And Carry On - The Rainbow Rowell Collection - Eleanor & Park

LANDLINE
4.95 STARS
I just can't bring myself to give this book a full 5 stars for two reasons.
1)A few tiny details bothered me.
2)I know this is really bad.... but I didn't like it as much as Fangirl. I'm not really comparing, I just think that they deserve even a minuscule difference in the ratings because I don't feel the same way about Landline as Fangirl.... but I still really loved it.... I'm about to tell you why.....just be patient.

Okay, so I've read all 4 of Rainbow Rowell's books. She is an amazing author! I love how all of her books are different, and you can tell that all the characters aren't carbon copies of each other just placed in another book under a new name. I really like that. In each book there's a new plot, character, world, conflict, and a different feeling.

THE GOOD
1)It's a Rainbow Rowell book- 'nuff said
2)I feel like this book was very realistic. None of the characters were perfect. In fact I was annoyed by every single one of them. Yet I still rooted for all of them. They were human, so life wasn't perfect, their decisions weren't perfect, their outlook might be different than mine, BUT this just made me transport into their shoes. The shoes of another human with different conflicts and emotions than mine.
3)It was a P.O.V. I've never really read from before. A wife and mother. I found it interesting>

THE BAD
1)I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Neal, whereas I usually Love the Love interest with all my heart.
2)I also didn't feel like I'd make the same choices she did. Which didn't make me feel like it usually does. That I am the main character, or someone very similar.

Overall though I would definitely recommend this book, along with every other Rainbow Rowell book!

This book was given to me as an ARC from St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review

Landline did, most unfortunately, not live up to my expectations. When I read about communicating in the past, I thought, WOW! Sadly the book didn't deliver.

Georgie has to stay in LA while Neal and the girls visit his mother in Omaha. A similar separation happened years ago. Suddenly, when Georgie uses the old landline rotary phone to call Neal, the past and the present become entwined.

The idea of a specific kind of phone and phone call taking the characters into the past, is very inventive and imaginative. That, however, is where my fascination with this book stopped.

Throughout the story the reader is immersed in Georgie's doubts, self doubts, fears and uncertainties. She seems, quite understandably, thrown into turmoil by suddenly encountering the Neal of their youth. It takes her rather long to start making positive decisions about said development.

The two positive points in favor of this book is: the clever plot and the truly excellent dialogue. The end is unpredictable and thus urges the reader to continue turning the pages.

For those who like books about relationships with lots of dialogue, Landline may be a very worthwhile and relaxing read. (Ellen Fritz)

Landline is the fourth novel by American author, Rainbow Rowell. L.A. TV comedy writer Georgie McCool has been married to Neal Grafton for fifteen years and has two sweet and adorable daughters, Alice and Noomi. But Georgie knows her marriage is broken. They still love each other, but Neal’s not happy, so how can she be? She’s not sure exactly when it broke, but when Neal takes Alice and Noomi home to his parents in Omaha for Christmas, while Georgie stays behind to work, she wonders if it’s the final straw. Especially when Neal doesn’t answer his cell phone.

With her writing going none too well, lonely, concerned about her marriage and with her own cell phone failing, Georgie ends up at her Mom’s place, in her old bedroom, using the big yellow rotary dial phone to ring the landline in Omaha. And then something strange happens. Something that might just give Georgie a change to fix what’s broken…..

As Georgie worries about her relationship, Rowell has her thinking back to how it all started, thus slowly revealing what was so right about Georgie and Neal, and what went wrong later. Rowell’s characters are appealing despite their flaws: the reader may want to shake a bit of sense into Georgie, but luckily she finds it on her own before it is too late. Neal sounds like a husband many women would covet, and Georgie’s family are amusingly eccentric. This novel is moving and uplifting, a real pleasure to read. 4.5 stars

Landline was enjoyable, but not my favorite book of Rainbow Rowell's. It's a romantic comedy, with a magic component.

The book centers around Georgie, and her complicated relationship with her husband Neil (with whom she has two children). Basically, the two are going through a rough patch, most likely because Neil is feeling unappreciated since Georgie always puts her work first. Georgie is a TV show writer with Seth, her best friend and writing partner of 20 years. The two hate the TV show they write for and get the news that a TV show they've been planning since college might be picked up, provided they get 4 episodes done in the next 9 days..by December 27th. When Georgie tells her husband the news and that she must skip their trip to Omaha to visit his mother for Christmas, Neil decides to go to Omaha without her.

Once Neil up and leaves with the kids, Georgie can't ever reach him on his cell phone. Her kids or Neil's mother will answer, but Neil is always conveniently sleeping or out of the house, or more probably just ignoring her calls because he's mad. Somehow Georgie tries to call Neil's mom's house from the landline is her childhood bedroom at Georgie's mother's house, and she finally reaches Neil, but it's Neil from 1998, when they were in college.

The premise of the book was really interesting and cute, and I liked the "magical phone" element. This was a fast read, and fun and enjoyable for the most part. It really reminded me of Rowell's first book Attachments, another contemporary romance, although I did like Attachments a bit more. The only thing that bothered me about this book was that I wasn't buying the fact that Georgie couldn't reach her husband and was worried her marriage was over. If that were me and I were that worried, I would fly out there to be with my family, or at least text my husband or leave him a voice mail and tell him we needed to speak. Instead, Georgie doesn't do anything. But then she also doesn't really get much work done on her TV series, so it seems to be pointless for her to remain at home. On that note, I also found the whole deadline for the TV scripts a bit unrealistic.. Either buckle down and get the 4 episodes written, or say up front in your TV series pitch that it's Christmas, for Pete's sake, and you can't get it done until the following week. Plus..The day the scripts were due was a Friday. Was someone really going to go into work on a Friday, two days after Christmas, and start doing any work on these scripts? It couldn't have waited until Monday..? And Georgia went several days at one point without even talking to her children. How about checking in??! I felt like the book wanted us to root for Georgie and Neil, but I thought Neil was a jerk right from the start for not answering his phone once he got to Nebraska. Even if he and Georgie got into a fight, be an adult and talk to your wife. It's Christmas-time and you have the kids and she's all alone at home and she's only staying behind because she has the chance of a lifetime and this might finally be her big break.

Anyway, I'm going off on a rant when I don't mean to. I did enjoy the book, despite my frustrations with parts of the storyline. It was a fast and fun read. The story is set in present-day, with many flashbacks sprinkled throughout to when Georgie, Neil, and Seth were all in college together. These flashbacks worked really well to provide some background as present-day Georgie talks on the "magic phone" to college-age Neil. My favorite parts of the story were the flashback scenes to how Georgie and Neil's relationship developed back in college, and I didn't want those parts to ever end. A good, amusing book.

A fictional bit of literature that explores relationships with a bit of "time travel".

My Take
Wow. Wow. Wow. It took a few pages, but Rowell pulled me in and kept me on tenterhooks. I couldn't read fast enough. And I didn't want to read too fast. Partly because I was dreading the outcome, one I was desperate to know.

And that contradiction is so typical of this story as Georgie is at war with herself. … And I can feel you waiting to find out with whom she's at war, lol.

It's love. It's truth. It's a chance to look back and move forward, to discover what's wrong and fix it. To understand what's truly important.

It's only Rowell's second book that I've read, and I am falling in love with her writing. I'm understanding why her books are so well received. She's fast becoming one of the authors on my must-buy list.
"He kissed her like he was drawing a perfectly straight line.

He kissed her in India ink."

I love how she takes ordinary life and makes it more. In this case, it's a switching of the expected role of parents with Mom being the breadwinner and Dad the househusband. A woman who laughs and needs to make people laugh loving a man who doesn't laugh.

It's a great switch, if only because Georgie is the perfect characterization of a "husband": too absorbed in her work, careless of her "wife", an absentee parent whose children love her. Meanwhile, Neal decorates the house, paints murals, cares for their children, cooks, and is relatively patient with Georgie. And Seth is the irritant between them.
"…I want to ruin you for everyone."

Georgie herself is a mess. She never takes time out for what's important. She wants that contact with her family, with Neal, but won't take the time to change out her battery. I think she has one bra, and it's dying. She ignores everything in her life that's not work. And it's symptomatic of her marriage. Still, she is willing to be realistic. To love Neal enough to want him to be happy.

Neal, of course, has his issues. He also has the most beautiful, if unorthodox, way of expressing his love for Georgie.

It's that phone that's so confusing to read about, and it's a well-done bit of writing that reflects how Georgie's feeling about it. Rowell makes us feel what Georgie's feeling. Although I still don't understand the bit about "we'll make our own enough". I'm just not making that connection.

It's comedic, it's tragic, it makes me cry and laugh. I adored it. Me, the queen of wanting it all to be fixed and happily ever after…Landline is so real.

The Story
Georgie is a screenwriter who's always known exactly what she wants: a career as a comedy writer and Neal. Only she only pays attention to her career and her writing partner and best friend: Seth. A man of whom Neal is jealous but accepts because Georgie says he has nothing to worry about.

Now it's been fourteen years in…and it's fourteen years back. She and Seth have the chance to make a nineteen-year dream come true, but it's at the expense of Christmas with her family. Yet another sacrifice…

The Characters
Georgie McCool has wanted to make people laugh forever and loves being a screenwriter. She's also an absentee mom married to Neal Grafton, the cartoonist of the college days Stop the Sun comic strip, an artist studying oceanology who wants nothing to do with a real ocean. A man who doesn't know what he wants. Other than Georgie. Alice and Naomi "Noomi", the best green kitty in the world, are their daughters.

The always-turned-out, womanizing Seth is Georgie's other half, her writing partner. They've been best friends for years. Dawn is Neal's ex-fiancée back in Nebraska.

Scotty is their jokester third. Jeff'd Up is the show for which the three of them currently write. Jeff German is the jerky star of the show while Trev is its break-out star. Pamela is the screenwriters' PA.

Georgie's family
Mom, Liz Lyons, is a serial marrier, each husband getting younger. The current one is Kendrick, three years older than Georgie. Heather Wisner is Georgie's eighteen-year-old sister, "the dog with the least ribbons". Petunia is the pregnant prize-winning pug; I think Porky is the daddy. Alison is the pizza girl. Ludy was Georgie's best friend in high school.

Neal's family
It's actually just Margaret, Neal's mother, as his father, Paul, passed away a few years ago.

Maher Jafari is a network guy who wants a meeting directly after Christmas about Passing Time , the show Georgie and Seth have been batting back and forth since college. Rahul will become a character on the show.

The Spoon was the college The Harvard Lampoon where George meets Seth and Neal. Whit is a fellow student and on The Spoon staff as well.

The Cover and Title
The cover is basic, a greige background with an iconic yellow handset for an old-fashioned rotary telephone. I do love how its black twisted cord unravels to become the title, that chance, that connection, that Landline to Georgie's future.

I really, really love Rainbow Rowell's writing, even as I don't always love her stories. Landline is the fourth Rowell book I've read, and my least favorite story, but the things I love about Rowell's work -- her heartbreakingly relatable characters, her wry humor, the subtle way she shows relationships develop in a series of gestures and events, so that the reader almost falls in love along with the characters -- all of those things are very much present here.

I didn't like this story as well as previous efforts because, although the main character, Georgie, is as real and as relatable as Rowell's other protagonists, I spent the entire book wanting to smack some sense into her.

Georgie's marriage is failing because she doesn't make time for her family amid her work as a comedy writer. Now, as a working mom who is always juggling to find my own "work-life balance," I should have been more sympathetic to Georgie's plight, but no... I just wanted to smack her.

Georgie gets an incredible opportunity to write her own sitcom (along with her long-time writing partner, Seth). The only hitch is that it requires her to work through Christmas. Her husband, Neal, crankily (and a tad passive-aggressively) tells her to stay while he and their girls keep planned travel arrangements to visit his family in Omaha, except he leaves on such bad terms that Georgie can't concentrate on work anyway.

The whole first 260 pages of the book, while Georgie is losing her grip over losing her family, I just wanted to shake her because the solution was so very obvious (and had nothing to do with the magical yellow phone that lets her call and talk to Neal in 1998, before they married): Get your ass to Omaha, Lady! Even as I enjoyed the flashbacks to earlier points in Neal and Georgie's relationship, even as I enjoyed Rowell's exploration of why Neal and Georgie got together and should stay together, I couldn't really relax into the story because Georgie's failure to take the obvious steps necessary to do anything about her present situation made me crazy.

Georgie is and always has been torn between Seth (the writing partner) and Neal, and I didn't really like either man. Don't get me wrong, Neal is hugely romantic and swoony in a Beta-Hero way that works well on the printed page, but I think if I knew him in real life, I'd think he was annoyingly moody and passive-aggressive, and he wouldn't hold nearly the same appeal. Seth is witty and handsome, but totally self-absorbed, and Georgie's tolerance for that far exceeds mine.

Rowell tends to leave a lot of open questions at the conclusion of the book. Some of her endings (Eleanor & Park especially, Fangirl nearly so much) I find unsatisfying in the extreme, because they leave the reader without necessary closure. Luckily, Landline ended in a way that left a lot of things unsettled, but not frustratingly so: I felt like enough had been resolved that the conclusion felt natural and believable.

It pains me to say it, but I have found a Rainbow Rowell book that I am sadly not head-over-heels in love with. Landline is a fine book, but when compared to Rowell’s previous work, it just doesn’t match up, from the characters to the prose. To be fair, I would never normally pick up a book with a synopsis like Landline, since books about people struggling with their marriage don’t really interest me, especially when there are kids involved. However, Rowell has managed to make me fall in love with premises I’ve side-eyed before(namely, Attachments), so I gave it a shot.

I don’t really read Rainbow Rowell’s books for plot–I read them for the writing and the characters. However, Landline completely subverted that. I found myself more interested in the plot and the idea of the magical phone than the characters and their problems. Unfortunately, Landline suffered from the fact that I found all the secondary characters infinitely more interesting than Georgie and Neal, especially Neal. I’m not sure if that was because of the narrative distance on Neal(after all, for most of the story Georgie is talking to a Neal in the past, not a Neal in the future).

In fact, I found the past much more interesting in the future, since in the flashbacks to college Georgie seemed dynamic and interesting and Neal seemed sweet, though still rather flat. Rowell is normally so good about writing chemistry between her romantic leads, and Georgie and Neal’s relationship wasn’t exactly flat but it didn’t sizzle or spark either. I’ve always appreciated the realness of Rowell’s romance so I wasn’t expecting flashy or perfect, but everything just seemed so mundane. I didn’t even know if I wanted to root for Georgie and Neal.

I did appreciate the work the characters had to put into their relationship, something that isn’t always portrayed realistically in fiction. I wanted to want them to work out, but there was never that pull while I was reading. Partially I think this was due to the nature of the story–so much of it takes place with Georgie and Neal talking over the phone, and that can only be so compelling, which might also be a reason I thought the college flashbacks were just more interesting and better written.

The one aspect I really enjoyed of Landline was the magic phone. I was skeptical of this not-quite-time-travel device until about halfway through, but I *did* like the situations present-Georgie and past-Neal found themselves in. I thought it would be waved away in the end, and while there’s no in-depth details of how the phone works, I found myself not being bothered by it because of the role it played in the story.

Unfortunately, Landline didn’t really do it for me, mostly because the characters seemed to really lack any spark. The relationship dynamic explored was interesting, but while reading I felt like I was observing it in a very detached, clinical way, like the way I might feel if I was examining some scientific specimen under a microscope in my 10th grade biology class.

I just love Rainbow Rowell. What is this book? It's just a cheesy romance story. That's really all it is. But she injects such fun little humor into it. And her characters: I always love her characters. Even the minor ones. Even the unlikable ones. Because they are so genuine. This book was a little different though--it isn't a teen novel, it's about middle-aged people. And I may not be quite middle-aged, but I'm closer to that than being a teen, and so I appreciated a lot of the plot in this. I FEEL it on a daily basis; the humdrum that is sometimes marriage, the feelings on unfairness between spouses, the changes in the relationship, and, most importantly, how desperately important marriage is, how much a part of our being it is. And she nailed that. I love it.

Oh, I hate being the black sheep. And I love Rainbow Rowell’s writing, so that makes it all the more disappointing.

Landline explores the issues of a marriage after years of being together. Most romance books are about falling in love, finding your soul mate and a happily ever after. Landline goes beyond that and tells us about the unhappiness and dullness that a couple faces after being together for almost 17 years. It’s not about gestures and romance anymore, it’s simply about trying to communicate your problems with each other, and remembering why you got together in the first place, which is what Georgie does.

Magical realism is something that never sits well with me, if only for the disbelief that you have to suspend while reading about strange magical occurrences that happen in real life. More often than not, why this occurs is never explained, or it doesn’t fit well with the story. That’s part of why Landline wasn’t for me, because Georgie talks to her husband from 17 years ago through a magical phone and we never get answers as to why or how. Even Georgie herself thinks she’s going crazy, but after questioning it herself, she just went with it.

Another reason why Landline wasn’t for me, was because I didn’t like Neal. He was cool, calm and collected, and expressed his dissatisfaction with Georgie’s actions in a passive aggressive way – which drives me insane. Even while Georgie was falling in love with him, it seemed like she did all the work and I never really felt like he was anything special. He storms off with their kids to spend Christmas with his parents, and doesn’t call Georgie throughout the entire novel, despite her leaving endless messages to him. This was never really resolved, I know if it was me I would be really angry. I did admire how Neal wasn’t the typical romance hunk which is always unrealistic; Rainbow Rowell’s males are always flawed in some way.

I shipped the best friend, Seth, with Georgie, because at least he seemed to be there when she needed her. And even though life doesn’t always work out the way we wanted it to, it kind of made us think of what if.

Landline ends on a somewhat sudden note that left me thinking – was that all? So many unresolved thoughts and feelings, and actions. I know the message that the author was trying to achieve – that perfection doesn’t happen and that things are never going to resolve yourself if you never try or communicate – but I wanted answers.

Landline will take us through a journey of rediscovering a marriage after things go sour. It’s a thought provoking read about life and relationships in general, however, the magical realism, the husband I couldn’t relate to and the unresolved answers made it fall flat for me.

Check out Happy Indulgence for more reviews at happyindulgencebooks.com

4.5 stars

After finishing A Knight in Shining Armor the other day and having issues with the time travel element I was hesitant to start Landline. Yes it is not really time travel, but the whole premise is present day Georgie talks with Neal in the past which is similar enough that it made me pause before starting it. I still jumped in because, well it is Rainbow Rowell and I tend to enjoy her books. I am so glad I did. This book was really a great story and the time travel like elements actually worked. By the end I was just like thank you for making this story make sense! So yes, thank you Rainbow Rowell for not making this one of those stories that explodes my head a little because it doesn't make sense.

Georgie is a comedy writer with her best friend. They work on TV shows with the dream of one day having their own show they can write themselves. Well as luck would have it they have a meeting to sell their show just after Christmas! Yey for Georgie, not yey for her family. Everyone was supposed to go to Nebraska for Christmas with Neal's (the husband) family. Well, now Georgie can't go, but Neal decides to go anyways with the kids and leave Georgie behind. It was a really interesting read as you can see Georgie's point of view, but not Neal's. Georgie feels like she needs Neal and the kids more than they need her. Neal and the kids are this package and she is the outsider almost. It was really interesting to see her view of everything.

Throughout the story you also get the backstory of how Neal and Georgie got together. I loved that. Neal is so odd in such a good way in this book. They just seemed to work even though Georgie now thinks it might have been better for him had they never gotten married. Neal might have been happier without her even though she cannot imagine not having him. She needs him, but he doesn't need her. Well she starts staying with her mom while Neal is away and she uses the landline to call him at his parents. She quickly realizes she is not talking to present day Neal, but past Neal where he went back to Nebraska by himself for Christmas again. At the time Georgie had thought Neal broke up with her, but on Christmas day that year he came back and proposed. At first Georgie thinks she is crazy, losing her mind as how can she talk to someone in the past? Then she figures maybe she needs to change what happened. Maybe things shouldn't have happened the way they did. It was really fun to read her trying to figure all of this out and see her connect with Neal again. It was kind of obvious what would happen at the end, but it was still fun getting there.

Thankfully when you get to the end it all makes sense. There is none of this time travel not working things like most time travel books. It all works out and everyone is happy. Well most everyone. It really was a great read and I really enjoyed it.

This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland

Goodreads Description- 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 beside the point now.

Maybe that was always beside 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?

Interesting take on time travel but through a magic phone in which Georgie can talk to her husband, but her husband in 1998 before he was even engaged to her. Georgie's marriage is in trouble because she devotes a great deal of time to her work and decides not to go with Neal, her husband, back to Omaha for Christmas because she has a timeline crunch to work on a new sitcom that they are getting ready for production. Georgie is always putting work before her family and Neal is fed up and goes to Omaha without her. When Georgie realizes that her mother's landline is a magic phone that reaches Neal in 1998, Georgie must choose if she has to fix her mistakes and save her marriage or let it go and let Neal be happy.

The story is well written but moves pretty slow. The book has very high ratings but I didn't see anything in the story that really deserved more than 3 stars. Maybe I just wasn't really into the story. I didn't find the characters fully developed and would have liked to know more about some of the other character's backstory's especially Seth's, who is Georgie's writing partner and best friend. Their relationship seems to get in the way of Georgie's marriage and Neal is definitely jealous of Seth but I would like to know more about the origins of Georgie's relationship with Seth and if there is more that sets of Neal's jealousy other than their working together, because the author definitely hinted that there was more going on in that relationship but she left it to open to interpretation. I will probably check out more of Rowell's other books because they are so popular, but as far as this book is concerned, I didn't see what the big deal was. 3 stars.

Countless people have told me that reading a Rainbow Rowell book was a special experience and you know what? They were right.

LANDLINE is one of those books that even now trying to come up with the words required to convey the love I have for it seems like an impossible task. But you know I like to prattle on so I shall do my best!

Landline is the story of a lady with quite possibly the most awesome name ever - Georgie McCool. Married with two kids and a pretty successful career as a screenwriter, Georgie and writing partner Seth are on the verge of their big Prime Time break. Trouble is - Christmas is just around the corner and Georgie's long suffering husband Neal and kids are looking forward to a break in Omaha when Georgie breaks the news that she can't go. When Neal packs himself and the kids off on a plane and leaves Georgie by herself, she realises that maybe her priorities are skewed. Staying with her mum in her old childhood home for the holidays, Georgie discovers that the old rotary phone in her bedroom is a direct line to Neal...in the past. As Georgie chats to her husband of times past she realises she has a chance to fix her marriage before it all goes wrong. Will Georgie make things right in time or is it true about the past - you really can't go back?

Oh Landline! How much do I love thee? Let me count the ways! Landline was just a bundle of emotions for me. From the get-go as Georgie comes home from work and we witness a regular domestic scene with her husband and kids to the gut-wrenching moment she's left alone wondering if she made the right decision, Landline evoked all the feels for me.

Georgie was such a real character, one I both sympathised and screamed at in equal measure. Caught between two worlds like so many working mothers, every effort, every mistake is tinged with guilt at never fully getting it right. As the years have passed, juggling career and home life, things inevitable start to slip and as Neal picks up the slack with his quiet and capable nature, Georgie loses sight as to what is truly important. As we follow her through the book we see her slowly come to terms with the fact that you can never take anything for granted especially other people and her last-ditch efforts to make things right. Her conversations with past Neal are tinged with the desperate sadness of a person lost in nostalgia that must now dig themselves
out of their hole of mistakes and fight for what's important.

I adored Neal but like Georgie there were times I wanted to scream at him. I could fully understand his frustrations with her but his unwillingness to voice his concerns out loud instead behaving at times in a passive aggressive way is another example of how easy it is for a relationship to devolve if both parties aren't willing to step up to the plate and recognise their own faults.

