Landline by Rainbow Rowell
My enjoyment rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Hangover rating: 2
Source: Goodreads and St Martin's Press (Other than a free review copy, I was not compensated in any way for my review).
Genre: Fiction
Objectionable material: Multiple Fbombs
Determined to meet her deadline, comedy writer Georgie McCool chooses a meeting with her sitcom co-creator, Seth and studio execs over Christmas with her husband, Neal, and children in Nebraska. The results of her decision lead to a personal downward spiral of doubts, reliving the past, and wondering if her marriage will survive the separation.
Rainbow Rowell is a master at writing relationships -- whether it's teenagers dating (Eleanor & Park), or Twentysomethings (Attachments), or in this case, a married couple experiencing a marital crisis AND a writing partnership on the brink of disaster. With every word and sentence I could totally relate to what the characters were experiencing. Her dialogue is equally outstanding: it's witty, honest, painful.
I also loved her use of the yellow trimline-landline phone that she uses to converse with Neal. So, so clever.
She had equally quirky characters to add to the mix: Georgie's sister Heather, her mother and step father, her mother-in-law and deceased (or is he?) father-in-law; even her mother's beloved pugs are necessary additions to the storyline.
And...for someone who is terrified of flying (me!), she absolutely NAILS the terror a person experiences on an airplane. Just sayin...
I loved two of Rainbow Rowell's previous books, Eleanor & Park, and Attachments (I couldn't finish Fangirl) , and I liked this one too, although not as much as the others. She's very fond of the Fbomb, which felt so unnecessary in the book, almost distracting. And the ending seemed so abrupt. I liked the end...but I felt cheated. I wanted more.
Thanks to Goodreads and St Martin's Press for the preview copy.
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