Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Release Date: July 8, 2014
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 310
Series: n/a
Review Source: eARC for review from publisher through Raincoast Books

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

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?

My Thoughts:
Landline is a gorgeous, funny, and lovely read: exactly what you would expect from a Rainbow Rowell novel. It’s a very emotional novel, one that’s sad and bittersweet in a lot of moments, but mostly it just makes you feel everything. Rainbow’s words wrap me up in knots and they never let me go until the end. Even then there's this connection, these feelings for the people you've spent time reading about.

In Landline, Georgie, our main character, is lost. She’s lost in her marriage, but also a little bit in life. This is a book about priorities, about how we spend our time. It’s about marriage and love and how to reconcile the two. It’s about combining two lives, about staying in love and staying together, even when it might be easier to give up. Landline focuses on all aspects of love and romance, from the little things to the grand gestures, to just plain having to put in the effort. It’s so easy in novels to paint one person as the villain who needs to change, but Rainbow’s writing is more nuanced than that. She writes about people and situations that feel real, which means that both Georgie and Neal are flawed. They both make bad decisions and they both let things go, not having real conversations about their issues.

Also as usual in a Rainbow Rowell novel, Landline features great side characters. There’s Georgie's sister Heather, as well as Georgie and Heather’s flamboyant dog loving mom. Neal and Georgie's daughters steal several scenes, and I especially loved Noomi who meowed like a cat. The plotline of the book is interesting as well, something that could be considered magical realism, considering present-day Georgie spends a lot of the time on a magical telephone talking to Neal in the past.

Basically, Landline is such a lovely, happy, and sweet book, despite all the gut wrenching scenes it took to get there. I can’t say much more than: basically? this book is perfection.

The Cover:
Like! Though I like the UK cover even more.

Rating:
[5/5]

Purchase Links:
Kobo | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Chapters-Indigo | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Return To Me by Justina Chen

Release Date: January 15, 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 352
Series: n/a
Review Source: ARC for review from Hachette Book Group Canada (@HBGCanada)

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
Nothing is going as planned for Rebecca Muir. She's weeks away from starting college--at a school chosen specifically to put a few thousand miles of freedom between Reb and her parents. But her dad's last-minute job opportunity has her entire family moving all those miles with her! And then there's the matter of her unexpected, amazing boyfriend, Jackson, who is staying behind on the exact opposite coast.

And if that isn't enough to deal with, mere days after moving cross-country, Reb's dad drops shocking, life-changing news. With her mother and brother overwhelmed and confused, Reb is left alone to pick up the pieces of her former life. But how can she do that when everything can change in an instant? How can she trust her "perfect" boyfriend when her own dad let her down? Reb started the year knowing exactly what her future would hold, but now that her world has turned upside down, will she discover what she really wants?

Justina Chen, the acclaimed author of North of Beautiful, has created a moving and powerful novel about the struggles that arise from betrayal, the uncertainty of life after high school, and the joy that ultimately comes from discovering what's truly in your heart.

My Thoughts:
‘Return To Me’ is a borderline new adult story, as it deals with life after high school and is about figuring out your dreams and bringing those dreams into reality. If you’re looking for a book that is action-heavy then ‘Return To Me’ might not be the book for you. Justina Chen’s novels are very character based, and this is no exception. It’s really based on Reb’s emotional struggles as she tries to figure out who she is and what her place in life is. The book is very emotionally honest dealing with growing up, having your family fall apart, and learning how to trust both others and yourself. One aspect of the book I found especially interesting was examining the people that you know and/or love, and seeing whether they actually are the person you think they are.

I loved how Reb had a fascination with treehouses: it was a cool and unique detail, and I enjoyed looking through her eyes to see how she viewed things, and how she imagined the spaces she wanted to create for people. I was also intrigued by the bit of magical realism where the women in Reb’s family had types of visions or premonitions that came true. It gave the book a bit of whimsy that you could either take as an exaggeration or accept as a bit of fantasy added in.

The book ties up with an epilogue that I initially debated over whether I thought it was necessary. I liked it, though, because it didn’t tie everything neatly into a bow but it did bring things together and leave me with a sense of hope. Justina Chen is a gorgeous writer who knows how to bring readers on an emotional journey along with her characters. Overall I really enjoyed this examination of family and of self.

The Cover:
It's so simple but pretty -- I really like it.

Rating:
[4/5]

Find Return To Me by Justina Chen on Goodreads, Book Depository, & Amazon.