This book teaches valuable lessons about relationships and in particular the vital need to communicate. Without it, little problems become big resentments, and even the strongest relationships can fade away into nothingness and it breaks my heart because in reality this happens every day. Rowell's vivid and startling portrayal of marriage at its highest and lowest ebbs is a triumph and one that will not be forgotten.

Such a beautiful read with emotion seeping through every line, Landline is an eye-opening, sweet and honest look at relationships and the work it takes to succeed. Quietly heartbreaking at times yet always imbued with hope; this book is a delicately written and mesmerising story about love and one I highly recommend.

Thoughts:

My review on Landline has so many beginnings that it would be seemingly impossible to fashion them together into one articulate review!

So. . .

For starters, Georgie McCool. . .genius, right? Georgie is a wife and mommy to two of the most adorable little girls I have come across in a novel. Georgie is torn between her three passions in life: writing television scripts with her best friend Seth, her college sweetheart Neal, and finding time to give to her little girls Alice and Noomi (Naomi). But, Georgie is just one person, she is confined into a strict work schedule, is required to meet deadlines despite what those last-minute commitments might entail, she barley has enough time in her day to fulfill her `wifely' duties, and at times even goes nights without saying good night to her little darlings because of her hectic work hours!

So, throughout the story, we come to unravel that Georgie is pretty much a hot mess. She is constantly on the go, forgetful, career driven, is relentless when it comes to getting what she wants, she is in a sense, extremely high maintenance; always aiming for the stars. But as my very good friend Augustus Waters once said, "The world is not a wishing factory," that is when the black swan swims into the story, and Georgie's world comes crumbling down.

Which brings me to my next possible beginning. The tone of the story.

| The disappointments and joys of marriage |

There were so many personal convictions that I came to grips with in this story; specifically, while prying into Georgie and Neal's telephone conversations. I really liked how Rowell made the exchange between Georgie and Neal engaging and relatable. In truth, the landline conversations were what made the entire story interesting and addicting. Georgie and Neal's views on love and marriage struck deeply in me, and I felt a strong connection in their controverting discussions. Here is one of my favorite telephone conversations between the two:

"I'll be better to you, Neal." She steadied herself against the bed. "I won't take you for granted."
"You don't take me for granted."
"Yes," she said, "I do."
"You just get caught up-"
"I take for granted that you'll be there when I'm done doing whatever it is I'm doing. I take for granted that you'll love me no matter what."
"You do?"
"Yes. Neal, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be sorry," he said. "I want you to take that for granted. I will love you no matter what."
"Don't say that. Take it back."
"No."
"Take it back."
"You're crazy," he said. "No."
"If you say that, it's like you're telling me that all the insensitive things I do are okay. It's like you're just handing me `no matter what.' You're pre-pardoning me."
"That's what love is, Georgie. Accidental damage protection."

Landline goes on to combine other essential themes into the story, like:

Giving into the Mundane Life in Marriage
The Importance in Keeping the Spark Alive
The Unavoidable Sacrifices a Marriage Demands
The Consequences of Taking Our Loved Ones for Granted
Measuring the Important Things in Life
Out of those, one really stood out to me: The Dangers of a Mundane Life in Marriage.

I realized through Georgie's journey, that in marriage/parenthood/sometimes work, the inevitable happens: you lose freedoms, you lose comforts, life consumes you even more, you lose your physical appearance, you sometimes misplace your identity, you neglect yourself and often times your loved ones; All-Very-Real-Crossroads. Even more, I came to recognize through Neal's response in the story, that these turning points can greatly affect every area of our lives; our happiness, our approach towards marriage, our children, life in general.

In all seriousness, after each chapter, I literally found myself crawling into my Ben's arms, burying my face in his chest, and just whispering soft "I love you's." I remember a few late evenings, where we sat at the dinner table, with our cup of hot tea, recollecting the forgotten memories of the nights we used to stay up till the wee hours of the night, just because we couldn't hang up and say good-bye.

In the end, Landline posed more questions than answers, and more uneasiness than entertainment, but all things aside, I really enjoyed the story. This is a brilliant novel and it deserves the praise it has received.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW:

I found Rebecca Lowman's narration in Landline to be a bit grim and flat in some scenes. Which is surprising because, Lowman has a beautiful tone to her voice. Lowman's overtone however worked wonderfully in the parts where Neal and Georgie talk on the telephone; she certainly sets the mood. In addition to Lowman's steady pace narrative, I felt that Lowman embraced Georgie's character well; her personality came through and I was convinced. I was also impressed with the transitional voice overs from male to female.

On its own, Landline audiobook is satisfactory and the overall production was good, but I felt I connected with the characters more in reading the book than listening to the audio.

In a Nutshell:

» Rainbow Rowell's writing is sound and fresh; her story telling was moving

» A quirky, painful, romantic, thought-provoking novel; for it being my first Rowell read, I was impressed

» While Landline is tagged under Young Adult, I feel married couples (especially those with children) would enjoy this novel more; it would be most relatable to this people group. Although, young adults could take some lessons from the story

» The message of the novel was, in my opinion, the beauty and pain sacrificial love brings into light. In the end, love is a choice, not a feeling.

» The novel's mood reminded me of those found in, The Devil Wears Parada, 13 Going on 30, Ugly Betty; it had that spunky feel to it which I really liked. I could totally see this novel made into a film adaptation; it would be so cool too!

» I enjoyed this book a lot; it entertained. There was a reasonable amount of swearing as well as a heavy amount of religious profanities for my taste, but other than that, I would recommend this book

3 THINGS I LIKED

+ Everything that revolves around Neal and Georgie together; their relationship, their life struggles, their love story, their little girls, the dialogue between the two which shined throughout the story. The way Georgie realizes how much she still loves Neal while conversing with Past Neal. Neal's love for Georgie which is conveyed through a selfless approach. Still, I feel I liked Neal's character more, he is levelheaded, composed, self-assured and just aware about everything; he was a safe haven when the plot of the story got wobbly and emotional

+ The fantastic idea of using a "magical phone!" It totally worked; in fact, the yellow rotary telephone and it's time travel element is what made the magnitude of the conflict between Neal and Georgie funny and amusing. I kept looking forward to the calls to Past Neal. Wouldn't it be grand if we could find a magical phone of our own and give our past a jingle!?

+ Heather. Georgie's half-sister was another character who kept me entertained. The sisterly relationship between the two and their hilarious dialogue was spot on. It reminded me so much of my own personal relationship with my sister and I appreciated the laughs and smiles

3 THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE

- I don't like the negative feedback the novel is sparking as far as the whole "feminist movement" goes. Look, there is nothing wrong with a woman choosing a career over a homemaking lifestyle as long as there is a father at home taking care of the family, but at the same time, there is nothing wrong with a woman choosing her family over a career. The main issue is the happiness and well-being of the family as a whole. And if a woman should choose to relinquish her career in order to save her marriage, and the stability of her household, then more power to her! Also, can we step away from the whole, gender equality motif and look at how much Neal sacrificed? Which brings me to my next point, Neal never asked Georgie to give up her career, it was never mentioned in the story

- I was deeply annoyed and frustrated with Georgie's character. She just came across as shallow, immature, needy, self-absorbed and egocentric. I especially found it incredibly disturbing when, after choosing to back out of her family Christmas vacation, all because of this once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity, she failed to accomplish the task! It just felt like all the unnecessary pain and drama was in vain and could have been avoided, but then that would mean that we wouldn't have a novel right?

- Okay, so just as I really liked the idea of a "magic phone" getting thrown into a weighty plot of a story, the magical element also felt disjointed and confusing. We get no clear logic as to how the time travel/talking to Past Neal works; a little more magic could have been thrown into this bowl no?

MEMORABLE QUOTES
' "I love you more than I hate everything else."

' "Nobody's lives just fit together. Fitting together is something you work at. It's something you make happen - because you love each other."

' "Georgie. You cannot be jealous of Dawn-that's like the sun being jealous of a lightbulb."

' "How does anyone ever know whether love is enough? It's an idiotic question. Like, if you fall in love, if you're that lucky, who are you to even ask whether it's enough to make you happy?"

' "How could she ever doubt that he loved her? When loving her was what he did better than all the things he did beautifully?"

' "What happened to you?" Seth was out of his chair and circling her. "You look like Britney Spears, back when she was dating backup dancers and walking around gas stations barefoot."

No violence: mention of the death of a loved one, but no violence
Heavy Profanities & Religious Profanities: heavy use of religious profanities such as God/Jesus/Damn/Christ. As well as, words heard on local television and radio stations; especially the "f word"
Mild sensual/sexual content: The main characters in this story are 18+; some sexual innuendo, very few passionate kissing scenes, sex out of marriage, minor sexual dialogue; no sexual explicit details
Mature subjects/themes include, but are limited to: Adult drinking, death of a loved one, martial strife, divorce, separation, homosexual implications

Have you read this book? What were your thoughts?

Read more http://livingonborroweddays.com/2014/09/22/sparrows-book-review-landline-rainbow-rowell/

I finished this audio book a while ago and while the story is still pretty fresh in my mind, I wanted to share my thoughts.

Landline, takes place over a few days around Christmas. 30-something, Georgie McCool, the main character, tells her husband Neal that she can’t join the family who plan to visit Neal’s mother in Omaha because she has just ten days to work on her new television sitcom project with her writing partner Seth in LA. Her husband, Neal, isn’t any too happy, they argue and he then decides to go anyway with their two daughters. The minute they leave for the airport, Georgie begins wondering whether their marriage is over.

Georgie is so upset she isn’t getting much work done so she goes to her mother’s house in a town close by and camps out in her old bedroom, which is now a trophy room for her show dogs. Anxious to talk to Neil, she finds her cellphone dead, but an old rotary “landline” phone still in her closet from her teen days saves the day. She plugs the phone into the jack and calls Neil’s mother’s house. Neil’s deceased dad answers the phone and they talk. Georgie is sure that she is going crazy, but after talking to Neil she begins to realize that the magical “landline” phone is a link to the past –fifteen years past. Their conversations provide insight into where their marriage took some bad turns.

Is this marriage doomed? Or will the magical phone save the relationship?

I was a huge fan of Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor and Park and was anxious to try this one as well. I found the writing both funny and touching, especially when she captures her characters when they are clearly not thinking straight. This story is all about communication and how important it is to make a marriage work. For me, the whole “landline” magical phone was a bit much at times, but in the end it made the story fall into place with fairly good results. The audiobook was read by Rebecca Lowman, who did an outstanding job –even with Neal’s voice. This book will not appeal to all Rowell fans I suspect, but it’s still worth a try.

3.5/5 stars

REVIEWED BY KINDLE GAL (originally posted on Kindles & Wine Book Blog)

There is something beautifully captivating about Rainbow Rowell`s writing style. If you've read her before, you know exactly what I mean. If you haven't, seriously, what are you waiting for?

LANDLINE is adult fiction. I only point this out because some people might go into it thinking it's another one of her young/new adult titles. It's not. It's also not exactly a romance. Yet, it completely is.

Georgie McCool (which is going down in history as the best character name ever) is juggling a dream job opportunity with the needs of her family, of her husband, at Christmastime. The story is told from Georgie's point of view, and through flashbacks and conversations she has on a "magical" landline with a past version of her husband, two things become clear: (1) this opportunity is rare and everything she and her writing partner, Seth, have been working toward their whole careers; and (2) if Georgie and Neal's marriage falls apart, Georgie will too.

For me, this ended up being a powerful story about love, marriage, and second chances. I really loved the concept behind the magic phone. I think everyone has regrets or moments in time they wish they could rewind and do over. Georgie is somehow given a chance to talk to Neal from fifteen years ago at another critical time in their relationship before they were engaged. And the stakes are seemingly high. She has no idea if she might lose him forever because of these conversations (what if his 1998 self never proposes?), or in spite of them.

I thought LANDLINE had the perfect balance of realism and idealism to it. It didn't go all Back to the Future with the magic phone (although there is a mention or two of Marty McFly). Instead, it was used as a tool to see the disconnect between college Neal's and present-day Georgie's views on love and its complications.

There were so many truths about love and marriage in this book, I ran out of Post-it notes flagging them all. Here are just a few examples:

"Just because you love someone," she said, "that doesn't mean your lives will fit together."

"Nobody's lives just fit together," Neal said. "Fitting together is something you work at. It's something you make happen--because you love each other."

* * *

Wasn't that the point of life? To find someone to share it with?

And if you got that part right, how far wrong could you go? If you were standing next to the person you loved more than everything else, wasn't everything else just scenery?

* * *

Having kids sent a tornado through your marriage, then made you happy for the devastation. Even if you could rebuild everything just the way it was before, you'd never want to.

---------

Overall, this story was darker in tone than I'd expected, but there were still some quirky relationships and moments that were trademark Rowell. I especially enjoyed the banter in the writer's room at Georgie's work; I loved everything about Georgie's 18-year-old sister, Heather; and there were plenty of references to feed my child-of-the-'80s soul. ☺

On the flip side, there was a point where the story began to drag a little, and I struggled a bit with the stoicism of Neal's character. I'm also not sure if this book will resonate as strongly with readers who have never been in a long-term relationship. This isn't a story about falling in love; it's about staying in love.

Although LANDLINE was not my favorite Rowell read (which is still Fangirl), her writing style never fails to draw me in and keeps me turning the pages (literally!).

BOTTOM LINE
LANDLINE wasn't exactly the kind of read I was expecting. It was heavier (darker), but I still enjoyed it. If you like unconventional love stories, give this one a try, especially if you are a Rainbow Rowell fan.

RATING: B

NOTE: I received a review copy of this title courtesy of the publisher.

Finally! I can now say I've read something from the much loved and discussed Rainbow Rowell. And I understand the hype after reading Landline, her latest novel.

Landline follows Georgie, a hardworking comedy writer with a new break in her career, and a loving (but stressed) stay-at-home husband. And all during the busy holiday season. During the initial set up I had my doubts, but I liked Rowell's deviations from certain clichés that I had already expected to see. Georgie is a comedy writer for one thing, which I found to be especially endearing as a comedy nerd myself (I'm tired of the usual rom-com casts of bakers, architects, journalists, etc...). But she's working so hard because she loves what she does, even if she comes home tired most nights.

Landline isn't about a woman trying to decide between a career and a family. I feel that Rainbow consciously worked against this, in which she was successful. It's about remembering who is there for you through it all, and trying your best to do your best for them. Having been in a long distance relationship with my boyfriend while I was at school, I could easily relate to the frustration on both sides. There were times when it felt like life was getting in the way of our happiness, but what I didn't realize then was just how normal it all was. And as absurdly corny as it sounds, love isn't easy. But hearing that kind of sentiment all your life doesn't make a big difference until you actually have to work through the hard parts yourself. It takes an unusual catalyst for Georgie to reflect on her relationship and what it means to her, but it's equally fun and insightful.

A quick one, but with a few surprises, Landline is a sweet summer read (despite the season-- But hey, Christmas in July, right?).

Christmas. Magic phones. A marriage in trouble. A comedic writer. I know what you're thinking, one of these things just doesn't belong. But actually it does. It's the plot for Rainbow Rowell's latest adult novel. Now I've only read Rainbow's young adult books. Which I happen to really love. Rainbow really knows how to write realistic fiction. When I read her books, I actually could imagine her character's situations occurring in real life. So of course when I got to the "magic phone" aspect of Landline, I literally said out loud, "What the hell is going on?" If I actually read the synopsis of the book, I probably wouldn't have been so shocked. But as I've mentioned in other reviews, if I am a fan of an author. I don't bother reading the book description.

When I realized that this magic phone business was indeed real, and not just me misreading. I went on Goodreads to see if this was a paranormal book. It's not. But I must say this phone business is really cool, and it really got me thinking. But before that I want to talk about the characters. Landline centers around Georgie McCool. Georgie is a sitcom writer. She's married with two kids. She's guilty of doing what many people do. She puts her job first. She loves her husbands and her kids dearly, as the novel progresses you can really see how much she loves them. But her job just pulls her in. And her husband Neal is sick of it. Especially after Georgie cancels Christmas with her family for work. As I mentioned before Rainbow is really good at realistic fiction, you don't get a plot more realistic than this. We're all guilty of letting something dictate our lives. Whether it be school, work, or something else.

After Georgie is unable to get in contact with Neal on his cellphone, and her cellphone is malfunctioning. She decides to use her parent's old landline phone. And after a series of events, realizes that she has been communicating with Neal, but Neal from 1998! Now here's a quick story. I am younger than Georgie, so my 1998 self was pretty much boyband obsessed. Particularly the Backstreet Boys. Go ahead and laugh. But this book got me thinking of my older self, and how carefree I was back then. I love how this book makes me think. It makes you think about your past, and it makes you think about things that you may have taken for granted. The lessons that Georgie learns, are things that everyone who reads this book can benefit from.

I think I enjoyed the storytelling the most in this story. Even without the phone calls, Georgie provides the readers with numerous flashbacks into her and Neal's life. And I admit, I have a huge crush on Neal. And he's not your stereotypical love interest either. He's not described as the best looking guy. He's quiet and he rarely laughs. He's just so real. I feel like I could meet both Georgie and Neal walking down the street. I know I have said numerous times that Rainbow is great at realism, but that's because it's true. I can gush all day about how she develops her characters. This is a book that has you rooting for romance. And hoping that it's not too late to change things. That it's okay to ask for forgiveness, but you have to work for it. You have to take a chance, and fix things.

Thinking of Landline brought me great memories. I remember the rotary phone that my grandparents had in the early 90s. It baffles me that kids today will never use one of these. I don't know if this was Rainbow's intent to make her readers reminisce. But this book definitely brought good feelings for me.

I absolutely loved Rainbow Rowell's YA books Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, but I still tried to keep my expectations low for Landline, since this is adult fiction and bound to be different from the YA Rainbow Rowell has written. Thankfully, that wasn't necessary, because I loved Landline too! It's definitely different from Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, but it's amazing in its own way.

I just love Rainbow Rowell's writing. Her humor shines through in this novel, making the whole book entirely pleasant to read. But even though it's accurate, I don't think "pleasant" is giving Rainbow Rowell enough credit - her writing is also poignant and thought-provoking. Despite all of these marriage issues not really being something I'm concerned with at the moment, the novel did make me think a lot about relationships and love and life and all that good stuff. Rainbow Rowell's writing is just so engaging and entertaining and poignant and perfect.

I loved Georgie's voice and character. This goes along with Rainbow Rowell's writing style, but I loved the narrator's humor and self-deprecating way of speaking. Georgie is so easy to relate to, and I really felt for her. I loved the secondary characters, too: Seth, Georgie's mom, and Heather all have really entertaining stories that contribute a lot to the main plot. The only character that I didn't really get to know is Neal, which is kind of problematic, since he's kind of the second most important character, but also makes sense because the novel is about Georgie and Neal spending time apart.

If anyone else had written the plot, the time travel-esque thing would have probably seemed cliched and kind of ridiculous. But Rainbow Rowell's writing makes it work: everything about the magic phone seemed realistic (even though it's obviously not), and I loved reading about it. I really enjoyed the rest of the plot, too, and loved getting to see the two periods in their relationship play out at the same time. The only thing I didn't love was the ending: it just seemed a little too perfect and happy for me. Then again. I wouldn't have wanted the story to end any other way, so I guess I can't complain.

Landline didn't speak to me quite as much as Rainbow Rowell's YA novels did, but I did really enjoy it. Landline is an equally entertaining and thought-provoking story that will undoubtedly bring a smile to your face. If you haven't read anything by Rainbow Rowell, that needs to change right now, and I can't wait to see what she writes next!

Although I did enjoy this book, it wasn't my favorite Rainbow Rowell book. I had quite a few problems with it, mainly I just didn't like the characters or their love story. It had a few adorable moments, but I just didn't find myself rooting for them. I did however like the message the novel sends. Overtime we get so consumed by our daily lives that we tend to assume our spouses will always be there at the end of the day, no matter what. This story is about what happens when a spouse forgets that it takes two people to make a marriage work. I just kind of wanted to slap Georgie half of the time, I just couldn't believe someone was that oblivious to how unhappy her husband was. And i really didn't like Neal in the flashbacks to the beginning of their relationship, he just really annoyed me! I do love Rowell's writing, even though I had issues with the characters her writing saved the novel for me.

First of all, I pretty much worship Rainbow Rowell. Her books make my heart flutter. Her main characters are usually highly flawed, but your love them anyway. Her book boyfriends are so ordinary, but there is something about that that makes them extraordinary.

Neal is no exception. "Because he's short and fat and hobbity." Rainbow Rowell describes Neal as the cartoon hobbit, but Georgie cannot take her eyes off of him when she first met him. (Okay, so after they get married he starts cycling and gets rid of his hobbity physique.) Neal is actually quite disagreeable, and doesn't like much. "I love you more than I hate everything else." BUT... He loves Georgie. Neal is her prince charming. He just does things for her, like stay in California even though he would rather be in Nebraska.

Landline is not a traditional love story. Okay, so you can tell that Neal and Georgie love each other. You even get to learn how they fall in love, but their love is not the easy kind. Georgie is obsessed with work and chooses to stay at home for a work assignment while her family family visits Neal's hometown over Christmas. Georgie can't seem to get a hold of Neal on his cell phone, so she turns to her parent's landline. Something weird happens when Neal answers the phone on the other end. It's the Neal from college before kids and marriage. Georgie is in the present talking to the Neal from the past. It's the Neal who broke up with her all those years ago because he didn't want to live in California. Georgie gets a chance to fix her marriage before it's even started and fix it now that it seems like it's about to end.

Will she make the right choice or is this her chance to change fate?

This book is so strange. Seriously strange, but in a good what-in-the-hell kind of way. Georgie was obsessed with the landline and thought she was going crazy. She won't change her clothes and freakishly hangs out at her parent's house. And, I can totally understand where she is coming from... I have this reoccurring dream where I call my husband and he never answers the phone. It makes you kind of crazy.

That being said, I don't regret reading this book. It gave me some perspective. Sometimes, a marriage just doesn't go great. It doesn't mean you should give up and it doesn't mean you don't love that person.

Oh, I hate being the black sheep. And I love Rainbow Rowell’s writing, so that makes it all the more disappointing.

Landline explores the issues of a marriage after years of being together. Most romance books are about falling in love, finding your soul mate and a happily ever after. Landline goes beyond that and tells us about the unhappiness and dullness that a couple faces after being together for almost 17 years. It’s not about gestures and romance anymore, it’s simply about trying to communicate your problems with each other, and remembering why you got together in the first place, which is what Georgie does.

Magical realism is something that never sits well with me, if only for the disbelief that you have to suspend while reading about strange magical occurrences that happen in real life. More often than not, why this occurs is never explained, or it doesn’t fit well with the story. That’s part of why Landline wasn’t for me, because Georgie talks to her husband from 17 years ago through a magical phone and we never get answers as to why or how. Even Georgie herself thinks she’s going crazy, but after questioning it herself, she just went with it.

Another reason why Landline wasn’t for me, was because I didn’t like Neal. He was cool, calm and collected, and expressed his dissatisfaction with Georgie’s actions in a passive aggressive way – which drives me insane. Even while Georgie was falling in love with him, it seemed like she did all the work and I never really felt like he was anything special. He storms off with their kids to spend Christmas with his parents, and doesn’t call Georgie throughout the entire novel, despite her leaving endless messages to him. This was never really resolved, I know if it was me I would be really angry. I did admire how Neal wasn’t the typical romance hunk which is always unrealistic; Rainbow Rowell’s males are always flawed in some way.

I shipped the best friend, Seth, with Georgie, because at least he seemed to be there when she needed her. And even though life doesn’t always work out the way we wanted it to, it kind of made us think of what if.

Landline ends on a somewhat sudden note that left me thinking – was that all? So many unresolved thoughts and feelings, and actions. I know the message that the author was trying to achieve – that perfection doesn’t happen and that things are never going to resolve yourself if you never try or communicate – but I wanted answers.

