviously I was completely stoked when Pandemonium, the much anticipated sequel to Delirium, FINALLY came out.
And, of course, Lauren Oliver being the unbelievable author that she is, didn't disappoint this time around either.
Pandemonium starts off with Lena at some school in the present which is really the not-so-distant future because, if you'll remember correctly, last we left Lena she was headed for the Wilds NOT algebra class. The book ping-pongs from chapter to chapter, starting with this future "now," followed by "then" which chronicles Lena's time in the Wilds. It sounds confusing, I know, but give it a few chapters and I promise you'll sink into the story.
Even though this is the sequel to Delirium, it couldn't be more different. Where as the first book was more about falling in love, Pandemonium is more about survival. And while Lena was gutsy in Delirium, this time around she's downright badass. Cos, as it turns out, surviving in the Wilds is tough business, y'all. Especially when you've been sheltered your entire life.
So Lena has to harden herself and toughen up not only to make it through the day to day challenges of her new life but also so she can be ready to seek revenge against the people that took Alex away from her.
While we're on the subject of Alex--- and here's a bit of a SPOILER ALERT and also a mini rant for those that have read Delirium and thus feel my pain--- I CANNOT believe that Lauren Oliver would make us fall so completely butt-crazy in love with Alex only to let him be captured and possibly killed in the sequel! Yes, I know that's how Delirium ended, so I shouldn't be shocked that that's how Pandemonium starts, but I'm an optimist. All those many months anxiously awaiting the release of Pandemonium, my mind turned over the hundreds of thousands of scenarios in which Alex could have escaped, could still be alive, could have made it over the fence and reunited with Lena. But no. He's just gone. AWOL.
Lena thinks about him, sure, but then there's that Julian Fineman fella and that whole "trying to save their lives" thing that occupies her mind a little more. So it was kinda hard for me as an Alex fangirl and a Lena/Alex shipper, to suddenly be Alex-less and having this new guy thrust upon me that I'm supposed to be all swoony over now. But Alex is irreplaceable, y'all. I can't just jump on the Julian train simply because it's currently pulling into the station and my boy Alex is nowhere to be found. I'm completely loyal to my fictitious peeps that way. And crazy. I'm also crazy. ;)
Anyhoodle, other than the Alex withdrawal, Pandemonium is yet another fine feather in Lauren Oliver's awesome-writer cap.
And, my God!, with that ending!, it makes me even more excited for the final book! I can't even begin to imagine how it's all gonna end. But I can't wait to read it!

Swoony Times:

Since swoonypants Alex from Delirium is MIA in Pandemonium (is he dead!? is he imprisoned?! we don't know!) Lena needs a new guy to take her mind off her guilt/grief/sadness/Alex obsession.
Enter Julian Fineman, son of Thomas Fineman, the founder of the Deliria-Free-America organization. And while Julian does sound like a dreamboat being all blue-eyed and blond-haired, and while he does show amazing strength under pressure, and while he does seem to genuinely care about Lena, he's just not Alex. Lena may have been able to move on but I just can't. For me, it's as simple as that. Team Alex 4ever!

Bonus Shizz:

Dystopia!
Dystopias are really hot right now. Sequels to dystopias? Even hotter.
And Pandemonium totally delivers. There's action, adventure, romance, drama. Everything you could possibly want in a futuristic world-gone-to-hell thriller!

Survival Of The Fittest!
The Wilds is a brutal place. You've got to know your shizz in order to survive. Lena's lucky enough to meet people right off the bat that are willing to show her the ropes.
Being a crafty MacGyver-type my damn self, I'm always interested to read about people finding inventive ways to do normal things they can no longer do normally. Plus there's the added bonus of totally preparedness for when that whole zombie apocalypse happens. Y'all come on over. I've got backup generators! :)
(P.S. sorry to tell anyone that hasn't read Lauren Oliver's series yet, but there are no zombies in it. Just an evil corporation that hates love.)

Cliffhanger!
Some people don't care for cliffhangers but I love 'em. And Pandemonium has one hell of a cliffhanger. Obviously I can't (and won't) say more but let me just tell ya--- You. Will. Be. SHOCKED!

If You Liked That, Try This:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Divergent by Veronica Roth.

The Scale Of Judgment Says:

...... 5!
This is Lauren Oliver. Blowing my mind. Yet again.