Landline by Rainbow Rowell | Rating: ★★★★★"I think I can live without you," he said, like it was something he’d spent twenty-seven hours think about, "but it won’t be any kind of life."
I really, really wish that Landline had been my first Rainbow Rowell novel. I loved it so, so much — I honestly did. There’s something charming about the entire story, which is pretty funny given that it follows a marriage that is ‘in trouble’, and just… perfect. Lovely. And if you’re looking to read a book by Rainbow, please — please — start with this one.
It’s everything you’ve come to expect from her and more.
Rainbow could have really overdone this story or it could have been lackluster, but the way she told Georgie and Neal’s story was just right. She ties everything up together — magic and all — in a way that makes the story unique and realistic. Her ever present witty dialogue shines in the interactions between Georgie and her family and her best friend, Seth.
And of course in the flashbacks we see from the start of her and Neal’s relationship. You really, really grow to cheer them on in their marriage and hope for the best but I suppose you expect the worst.
Georgie does something incredibly selfish at the start of the novel — selfish in a completely understandable manner, but still selfish — and almost instantaneously it leads us down our plot path. Instead of going to Neal’s mother’s home for Christmas with him and their children, she needs to spend the days leading up to Christmas writing.