Landline will take us through a journey of rediscovering a marriage after things go sour. It’s a thought provoking read about life and relationships in general, however, the magical realism, the husband I couldn’t relate to and the unresolved answers made it fall flat for me.

Check out Happy Indulgence for more reviews at happyindulgencebooks.com

4.5 stars

After finishing A Knight in Shining Armor the other day and having issues with the time travel element I was hesitant to start Landline. Yes it is not really time travel, but the whole premise is present day Georgie talks with Neal in the past which is similar enough that it made me pause before starting it. I still jumped in because, well it is Rainbow Rowell and I tend to enjoy her books. I am so glad I did. This book was really a great story and the time travel like elements actually worked. By the end I was just like thank you for making this story make sense! So yes, thank you Rainbow Rowell for not making this one of those stories that explodes my head a little because it doesn't make sense.

Georgie is a comedy writer with her best friend. They work on TV shows with the dream of one day having their own show they can write themselves. Well as luck would have it they have a meeting to sell their show just after Christmas! Yey for Georgie, not yey for her family. Everyone was supposed to go to Nebraska for Christmas with Neal's (the husband) family. Well, now Georgie can't go, but Neal decides to go anyways with the kids and leave Georgie behind. It was a really interesting read as you can see Georgie's point of view, but not Neal's. Georgie feels like she needs Neal and the kids more than they need her. Neal and the kids are this package and she is the outsider almost. It was really interesting to see her view of everything.

Throughout the story you also get the backstory of how Neal and Georgie got together. I loved that. Neal is so odd in such a good way in this book. They just seemed to work even though Georgie now thinks it might have been better for him had they never gotten married. Neal might have been happier without her even though she cannot imagine not having him. She needs him, but he doesn't need her. Well she starts staying with her mom while Neal is away and she uses the landline to call him at his parents. She quickly realizes she is not talking to present day Neal, but past Neal where he went back to Nebraska by himself for Christmas again. At the time Georgie had thought Neal broke up with her, but on Christmas day that year he came back and proposed. At first Georgie thinks she is crazy, losing her mind as how can she talk to someone in the past? Then she figures maybe she needs to change what happened. Maybe things shouldn't have happened the way they did. It was really fun to read her trying to figure all of this out and see her connect with Neal again. It was kind of obvious what would happen at the end, but it was still fun getting there.

Thankfully when you get to the end it all makes sense. There is none of this time travel not working things like most time travel books. It all works out and everyone is happy. Well most everyone. It really was a great read and I really enjoyed it.

This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland

Goodreads Description- 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 beside the point now.

Maybe that was always beside 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?

Interesting take on time travel but through a magic phone in which Georgie can talk to her husband, but her husband in 1998 before he was even engaged to her. Georgie's marriage is in trouble because she devotes a great deal of time to her work and decides not to go with Neal, her husband, back to Omaha for Christmas because she has a timeline crunch to work on a new sitcom that they are getting ready for production. Georgie is always putting work before her family and Neal is fed up and goes to Omaha without her. When Georgie realizes that her mother's landline is a magic phone that reaches Neal in 1998, Georgie must choose if she has to fix her mistakes and save her marriage or let it go and let Neal be happy.

The story is well written but moves pretty slow. The book has very high ratings but I didn't see anything in the story that really deserved more than 3 stars. Maybe I just wasn't really into the story. I didn't find the characters fully developed and would have liked to know more about some of the other character's backstory's especially Seth's, who is Georgie's writing partner and best friend. Their relationship seems to get in the way of Georgie's marriage and Neal is definitely jealous of Seth but I would like to know more about the origins of Georgie's relationship with Seth and if there is more that sets of Neal's jealousy other than their working together, because the author definitely hinted that there was more going on in that relationship but she left it to open to interpretation. I will probably check out more of Rowell's other books because they are so popular, but as far as this book is concerned, I didn't see what the big deal was. 3 stars.

Countless people have told me that reading a Rainbow Rowell book was a special experience and you know what? They were right.

LANDLINE is one of those books that even now trying to come up with the words required to convey the love I have for it seems like an impossible task. But you know I like to prattle on so I shall do my best!

Landline is the story of a lady with quite possibly the most awesome name ever - Georgie McCool. Married with two kids and a pretty successful career as a screenwriter, Georgie and writing partner Seth are on the verge of their big Prime Time break. Trouble is - Christmas is just around the corner and Georgie's long suffering husband Neal and kids are looking forward to a break in Omaha when Georgie breaks the news that she can't go. When Neal packs himself and the kids off on a plane and leaves Georgie by herself, she realises that maybe her priorities are skewed. Staying with her mum in her old childhood home for the holidays, Georgie discovers that the old rotary phone in her bedroom is a direct line to Neal...in the past. As Georgie chats to her husband of times past she realises she has a chance to fix her marriage before it all goes wrong. Will Georgie make things right in time or is it true about the past - you really can't go back?

Oh Landline! How much do I love thee? Let me count the ways! Landline was just a bundle of emotions for me. From the get-go as Georgie comes home from work and we witness a regular domestic scene with her husband and kids to the gut-wrenching moment she's left alone wondering if she made the right decision, Landline evoked all the feels for me.

Georgie was such a real character, one I both sympathised and screamed at in equal measure. Caught between two worlds like so many working mothers, every effort, every mistake is tinged with guilt at never fully getting it right. As the years have passed, juggling career and home life, things inevitable start to slip and as Neal picks up the slack with his quiet and capable nature, Georgie loses sight as to what is truly important. As we follow her through the book we see her slowly come to terms with the fact that you can never take anything for granted especially other people and her last-ditch efforts to make things right. Her conversations with past Neal are tinged with the desperate sadness of a person lost in nostalgia that must now dig themselves
out of their hole of mistakes and fight for what's important.

I adored Neal but like Georgie there were times I wanted to scream at him. I could fully understand his frustrations with her but his unwillingness to voice his concerns out loud instead behaving at times in a passive aggressive way is another example of how easy it is for a relationship to devolve if both parties aren't willing to step up to the plate and recognise their own faults.

This book teaches valuable lessons about relationships and in particular the vital need to communicate. Without it, little problems become big resentments, and even the strongest relationships can fade away into nothingness and it breaks my heart because in reality this happens every day. Rowell's vivid and startling portrayal of marriage at its highest and lowest ebbs is a triumph and one that will not be forgotten.

Such a beautiful read with emotion seeping through every line, Landline is an eye-opening, sweet and honest look at relationships and the work it takes to succeed. Quietly heartbreaking at times yet always imbued with hope; this book is a delicately written and mesmerising story about love and one I highly recommend.

Thoughts:

My review on Landline has so many beginnings that it would be seemingly impossible to fashion them together into one articulate review!

So. . .

For starters, Georgie McCool. . .genius, right? Georgie is a wife and mommy to two of the most adorable little girls I have come across in a novel. Georgie is torn between her three passions in life: writing television scripts with her best friend Seth, her college sweetheart Neal, and finding time to give to her little girls Alice and Noomi (Naomi). But, Georgie is just one person, she is confined into a strict work schedule, is required to meet deadlines despite what those last-minute commitments might entail, she barley has enough time in her day to fulfill her `wifely' duties, and at times even goes nights without saying good night to her little darlings because of her hectic work hours!

So, throughout the story, we come to unravel that Georgie is pretty much a hot mess. She is constantly on the go, forgetful, career driven, is relentless when it comes to getting what she wants, she is in a sense, extremely high maintenance; always aiming for the stars. But as my very good friend Augustus Waters once said, "The world is not a wishing factory," that is when the black swan swims into the story, and Georgie's world comes crumbling down.

Which brings me to my next possible beginning. The tone of the story.

| The disappointments and joys of marriage |

There were so many personal convictions that I came to grips with in this story; specifically, while prying into Georgie and Neal's telephone conversations. I really liked how Rowell made the exchange between Georgie and Neal engaging and relatable. In truth, the landline conversations were what made the entire story interesting and addicting. Georgie and Neal's views on love and marriage struck deeply in me, and I felt a strong connection in their controverting discussions. Here is one of my favorite telephone conversations between the two:

"I'll be better to you, Neal." She steadied herself against the bed. "I won't take you for granted."
"You don't take me for granted."
"Yes," she said, "I do."
"You just get caught up-"
"I take for granted that you'll be there when I'm done doing whatever it is I'm doing. I take for granted that you'll love me no matter what."
"You do?"
"Yes. Neal, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be sorry," he said. "I want you to take that for granted. I will love you no matter what."
"Don't say that. Take it back."
"No."
"Take it back."
"You're crazy," he said. "No."
"If you say that, it's like you're telling me that all the insensitive things I do are okay. It's like you're just handing me `no matter what.' You're pre-pardoning me."
"That's what love is, Georgie. Accidental damage protection."

Landline goes on to combine other essential themes into the story, like:

Giving into the Mundane Life in Marriage
The Importance in Keeping the Spark Alive
The Unavoidable Sacrifices a Marriage Demands
The Consequences of Taking Our Loved Ones for Granted
Measuring the Important Things in Life
Out of those, one really stood out to me: The Dangers of a Mundane Life in Marriage.

I realized through Georgie's journey, that in marriage/parenthood/sometimes work, the inevitable happens: you lose freedoms, you lose comforts, life consumes you even more, you lose your physical appearance, you sometimes misplace your identity, you neglect yourself and often times your loved ones; All-Very-Real-Crossroads. Even more, I came to recognize through Neal's response in the story, that these turning points can greatly affect every area of our lives; our happiness, our approach towards marriage, our children, life in general.

In all seriousness, after each chapter, I literally found myself crawling into my Ben's arms, burying my face in his chest, and just whispering soft "I love you's." I remember a few late evenings, where we sat at the dinner table, with our cup of hot tea, recollecting the forgotten memories of the nights we used to stay up till the wee hours of the night, just because we couldn't hang up and say good-bye.

In the end, Landline posed more questions than answers, and more uneasiness than entertainment, but all things aside, I really enjoyed the story. This is a brilliant novel and it deserves the praise it has received.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW:

I found Rebecca Lowman's narration in Landline to be a bit grim and flat in some scenes. Which is surprising because, Lowman has a beautiful tone to her voice. Lowman's overtone however worked wonderfully in the parts where Neal and Georgie talk on the telephone; she certainly sets the mood. In addition to Lowman's steady pace narrative, I felt that Lowman embraced Georgie's character well; her personality came through and I was convinced. I was also impressed with the transitional voice overs from male to female.

On its own, Landline audiobook is satisfactory and the overall production was good, but I felt I connected with the characters more in reading the book than listening to the audio.

In a Nutshell:

» Rainbow Rowell's writing is sound and fresh; her story telling was moving

» A quirky, painful, romantic, thought-provoking novel; for it being my first Rowell read, I was impressed

» While Landline is tagged under Young Adult, I feel married couples (especially those with children) would enjoy this novel more; it would be most relatable to this people group. Although, young adults could take some lessons from the story

» The message of the novel was, in my opinion, the beauty and pain sacrificial love brings into light. In the end, love is a choice, not a feeling.

» The novel's mood reminded me of those found in, The Devil Wears Parada, 13 Going on 30, Ugly Betty; it had that spunky feel to it which I really liked. I could totally see this novel made into a film adaptation; it would be so cool too!

» I enjoyed this book a lot; it entertained. There was a reasonable amount of swearing as well as a heavy amount of religious profanities for my taste, but other than that, I would recommend this book

3 THINGS I LIKED

+ Everything that revolves around Neal and Georgie together; their relationship, their life struggles, their love story, their little girls, the dialogue between the two which shined throughout the story. The way Georgie realizes how much she still loves Neal while conversing with Past Neal. Neal's love for Georgie which is conveyed through a selfless approach. Still, I feel I liked Neal's character more, he is levelheaded, composed, self-assured and just aware about everything; he was a safe haven when the plot of the story got wobbly and emotional

+ The fantastic idea of using a "magical phone!" It totally worked; in fact, the yellow rotary telephone and it's time travel element is what made the magnitude of the conflict between Neal and Georgie funny and amusing. I kept looking forward to the calls to Past Neal. Wouldn't it be grand if we could find a magical phone of our own and give our past a jingle!?

+ Heather. Georgie's half-sister was another character who kept me entertained. The sisterly relationship between the two and their hilarious dialogue was spot on. It reminded me so much of my own personal relationship with my sister and I appreciated the laughs and smiles

3 THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE

- I don't like the negative feedback the novel is sparking as far as the whole "feminist movement" goes. Look, there is nothing wrong with a woman choosing a career over a homemaking lifestyle as long as there is a father at home taking care of the family, but at the same time, there is nothing wrong with a woman choosing her family over a career. The main issue is the happiness and well-being of the family as a whole. And if a woman should choose to relinquish her career in order to save her marriage, and the stability of her household, then more power to her! Also, can we step away from the whole, gender equality motif and look at how much Neal sacrificed? Which brings me to my next point, Neal never asked Georgie to give up her career, it was never mentioned in the story

- I was deeply annoyed and frustrated with Georgie's character. She just came across as shallow, immature, needy, self-absorbed and egocentric. I especially found it incredibly disturbing when, after choosing to back out of her family Christmas vacation, all because of this once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity, she failed to accomplish the task! It just felt like all the unnecessary pain and drama was in vain and could have been avoided, but then that would mean that we wouldn't have a novel right?

- Okay, so just as I really liked the idea of a "magic phone" getting thrown into a weighty plot of a story, the magical element also felt disjointed and confusing. We get no clear logic as to how the time travel/talking to Past Neal works; a little more magic could have been thrown into this bowl no?

MEMORABLE QUOTES
' "I love you more than I hate everything else."

' "Nobody's lives just fit together. Fitting together is something you work at. It's something you make happen - because you love each other."

' "Georgie. You cannot be jealous of Dawn-that's like the sun being jealous of a lightbulb."

' "How does anyone ever know whether love is enough? It's an idiotic question. Like, if you fall in love, if you're that lucky, who are you to even ask whether it's enough to make you happy?"

' "How could she ever doubt that he loved her? When loving her was what he did better than all the things he did beautifully?"

' "What happened to you?" Seth was out of his chair and circling her. "You look like Britney Spears, back when she was dating backup dancers and walking around gas stations barefoot."

No violence: mention of the death of a loved one, but no violence
Heavy Profanities & Religious Profanities: heavy use of religious profanities such as God/Jesus/Damn/Christ. As well as, words heard on local television and radio stations; especially the "f word"
Mild sensual/sexual content: The main characters in this story are 18+; some sexual innuendo, very few passionate kissing scenes, sex out of marriage, minor sexual dialogue; no sexual explicit details
Mature subjects/themes include, but are limited to: Adult drinking, death of a loved one, martial strife, divorce, separation, homosexual implications

Have you read this book? What were your thoughts?

Read more http://livingonborroweddays.com/2014/09/22/sparrows-book-review-landline-rainbow-rowell/

I finished this audio book a while ago and while the story is still pretty fresh in my mind, I wanted to share my thoughts.

Landline, takes place over a few days around Christmas. 30-something, Georgie McCool, the main character, tells her husband Neal that she can’t join the family who plan to visit Neal’s mother in Omaha because she has just ten days to work on her new television sitcom project with her writing partner Seth in LA. Her husband, Neal, isn’t any too happy, they argue and he then decides to go anyway with their two daughters. The minute they leave for the airport, Georgie begins wondering whether their marriage is over.

Georgie is so upset she isn’t getting much work done so she goes to her mother’s house in a town close by and camps out in her old bedroom, which is now a trophy room for her show dogs. Anxious to talk to Neil, she finds her cellphone dead, but an old rotary “landline” phone still in her closet from her teen days saves the day. She plugs the phone into the jack and calls Neil’s mother’s house. Neil’s deceased dad answers the phone and they talk. Georgie is sure that she is going crazy, but after talking to Neil she begins to realize that the magical “landline” phone is a link to the past –fifteen years past. Their conversations provide insight into where their marriage took some bad turns.

Is this marriage doomed? Or will the magical phone save the relationship?

I was a huge fan of Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor and Park and was anxious to try this one as well. I found the writing both funny and touching, especially when she captures her characters when they are clearly not thinking straight. This story is all about communication and how important it is to make a marriage work. For me, the whole “landline” magical phone was a bit much at times, but in the end it made the story fall into place with fairly good results. The audiobook was read by Rebecca Lowman, who did an outstanding job –even with Neal’s voice. This book will not appeal to all Rowell fans I suspect, but it’s still worth a try.

3.5/5 stars

REVIEWED BY KINDLE GAL (originally posted on Kindles & Wine Book Blog)

There is something beautifully captivating about Rainbow Rowell`s writing style. If you've read her before, you know exactly what I mean. If you haven't, seriously, what are you waiting for?

LANDLINE is adult fiction. I only point this out because some people might go into it thinking it's another one of her young/new adult titles. It's not. It's also not exactly a romance. Yet, it completely is.

Georgie McCool (which is going down in history as the best character name ever) is juggling a dream job opportunity with the needs of her family, of her husband, at Christmastime. The story is told from Georgie's point of view, and through flashbacks and conversations she has on a "magical" landline with a past version of her husband, two things become clear: (1) this opportunity is rare and everything she and her writing partner, Seth, have been working toward their whole careers; and (2) if Georgie and Neal's marriage falls apart, Georgie will too.

For me, this ended up being a powerful story about love, marriage, and second chances. I really loved the concept behind the magic phone. I think everyone has regrets or moments in time they wish they could rewind and do over. Georgie is somehow given a chance to talk to Neal from fifteen years ago at another critical time in their relationship before they were engaged. And the stakes are seemingly high. She has no idea if she might lose him forever because of these conversations (what if his 1998 self never proposes?), or in spite of them.

I thought LANDLINE had the perfect balance of realism and idealism to it. It didn't go all Back to the Future with the magic phone (although there is a mention or two of Marty McFly). Instead, it was used as a tool to see the disconnect between college Neal's and present-day Georgie's views on love and its complications.

There were so many truths about love and marriage in this book, I ran out of Post-it notes flagging them all. Here are just a few examples:

"Just because you love someone," she said, "that doesn't mean your lives will fit together."

"Nobody's lives just fit together," Neal said. "Fitting together is something you work at. It's something you make happen--because you love each other."

* * *

Wasn't that the point of life? To find someone to share it with?

And if you got that part right, how far wrong could you go? If you were standing next to the person you loved more than everything else, wasn't everything else just scenery?

* * *

Having kids sent a tornado through your marriage, then made you happy for the devastation. Even if you could rebuild everything just the way it was before, you'd never want to.

---------

Overall, this story was darker in tone than I'd expected, but there were still some quirky relationships and moments that were trademark Rowell. I especially enjoyed the banter in the writer's room at Georgie's work; I loved everything about Georgie's 18-year-old sister, Heather; and there were plenty of references to feed my child-of-the-'80s soul. ☺

On the flip side, there was a point where the story began to drag a little, and I struggled a bit with the stoicism of Neal's character. I'm also not sure if this book will resonate as strongly with readers who have never been in a long-term relationship. This isn't a story about falling in love; it's about staying in love.

Although LANDLINE was not my favorite Rowell read (which is still Fangirl), her writing style never fails to draw me in and keeps me turning the pages (literally!).

BOTTOM LINE
LANDLINE wasn't exactly the kind of read I was expecting. It was heavier (darker), but I still enjoyed it. If you like unconventional love stories, give this one a try, especially if you are a Rainbow Rowell fan.

RATING: B

NOTE: I received a review copy of this title courtesy of the publisher.

Finally! I can now say I've read something from the much loved and discussed Rainbow Rowell. And I understand the hype after reading Landline, her latest novel.

Landline follows Georgie, a hardworking comedy writer with a new break in her career, and a loving (but stressed) stay-at-home husband. And all during the busy holiday season. During the initial set up I had my doubts, but I liked Rowell's deviations from certain clichés that I had already expected to see. Georgie is a comedy writer for one thing, which I found to be especially endearing as a comedy nerd myself (I'm tired of the usual rom-com casts of bakers, architects, journalists, etc...). But she's working so hard because she loves what she does, even if she comes home tired most nights.

Landline isn't about a woman trying to decide between a career and a family. I feel that Rainbow consciously worked against this, in which she was successful. It's about remembering who is there for you through it all, and trying your best to do your best for them. Having been in a long distance relationship with my boyfriend while I was at school, I could easily relate to the frustration on both sides. There were times when it felt like life was getting in the way of our happiness, but what I didn't realize then was just how normal it all was. And as absurdly corny as it sounds, love isn't easy. But hearing that kind of sentiment all your life doesn't make a big difference until you actually have to work through the hard parts yourself. It takes an unusual catalyst for Georgie to reflect on her relationship and what it means to her, but it's equally fun and insightful.

A quick one, but with a few surprises, Landline is a sweet summer read (despite the season-- But hey, Christmas in July, right?).

Christmas. Magic phones. A marriage in trouble. A comedic writer. I know what you're thinking, one of these things just doesn't belong. But actually it does. It's the plot for Rainbow Rowell's latest adult novel. Now I've only read Rainbow's young adult books. Which I happen to really love. Rainbow really knows how to write realistic fiction. When I read her books, I actually could imagine her character's situations occurring in real life. So of course when I got to the "magic phone" aspect of Landline, I literally said out loud, "What the hell is going on?" If I actually read the synopsis of the book, I probably wouldn't have been so shocked. But as I've mentioned in other reviews, if I am a fan of an author. I don't bother reading the book description.

When I realized that this magic phone business was indeed real, and not just me misreading. I went on Goodreads to see if this was a paranormal book. It's not. But I must say this phone business is really cool, and it really got me thinking. But before that I want to talk about the characters. Landline centers around Georgie McCool. Georgie is a sitcom writer. She's married with two kids. She's guilty of doing what many people do. She puts her job first. She loves her husbands and her kids dearly, as the novel progresses you can really see how much she loves them. But her job just pulls her in. And her husband Neal is sick of it. Especially after Georgie cancels Christmas with her family for work. As I mentioned before Rainbow is really good at realistic fiction, you don't get a plot more realistic than this. We're all guilty of letting something dictate our lives. Whether it be school, work, or something else.

After Georgie is unable to get in contact with Neal on his cellphone, and her cellphone is malfunctioning. She decides to use her parent's old landline phone. And after a series of events, realizes that she has been communicating with Neal, but Neal from 1998! Now here's a quick story. I am younger than Georgie, so my 1998 self was pretty much boyband obsessed. Particularly the Backstreet Boys. Go ahead and laugh. But this book got me thinking of my older self, and how carefree I was back then. I love how this book makes me think. It makes you think about your past, and it makes you think about things that you may have taken for granted. The lessons that Georgie learns, are things that everyone who reads this book can benefit from.

I think I enjoyed the storytelling the most in this story. Even without the phone calls, Georgie provides the readers with numerous flashbacks into her and Neal's life. And I admit, I have a huge crush on Neal. And he's not your stereotypical love interest either. He's not described as the best looking guy. He's quiet and he rarely laughs. He's just so real. I feel like I could meet both Georgie and Neal walking down the street. I know I have said numerous times that Rainbow is great at realism, but that's because it's true. I can gush all day about how she develops her characters. This is a book that has you rooting for romance. And hoping that it's not too late to change things. That it's okay to ask for forgiveness, but you have to work for it. You have to take a chance, and fix things.

Thinking of Landline brought me great memories. I remember the rotary phone that my grandparents had in the early 90s. It baffles me that kids today will never use one of these. I don't know if this was Rainbow's intent to make her readers reminisce. But this book definitely brought good feelings for me.

I absolutely loved Rainbow Rowell's YA books Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, but I still tried to keep my expectations low for Landline, since this is adult fiction and bound to be different from the YA Rainbow Rowell has written. Thankfully, that wasn't necessary, because I loved Landline too! It's definitely different from Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, but it's amazing in its own way.

