Book Stats
- Publication Date: 04/14/11
- Publisher: Plume
- Format: ebook
- Pages: 333
- Chapters: 89
- Narrator POV: Third Person POV, focused on Lincoln
Book Rating
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐ / 5
Spice: No spice
Summary & Review
This was my first book by Rainbow Rowell, but I kept seeing her name pop up as a well-known romance author with popular books. I can see why her books are so popular, if they’re anything like this one. The story was unique in the way it was written and the format used. I did really enjoy this different writing style.
The story primarily follows Lincoln, an IT guy who monitors emails every night. His job is to send notices to the staff who are found to be misusing the company email system. Most nights are slow and kind of boring, until he finds himself receiving regularly flagged emails from two best friends, Beth and Jennifer. He enjoys their emails and while they are inappropriate at times, they aren’t harmful. So, he decides not to address them.
Slowly, he starts to develop feelings for Beth after reading her emails and enjoying her humor and the way she cares for her friend. The email exchanges we see between Beth and Jennifer show that Beth is in an unhappy relationship, even if she doesn’t realize it, and Jennifer is dealing with some of her own struggles. They’re just trying to navigate their everyday issues and provide support for each other.
The story overall is uniquely written, but I felt like the romance was fake or forced, maybe? I don’t know. It didn’t feel authentic and I didn’t feel any chemistry between characters. I also felt like the way the ending wrapped up was rushed and things were accepted far too quickly. Maybe that’s just me, but the ending was ultimately the reason I chose to give this 3 stars. It was a solid plot, a unique format, and an interesting concept. But I just didn’t care for the ending or the romance between the main characters.
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