I just love Rainbow Rowell's writing. Her humor shines through in this novel, making the whole book entirely pleasant to read. But even though it's accurate, I don't think "pleasant" is giving Rainbow Rowell enough credit - her writing is also poignant and thought-provoking. Despite all of these marriage issues not really being something I'm concerned with at the moment, the novel did make me think a lot about relationships and love and life and all that good stuff. Rainbow Rowell's writing is just so engaging and entertaining and poignant and perfect.

I loved Georgie's voice and character. This goes along with Rainbow Rowell's writing style, but I loved the narrator's humor and self-deprecating way of speaking. Georgie is so easy to relate to, and I really felt for her. I loved the secondary characters, too: Seth, Georgie's mom, and Heather all have really entertaining stories that contribute a lot to the main plot. The only character that I didn't really get to know is Neal, which is kind of problematic, since he's kind of the second most important character, but also makes sense because the novel is about Georgie and Neal spending time apart.

If anyone else had written the plot, the time travel-esque thing would have probably seemed cliched and kind of ridiculous. But Rainbow Rowell's writing makes it work: everything about the magic phone seemed realistic (even though it's obviously not), and I loved reading about it. I really enjoyed the rest of the plot, too, and loved getting to see the two periods in their relationship play out at the same time. The only thing I didn't love was the ending: it just seemed a little too perfect and happy for me. Then again. I wouldn't have wanted the story to end any other way, so I guess I can't complain.

Landline didn't speak to me quite as much as Rainbow Rowell's YA novels did, but I did really enjoy it. Landline is an equally entertaining and thought-provoking story that will undoubtedly bring a smile to your face. If you haven't read anything by Rainbow Rowell, that needs to change right now, and I can't wait to see what she writes next!

Although I did enjoy this book, it wasn't my favorite Rainbow Rowell book. I had quite a few problems with it, mainly I just didn't like the characters or their love story. It had a few adorable moments, but I just didn't find myself rooting for them. I did however like the message the novel sends. Overtime we get so consumed by our daily lives that we tend to assume our spouses will always be there at the end of the day, no matter what. This story is about what happens when a spouse forgets that it takes two people to make a marriage work. I just kind of wanted to slap Georgie half of the time, I just couldn't believe someone was that oblivious to how unhappy her husband was. And i really didn't like Neal in the flashbacks to the beginning of their relationship, he just really annoyed me! I do love Rowell's writing, even though I had issues with the characters her writing saved the novel for me.

First of all, I pretty much worship Rainbow Rowell. Her books make my heart flutter. Her main characters are usually highly flawed, but your love them anyway. Her book boyfriends are so ordinary, but there is something about that that makes them extraordinary.

Neal is no exception. "Because he's short and fat and hobbity." Rainbow Rowell describes Neal as the cartoon hobbit, but Georgie cannot take her eyes off of him when she first met him. (Okay, so after they get married he starts cycling and gets rid of his hobbity physique.) Neal is actually quite disagreeable, and doesn't like much. "I love you more than I hate everything else." BUT... He loves Georgie. Neal is her prince charming. He just does things for her, like stay in California even though he would rather be in Nebraska.

Landline is not a traditional love story. Okay, so you can tell that Neal and Georgie love each other. You even get to learn how they fall in love, but their love is not the easy kind. Georgie is obsessed with work and chooses to stay at home for a work assignment while her family family visits Neal's hometown over Christmas. Georgie can't seem to get a hold of Neal on his cell phone, so she turns to her parent's landline. Something weird happens when Neal answers the phone on the other end. It's the Neal from college before kids and marriage. Georgie is in the present talking to the Neal from the past. It's the Neal who broke up with her all those years ago because he didn't want to live in California. Georgie gets a chance to fix her marriage before it's even started and fix it now that it seems like it's about to end.

Will she make the right choice or is this her chance to change fate?

This book is so strange. Seriously strange, but in a good what-in-the-hell kind of way. Georgie was obsessed with the landline and thought she was going crazy. She won't change her clothes and freakishly hangs out at her parent's house. And, I can totally understand where she is coming from... I have this reoccurring dream where I call my husband and he never answers the phone. It makes you kind of crazy.

That being said, I don't regret reading this book. It gave me some perspective. Sometimes, a marriage just doesn't go great. It doesn't mean you should give up and it doesn't mean you don't love that person.

I got about halfway into this book before giving up. This book started off with a promising setup (overworked wife and ignored husband), a situation any busy couple can relate to. It also had the added interest of a glamorous setting: The wife was a writer in the TV industry who finally seemed to be getting her "big break." I was looking forward to reading about this industry, and (since I know people in this job) I did feel that her descriptions of the writing process were spot-on.

Where this book fell down for me was several places:
1) The crisis happens way too early - I didn't feel invested in either of the main characters and the husband, in particular, seemed like a cipher.
2) After the husband and kids left (not a spoiler; this happens like 10 pages in) not much forward movement to the story. Wife goes to work every day, too distracted, does nothing at work, comes home, does nothing at home, can't sleep, visits her parents, and makes endless calls to husband that he doesn't answer.
3) I had trouble gaining a sense of any characters in the story; they all seemed very cardboard, from the handsome writing partner (who really came off gay to me, but supposedly was a chick magnet) to the third wheel in the writing group, to the husband (suddenly we find out he's fat and Hobbit-y? not what I pictured). I had no visual on anyone, so it was hard to keep people straight.
4) Too much description of non-interesting things like picking up a blue coffee cup or reaching for the yellow phone.
5) Annoyingly cutesy kids that I wanted to smack
6) She spends Christmas at home, then totally wastes all that time NOT GETTING WORK DONE. she should just go out and meet her husband! Sheez!!!!

The conceit (that she time-travels when she talks to her husband on a landline phone) was interesting, but also added confusion to the story, especially since you had no sense of what the husband was really like NOW except that he was a put-upon, stay-at-home dad.

I did think the role reversal was interesting, and it also caused me to think that if a HUSBAND was doing the things the wife was, there'd be way less sympathy for him...which was an interesting thing to notice.

But about halfway through I just realized, "Eh, I don't care about this story enough to go on."

Successful TV writer Georgie McCool has always dreamed of having her own show. Unfortunately the opportunity arises just as she is preparing to visit her husband Neal's family for Christmas. Upset and fed up, Neal leaves as planned while Georgie stays to work on the show. Guilt, writer's block, and loneliness set in and Georgie ends up staying at her mom's. Back in her old room, she unearths a yellow rotary phone. Since Georgie has been unable to reach her husband, she tries using the yellow phone to call her in-laws' landline. At last, she reaches Neal, but as they start talking, things get strange. While she is still in 2013, Neal is speaking as if he is back in 1998. As Georgie attempts to make sense of things, she realizes that this is her one chance to revisit her past and ensure her future. I thought this was such a fun book. Although it deals with adult issues, it is told with levity and humor. The characters are unique and eccentric and I personally found them all likeable in their own ways. It would make a great beach read, as the writing flows very naturally and quickly. While this book is geared towards adults, there is nothing inappropriate that would prevent Ms. Rowell's younger fans from reading it.

Georgie stumbles in the door, late again. Neil offers to reheat her dinner, and Georgie gratefully accepts. While he warms her food, Georgie quickly drops a bomb on him. She and her best friend and writing partner, Seth, have finally landed the opportunity to produce their dream television show. The catch, they have to have nine episodes written in less than two weeks. That means that Georgie will have to forgo the family Christmas trip to Omaha to visit Neil's mother. Neil grudgingly agrees, but the minute he and the girls leave, Georgie begins to question her decision. Things take a strange turn when Georgie in a desperate attempt to get a hold of Neil, plugs in the old rotary yellow phone in her childhood room. She and Neil spent hours and hours talking on this very phone while they were dating. Georgie calls Neil's mother's landline and gets the surprise of her life. She reaches Neil, but not her Neil, instead she is talking to Neil in 1998 right before they got engaged. Georgie begins to question if this strange magical time phone is her chance to change something in the past. Will Georgie save her marriage?
What I Liked:
*I have become accustomed to Ms. Rowell's feel good, quirky reads with likable and interesting characters who have plenty of flaws. Landline delivers on all these aspects. You get an entertaining, though not exactly believable story line, as you watch Georgie flounder through her past and present trying to save her marriage. If you are a fan of Ms. Rowell, you should enjoy this book, but I don't think it is as strong as Fangirl or Attachments. Still it is an entertaining read worth checking out if you want a light, chick lit read.
*Even though I longed to know more about the how and why as far as the magical time phone went, I appreciated the simple fact that it just was. Georgie doesn't understand why the phone connects her to her past, but she goes with it, and as a reader I accepted it, too. Sometimes with time travel books, it is easier to go with it rather than bog down the book with attempts to explain it.
*Georgie, in the beginning, isn't exactly the most likable character. Nearing her forties, she has been chasing her dream of writing a funny tv show with her best friend and co writer, Seth. Georgie has spent years sacrificing her marriage and family for her job, and when she misses Christmas, it seems to be the straw that breaks the camel's back. When she unexpectedly connects with her past, it was interesting and entertaining to watch her go through her journey of self discovery as she opens her eyes and finally sees all the mistakes she has made in her marriage and life. At that point, it is easy to relate to her, especially as a married woman. I think we all get caught up in our busy lives and we forget the small things. I especially could identify with the analogy of kids being like a tornado in a marriage. Georgie learns a few things, and grasps at the chance to make things better, the question is will it be too late?
*I am not always a fan of flashbacks, but Ms. Rowell manages to work them perfectly into the story. The plot alternates between the present and the past. In the present, we see the disaster Georgia is making in her life, and watch her reach out to her family. I especially liked her interactions with her much younger half sister, Heather. In the past, we see the formation of Georgie's long time friendship with Seth, and the eventual blossoming of a romance between Georgie and Neil. I loved how, for the most part, well these flashbacks were integrated in the book. I loved reaching back and seeing how Georgie feel in love.
*The ending is whirlwind fast and it plays on your emotions. I loved that it closed on a high note, even though I was left with a few unanswered questions. In the end, it wasn't a perfect book, but I thought it was an honest look at marriage and it left me plenty of food for thought. Even though this didn't make me feel as strongly as Fangirl or Attachments, I still enjoyed it and would recommend it.
And The Not So Much:
*I think one of the missteps with this one was that in the present Georgie fails to connect with Neil. Perhaps it has something to do with the magic phone? Either way, the reader doesn't have much connection with Neil in the present. I wanted desperately to hear his side of things like I did in the past. The other problem was that it became rather repetitive how Georgie repeatedly kept doing the same things over and over in the present. Go to work, attempt to write, try and call Neil, rinse and repeat. Soon the present became boring and I wanted more of the past.
*The friendship between Seth and Georgie is a huge focal point of the story, and it was apparent that Georgie had romantic feelings for Seth for a long time, and then it says in the book until she didn't anymore. I felt a bit cheated on this angle. Why didn't anything ever come of the relationship between them? Then there is a little scene in the present, and it still wasn't enough to satisfy my curiosity. I needed more depth on this part.
*Aside from Heather and Seth, the rest of the characters in the book felt underdeveloped. I am used to a well rounded cast of characters in a Rowell book. The mother breezed in and out and had a lot of baggage, like every other mother in a Rowell book. I wanted to know more about her and her relationships. There is a much younger step dad in the book and I was curious about him as well. He pops in and out.
*Heather, Georgie's younger half sister, in some ways stole the show. She was quirky, cute and crushing on the pizza delivery person. I loved the development regarding her crush and I would have loved more on that story line as it was so fun.
*Even though I liked that the end wraps everything up, it was open ended. I wanted to know so much more from Neil's point of view. Did he propose to Georgie because of the phone calls back to 1998? Why didn't he ever return her calls in the present? Was he ready to call it quits? Was he really miserable in the marriage? I honestly think we need another book from Neil's point of view.

Landline was an entertaining book that focused on the ups and downs of marriage. I thought Ms. Rowell presented some believable and flawed characters struggling through the reality of broken dreams and a floundering marriage. I liked the book but I didn't connect as emotionally as I have with her other books. I also wanted a bit more as far as the ending goes. It was a bit more open ended than I would have liked. Still, if you are a fan of Ms. Rowell, pick this one keeping in mind it isn't on par with Fangirl or Attachments.

Favorite Quotations:
"You don't know when you're twenty three. You don't know what it really means to crawl into someone else's life and stay there. You can't see all the ways you're going to get tangled, how you're going to bond kin to skin."
"Having kids sent a tornado through your marriage, then made you happy for the devastations. Even if you could rebuild everything just the way it was before, you'd ever want to."

I purchased a copy of this book. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
Posted@Rainy Day Ramblings.

Georgie McCool is a comedy writer for a television series. Her work always seems to take priority over her family. Days before a planned trip to visit her husband's family for Christmas, she had to cancel for a last-minute project. Her husband, Neal, and the kids went to Denver without her. Her marriage is in trouble, and she knows it.

While visiting her mom for Christmas, Georgie uses an old landline phone in her childhood bedroom to call and say hi to Neal and kids. But something isn't right. Neal sounds different. Somehow Georgie is talking to Neal in the past. Is this her chance to fix things? Or should she change the past, and undo all the complications of the present?

Told in the first person from Georgie's point of view, the story alternates between the past in the 1980s, when Georgie and Neal first fell in love, and the present, with the now married Georgie and Neal and their two children. Seth, Georgie's best friend, now co-worker, and constant thorn-in-the-side for Neal, is present in both time lines and at times complicates Georgie's life.

I enjoyed the author's writing style with cute, clever dialog and '80s cultural references. Despite her all her flaws, I liked Georgie and wanted her and Neal to succeed - but not because I liked Neal. We don't really get to know Neal - what he thinks and what he wants - we only know what Georgie tells us about him.

Part romance and part magical realism, this book should appeal to more than the YA audience it is targeted to. While it does deal with young love, overall it had a more adult feel. Ultimately, this is a story about relationships and families, with characters that felt real. The ending felt a little predictable, but we don't get answers to all our questions. A few things are left to the reader to decide.

Audio Production
The audio was narrated by Rebecca Lowman. Characters and voices were distinct and I had no trouble remembering who was speaking. Even pacing and a pleasant tone made this an easy listen. At about nine hours, the time zipped by for me.

Landline is the story of Georgie McCool. She's a television writer, and she and her writing partner Seth are finally getting their big break. The problem? They need to work through the Chistmas holiday, and Georgie is supposed to go with her husband Neal and their two children to Neal's parents' house in Nebraska. The couple argues, and Neal decides to bring the kids to Nebraska and leave Georgie alone in Los Angeles for the holidays.

While Neal is gone, Georgie tries to reach him on his cell phone several times, but never gets to him. Her marriage seems like it's falling apart, and her parents even think Neal's left her for good. Georgie decides to spend the night with her parents, and digs out an out landline phone that she used to call Neal on when they were dating in college. Georgie dials the landline number at Neal's parents' house, and finally reaches him, but something weird happens. The Neal from 15 years ago picks up the phone! The book follows Georgie as she talks to this Neal from the past, and tries to figure out if she can fix her marriage, or if things are truly over.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, but I did have a few issues with it. This story is just over 300 pages, and it took me the first 100 to really get into it. I was actually bored until Chapter 13 came to a close, and then I was hooked. My main issue, though, was that I absolutely hated the character Neal! He was a huge jerk, and had a depressing attitude. I knew that readers were supposed to root for Georgie and Neal to make their marriage work, but because I couldn't stand Neal, part of me wanted them to break up! That said, it would be really interesting to get this story from Neal's point of view. In fact, if Rainbow Rowell wrote that companion novel I'd read it in a second.

Those things aside, Landline was a lovely contemporary read. I love how Rowell includes popular culture references in her books, and it amazes me how at one moment I'm laughing out loud, and at the next I'm nearly crying. The magical realism element in this book was perfectly done as well. Readers will never know for sure whether Georgie was actually talking to the Neal from the past, or if something else was happening. That mystery and intrigue is what makes Landline so special.

I highly recommend Landline if you love the contemporary genre, and think it's a great adult book for readers transitioning out of young adult. It's a very quick read, and one that I hope to pick up again in the future.

I'm deeply conflicted about how to review this book. On the one hand, I literally laughed and cried from one page to the next and devoured the whole in a brief sitting.

On the other hand, I've also read Rainbow Rowell's other books, and this one pales in comparison.

So I could review it straightforwardly and say that it's funny, clever, charming, endearing, and all that would be true — but I could also review it and say that in some ways it's the least of the books of hers I've read so far, and that would also be true.

Which I suppose is appropriate, given that this is largely a book about conflicting and equivalent truths.

Georgie McCool is a successful L.A. comedy writer struggling to balance her work and family life. Her husband Neal, devoted to raising their daughters full-time, feels neglected in favor of Jeff'd Up, the hit sitcom that pays the bills but doesn't fulfill Georgie artistically; meanwhile, her writing partner, Seth, resents Neal for taking Georgie away from her work. In the week before Christmas, Georgie and Seth get the chance to write the show they've always dreamed of — provided they turn in scripts during the 10 days Georgie's planning to be on holiday with her family. The result is that Neal and the girls go to his family's home in Omaha without her.

Georgie's stricken by this, more so when Neal seems to be avoiding her calls — until she calls his family's house from the yellow rotary phone in her childhood bedroom. It quickly becomes apparent, however, that the Neal she's reached through the yellow landline is speaking to her from 1998, early in their relationship, when he'd broken up with her the week before Christmas and driven from L.A. to Omaha without stopping. Pieced together through cross-temporal conversations, recollections and reflections, Georgie and Neal's relationship history takes shape — and Georgie must decide what to do with it in the present.

All of Rowell's books thus far have paid some homage to geeky interests — superhero comics in Eleanor & Park, Harry Potter (ish) fanfic communities in Fangirl, Dungeons & Dragons in Attachments — but this is the first to feature an outright science fiction element in the time-blurring phone. It's a deliciously clever device: Using the increasingly obsolete landline as an anchor, foothold or portal into the past is a great idea, especially when the past in question isn't yet distant enough to be alien. As a metaphor for returning to a root-deep connection in the face of signal noise and distortion, it's excellent — but ultimately, it works better as meta commentary than effective storytelling tool.

More Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell lives in Nebraska with her husband and two sons.
Author Interviews
Rainbow Rowell Does Romance With A Subversive (Read: Realistic) Twist
Landline cover
First Reads
Exclusive First Read: You CAN Phone Home Again In 'Landline'
The cover of Eleanor and Park
Monkey See
True Love, Book Fights, And Why Ugly Stories Matter
I loved this book for exploring the intricacies of a difficult marriage that isn't abusive — a marriage that has friction and tension that stems from good people trying their best, rubbing their rough edges smooth against each other. I loved it for not questioning the fact that a woman can be a good mother and have a successful career, that a man can be a good father by working in the home, and that their problems stem not from gender roles but from personality conflicts. I loved the frequent sharp insights and succinct turns of phrase that pinned a feeling in place, and that are so characteristic of Rowell's writing.

But I also found it uneven in its pacing and structure, and insufficient in its characterization. One of Rowell's strengths is in making every minor character come alive, step whole and entire onto the page, even if only for the length of a scene or two, with very few exceptions. In Landline, though, where the central conflict seems determined to be about Seth and Neal pulling Georgie in opposite directions, Seth is two-dimensional: He's either a cipher or an unmitigated jerk, and the best-friendship described in the book doesn't ring true.

Without a solid relationship to offer any kind of serious challenge or check to Georgie's marriage, Landline feels lopsided. I thought, too, that it could have been better curated; the mix of Georgie's memories, time-crossing conversations and present-day commentary on the past made the book feel padded with repetition almost as often as it made it luminous and satisfying.

But for the most part, I was deeply affected. I did laugh; I did cry; I did find myself thinking about the lives we dream and the lives we make, the lives we choose and the lives from which we turn away. I finished Landline wanting to talk about it, and trying very hard to remember the numbers I used to dial without a second thought, the seven-digit sequences that were as much a part of my consciousness as the names of the friends and family to which they were attached.

After many recommendations from fellow book lovers, a few months ago I succumbed under the pressure and picked up my first Rainbow Rowell novel: Eleanor & Park. According to many readers this is the holy grail of young adult novels and while I certainly thought the story was cute and the characters refreshing, I finished the book feeling disappointed.

I didn't instantly fell in love with the story, I didn't think Rowell was the second coming and for the first half of the novel I even felt it was bordering on just okay. The second part certainly made up for it with a moving and ultimately heart-breaking ending, but overall I wasn't convinced.

Fast-forward a few months and I got the opportunity to review Rowell's latest offering, an adult novel called Landline. The blurb didn't sound quite as cutesy and immature as her YA novels so, my curiosity piqued, I put myself forward for an advance copy in the hopes that upon my second attempt I would like Rowell's writing more. Well, I didn't just like it... I loved it!

The writing style is refreshing and intriguing while the story is completely different from anything I've read before, making it one of those novels that I remember vividly even months after turning the final page. And for someone who averages about three reads a week, that is a pretty impressive feat by Rowell.

The novel starts off quite melancholic with main character Georgie McCool's (coolest name ever btw!) struggling to find a balance between her time-consuming career and her family. When she has to pick between the two, her choice initially makes it seem as if her marriage is definitely over and it will be a very sad story of a woman destined to be alone.

Yet, when she makes a phone call to her husband's family for the holidays it turns out things aren't quite so straightforward and through a series of mysterious conversations she comes to understand their relationship in a different way - one which may help her find her true priorities in life.

The summary may sound serious and quite depressing but this is actually a moving and heart-warming story, with a tortured main character that despite all her flaws also is incredibly likeable. It's a beautiful novel and a big departure of the cuteness of Eleanor & Park, but still relishes awkwardness and conveys true people that feel immensely relateable to the reader.

And it isn't just a novel about the difficulties of balancing a marriage and parenthood with a demanding career either, there is a surprising touch of magic that reminded me of the books by Cecelia Ahern - a women's fiction author I greatly admire - which attributed to making this a truly imaginative and stand-out novel.

4.5 stars

Landline, Rainbow Rowell, read by Rebecca Loman
Georgie McCool and Neal are married. . From the first time they saw each other, it was kismet. They are a couple in their late thirties, married for 14 years, with two young children, Naomi and Alice. Georgie worked with her best friend Seth, writing episodes for a hit comedy show at “Spoon”. Neal drew cartoons there, but studied oceanography which did not particularly appeal to him. When Georgie and Neal have a family, he very naturally settled into the role of house-husband, raising the kids, doing the cooking and the laundry, and loving Georgie, who happily became the breadwinner.
When Georgie and Seth’s big opportunity arises, to break through into the entertainment field writing for their own TV show, Georgie decides not to go with Neal and the children to visit Neal’s mom, in Omaha, for Christmas. Georgie’s mother decides that Georgie and Neal are separated and she creates the setting for it to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The story moves back and forth in time through a magic yellow telephone, a landline, a relic from Georgie’s childhood. Georgie has lost sight of the real purpose of her life and has become obsessed with work. Through the phone conversations, she rediscovers a warmth in her relationship that she had lost without even realizing it was happening. Can Georgie save her marriage? Is it really in crisis? Is Georgie living in the past or present? Is she mentally unstable? Can she regain her life or has it been lost in a black hole created by the telephone?
The story is told in simple language. The issues explored are clear-cut and uncomplicated. The family dynamics investigated are unusual. There are few surprises, in either reactions or behavior in particular circumstances, but none would really be relevant. The relationships between a husband and wife were not necessarily the norm, but they were uncomplicated and presented in a straight forward manner. Sibling relationships were addressed, so was teenage love and sexual identity. Parenting roles and a parent’s feelings about having children were also directly confronted. Alternate lifestyles were presented in a very positive light.
Essentially, “Landline” is the story of young love. It is simple and sweet, This was written for adults, but Rainbow Rowell normally writes novels for young adults, and I think this might be more suitable for them, but it could be a crossover. The dialogue sometimes seems silly, fairytale-like, but the story is easy to read and easy to take. It addresses the value of relationships, the way we approach our lives and how we choose our priorities. I listened to it in one day and it was a quick, entertaining “listen”, but essentially, it was a no brainer!

"There's a magic phone in my childhood bedroom. I can use it to call my husband in the past. (My husband who isn't my husband yet. My husband who maybe shouldn't be my husband at all.)
There's a magic phone in my childhood bedroom. I unplugged it this morning and hid it in the closet.
Maybe all the phones in the house are magic.
Or maybe I'm magic. Temporarily magic. (Ha! Time travel pun!)
Does it count as time travel?
There's a magic phone hidden in my closet. And I think it's connected to the past. And I think I'm supposed to fix something. I think I'm supposed to make something right."

What is it that they say? "Love is patient"? Kind? Unconditional? For thousands of years countless theologians, scholars, philosophers, and artists around the world have sought to define the one thing that unites the otherwise unique human experience. And while all of the above might be true, in the case of married couple Georgie McCool and Neal Grafton, after fourteen years of marriage and two children, if there's one thing they know for certain about love, it's this: That is isn't easy. After years spent toiling away on a series of passionless writing assignments for television shows she neither believed in nor took pride in, it seems as though Georgie's big break has finally come when she and her writing partner and lifelong best friend, Seth, are offered the opportunity to pitch their personal pet project, Passing Time, to the network. The only catch? They'll have to work through the Christmas holidays in order to get it all done in time. What begins ostensibly as unavoidable time apart as Georgie remains behind in Los Angeles to work on the scripts while Neal takes their children to visit his parents in Omaha for Christmas soon threatens to become a much more serious and permanent separation. Long-seeded, unspoken resentments and complacency have worked to erode the once-stable foundation of their marriage and it will take more than a little bit of magic to help them reclaim what they once had. Little do Georgie and Neal know that help is only one phone call away...

"There were moments when it stared to rise up on her, what was happening. What she had access to, real or not. Neal. 1998. The immensity of it - the improbability - kept creeping up the back of Georgie's skull like dizziness, and she kept shaking it off.
It was like getting him back. Her Neal. (Her old Neal.)
He was right there, and she could ask him anything that she wanted.
"Tell me more about the mountains," Georgie said, because she wasn't really sure what to ask. Because "tell me where I went wrong" might break the spell.
And because what she wanted more than anything else was just to keep listening."

On the surface, Landline is not the sort of novel I would ordinarily gravitate toward. In fact, in the past it's one I've often actively gone out of my way to avoid. There are no shortage of stories about broken marriages, disillusionment and estrangement in the contemporary adult fiction genre and, given their lack of relevance to my own life, as well as my general lack of interest in this subject matter, are not stories I often choose to read. But if there's one author whose work could inspire me to step outside of my literary comfort zone and challenge myself to read something I ordinarily wouldn't, it's Rainbow Rowell. After being nothing short of enchanted by my previous two experiences with Rowell's prior work, Attachments and Fangirl, Rowell's next foray into the adult contemporary romance genre, Landline, quickly became one of my most anticipated 2014 releases. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. An unconventional love story of pugs and punchlines, C-sections and second chances, landlines and lost connections, Rainbow Rowell's latest tells the poignant tale of a marriage on the brink and the couple who will go to any lengths to save it.

"That was when she added Neal to the list of things she wanted and needed and was bound to have someday. That's when she decided that Neal was the person who was going to drive on those overnight road trips. And Neal was the one who was going to sit next to her at the Emmys.
He kissed her like he was drawing a perfectly straight line.
He kissed her in India ink.
That's when Georgie decided, during that cocksure kiss, that Neal was what she needed to be happy."

Georgie McCool is a woman who has always known exactly what she wanted. To write. To make people laugh. To create her own television show. To have children. For Neal, however, the future has always seemed less certain. Never one who was adept at knowing what he wanted or making those big decisions that would determine the trajectory of his future, Neal has pursued everything from oceanography to the Peace Corps, none with any great deal of success. All that Neal ever truly wanted was Georgie. So, when Georgie is reluctant to place their children in daycare, it seemed only natural that Neal remain home with the Alice and Noomi while Georgie continue to support the family. Unfortunately, what begins as a simple solution soon seems anything but as Georgie's nights at work grow later and the two drift slowly apart, veritable strangers living side by side in the same house. When something is broken, our first inclination is to fix it. To identify the problem and come up with a viable solution. So, when faced with the precarious state of Georgie and Neal's marriage, it's natural to want to assign blame. Part of what makes Landline so interesting, however, are the complexity of Rowell's characters. Opinions about Georgie and Neal have been as vast as they have been varied. Georgie has been called everything from a self-absorbed egotist determined to put her needs above all else to a dedicated and intelligent career woman who, like so many of us, is simply trying to `have it all'. Likewise, Neal has been accused of being everything from a selfish saboteur determined to spoil Georgie's dreams to a self-sacrificing martyr who has given up everything to support his family. Of course, as in life, the truth lies somewhere in the middle, painted in wonderful, complicated shades of grey. Of the two, Georgie is undoubtedly the character who is given the most development and with whom the audience becomes most familiar, largely because the story is told from her perspective. That said, the conversations Georgie holds with Neal in 1998 provide tantalizing glimpses into his past and personality as well, which allows the reader to better connect with and understand this otherwise inscrutable man of few words and fantastic dimples.

"...They'd never gone this long without talking. Not since they'd met. Well, practically not since they'd met.
It's not that things were always...(What word was she looking for? Hunky-dory? Smooth? Happy?) It's not that things were always...easy between Georgie and Neal.
Sometimes, even when they were talking, they weren't really talking. Sometimes they were just negotiating each other. Keeping each other posted.
But it had never been like this before. Radio silence.
There'd always been his voice.
Georgie would feel better if she could hear Neal's voice."

While the words `magical telephone' would be enough to pique anyone's interest and raise more than a few eyebrows, I was more interested in Georgie's landline telephone as a relic of a bygone era. While it can be difficult to remember in today's age of cellphones, Twitter, and all manner of instant communication, Georgie's yellow landline transports not only her, but the reader as well, back to a different time when making a phone call was an event, a visceral experience. I can still remember making telephone calls on my own landline as a teenager, pressing my mouth against the receiver and coiling the cord around my fingers, pausing with a mixture of nerves and anticipation as I waited to see who would pick up on the other end of the phone. It was a time when the act of making or waiting for a phone call was as exciting and important as the phone call itself. Between this and Rowell's inclusion of a plethora of evocative pop culture references including everything from M*A*S*H to Mork & Mindy, Crayola Caddies to the Unabomber, Landline is a nostalgic tether to a past that we look back on with equal fondness and disdain. Returning to Rowell's use of the landline as a surreal `time travel' device that allows Georgie to revisit past conversations with a much younger Neal, this aspect of the story was well executed and nimbly avoided the pitfalls of what could otherwise have proven to be a confusing, convoluted narrative device in the hands of a less talented author. It allows the reader to better invest in their relationship and also provides an interesting contrast, demonstrating both how the dynamics in Georgie and Neal's relationship have shifted in some respects and remained the same in others. Finally, it raises some interesting moral and ethical dilemmas. Was Georgie given this ability for a reason? If you could change something in your past, would you? Should you? Is love alone enough to sustain a relationship? Understandably, much has been made about Georgie's surreal, inexplicable window into the past, but I think the true magic lies not in the yellow landline in her childhood bedroom, but in the love shared between Georgie and Neal. And Georgie and Seth. And Georgie and Heather. And Georgie and Noomi and Alice. In short? The true magic is in Rainbow Rowell's writing. Truly great writing is able to transcend the differences between a reader and a story's characters, allowing the audience to connect with a character in spite of a lack of personal experience. One does not need to have been abandoned to understand loneliness. One does not need to have been married to appreciate the intricacies of sustaining a longterm relationship. No matter the situation, Rowell crafts characters and human connections that are undeniably true, even when that truth is heart-wrenching, raw and complicated.

"You don't know when you're twenty-three.
You don't know what it really means to crawl into someone else's life and stay there. You can't see all the ways you're going to get tangled, how you're going to bond skin to skin. How the idea of separating will feel in five years, in ten - in fifteen. When Georgie thought about divorce now, she imagined lying side by side with Neal on two operating tables while a team of doctors tried to unthread their vascular systems.
She didn't know at twenty-three."

Successfully recapturing the magic first achieved in her prior adult publication, Attachments and again in her touching young adult masterpiece, Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell has no doubt done it again. Landline is an unconventional love story that pulls back the curtain and examines a relationship long after the music has swelled, the credits have rolled, and the couple have walked hand-in-hand into the sunset, embarking on their inevitable happily ever after. Even when the end result is sometimes anything but. A novel composed of false starts and grand gestures, quiet triumphs and crushing defeats, Rainbow Rowell has made all the right calls in a quirky, modern love story that will force you to question what you would do for those you care for most. After all, as Huey Lewis once prophetically sang, that's the power of love.

I was fortunate to receive an ARC of this book through a Goodreads giveaway. I’ve been anxious to read something by Rainbow Rowell because people are raving about Fangirl and Eleanor & Park. I hope to read those books in the future.

At the heart of Landline is the universal theme of relationships and how difficult they are to maintain. Especially when only one half does all the heavy lifting. Rowell does a beautiful job of pulling the reader’s emotional strings by stripping away the masks we all wear and exposing what lies beneath.

I’ve known people in real life much like these characters. Georgie is completely clueless and watching her grow and change is satisfying. Neal has all of these defenses firmly in place and I wonder how in the world did he wind up with Georgie. He must be a gluten for punishment. By the end of the book, I understood him much better. Seth is completely annoying, a masterful saboteur, and engineer of his own failings.

I have a love-hate relationship with Rowell’s writing style. It’s engaging and even though it took a while for me to become sucked into the story, once it finally grabbed me, it did so completely. However, there were times when it exasperated me. For instance, there were a lot of thoughts like:

Neal.

Neal, Neal, Neal.

It was difficult to picture a 30-something doing this – even if it was in her mind.

I give Landline 4 out of 5 stars because it so thoroughly manipulates the emotions. It might disappoint readers who loved her young adult books, but those that have passed the YA and New Adult stages of life will appreciate it.

The Writing:

Rowell’s writing is witty and I really did like the dialogue between the characters. Especially the ones between Georgie and young Neal.
There was a lot of easy humor, witty remarks and thoughts on love. And I loved the Tolkien references.
This is the second Rowell novel that I’ve read and I do really enjoy her writing even though I don’t feel as captivated by it as many others do.

The Characters:

Georgie was a really ambitious character and I could relate to her in her frustration in feeling like she was trying to fulfill her dream as well as taking care of her family.
Seth and Neal made for two interesting male characters. I really fell for Seth in the beginning and just loved his smart remarks and his humor, but when young Neal came into the picture I had a hard time trying to decide which one of them I liked best.
Noomi is the cutest character in the bunch though! “Meow!”

The Plot:

Landline had a pretty even pace and good build up.
It did take me a little while to get invested in the story, but when we got to around a hundred pages the story took a hold on me.
I felt like there could have been a lot more to this story as I did enjoy it quite a lot, but felt like everything got resolved a bit too quickly when there was so many feelings behind the whole plot.
I did like the ending though and it got me a little teared up.

My Thoughts:

As I wrote above, it did take me quite a while to get invested in this story. I was not bored for the first hundred pages, but I did not connect with the characters that much either.
But as the story finally took a hold on me I really did fly through it and enjoyed it very much.
It was an enjoyable and fast read but I didn’t love it.

First and foremost, this is an adult book. This is not a teen book. Rainbow Rowell's writing style is so phenomenal that some teens will enjoy it anyway. Some adults might not relate, but that is definitely the audience. For me, it was perfect.

Spoilers abound: Long story, short, Georgie McCool (the coolest name ever!) is married to Neal. They have two young kids, Alice and Noomi. Georgie helps write a television show with her long-time best friend Seth. The two of them are amazing together, and they know it. They are working on their own television show, and they have a short period of time to come up with 4 shows. It so happens that they have to do this over the week of Christmas, which is also when Georgie is supposed to be going to Omaha with her family. A story of a struggling marriage and a woman falling apart, in enters the weird part: Her landline (she's using it because her cell phone battery never works but she is too disorganized and doesn't really have enough time to get a new one) magically calls Neal in the past.

Yes, I just told a good amount of the story, yet I really didn't. It is so much deeper than that. So much is going on, and so much happens. I was really worried where this one would go when the phone started calling the past, but it was done so well. It didn't seem silly at all. It was a really realistic story with a strange, unbelievable twist that actually made sense and seemed believable. Also, I love Rainbow Rowell's writing. Her stories usually start so strong, are written so well, and end so blah (to me... please don't kill me for that statement.) This one was strong the whole way through. It was a love story that didn't get on my nerves, which is awesome. Even though I am nothing like Georgie work-wise, I still related to her. I also somehow related to Neal. Overall, I have nothing but great things to say about this one. It is perfect for anyone in a marriage, good or bad. The writing is so perfect that those not in relationships will love it anyway.

Review: Landline - Rainbow Rowell - July 2014

Georgie McCool and yes , that's her real name knows that her marriage is on the rocks and the only way to save it really is to go with her husband to her Mother-in-law's for Christmas. The thing though is Georgie's dream job has just been granted the green light and in order to be ready for her and Seth's very own TV show she must stay back and write the scripts for the show and she doesn't tell Neal this until two days before they are due to fly out. the next few days blur past and Neal and her two daughters are off to Omaha for Christmas break while Georgie is stuck at the studio writing. Not wanting to be alone for Christmas, Georgie heads to her Mum's and stepfather Kendrick's house and crashes there for a few days. Needing to ring Neal , Georgie locates her Iphone but it is dead as a doornail so she hunts for the family's old Landline phone. What she will discover though is that this phone is a portal into the past as she rings her husband and discovers it is the past - the months before they actually in fact got married . With this device in her hand , can Georgie fix the problems in her marriage so that all will be well in the future or will having access to the past make Georgie have second thoughts on whether she should have married Neal or not as Georgie has a secret she has been holding on since College when she first met Seth - that he is in fact her soul mate and the person she thought she would end up marrying.
Landline was another amazing book by Rainbow Rowell and it definitely got me thinking about What if's and what would you do if you had a one-way magical landline to the past , would you want to fix something or change a regret ?

Landline by Rainbow Rowell is an adult novel about a marriage and a magic phone told through flashbacks and present day occurrences. I knew going into this book that it would be very different from Rowell’s other books, most importantly it is not young adult. Landline was a difficult book for me to get through, not because it was bad, but because it was a very intense book. The book focuses on Georgie and her marriage and how it has been a bit on the rocks for a while now. After an argument between her and her husband, Georgie decides to spent the Christmas holiday at home working rather than going to her in-laws house, and in doing so may have ruined her marriage entirely.

What was so hard about this book, for me, was that I am married and so the whole time I was listening to this audiobook I had dreams of my husband avoiding my calls and leaving me. It was kind of depressing.

The book itself was interesting. I really liked the flashbacks to Georgie’s previous life with Neal and how well they were weaved into the present day hardships. The plot was so realistic, except for the crazy magic phone and that was the bit that I had the most questions about.

By the end of the book I was not sure how I felt about it. It was sad at times, depressing even, but there were some fun parts and some that made me relieved. So I am just going to say I liked it and nothing more. It was a good read but nothing spectacular. I still think very highly of Rainbow Rowell and I think this was a good book for her to write – the tone she gave Georgie throughout was very realistic.

Fangirl was the first book by Rainbow Rowell I ever read, but it didn't really wow me. I never quite connected with the characters or the story the way other readers did, but Rainbow Rowell's witty dialogue and unique writing style piqued my interest enough to keep reading her work, and I'm so glad I did.

Simply put, I adored this book. It was slow to start in the beginning, but once the storyline picked up I couldn't stop turning the pages. It's a simple story, but it made me reflect on my own relationships and life and spoke to me in a way that Fangirl didn't.

This is an adult book that tells the story of married couple Georgie and Neal. Georgie is a TV writer about to catch a big break with her writing partner and long time best friend, Seth. The two have been working on their dream TV series since college and are finally getting the chance to pitch it for production. When Georgie makes the decision to stay in California and work on the show instead of spending Christmas in Omaha with Neal and their two daughters, things start to go seriously downhill and Georgie feels her marriage may be beyond repair.

Georgie feels Neal may actually be leaving her. So when she discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past during a pivotal point in their early relationship, she wonders if this might be her chance to fix everything. She may be able to change the course of their relationship and truly make Neal happy, but should she? Will it even make a difference anyway?

This is an incredibly heartwarming story that both portrays and examines relationships in a very realistic, relatable way. It really makes you stop and think of how you treat the important people in your life, and drives home the point that you should never take those you love for granted. I loved the message of the story and just wanted to hug the book when I was done. I'd recommend this for just about anyone looking for a unique piece of adult fiction with a twist.

In Rainbow Rowell's latest novel, Georgie and Neil are a married couple with two adorable little girls. Neil is a stay-at-home dad, mostly because he hasn't really found anything that excites him in the working field and Georgie is a television writer, working side-by-side by her best friend Seth, who happens to be very good looking. Georgie and Seth get the once-in-a-lifetime chance to write the show of their dreams and she can't go to Omaha with her family for Christmas. So Neil takes his daughters to Omaha without her. Everyone thinks that Neil has left her. While life had seemed at a standstill, Georgie insists that Neil isn't 'leaving' her and that he'll return. The last time Georgie and Neil spent Christmas apart was in the late 90s when they had a fight. Now somehow mysteriously through the yellow landline phone at Georgie's mom's house, she can connect with Neil back to that time. She feels that she can revisit that time to fix what went wrong then to correct their marriage now. It's all a little bit confusing as time travel can be, but it's not really time travel or is it? Georgie's very confused, thinks she is having hallucinations, and is unable to concentrate on work with Seth, wants to fix what she thinks went wrong and what could have been the deciding factor that has caused Neil to be so unhappy (but IS HE really unhappy, or is he just a content little hobbit, as he's described in the book, and maybe he's just happy being the way he is?) If Georgie messes with this mysterious landline and the phone conversations she and Neil are having in the late 90s, can she screw up everything they've worked so hard to have now. But... here's my question... have they really worked that hard for everything they have now? Is Georgie a bit too demanding or has Neil just acquiesced to this lifestyle that has become theirs?

I love me some Rainbow Rowell--both Eleanor and Park and Fangirl are on my "highly recommended list. When I found out about her newest book, I knew that I would be reading it.
Unfortunately, this may have been a case of unrealistic expectations on my part. I can't be sure, but I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it had not been written by Rainbow Rowell. It's not badly written, but it just didn't feel like a Rowell book for me. At first, it reminded me of Jennifer Weiner (whom I enjoy) and then, when the magic realism kicked in, it reminded me of an American Cecelia Ahern (whom I enjoy). It did not, however, seem like it was written by the same person who wrote Eleanor and Park and Fangirl.

I never felt that Rowell reached the emotional heights (or depths?) that she had in her other books. I kind of felt that Georgie always knew what the problem was with her marriage, so she never really had any big revelation. And, this may just be my prejudices, but I didn't really like Georgie.

I will say that the book did keep my attention, even if I found parts of it lacking. While I felt that Rowell never dove deep enough into the plot, I was at least interested enough to turn the page. And, honestly, I think someone who has never read anything by Rainbow Rowell would probably enjoy this book more than I did.

In which we find a fairly young couple (late '30s) with two kids and a cracked marriage. Neal, the husband, leaves behind Georgie, the wife, to take the girls back to Nebraska for Christmas. During which time, Georgie has a mental breakdown of sorts, calls Neal on the landline phone (since he doesn't seem to be answering his cell) and discovers she's talking to 1996 Neal, not 2013 Neal. Conflict soon resolved, book ends.

This is my first Rowell book and I know that many of my friends were huge fans of her stuff since Eleanor and Park, so local connections were positive. I found I really liked Rowell's sparse writing. This is not a bad thing by any means; it just means that she's very thoughtful about what she puts on the page. There is less time with superfluous and more time with the plot. Very Hemingwayesque.

Because of this, Rowell's book was easy to fly through and I didn't finish it unsatisfied. I found the story intriguing and the gotcha at the end even had me fooled. I have Attachments next on the list to read so let's see how that compares to Landline.

This is not Fangirl or Eleanor and Park. This is for people who have lived long enough to make mistakes and wish they could change some decisions they have made in the past.

Landline is an achingly honest look at marriage and family. It focuses on the the pressures, both internal and external, that couples face as they navigate their way through life. This story has the added element of the supernatural. Georgie is able to speak to her husband, Neal, in the past. It encourages her to closer examine why she fell in love with him in the first place. It forces her to question her choices and to ask whether she would've made them, knowing what she knows now. Her magic phone gives her the power to create a new reality for her and her husband, but first she must decide if different is what she really wants.

Once again, Rainbow has left us with an open ending. We have no idea what will happen with Georgie and Neal once they get back to the existence of real life, but we have hope that they will remember what they've learned throughout the story in order to not take each other for granted.

Landline is the story of Georgie McCool (yes, really), a television writer who has worked really hard for the opportunity to pitch her own show. When that opportunity comes, it means abandoning plans to go to Omaha with her husband Neal and their daughters for Christmas. Neal takes off without Georgie, leaving her overworked, confused, and desperate for things with Neal to be like they used to be--not awkward, not tense, not uncertain. When she calls Neal on a phone in her childhood room, Georgie discovers a direct link to the past--and perhaps a chance to fix things before they go wrong.

Rainbow Rowell's writing is delightfully funny and oftentimes painful in its close examination of love and change and connections lost over time. Rowell balances the flashbacks to Georgie and Neal's college years with present day action well, and like she did with Attachments, she weaves details about each character's past into the narrative deftly. Perhaps the best part about Landline is that Rowell has fun with the big plot hook--magic phone--and doesn't take that aspect of the plot too seriously. Georgie's emotional crisis, her relationship with Neal, and how she feels about her children, however, are at the forefront of this novel and never made light of, making for an emotionally resonant novel. Family and unexpected connections of all types dominate this humorous, slightly wacky novel, and fans of Rowell's YA will most definitely find lots to love about Landline!'

Landline is the first book I have read by Rainbow Rowell but from reading reviews of this book and her others I can tell that it will not be the last.

After reading a few heavy books, lengthy and emotional, Landline was a fast, light read even though it addressed a marriage in trouble. Georgie McCool writes comedy with her best friend, Seth, for a television sitcom. Her husband, Neal, is the stay-at-home dad to their two girls and is fundamentally unhappy. When Neal and the girls go visit his family without her at Christmas time, Georgie wonders if he has left for good this time. While taking refuge at her mother's house, Georgie drags out an old, yellow phone to call Neal and ends up connecting with the Neal that left her fifteen years before. She wonders if this is her chance to set things right or change something fundamental in their history.

The entire book felt like it was written in short scenes, as if it were a television show. Often the dialog and the characters felt like we were only getting to know them on the surface. At the end of the book I was left wondering what happened next? How did things actually work out with Georgie's job and her marriage? Could she really hold on to both? Landline was enjoyable while it lasted but it never felt like much insight was gained or that the main issues the characters were facing were actually resolved.

This book is one of my top ten favorite books—literally.

I can’t quite put my finger on the why. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m the same age as the younger versions of Georgie and Neal. I understand their perspectives. But really I think it’s because I completely and one hundred percent agree with the portrayal of love in this book.

Love isn’t this shiny beautiful creation between two people. It isn’t clean. There’s nothing certain about it. There is no formula—no equation two people can follow to reach a foolproof magical ending.

The scary thing is that sometimes love isn’t enough. It’s complicated. It’s messy and uncertain.

Love is realizing that maybe what you have with someone else isn’t
enough to make a perfect relationship, but you barrel ahead anyway, knowing that you only have part of the equation figured out.

It’s realizing that being s*** scared and uncertain is sometimes the best you’re going to get.

Love is taking that risk—embracing the uncertainties—dealing with the fact that it isn’t perfect, not even close—but making it work nonetheless. Because at the end of the day, all that good, all that love, it’s better than the bad. Maybe.

But it’s all you get in love—a maybe.

You love the person more than you hate everything else. That’s the love Rowell captures in this book. And it’s perfect.

I honestly don’t have anything remotely bad to say about this book. It’s my favorite of Rainbow Rowell’s (and I completely adore all of her books). But this one holds a special place for me.

I guess you’ll just have to trust me and check it out yourself to see why.

4.5/5 Stars

Eight pages in these characters had already tugged a my heart strings. The workaholic mother and her need/challenge to keep work-life balance, accompanied by her dependable stay-at-home husband waiting in the wings. This dynamic is reflective of current trends in the U.S. and very much a hot topic. The idea that Georgie can have it all is the primary theme. Can she have this amazing relationship with work and her writing partner, Seth, and still be a present mother/wife to her daughters and husband?

Through Rowell's trademark humor and slew of pop culture references, readers make an instant connection to the late nineties and present day plot as the days to Christmas countdown. Knowing that the days are numbered keep the pacing steady and the reader eager to keep turning the page in search of December 25. The artful balance of laugh-out-loud and subtle humor further sells the writing as endearing, memorable and positively movie-ready moments.

In the end Landline is a winner because it hurts and wrecks you with an authentic relationship, maybe even yours.

Why I'll be reading this again...

This completes my Rainbow Rowell readings. With that said, her writing has grown exponentially since her adult debut, Attachments, without sacrificing the nuances that only Rowell can deliver. There were several moments that I could literally close my eyes and watch the scenes play out on the movie screen. This is especially true with the flashbacks of Georgie and Neal's beginnings.

Landline is more than just a love story, and it is a beautiful one, but the juxtaposition of the Can women have it all? question lingered with me longer and harder. Can Georgie be successful without having to sacrifice being a mother and dedicated wife? Can she do it without the guilt? Can Neal be content or even happy with being the primary caretaker and domestic husband? I'm not really sure there's a clear answer but I'm happy with how this unfolds.

For the YA lovers, if you liked Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, I'm fairly confident this will sit well with you and it might even give some comfort for growing up. I know it did for me.

*Review copy provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and my own.

Don't we all love Rainbow Rowell? I picked this up through Vine because I love her book, Eleanor and Park. Because this review is as much about the audio cds as the actual story, it may be a little unconventional.

In regards to the cds, there are a lot of them and it takes a while to listen to them, of course. I'm typically not an audio book person, so this proved a little challenging for me. However, the reader made it exciting to listen to. The reader also used different voices for the different characters. I didn't care for all the voices, but it was an effective technique to help tell the characters apart from each other.

The story itself is very interesting. As typical, Rowell uses allusions galore, specifically with references to 80's and 90's television. For a guy that grew up in this time period, they are a blast to experience. Though the plot is somewhat science fiction due to a land line connecting the main character with her past, it's also very mysterious as her husband and children have disappeared on her. It also raises some interesting philosophical questions. If you had the opportunity to change your present, to spare yourself the unhappiness you currently suffer, would you take it? What if that opportunity erased important things in your present that give you joy, such as children?

Rowell is always a fun read, but I also appreciate the difficult questions she tackles in this multi-genre book.

Based solely on the blurb, I'm not sure I would have picked this book up if it had been written by anyone else. It's safe to say, though, that I'm down to read anything that Rainbow Rowell writes. Keeping up with the current trend, Landline was a wonderful book and I've yet to read anything disappointing by Rainbow.

Like everything else I've read by Rainbow, Landline was nearly impossible to put down. Forget everything else, I just want to sit and read for hours on end. That's pretty much what I did (much to my husband's irritation... hey, he can feed himself! I've seen him do it.) until I finished the book. The story flows effortlessly and before you know it, you're halfway through the book with no signs of stopping.

Not only does Rainbow write realistic characters (I love her dialogue most of all), but she writes an authentic love. Sometimes, in mature/longer relationships, we need to be reminded that we love our significant other. We need to be reminded of why we love them. It's not as if that love has disappeared or is gone forever. It's just that love has been buried by time and by life. Those things, no matter how much you love your significant other, affect your relationship. Landline is Georgie's story of finding her way back to her husband. No, it's not about finding that new passionate love. It's about rekindling that love with her husband. It's about saving her marriage.

I was thoroughly impressed with this book. It was even better than I imagined it to be.

I saw lots of three star reviews for this book, stating the novel is sending a bad message. But I enjoyed the description of Georgie's perplexed state in retrospective of her marriage. It's definitely not as good as Eleanor & Park, Attachments or Fangirl. But it is an enjoyable read.

For the nearly first half of the book I cannot really distinguish what's real or what's not: does Georgie really have a magic phone that calls to Neal in the past? But this perplexed state is actually so real to read. Rainbow has a way to write things in such a genuine and touchable way. Her marriage is at stake and the process is cumulative: no single big bad thing but all the small things. Her regret in retrospecting all previous years is so touching and real, which reminds me of Eleanor and Park.

One top reviewer talked about how unreasonable the plot is that a woman cannot simply make a radically unhappy man happy by sacrificing herself. I definitely don't think any person, of any gender, should give up her(him)self to make the spouse happy. But I do think a person in deep love is willing to make sacrifices to "try harder from onward".

Some people also think the fact that the Georgie is a woman makes her choice of concentrating on career harder to be accepted, resulting in an unhappy marriage. I do agree that there is some stereotype in the society right now that men are more acceptable to concentrate on work. But any man with Georigie's emphasis on career will for sure have a not-so-happy wife.

Rainbow Rowell's a hit and miss author with me. I've read her YA novels ELEANOR AND PARK and FANGIRL; while EaP had some wonderful lines about love, it was just okay. FANGIRL's protagonist made me so upset. But both books still had me reading compulsively. When her latest book, LANDLINE, became available for review, I was so psyched for the chance to check it out.

I don't know if it was the writing style or the way the reader portrayed the characters, but LANDLINE did not leave much of an impression. The reading was strained and it felt like the reader had to be prodded into performing the different parts. I like that it was about second chances with a little magical realism thrown in, Ms. Rowell had characters which were thought out, but it was so hard to get into the story.

I felt sorry for Georgie. As one reviewer mentioned, the idea that a woman must compromise herself to make others happy is prominent. It did not sit well at all. It's the age old idea that if a man skips something important for his work, it's upsetting but accepting. If a woman does it, the world falls apart. Georgie had a dream, and it conflicts with the Christmas holiday, but she might as well be bringing on the Apocalypse with her choice.

Strangely, I look forward to whatever Ms. Rowell comes up with. My mixed relationship with Ms. Rowell continues.

Seriously let down by Goodreads #1 Fiction book of 2014!! While the characters were well written and the book flowed quite smoothly, the plot of the story fell short. The time space continuum is never explained at the end of the novel - leaving the reader to wonder how the phenomenon occurred. There are elements of Sci Fi in this book due to the time space continuum and it is absurd to leave such details unanswered. Perhaps Rainbow Rowell's intent of the story was more about Georgie and Neal and whether or not they find their way back to each other - yet even that is uncertain as nothing has changed in either of their lives for them to figure out whether or not they can make their relationship work. All in all, this book leaves much to be desired. Well written characters without a fleshed out storyline or ending - does not a good book make. What a complete and total disappointment!

In Rainbow Rowell's latest novel, Georgie and Neil are a married couple with two adorable little girls. Neil is a stay-at-home dad, mostly because he hasn't really found anything that excites him in the working field and Georgie is a television writer, working side-by-side by her best friend Seth, who happens to be very good looking. Georgie and Seth get the once-in-a-lifetime chance to write the show of their dreams and she can't go to Omaha with her family for Christmas. So Neil takes his daughters to Omaha without her. Everyone thinks that Neil has left her. While life had seemed at a standstill, Georgie insists that Neil isn't 'leaving' her and that he'll return. The last time Georgie and Neil spent Christmas apart was in the late 90s when they had a fight. Now somehow mysteriously through the yellow landline phone at Georgie's mom's house, she can connect with Neil back to that time. She feels that she can revisit that time to fix what went wrong then to correct their marriage now. It's all a little bit confusing as time travel can be, but it's not really time travel or is it? Georgie's very confused, thinks she is having hallucinations, and is unable to concentrate on work with Seth, wants to fix what she thinks went wrong and what could have been the deciding factor that has caused Neil to be so unhappy (but IS HE really unhappy, or is he just a content little hobbit, as he's described in the book, and maybe he's just happy being the way he is?) If Georgie messes with this mysterious landline and the phone conversations she and Neil are having in the late 90s, can she screw up everything they've worked so hard to have now. But... here's my question... have they really worked that hard for everything they have now? Is Georgie a bit too demanding or has Neil just acquiesced to this lifestyle that has become theirs?

I love me some Rainbow Rowell--both Eleanor and Park and Fangirl are on my "highly recommended list. When I found out about her newest book, I knew that I would be reading it.
Unfortunately, this may have been a case of unrealistic expectations on my part. I can't be sure, but I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it had not been written by Rainbow Rowell. It's not badly written, but it just didn't feel like a Rowell book for me. At first, it reminded me of Jennifer Weiner (whom I enjoy) and then, when the magic realism kicked in, it reminded me of an American Cecelia Ahern (whom I enjoy). It did not, however, seem like it was written by the same person who wrote Eleanor and Park and Fangirl.

I never felt that Rowell reached the emotional heights (or depths?) that she had in her other books. I kind of felt that Georgie always knew what the problem was with her marriage, so she never really had any big revelation. And, this may just be my prejudices, but I didn't really like Georgie.

I will say that the book did keep my attention, even if I found parts of it lacking. While I felt that Rowell never dove deep enough into the plot, I was at least interested enough to turn the page. And, honestly, I think someone who has never read anything by Rainbow Rowell would probably enjoy this book more than I did.

In which we find a fairly young couple (late '30s) with two kids and a cracked marriage. Neal, the husband, leaves behind Georgie, the wife, to take the girls back to Nebraska for Christmas. During which time, Georgie has a mental breakdown of sorts, calls Neal on the landline phone (since he doesn't seem to be answering his cell) and discovers she's talking to 1996 Neal, not 2013 Neal. Conflict soon resolved, book ends.

This is my first Rowell book and I know that many of my friends were huge fans of her stuff since Eleanor and Park, so local connections were positive. I found I really liked Rowell's sparse writing. This is not a bad thing by any means; it just means that she's very thoughtful about what she puts on the page. There is less time with superfluous and more time with the plot. Very Hemingwayesque.

Because of this, Rowell's book was easy to fly through and I didn't finish it unsatisfied. I found the story intriguing and the gotcha at the end even had me fooled. I have Attachments next on the list to read so let's see how that compares to Landline.

This is not Fangirl or Eleanor and Park. This is for people who have lived long enough to make mistakes and wish they could change some decisions they have made in the past.

Landline is an achingly honest look at marriage and family. It focuses on the the pressures, both internal and external, that couples face as they navigate their way through life. This story has the added element of the supernatural. Georgie is able to speak to her husband, Neal, in the past. It encourages her to closer examine why she fell in love with him in the first place. It forces her to question her choices and to ask whether she would've made them, knowing what she knows now. Her magic phone gives her the power to create a new reality for her and her husband, but first she must decide if different is what she really wants.

Once again, Rainbow has left us with an open ending. We have no idea what will happen with Georgie and Neal once they get back to the existence of real life, but we have hope that they will remember what they've learned throughout the story in order to not take each other for granted.

Landline is the story of Georgie McCool (yes, really), a television writer who has worked really hard for the opportunity to pitch her own show. When that opportunity comes, it means abandoning plans to go to Omaha with her husband Neal and their daughters for Christmas. Neal takes off without Georgie, leaving her overworked, confused, and desperate for things with Neal to be like they used to be--not awkward, not tense, not uncertain. When she calls Neal on a phone in her childhood room, Georgie discovers a direct link to the past--and perhaps a chance to fix things before they go wrong.

Rainbow Rowell's writing is delightfully funny and oftentimes painful in its close examination of love and change and connections lost over time. Rowell balances the flashbacks to Georgie and Neal's college years with present day action well, and like she did with Attachments, she weaves details about each character's past into the narrative deftly. Perhaps the best part about Landline is that Rowell has fun with the big plot hook--magic phone--and doesn't take that aspect of the plot too seriously. Georgie's emotional crisis, her relationship with Neal, and how she feels about her children, however, are at the forefront of this novel and never made light of, making for an emotionally resonant novel. Family and unexpected connections of all types dominate this humorous, slightly wacky novel, and fans of Rowell's YA will most definitely find lots to love about Landline!'

Landline is the first book I have read by Rainbow Rowell but from reading reviews of this book and her others I can tell that it will not be the last.

After reading a few heavy books, lengthy and emotional, Landline was a fast, light read even though it addressed a marriage in trouble. Georgie McCool writes comedy with her best friend, Seth, for a television sitcom. Her husband, Neal, is the stay-at-home dad to their two girls and is fundamentally unhappy. When Neal and the girls go visit his family without her at Christmas time, Georgie wonders if he has left for good this time. While taking refuge at her mother's house, Georgie drags out an old, yellow phone to call Neal and ends up connecting with the Neal that left her fifteen years before. She wonders if this is her chance to set things right or change something fundamental in their history.

The entire book felt like it was written in short scenes, as if it were a television show. Often the dialog and the characters felt like we were only getting to know them on the surface. At the end of the book I was left wondering what happened next? How did things actually work out with Georgie's job and her marriage? Could she really hold on to both? Landline was enjoyable while it lasted but it never felt like much insight was gained or that the main issues the characters were facing were actually resolved.

This book is one of my top ten favorite books—literally.

I can’t quite put my finger on the why. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m the same age as the younger versions of Georgie and Neal. I understand their perspectives. But really I think it’s because I completely and one hundred percent agree with the portrayal of love in this book.

Love isn’t this shiny beautiful creation between two people. It isn’t clean. There’s nothing certain about it. There is no formula—no equation two people can follow to reach a foolproof magical ending.

The scary thing is that sometimes love isn’t enough. It’s complicated. It’s messy and uncertain.

Love is realizing that maybe what you have with someone else isn’t
enough to make a perfect relationship, but you barrel ahead anyway, knowing that you only have part of the equation figured out.

It’s realizing that being s*** scared and uncertain is sometimes the best you’re going to get.

Love is taking that risk—embracing the uncertainties—dealing with the fact that it isn’t perfect, not even close—but making it work nonetheless. Because at the end of the day, all that good, all that love, it’s better than the bad. Maybe.

But it’s all you get in love—a maybe.

You love the person more than you hate everything else. That’s the love Rowell captures in this book. And it’s perfect.

I honestly don’t have anything remotely bad to say about this book. It’s my favorite of Rainbow Rowell’s (and I completely adore all of her books). But this one holds a special place for me.

I guess you’ll just have to trust me and check it out yourself to see why.

4.5/5 Stars

Eight pages in these characters had already tugged a my heart strings. The workaholic mother and her need/challenge to keep work-life balance, accompanied by her dependable stay-at-home husband waiting in the wings. This dynamic is reflective of current trends in the U.S. and very much a hot topic. The idea that Georgie can have it all is the primary theme. Can she have this amazing relationship with work and her writing partner, Seth, and still be a present mother/wife to her daughters and husband?

Through Rowell's trademark humor and slew of pop culture references, readers make an instant connection to the late nineties and present day plot as the days to Christmas countdown. Knowing that the days are numbered keep the pacing steady and the reader eager to keep turning the page in search of December 25. The artful balance of laugh-out-loud and subtle humor further sells the writing as endearing, memorable and positively movie-ready moments.

In the end Landline is a winner because it hurts and wrecks you with an authentic relationship, maybe even yours.

Why I'll be reading this again...

This completes my Rainbow Rowell readings. With that said, her writing has grown exponentially since her adult debut, Attachments, without sacrificing the nuances that only Rowell can deliver. There were several moments that I could literally close my eyes and watch the scenes play out on the movie screen. This is especially true with the flashbacks of Georgie and Neal's beginnings.

Landline is more than just a love story, and it is a beautiful one, but the juxtaposition of the Can women have it all? question lingered with me longer and harder. Can Georgie be successful without having to sacrifice being a mother and dedicated wife? Can she do it without the guilt? Can Neal be content or even happy with being the primary caretaker and domestic husband? I'm not really sure there's a clear answer but I'm happy with how this unfolds.

For the YA lovers, if you liked Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, I'm fairly confident this will sit well with you and it might even give some comfort for growing up. I know it did for me.

*Review copy provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and my own.

Don't we all love Rainbow Rowell? I picked this up through Vine because I love her book, Eleanor and Park. Because this review is as much about the audio cds as the actual story, it may be a little unconventional.

In regards to the cds, there are a lot of them and it takes a while to listen to them, of course. I'm typically not an audio book person, so this proved a little challenging for me. However, the reader made it exciting to listen to. The reader also used different voices for the different characters. I didn't care for all the voices, but it was an effective technique to help tell the characters apart from each other.

The story itself is very interesting. As typical, Rowell uses allusions galore, specifically with references to 80's and 90's television. For a guy that grew up in this time period, they are a blast to experience. Though the plot is somewhat science fiction due to a land line connecting the main character with her past, it's also very mysterious as her husband and children have disappeared on her. It also raises some interesting philosophical questions. If you had the opportunity to change your present, to spare yourself the unhappiness you currently suffer, would you take it? What if that opportunity erased important things in your present that give you joy, such as children?

Rowell is always a fun read, but I also appreciate the difficult questions she tackles in this multi-genre book.

Based solely on the blurb, I'm not sure I would have picked this book up if it had been written by anyone else. It's safe to say, though, that I'm down to read anything that Rainbow Rowell writes. Keeping up with the current trend, Landline was a wonderful book and I've yet to read anything disappointing by Rainbow.

Like everything else I've read by Rainbow, Landline was nearly impossible to put down. Forget everything else, I just want to sit and read for hours on end. That's pretty much what I did (much to my husband's irritation... hey, he can feed himself! I've seen him do it.) until I finished the book. The story flows effortlessly and before you know it, you're halfway through the book with no signs of stopping.

Not only does Rainbow write realistic characters (I love her dialogue most of all), but she writes an authentic love. Sometimes, in mature/longer relationships, we need to be reminded that we love our significant other. We need to be reminded of why we love them. It's not as if that love has disappeared or is gone forever. It's just that love has been buried by time and by life. Those things, no matter how much you love your significant other, affect your relationship. Landline is Georgie's story of finding her way back to her husband. No, it's not about finding that new passionate love. It's about rekindling that love with her husband. It's about saving her marriage.

I was thoroughly impressed with this book. It was even better than I imagined it to be.

I saw lots of three star reviews for this book, stating the novel is sending a bad message. But I enjoyed the description of Georgie's perplexed state in retrospective of her marriage. It's definitely not as good as Eleanor & Park, Attachments or Fangirl. But it is an enjoyable read.

For the nearly first half of the book I cannot really distinguish what's real or what's not: does Georgie really have a magic phone that calls to Neal in the past? But this perplexed state is actually so real to read. Rainbow has a way to write things in such a genuine and touchable way. Her marriage is at stake and the process is cumulative: no single big bad thing but all the small things. Her regret in retrospecting all previous years is so touching and real, which reminds me of Eleanor and Park.

One top reviewer talked about how unreasonable the plot is that a woman cannot simply make a radically unhappy man happy by sacrificing herself. I definitely don't think any person, of any gender, should give up her(him)self to make the spouse happy. But I do think a person in deep love is willing to make sacrifices to "try harder from onward".

Some people also think the fact that the Georgie is a woman makes her choice of concentrating on career harder to be accepted, resulting in an unhappy marriage. I do agree that there is some stereotype in the society right now that men are more acceptable to concentrate on work. But any man with Georigie's emphasis on career will for sure have a not-so-happy wife.

Rainbow Rowell's a hit and miss author with me. I've read her YA novels ELEANOR AND PARK and FANGIRL; while EaP had some wonderful lines about love, it was just okay. FANGIRL's protagonist made me so upset. But both books still had me reading compulsively. When her latest book, LANDLINE, became available for review, I was so psyched for the chance to check it out.

I don't know if it was the writing style or the way the reader portrayed the characters, but LANDLINE did not leave much of an impression. The reading was strained and it felt like the reader had to be prodded into performing the different parts. I like that it was about second chances with a little magical realism thrown in, Ms. Rowell had characters which were thought out, but it was so hard to get into the story.

I felt sorry for Georgie. As one reviewer mentioned, the idea that a woman must compromise herself to make others happy is prominent. It did not sit well at all. It's the age old idea that if a man skips something important for his work, it's upsetting but accepting. If a woman does it, the world falls apart. Georgie had a dream, and it conflicts with the Christmas holiday, but she might as well be bringing on the Apocalypse with her choice.

Strangely, I look forward to whatever Ms. Rowell comes up with. My mixed relationship with Ms. Rowell continues.

Seriously let down by Goodreads #1 Fiction book of 2014!! While the characters were well written and the book flowed quite smoothly, the plot of the story fell short. The time space continuum is never explained at the end of the novel - leaving the reader to wonder how the phenomenon occurred. There are elements of Sci Fi in this book due to the time space continuum and it is absurd to leave such details unanswered. Perhaps Rainbow Rowell's intent of the story was more about Georgie and Neal and whether or not they find their way back to each other - yet even that is uncertain as nothing has changed in either of their lives for them to figure out whether or not they can make their relationship work. All in all, this book leaves much to be desired. Well written characters without a fleshed out storyline or ending - does not a good book make. What a complete and total disappointment!

The thing I love most about Rainbow Rowell's books is just how real they are. Rowell has this incredibly ability to write such real and raw characters. That was definitely a shining part of Landline. The premise of this novel isn't something I'd normally read. It's about Neal and Georgie's strained marriage. Georgie is a TV writer and she's about to get her big break on a show she's been working on with her best friend Seth for so long. Neal is the quiet artist type who keeps the household and Georgie together. When Neal takes the kids to Omaha for Christmas, Georgie stays behind to finish up the scripts for her TV show.

What you get once Neal has left, is Georgie alone, questioning if she made the right choice, if her marriage was going to last, and just overall crumbling at the seams. Since she doesn't want to go home to her empty house she stays at her mother's house and ends up using the landline phone to try and get a hold of Neal. But when Neal picks up the phone, she realizes it's not quite the same Neal. It's Neal from fifteen years ago.

Usually books with this sort of magical, time-travelling aspect like this magical phone Georgie finds herself with are rather cheesy and I just don't typically latch onto them. But this one was different. I don't know if it was just the writing, the characters, or what, but I thought the 'magical' phone worked. I didn't think it seemed out of place or forced, as I've seen other reviewers comment. I thought it was interesting to get to see present Georgie interact with past Neal since she now has fifteen years of knowledge that Neal doesn't. I also loved how the flashbacks were included to see how Georgie and Neal's relationship came to be, and the difference between Neal and Georgie then, as opposed to Neal and Georgie now.

I loved the writing style and tone of this book. It almost had this dry tone to it, and dry humor, but I loved that. I thought it fit the whole sadness and desperation that Georgie felt over her relationship and how she wondered if she could fix it. There was a lot of little asides in parentheses throughout the book and I thought they really added to the narrative. It added humor and just really worked for me.

The characters in Landline, as I mentioned, were excellent. They felt so incredibly real. From the description of Neal, and the way he hardly showed emotion through his facial expressions, and the way he never really laughed, to Georgie's sister Heather, and her sarcasm, humor, and own personal struggle of finding who she was and being true to that. Even Georgie's mom had such a distinct personality that I could practically imagine her sitting at my dinner table talking to me like she was Georgie.

Like I said, Rowell has yet to disappoint me in terms of developing real and likable characters that are so well described that I could practically have lunch with them with no awkwardness because of how much I know about them and their personalities.

When it comes to the ending, I know some feel that the conflict wasn't really resolved so it was unsatisfactory in that respect. I would disagree. While the conflict isn't resolved in the super concrete manner that you might find in other novels, I still felt like it was resolved enough to finish the book. Besides, considering the story line and tone, I feel like that's kind of the point. In life, some conflict is never truly resolved. You just keep working on it and solving the little problems associated with it as they arise, but the overall conflict is always kind of there, something to continually work on just because of what it is. I feel like that's especially true in a marriage. A married couple never quits working at a relationship unless they truly want it to fail. There's always that certain amount of give and take with your partner as the two of you figure out life together and figure out your own personal lives as well and how they fit together. So I think the ending was perfect. I was left with enough sense of peace in what happened that things would continue to get better and worked on and evolve after that last page was turned.

Overall, I thought this was a great novel about a very real situation concerning a couple's marriage and what it means to work with each other rather than against each other. Also the idea of whether love really is enough. Can love really be enough to overcome circumstances and situations if people want it to be?

There may be some disgruntled Rowell fans after Landline, but I am definitely not one of them.

Georgie McCool, her husband Neal and their two children are planning a trip to Omaha to stay with Neal's family for Christmas. However, when Georgie gets an opportunity to pitch a new television show with her writing partner Seth just after the holidays, she stays home to work on the project, upsetting her husband and straining their marriage. She subsequently cannot contact him and begins to worry that what her mother insinuates may be correct: that her husband has left her. Depressed and uncomfortable in the home she shares with Neal, Georgie sleepwalks through her writing sessions and spends her nights at her mother's. There she discovers that by using the land-line, she can call Neal in 1998 and discuss their relationship from the perspective of their first big fight.

This book is a breezy read, but it has a lot to say about relationships and the way marriage works. I found it to be profoundly true, and much more realistic than most love stories I've read. I also found myself tearing up remembering the journey of my own relationship with my husband before we got married, and the idea of talking to him again in the past. This is a creative and powerful but not heavy read.

I received an advance copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.

Let me start by saying that this is the first book I have read by Rainbow Rowell. She seems to have quite a following and I do intend to read more of her books even though I wasn't super impressed with this one.

The concept of the book is neat. Woman phones her husband, who is out of state and is apparently quite difficult to get ahold of, and finds herself somehow (magically?) speaking to him in the past. I'm a sucker for anything even remotely resembling time travel, and that is mostly why I wanted to read this book. Unfortunately, the neat concept, when stretched over 300 pages (and without anything else really happening besides these conversations and the main character going through various stages of freakout), failed to keep my interest. I thought that both the main character and her husband (actually most of the characters) were annoying and stereotypical. The ending was predictable. The writing itself was nothing super special. However, all of that being said, I did finish the book and I'm not sorry that I read it. I won't reread it and I won't necessarily recommend it to friends, but it wasn't bad. It was a palate cleanser: light, simple, quick. Perfect for giving your brain a break between heavier readings. I'm hoping that some of her other novels move me in a way that this novel did not.

HIGHLIGHTS: Georgie's an easy character to understand - she's driven, but struggling to find a balance between what's a priority and what's not in her life. She's a flawed character, as are the rest of the cast, and that only serves to make her more realistic. I especially liked Georgie's kids, and her interactions with them. Character dynamics / relationships all across the story are intriguing. The concept of the story is fascinating, and works nicely. LANDLINE hits the right notes, with humor and even more serious emotions. It's a different, but still relatable, story that looks at the complications of love and marriage. I wanted to write more, but I kept accidentally writing spoilers, so I'll keep this short and sweet - LANDLINE a great story with a slow start, a fascinating concept, and intriguing characters. I'd definitely recommend checking it out!

LOWLIGHTS: I feel like I was left with some unanswered questions, and felt the pacing slowed a few times. But, nothing overly problematic.

AUDIOBOOK: Rebecca Lowman's voice is smooth, calming, and incredibly adept at portraying various tones and characters. This is the first time I've heard Lowman narrate, and I will absolutely be looking for more audiobooks by her.

I loved it! The characters were so well done, I just loved them both for all their imperfections and how real they were both as characters/people and in their relationships. This book was not what I expected, but I fell in love with it just the same. Life is messy and imperfect and this book captured that so, so, well. I loved Neal and Georgie. The bit with the "magic" phone and calling back into the past was something I expected to be gimmicky and not something I would enjoy as much, but it was really well done and great and let the characters subtly learn and grow to be better and more understanding in their "now" lives. I listened to this on audio and loved the reader as well. It was one of the better audiobooks I've listened to. Love this author and have and will continue to read more from her.

This isn't usually my kind of book, the story that could easily be turned into a romcom. But I really liked Rainbow Rowell's "Eleanor and Park" and thought it was something different so I gave this a try. It was a quick, easy read, and being a married, working mother of 2, I could relate to Georgie. Without giving away the ending, I have to disagree with some of the reviewers. I didn't see Georgie as giving up everything to try to fix a failing marriage. If anything, she gets a chance to reflect back on the beginning of the relationship to see how important it is to meet someone halfway and hopefully look towards a future.

I think what Rainbow does so well is dialogue. I loved the back and forth between Georgie and Neal. I was surprised that I got emotional a couple times during the flashbacks. And the relationship between Georgie and her sister Heather felt believable. This book isn't just about Georgie and Neal's marriage, but it's about all kinds of relationships - mother/daughter, sisters, best friends. It's about how difficult it can be to maintain them all and be everything everyone needs you to be. Too much attention to one can lead to a deficit to another. Not all women are superwomen. If you're lucky, you'll find someone who loves you anyway.

Landline is the second Rowell novel I’ve read, right after Fangirl. I wasn’t as excited to start Landline because the little library tag said “Romance” on the spine, and I’m not AT ALL a romance reader. My nose kind of did that involuntary snarly thing and I almost pushed it back on the shelf! However, I knew I loved her work from Fangirl. I'm so glad I read this novel. This was not at all a typical mushy-gushy-ouch-my-ovaries-just-exploded romance. When faced with the prospect of an irreparable marriage, readers can't help but wince. There are some beautiful, well-developed characters who will stick with you a long time. Throw in a magical phone that calls one week in the past, and the novel becomes a really fun, yet touching, journey.

Finally won a good book from First Reads! Huzzah! I own Eleanor & Park but haven't read it yet. Definitely will be next on my list! I read this book not really pausing to think anything through and whatnot. When I finished it...I was perplexed. And I immediately wanted to read it again with the new perspective that you get when you read the last page! It's a book that makes you think. It's a book that you have to stop and collect your thoughts on. It's a book that reminds you to cherish what you have and make every day count. It's a book that shows you how you appreciate the good things in life and how easy it is to become complacent and get stuck in a rut, just going through the motions. Georgie made a lot of mistakes, she wasn't the greatest person or family woman. She wasn't a very likable main character. But you felt for her. I didn't wholly understand the role of the second giving birth flashback...

Thank goodness for this book! It pulled me out of a very sad book rut! I was going through a lot of 3 and 4 stars and even some DNFs before I finally got to this fantastic 5 star. Landlines had everything I was looking for without even really knowing what I was looking for. I totally fell in love with Georgie's and Neal's story.

So we have Georgie, a very busy TV writer. She's been working on one particular "dream show" with her best friend Seth since they were in college (so ten-ish years), when they finally get someone who may be interested in picking it up. This all happens just a few days before Christmas and Seth convinces Georgie to work over the holiday instead of going to Omaha with her husband, Neal, and their two girls, Alice and Noomi. This comes up after years of many night home late, etc. It's pretty clear from the start that there are a few troubles in this marriage.

Throughout the week that Neal is gone, Georigie ends up staying in her old childhood home with her mother, younger sister, and step-father. That is one quirky bunch! In her old bedroom is a yellow, rotary, landline phone that somehow lets present-day Georgie communicate with college Neal. Georgie just thinks she's going insane.

My favorite element of the book where the flashbacks to college. I really enjoyed watching Georgie and Neal fall in love and learning about how they came to be. Everything about "early" them was so sweet and made the whole story become such a heartwarming read. All of the characters were awesome and made me love them in their own ways. Georgie's mom, Seth, Heather (the sister), and even the two girls. It's awesome when the supporting characters in a love story are just as great as the couple. The humor was also spot on and actually works very nicely with the drama.

There's really nothing I didn't enjoy, hence the perfect rating. I mean, honestly, I had a few questions leftover at the end, but that's okay, I will just make-up my own answers to them. For a while now I've been wanting to read a love-story and a novel that would stick with me and I finally found it.

Oh, how I love Rainbow Rowell. I'm sure if I knew her personally, we would totally be BFFs. Landline is funny and heartwarming at the same time. I could relate to both Georgie and Neal. Georgie is an over-worked, stressed out television writer and Neal is a stay-at-home dad. The story was primarily set in the present day, showing Georgie and Neal's strained relationship but also flashed back to the back to when they first met so the reader gets a clear idea of how they ended up in the state they're in today. Even the secondary characters, like Seth and Georgie's mom and sister are well drawn. And they have the most hilarious lines. I was laughing out loud several times. I love Rainbow's sense of humor.

Georgie and Neal could have easily been caricatures. I've seen the working spouse vs. the stay at home spouse many times in other books and in TV and movies. But this book is a fresh and original take on that storyline. There is not much more I can say about the plot that I can say without spoiling it. There is one device that requires a heavy suspension of belief but it's worth it and I didn't have a problem doing that at all.

Call me Rainbow. Anytime. We can hang out.

Have you ever wanted a magical phone line to the past, or wanted a redo on past events? Well In Landline this is exactly what happens to Georgie and Neal. She is a screenwriter who just got the opportunity of a lifetime, and he is a stay-at-home dad. When it comes time for this family's trip for Christmas to Omaha, Georgie gets the go ahead to write 5 episodes of her dream show. Neal is not happy and takes the kids to Omaha anyway without Georgie.

As the book progresses we get an insight into Georgie and Neal's past, from how they meet to the birth of their children. This book is split into different days of the week chronologically. The pace is great, and the plot is well developed. The characters are rich is dialogue and depth. Over all this was a great read. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a story about finding love again in a relationship. Sometimes that is all you need to realize what is right in front of you.

Loved it!
The Magic Phone thingy was a tad disturbing at first, and I couldn't figure it out - does it or doesn't it have an impact on the "now" when she has the conversations with her husband - her being in the present and him in the past? But then I just realized I don't care anymore, I just want to find out what what will happen next....
I choked up a few times as I was reading, couldn't help but cry at the end. Was yelling at Georgia (main female character) a few times - yeah, the book evoked strong emotions inside of me.
Was it a bit cheesy - sure. Was it Hollywood-ish? You bet.
Does not matter.
Loved it anyways :D

I absolutely like this book. It started off weak for me, and I couldn’t pick the book up for a full week because of the boredom I went through while trying to read the first few chapters. I had to stop and push myself to keep going. A lot of people I’ve spoken to said that it does get better, and they weren’t wrong. It did get better, not a lot better than the beginning but it improved. I really wish this book didn’t disappoint me, but I guess I was expecting too much. With a lot of Rainbow’s books I find myself bored in the first ten chapters, but after that it gets better. And to me, ten chapters is a lot, I would understand three, or even five to get us introduced to the world and appreciating it. BUT not ten. While I love Rainbow’s writing, I guess I just don’t appreciate her pace and maybe her books just aren’t for me. I guess I’m more of an Action loving kind of girl.
It was very cute throughout the whole thing. It had great dialogue, but dragged on a bit in certain areas. I loved the idea of the plot, it's brilliant, and was carried through very well. I just really wished the book didn’t take so long to get into. I like it a lot, but I can't say I love it. A part I did love was when we saw a little cameo of Cath and Levi :') So much feels throughout that part!! -- Even though this book didn't live up to my expectations, I'll still continue to get excited and read Rainbow's books. I still very much recommend this book, if you’re into contemporary and have read her other books then you should definitely give it a go! :)

Rating 2.0/5.0

How on earth this book won the best Goodreads thriller novel in 2014? seriously?
The story is very shallow. The characters don't have any depth to them and above all the whole thing has no thrill. Usually in a thriller there will be some kind of suspense or thrill to get you over the edge of your seat, but this one had nothing to offer.
The whole story is about how the protagonist can communicate through her landline phone with her husband at a young age. Like she has the opportunity to change her current troubled relationship with him by talking to the younger one.

I think this book does not deserve the recognition it got. Just skip it. Not worth even a one time read.

The fact that so many people love this book is baffling to me. There was a whole lot of "showing" and not enough "telling." I wanted to actually see the characters work through their conflict, but it was not to be.

Not to mention, for some reason Rainbow Rowell decided to use the "brooding male" trope to create her leading male and that drive me crazy. The fact that the leading male hated everything else in the world, but loved ONLY the main character (until they got married with kids) made for an annoying read. The main character kept trying to prove to the reader that her husband was this amazing person, but my only thought was "you sure!? He seems to be emotionally distant and borderline mentally abusive yet, you still think he's great!"

Overall, I'd argue that Rainbow Rowell is the type of author who was meant to write screen plays since all her books feel like movies, but don't always work with books. This one was no different. As a movie, I feel like I could've loved it, but as a book it just didn't work.

I am probably in the minority here, but I could not get into this book. I did not finish it, which means I should probably give it 1 star, but I just couldn't. I don't like the word "Hate" and think it is too strong for books. I think she is a great writer and I loved her other books, so I gave it two...I really did not like this book. I read all her others; devoured "Fan Girl" in a way I haven't devoured a book since I was a teen.

The blurb sounded exciting and different. A woman, Georgie, whose marriage was on the brink because of her job, figures out a way to talk to her husband in the past and hopefully this will help fix their relationship.

By page 50 this really hadn't happened yet. I found myself skimming most pages where info was dumped on me. I didn't really care how she and her co workers moved up into the sitcom world, I didn't really need to know how Georgie and her husband chopped their cheese quite loudly. I think most of this background info could have been spread-out throughout the book or given away in conversations between her and her past-husband.

This story moved slowly and was boring most of the time. The writing was not as mature or exciting as "Fan Girl" or "Eleanor and Parks". I feel like Rowell has the pulse of YA/New Adult better than the adult fiction genre.

When I ordered it, I wasn't aware it was an audio book. I tend to shy away from them because not long after pressing play, my eyes droop and soon fall asleep. Not so this time.

My first smart move was to play it in my car. The second, was it was delightfully read by Rebecca Lowman. Third, it was a beautiful story.

The audio book worked because the writing very visually detailed, it felt like I was listening to a script, I could see the camera angles, and hand gestures, shrugs, and details. The dialogue was genuine and the plot entrancing. I couldn't wait to have to drive someplace so I could listen and move the story along.
Truth be told, despite my 15 yo granddaughter riding along, I ended up turning off the radio she enjoys and punched the CD player, I was that addicted. To my surprise, even while texting, and having come into the story already chapters in, Robyn, too, became involved.

I have just ordered another of Rainbow Rowell's books, this time the written word, and hope this grabs me and takes me for a ride as well.

This book gets two stars solely for some of the catchy, and funny, dialogue. The book is a repetitious, contrived, and forgettable bore. The protagonist, one Georgie McCool, is a comedy writer so full of angst it seems impossible that she could write comedy. Her long-suffering husband, Neal, takes care of the two adorable children and Georgie, seemingly getting nothing in return. Georgie's writing partner, Seth, torments her by flirting constantly but holding her off at the same time, eventually confessing his "love" for her while keeping his eye on other women. Nope, don't bother.

Bookwormparent.blogspot.com
The beauty of a love story about an already married couple is just what I needed to read around the time of my marriage anniversary.

I am one of those odd people who are deeply in love with their spouse - I know right (weirdo). And while common boy meets girl romance is nice too, I needed some hope that 15 years down the line we made the right choice. Think about it when are we ever given romance novels on married couples? Some would say their too boring or sadly real.
Well what's wrong with that? We are human, we will make mistakes, we just also have to understand the meaning of not giving up. And sadly our generation is notorious for that.
Landline gives us a taste of what we might say, think, or do when given the chance to speak to our spouses from the past.

I felt greatly disappointed not knowing how Neal felt and thought the entire week he and Georgie were a part. While I love first person narration I need small glimpses into other characters. Knowing another's thoughts help you see the meaning behind their words, especially if you don't know them all that well.

Other than that, I was more than entertained, I was inspired. Landline opened my eyes to the details of my relationship, from beginning to now. What promises we kept or broke to the issues we decided to face together or just plain ignore. And while we are far from perfect, I knew we loved each other without an ounce of doubt.
Relationships are hard and I love Rowell for putting what every married person thinks and feels into a wonderful book.

If your only initiation to Rowell's work is Eleanor and Park, you'll recognize the sharp wit and spare, but powerful cadence in Georgie's voice. And if you've read Rainbow's previous adult work, you'll be rewarded with another dip into the pool. Rowell moves deftly between genres, blurring the lines between fantasy and realism, and her portrait of a marriage on the perilous edge is as fresh and youthful and honest as the poignant and mature brushstrokes of her Young Adult work. Landline's Georgie and Neil are I-love-you-and-I-hate-you complicated--these characters are at once insightful and again perplexed by their own imperfect, but relate-able lenses. In short, they're as human as any friend or face in the mirror. Special note: Rebecca Lowman's narration is wonderful--expressive but unobtrusive, and only adds to the experience. Highly recommended.

Torn about this one. I love Rowell's writing, but I just did not like Neal, which was a shock. One of the things that I love about Rowell's writing and that made me devour her previous three books in rapid succession was my joy at her ability to create male romantic interests that are sweet and worth caring for, rather than the broody bad boy who treats the woman who loves him like crap.

And then Neal. Ouch.

He's definitely the worst male love interest in any of Rowell's books. To be honest, I was hoping Georgie would figure out she was better off without him and sail off into a life of the career fulfillment that Neal seemed to spitefully want to deny her.

In fairness, though, I thought Georgie was rather infantile, so I had trouble getting behind her too, but, really. Neal was miserable from day one, couldn't figure out what the heck he wanted out of his life, and Georgie is the bad guy because she has the audacity to want to stick with a career she loves? It makes me hurt.

Georgie McCool.

That's the name of the main character in the book. I love it.

Neal also loves it. He's a cartoonist.

Georgie is a comedy writer who works with Seth.

Georgie and Neal get married. But problems arise. Neal is from Omaha. Georgie has to stay in LA to write. With Seth.

They don't seem to be happy anymore.

Georgie has to stay back and write for a show instead of going to Omaha with Neal and her two daughters.

Neal isn't happy.

Georgie isn't happy.

Then she discovers her old yellow telephone. Somehow she's able to talk to Neal...but back BEFORE they were married. Could she somehow fix all their problems with this "magic" phone?

I enjoyed the book. I read some reviews from people who seem annoyed that there is no explanation on why the phone works as it does. Well, not everything NEEDS an explanation.

Read the book. Enjoy it.

Wish that your name was Georgie McCool.

Rainbow Rowell is becoming one of my favorite authors. I've read all of her books and have enjoyed each of them. In Rowell's latest novel, Landline, we meet Georgie McCool and her husband, Neal Grafton. They've been married for 14 years, have two beautiful girls, Georgie works her dream job and Neal stays home with the children. They are about to embark on a trip from L.A. to Omaha for a visit with Neal's mom for Christmas. Right before the trip a major player in the television show arena, approaches Georgie and her best friend Sean, to develop their own show. This is a dream come true for the two of them, this is what they've wanted since college. What's a great opportunity without a catch? They must come up with four scripts and they have to be done over the Christmas holiday. As the story unfolds, we see Neal going to Omaha without her. Georgie staying in town to work with Sean on the scripts. She reflects on how they first met, how they got married, and then the impossible happens. Her phone dies and she finds the old landline that was in her room when she was younger. She tries calling Neal, but the unexpected happens. The landline puts her in contact with Neal, not in the present, but in the past. Can Georgie fix her marriage by talking to Neal in the past? Will she convince him he should've never married her? What lengths will she go to, to keep the man of her dreams? To find out the answers to these questions, you've gotta pick up Landline by Rainbow Rowell!

Landline is hilariously written and gives you those laugh out loud moments. The book was so relatable for me due to the main character living in Los Angeles where I also reside. Rainbow nailed the entertainment industry and how insanely demanding it can be. Also, Rainbow's hilarious writing when Georgie (the main character) arrives in Omaha and her reaction to snow. The author described the event of snowfall to a tee and how crazy it feels to someone who lives in Southern California. I was very surprised to read that Rainbow Rowell lives in Omaha!

I could not give the book 5 stars. We realize that Georgie loves Neal, but the story gets a little repetitive at times going over and over how much Georgie loves and misses Neal. There were also a few missed words and wording mistakes especially towards the end. The story was predictable in how it ended. Landline would be a great book for a reading club.

What's striking me about the feedback for this book is that a lot of young adults are saying that Rainbow Rowell should stick to writing YA and NA books. As a nineteen year old myself, I have to humbly disagree. LANDLINE is an adult book because it's meant for adult audiences. I will admit that I didn't connect with it as much as I have some of her other works because I am so young, but that does not diminish the amazingness of the book, it just made me unable to relate to certain aspects of this story. But this story is timeless and it does span many years, making it good for any reader. However, fans of her young adult books have to know that this is an adult book because it relates to marriage, not because of sex or anything of the sort. If you're not married or about to be married soon, aspects of it can't impact you as significantly as it will others.

This is the awesome story of Georgie and Neal. Georgie is a television comedy writer who just may have found her big break. Unfortunately, this means missing Christmas. She sends Neal and her two daughters to Omaha without her while she attempts to make deadline with her long-time (and super attractive) writing partner, Seth. While they are gone, Georgie misses them terribly and does everything in her power not to allow her marriage to fall apart. However, using the landline that connected Neal and her throughout her college days is changing everything. When she calls him, she speaks to Neal of the past. You heard me, if the synopsis does not sound at all interesting to you, read this book just for the magic phone.

I found myself connecting to the passages about their relationship back in college more than anything else. These memory sequences were super awesome. Modern day Georgie and Neal are still in love, but they're tired versions of themselves. Georgie is a little overemotional and Neal is not expressive enough, but they love each other to the point of the grandest of grand gestures. Really, they're story is very adorable and heartbreaking all at once--making the ending that much sweeter. And it made it all the more powerful to see the humble beginnings of their relationships and see where they are seventeen years later. We literally followed them through everything via memories and magic phone calls.

As someone who is not married and does not plan on getting married in the near future, I couldn't grasp certain themes of the book. I am simply unable to relate, and I think that's why I found myself putting the book down a few times. But I loved the story that was being told and I think that married couples will commend Rowell for taking this bold step.

This is definitely a book for romance lovers. If you're married, you must read this. If you're not married, just know that some things will not be easy to connect to. Full of laughs, adorableness, and moments that will literally break your heart, this book is definitely not short on the feels. Another awesome novel by Rowell, for sure! I can't wait to see what she produces for us next!

Interesting concept, but it fell flat.
None of the characters really felt developed from the start and there was no development to them through the entire book. We never get a sense of Neal, the husband, in present day since everything is about them speaking on the 'magic' phone. The present day Neal seems like a jerk since he never calls or speaks to Georgie during the week he's gone for Christmas...passive-aggressive at its best I'd say.
Georgie also seems like a jerk...picking her BFF Seth over her family seemingly every time and that's the root issue. She's pretty whiny and there's never really this moment where she seems sincere about wanting to change to make her marriage work, just that she has to "say the right thing" to get Neal to stay in the marriage seems manipulative and selfish.
This is the first Rainbow Rowell book that I've read and I'm not sure if I'd choose to read another.

I’m a huge fan of Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl and Eleanor & Park. HUGE. That said, I was pumped for her new book- especially with it being an adult novel. However, I just wasn’t nearly as thrilled over Landline as I was the two previous books I’ve read.

Maybe it was just the vibe being different? I don’t know.

I liked it enough once I finally got into it, but at times I found myself skimming parts. I think I even would have liked it more if I had just casually picked it up, but I was crazily excited for this book…and then it was just kind of a let down for my excitement level. I still recommend it- but don’t go in with high hopes if you’re already a Rainbow Rowell fan. It is nothing like her other books at all.

Still—cute and a good ending even though it was predictable.

This book sent chills down my spine and brought tears to my eyes. It is a love story and a magical time bending mystery. When Georgie decides to stay home because of an important deadline at work, her husband, Neal,takes the kids to his mother's house anyway and leaves her home alone. Then she realizes how much she loves him and misses him and when she calls him from the landline phone at her mother's house, she reaches him in the past before they ever married. She wonders if speaking to him like this will change the future like in the movie "Back To The Future" but still, she is drawn to the landline phone and calls the Neal of the past again and again as she wonders about the state of their marriage and her job and her family and more. Fabulous story!

After finishing Fangirl and Carry On I jumped on the Rainbow Rowell bandwagon pretty quick. I really enjoyed how Rowell paints the characters in my mind. They seem like they would be real people. Nobody is painfully beautiful or breathtaking. They all seem very human, and flawed, and yet I still find myself caring about them and rooting for them. Georgie and Neal both have very aggravating traits but also redeeming ones by the end of it I was chewing my nails until I knew it was all going to work out ok.

This was the first novel I've read by Rainbow Rowell. I bought it primarily because her writing has been receiving glowing reviews. Naturally, I bought it expecting it to be this fantastic piece of modern fiction... I was let down. It's not a terrible book but it's not a great one either. I read it in less than a day and afterwards felt a bit 'meh' about it.

The plot is pretty simple - magic phone to the past! Beyond that, there is so many plot lines and character stories that should have been explored but weren't. The entire book reads as if Rainbow Rowell was afraid to go any deeper than scratching the surface. It doesn't help then that the book is super predictable.

If you aren't a Rainbow Rowell fan already, I wouldn't suggest doing anything but borrowing this book from your local library if you really, really feel the need to read it. Otherwise, wait for the movie - I have no doubts that this one will become a romantic comedy featuring someone like Jennifer Garner.

I am a huge fan of Rowell's writing, and this is my favorite of her books. I've never read a book that so poignantly and accurately described the intricacies of marriage. How secure and safe it is to be someone's partner, but at the same time there are moments when it seems you don't know the other person at all and it could all unravel in an instant before you even really realize something is wrong. It's a constant state of working to stay present and have courage and try to really love someone. I found myself nodding and crying and dog-earring pages to read to my husband.

This was not what I expected. And the unexpected can do wonders!
Rebecca Lowman reads for Rainbow Powell's book "Landline". I found her reading rather good. She has one of those lower voices that can switch between the masculine and feminine without much effort. It let me enjoy the story line better.
After her husband packs the kids up and leaves to visit his family - without her - when she needed to stay for her job, Georgie McCool discovers that she is able to talk to her husband. That isn't so surprising. A wife should be able to talk with her husband. But this isn't her present day husband. It is the Neal of the past.
What I loved about the book was this author's ability to create human connections that felt real.

I’ve written several times about my complete love for Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor and Park, and I enjoyed Fangirl and Attachments nearly as much—so I was anxiously waiting to finally get ahold of a copy of Landline. I’d been reading reviews that said it was much different from Rowell’s previous books, so I tried to go into it without any preconceived notions. I finished it a few days ago and ( I’m going to be in the minority on this one) I thought it was. . . fine. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it. I thought that most of the characters had potential, but I just didn’t get that invested in any of them. Most of all, I thought that the plot point involving the main character talking via a landline phone to the younger version of her present-day husband was rather contrived—and I think that Rowell is much too talented of a writer to need to use that kind of gimmick. Again, I think I'm going to be in the minority here—Landline has been getting great reviews all over the place—but it just wasn’t to my taste. However, this won't stop me from continuing to read whatever Rowell writes next!

Remember those time-traveling movies of the '80s like Back to the Future (with it's time-traveling DeLorean) and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (with it's time-traveling phone booth)? In a throwback/homage to those delightful gems (complete with references to Marty McFly, the disappearing Polaroid images, and the harried rendition of "Earth Angel"), Rainbow Rowell brings us a tale of a magic, time-traveling yellow rotary phone.

Landline is about a married couple, Georgie and Neal. They're in their mid-thirties and they have two little girls. Neal is a stay-at-home dad; Georgie has her dream job as a sitcom writer with her (straight male) BFF and writing partner, Seth.

But Georgie and Neal are in a rut. Georgie works a lot, and Neal resents her for putting her job (and, thus, Seth) before their family. When Georgie decides she has to stay in L.A. for Christmas to prepare for a meeting about a new sitcom, Neal decides that he has finally had enough. Rather than staying with Georgie in L.A., he takes the girls on their planned trip to visit his mom in Nebraska, leaving Georgie home alone for Christmas.

Without Neal around, Georgie realizes how important he is to her. She tries to call him over and over again to tell him, but he never answers his cell. And he never calls her back.

Georgie begins to fall apart. Her mom (who thinks Neal has left Georgie for good) insists that Georgie come eat meals at home and stay overnight. Georgie resorts to using her mom's landline from her childhood bedroom to try to reach Neal. She calls Neal's mom's landline in Nebraska from her old rotary phone . . . and Neal finally picks up. But it's not present-day Neal. It's 1998 Neal. Georgie decides that this bizarre and utterly unbelievable direct line to the past will provide her the only means by which she can save her relationship with Neal.

I really wanted this to be the kind of delightfully fluffy book you can devour in a single afternoon on the beach. Unfortunately, it just doesn't live up to the hype.

Yes, it's cute and light-hearted. Yes, there are some funny moments and cute flirtations. Yes, it reads very quickly (the way a good summer book should). But, largely, it comes off as silly (stupid silly, not cute silly), dated, and hackneyed. Plus, Georgie is self-centered and obnoxious, so it's hard to root for her.

If you liked Attachments, then you should give this one a go. The writing style is the same, the romantic-comedy vibe is similar. But if you're reading this because you liked Eleanor & Park, you will probably be disappointed. Rowell should stick to YA. Weird, misfit teenagers are much more likeable than self-centered, annoying adults.

I decided to read "Eleanor and Park" one day and spent the entire day on my couch finishing it. I loved the characters, the writing, the music and the imagery. Thank goodness my husband was really, really busy because then I proceeded to read "Fangirl" and "Attachments" -- all in one weekend. So, of course, I was very excited when I found out that "Landline" would be released in a few months. I pre-ordered it and waited not-so-patiently for it. I even ran home on the day it was delivered -- like it was the newest iPhone or something. Then I read it and was extremely disappointed. The characters seemed to lack the motivation, magic and connection of her previous characters. The book felt rushed. So if you need a vacation book, this book suffices. Otherwise, I'd just suggest re-reading one of the other three Rainbow Rowell books or even her Twitter feed.

This books isn't quite as obvious in it's emotional twists as Eleanor and Park or Fangirl were, but Landline still had me anxiously hoping the characters would be alright, whatever the outcome. I think the story will resonate much more with adults who have been in a long, long-term relationship. After 15+ years with the each other, Georgie and Neal are facing way different issues than their college-aged selves faced. It was nice seeing two adults who loved each other deal with problems that forced Georgie to make adult decisions about her future. Adult relationships, even loving ones, are complex in different ways and Landline explores that beautifully.

I loved Rainbow Rowell's other books, but this one just didn't live up. Eleanor and Park is the best one in my opinion. Landline just seemed too unbelievable and it was hard to keep going. I think it sends the wrong message to women. She has a good job, but doesn't appear to be a good mother or wife. She admits that she comes home late at night and that her husband does everything, and then when he leaves, she is crestfallen. She wallows the whole book and tries to connect with him in the past, but does nothing to change the future or be a better wife/person. Essentially she is selfish. Marriage is give and take and this book doesn't deliver that message to young women.

I have been a Rainbow Rowell fan for a while now, so when LANDLINE came out I put it on my TBR. Not surprisingly, this book was SO DAMN GOOD - emotional, funny, and quintessentially Rainbow. Kinda different from her YA work - I think ELEANOR AND PARK is still my favorite - but still packs an emotional punch. I'm in my early thirties, so I really appreciated the author's ruminations on marriage, having kids, and balancing a career and family. A super enjoyable, juicy, and romantic read. Definitely recommend!

Landline was a surprisingly readable story about the choices we make in the past (and the present) and how they affect our lives. Rowell has a way of writing that makes you feel as though her character is talking to you in conversation. I found myself laughing out loud at several times during the book, and quite enjoyed Georgie as a character. Unfortunately, the book fell flat for me about three quarters of the way through and was never able to recover. The dogs and the gay sister and the whole "Seth Awakening" felt very forced and hurried and more about agenda than about the story.

Reviews were good and intriguing...but the novel did not measure up. I simply could not finish it. I read a few chapters...my interest wandered...I stopped and read another book...went back to it and stopped again. Enough.

Unlikeable and not very well thought out characters. I could not imagine a scenario where I would not spend at least part of my Christmas with my husband and daughter (if I had a daughter). Yes, it was a big break to be asked to write some sample screenplays for a possible TV series, but Georgie could have taken her laptop and written anywhere and conferred with her writing partner by phone and email.

With a basic premise that seemed unfounded, it went downhill from there. Glad some readers liked it. I can't say anything good about it. Gave it two stars instead of one because I thought the premise was interesting.

This is the fourth Rowell novel I’ve read and the fourth Rowell novel I’ve enjoyed. I’ve read enough Rowell to figure out the secret of her magic is twofold: great dialogue and great real characters. This story is about the marriage of Georgie and her husband, Neal. The marriage has hit a rock and we are not sure whether the boat is going down or if someone can patch the hole before it’s too late. It doesn’t take long to find yourself loving Georgie and Neal, rooting for them, wishing you could pull them aside and trying to help them along. And, oddly, though the reader can’t help out, assistance does come in a totally unexpected form, from conversations on an old landline phone.

I have to say that I was disappointed overall in this story. Georgie was a whiny, self-serving character and I kept waiting for her to just get a clue. And the ending was very anti-climactic. **Yawn**. Obviously, it wasn't all bad because i generally do not continue with a book if it hasn't grabbed me in some fashion right after the first chapter. But the part about the "landline" really never made much sense to me and the idea of the past and present were just confusing. Oh well.

OK, Rainbow, you write well, you are good at conversations. The problem is, that's all I can say for this book. This woman is married to an unhappy guy, he's angry just to be angry, and he never gets beyond that. Why the hell would any woman want him? Fun is foreign, to him. I wanted this book to go somewhere, to have some twists and turns. No way. It's basically about this woman wondering if her marriage is over, wondering why her husband won't answer his phone. Not much more. I made it about half way and then gave up, after skimming the rest of it.

This book was a delightful escape. It was light, fun and easy to read. If you are looking for a complex character study this isn't for you; but if you like a magical fun story this is your vacation book.

This book brought back memories from my teen days--waiting for the phone to ring, not wanting to go out because you might miss a call. Life is so different now it may be hard for younger readers to relate but this is how is was before cell phones.

I highly recommend this!

I love Rainbow Rowell's books because her characters grew up in the same era that I did. It is a flashback to a different time when you are young and the future holds all kinds of possibilities. This book is about a couple and how over time they and their lives change, and their future does not turn out as they expected. It lays out the premise of if you could go back and change the past would you? Life isn't perfect and along with the good...there are the not so good times. I loved this book so much!!!

OH. MY. GOSH. I loved it, I loved it, I loved it.
Rainbow Rowell's books just latch on to your heart and SQUEEZE. She's so good and writing YA books that I was super surprised how well this adult novel was written, but boy did she knock it out of the park.
As a female, I loved how the book explored that fine line between fighting for the career you desperately want, willing to put every inch of your soul into it, and yet wanting the kids and the husband and learning not to take it for granted.
I loved the characters in the book. Rowell has an incredible ability to write her character and tough topics with a silver lining of humor to carry the reader along.
This book makes you feel all the emotions the main character, Georgie, goes through. You desperately want a happy ending, but know that life isn't always happy endings. But once you find that person that just makes you want to live, then it's up to you to show up to the relationship.
Read it, read it all the way to the end. You won't be disappointed. I already want to re-read it.

If I read the description of this book and it was written by any other author than Rainbow Rowell, I don't think I would have read it. It didn't sound like my cup of tea...a magic phone??! However, since I absolutely ADORED Eleanor & Park by the same author, I thought I had to give this one a try. I am so glad I did!

Landline was a fun story to read...I liked the main characters (as flawed as they were), the storyline, and yes, even the magic phone! This just proves that I think Rainbow Rowell can write about anything, and do it well enough I'll read it and enjoy it.

I'm a big fan of Rowell's YA stuff but I think I loved this even more. Perhaps it was that I am living a similar existence to the main character, Georgie, who finds herself at odds with her husband. I would love the opportunity to spend time with my husband back at the beginning in college, before real life took over, just to remember why we came together to begin with. Sure, there were some plot holes and convenient twists throughout the novel, but all in all, I loved this story. Bravo!

I want to start by saying that I really enjoyed this book. It was well written, funny, heartwarming, entertaining, and an all around good read. That said, I read Tina Fey's autobiography, "Bossy Pants" and I feel like this was her life story turned into a novel. The similarities seem more than coincidental. Roswell adds a wonderful twist to reality with the landline phone conversations. Still, the Georgie character could not be any more like Fey if it was stated outright. At least we'll know which actress should play the part in the screen version of Landline.

The beginning of this book was engaging, but I started to lose interest in the second half. The conversations between Georgie and her husband could have been much shorter with the same effect. One thing I found a little odd was how Rowell kept beating us over the head with how unattractive Georgie and her husband are. I get that they're a typical married couple, but why continue to focus on their most unappealing attributes? Also, Georgie’s quirky family was irritating and didn’t add anything to the central story. Overall, a light read that was just okay.

This is the first book I've read written by Rainbow Rowell. I liked the way the plot of the story sounded and had heard good things about her writing since I am also a fan of John Green. I just finished book and can't say that it was the best book I've ever read, but it wasn't bad by any means. I didn't read any of the reviews beforehand and after reading them now I see that people weren't thrilled with this book. I personally feel that by the end it gave you a good feeling about love and the things relationships have to overcome and that sometimes we put the wrong things first. I didn't get the feeling from the book that Neal wanted her to give up her job or put them first all the time, but that SOMETIMES would be nice.

I started my Rainbow Rowell love affair through Eleanor & Park, and it's continued ever since.

Landline is a solid read - I love the main character and her conflicting love of her career and family life. The way she battles these feelings is incredibly genuine and something I had no problem relating to, as I'm sure many of you will be able to as well.

Without giving anything away, I loved the "flashback" moments - the butterflies involved in new/young love is a fleeting feeling that we can all remember. I loved these moments most.

As far as the book goes as a whole, it was good but not great. If you're not already a fan of Rowell, I suggest you start with Eleanor and Park or Fangirl - these are perfection!

Georgie is a wife and mothers whose marriage seems to be cracking by the demands of her career. After, deciding to work through Christmas (while her family visits her mother-in-law) she finds herself alone and, Georgie starts staying at her mom’s to avoid the emptiness. While staying in her childhood bedroom she discovers that her old dial landline phone can transport her conversations back to 1998 [when she first started dating her hubby]. Can Georgie’s input in these conversations make or break the cracking marriage? The idea of the story had so much potential but, I found the read to be just OK.

Landline is a melancholy look at a marriage that is not in its happiest place - the mortgage is getting paid, the kids are happy and well-adjusted, but the couple at the heart of it just aren't connecting. Hence the "landline". I liked the premise of what she would do or say if she could choose again, and it was presented in a creative way. It wasn't a "fun" read, but I really enjoyed it and it made me think about my life and what I would do in her place. A quick and interesting read.

This was a realistic story with a touch of magical realism (oxymoron?) about a woman trying to balance her failing marriage and her career's ambitions. The story touched on the different parts of Georgie and Neal's relationship, so it felt like a YA novel and an adult contemporary at the same time. I really enjoyed the character development, family elements, and the heartwarming feelings Rainbow Rowell's writing evokes. Don't let the low rating deter you!

**I received this book in a First Reads Giveaway**

This was the first book by Rainbow Rowell that I have read and I enjoyed her writing style. This book was very easy to read and had a lot of funny lines sprinkled in throughout it. I feel like she just scratched the surface of what she could have covered as far as marriage goes. She could have gone a little deeper into the relationships between the main characters. It was an interesting concept and there was a nice twist towards the end that I definitely wasn't expecting.

I loved loved this book in everyway possible. This is Rainbow Rowell's first book that I have read of hers and now I am a fan. It took me 3 days to read this book, would have been 2 if I didn't have 3 kids 4 and under. Landline is about Georgie McCool, the wife of Neal for 14 years and a mother of 2 young girls. She is also a writer for a tv sitcome with her best friend Seth. When her dream job of having her own sitcome with Seth comes true it keeps her from spending Christmas with her family in Omaha. While her family is gone and she trys to call Neal and doesn't get through. Thinking something is wrong with her phone she uses her old childhood phone and gets in touch with him but he doesn't know what she is talking about. Soon she discovers that it is a magic phone to the past when they were still in college. Thinking she can fix her marriage with Neal she uses the magic phone to make their lives happy, even if it means they never get married. Get ready to laugh and cry because book will make you fall in love with each and every character and will want to know if they stay together.

Part fantasy, part sci-fi, all romance: this is The Time Traveler's Wife without the blood, The Notebook without the dementia. A woman whose career and marriage are on a collision course - and it's Christmas. When her husband and the kids go to Grandma's without her, she spends a night at her own mothers, and finds that her mom's old landline can connect her with the man she loves and misses - but years in the past, before he proposed. What can she mess up if she keeps talking to him? What can she put right? How can she resist?

I started reading this book because it was voted best fiction of the year in the Goodreads 2014 awards. I finished it only because I am not very good at quitting things. To make a long story short, it is essentially about a woman who often puts work before her family, so she sends her husband and kids on their Christmas trip and stays behind for work. She ends up finding a magic phone that helps her save her marriage. Yes, you read that right...a magic phone. I probably would never have wasted my time if I had known that from the beginning! To make matters worse the book is absolutely jam packed with dialogue and has no action whatsoever. No plot twists, no drama, no humor = no interest for me!

*3.5 Stars*

*Actual rating: 3.5*

This book focuses solely on family sacrifices. How can one prioritize their careers and still keep the family happy? When you work your butt off to get to where you are in your career, and then have your family suffer from your lack of presence; something’s gotta give. And while I can get the perspectives of the couple in this book, I was kind of torn between the two. I’m not married (yet) with kids (not happening), so I can’t judge these characters for what they want. Ambition is good to have. Why not want to strive for success at your job and stability in your household? I think that giving up something you love will surely lead to bitterness and divorce in the end anyways.

Georgie has worked hard to get where she is. Her husband Neal is a stay-at-home dad to their kids. When she learns that she has to work on Christmas, plans of visiting their family comes to a halt. Or so Georgie thinks. Neal packs up the kids and leaves without her. Being a TV writer is no easy feat. She has waited a long time to get to this point in her career, and she can’t back out now. Can she? When her husband and kids leave, she wonders is this the end of their, already rocky, marriage.

When Georgie realizes that she can go back in time (not really time travel), she sees this as a sign that she has to fix her situation before it gets to the point it is in now. Now, this is where everything came to a head. Georgie has been scarce in her household for years. Neal is a very bitter man, seeing as he gave up his job to stay home and be husband/father of the year. See, whether it had been him or Georgie, the bitterness would have been the same. And I think that in Georgie’s case, much worse. I can’t get emotionally attached to these characters because I’m not in their shoes. If you could go back in time to save something that may not even be salvageable in the first place, would you? I guess in marriage you do all you can, even if you think that it’s too late.

This is not my favorite R.R. book. I love her writing style and the naturalness of her storytelling. This book is definitely worth a read, simply because of the subject matter. However, I wasn’t all that impressed. Maybe because I couldn’t connect with the characters enough; I don’t know. I’ve talked to my Sister-in-law about how she felt about this book, because she and her book club read this after it’s release. All of the members are married, so they had a whole lot to say about this book. Calling Georgie selfish and other names I’d rather not say. Because more than half of them left their jobs to stay home with the kids and be the dutiful housewife, they think that the situation should have been the other way around. This is not early 20th century! As my 13 year old cousin would say, “where they do that at?”. I don’t think that Georgie is selfish. There’s nothing wrong with a woman wanting more out of life than staying home to take care of the house. Now, if I can quit procrastinating, I can start to plan my wedding. Hopefully, there won’t be the need to give up jobs/careers to stay home and play the perfect wife. :-)

Rainbow Rowell knows how to write from the heart.. I haven't read anything from her that I didn't get sacked into. This story resonates with anyone who's been married a while and is wanting to keep the magic alive!

**Audiobook edition**

*4.5 stars*

WAY better than I was expecting. I sort of fell in love with this one.

When it comes to audiobooks, it is nearly impossible to sort out what is good simply because the writing was good and what was good because the narrator was good. In this case, it was both. This is the second audiobook that I've listened to from Rainbow Rowell, the first being Attachments, and both narrators were amazing. Rebecca Lowman was a total pro, nailing each character. Her male voices were sexy, something that I often struggle with with female narrators, and her voice for Georgie was spot on. I adored every second of listening to this book and did extra chores all day so I would have an excuse to listen for hours.

The writing was also exceptional. I think Rainbow Rowell really gets my demographic. The two books that I've read from her so far have both been adult books and they were both written with my generation in mind. I get all the pop culture references, I get the sources of stress and angst, I get it all.

I honestly didn't read the blurb before starting this book, only adding it to my to-read list based on the strength of "Attachments". I was surprised as hell when this book became magical realism on me. It is very low fantasy, but it's there and I loved the light fantasy of this story.

This book is mostly kind of depressing, to be honest. It is about discovering when and how a relationship can go wrong. It is a journey of reflection, of the ways we can unravel and be forced to reanalyze our lives. It was pretty touching for me, and I gave my husband extra kisses after finishing.

Though this book is dealing with a fairly serious topic, it is also, at the same time, really light. It is often funny and clever, mixing humor and ridiculous situations with the more angsty moments. I found the balance to be really well executed.

My only wish is that we find out if Georgie and Neal ever talked about that time with the magical phone. I also kind of was mad at Neal for not trying to get in touch more, but he is kind of like that (I feel like I know him personally) so I guess I understand. The ending was a touch anticlimactic, but still pretty epic in a romantic holiday movie kind of way.

If you want a really special audio experience, you must give this a shot. It really exceeded my expectations.

At some point, I decided to read every word Rainbow ever writes. Best decision ever. Her writing is ambitious, yet approachable. She covers gritty topics, but drives at love and beauty. And her work is both real and fantasy all at once.

While Fangirl will always be my favorite book, Telephone was excellent. I don't know how many times I almost missed my train stop because I was reading.

The time travel piece was flawless and that's not generally my kind of thing in a book. All in all, a great book

Hmm.... How soon can she start the next one?

At the time of writing this I have read all Rainbow Rowell books minus Carry On. I've enjoyed every single one including this one. From what I've read in other reviews it seems a lot of people are upset that Neil isn't perfect. This book has an interesting plot which includes time travel and second chances. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because some parts got annoyingly repetitive. Outside of that it made me laugh and cry. I read this with my husband and we both enjoyed it. It also helped remind me how much I love him.

I love reading Rainbow Rowell books and I love that she is from Omaha where my sister lives and the fact Rainbow worked at a newspaper, like I did in college. Sometimes I feel like we have gone on the same type of path, except I haven't written any wonderful books. I really enjoyed this book and pretty much read it in one day. Georgie and Seth have been writing partners for almost 20 years, since college. Georgie and Neal met in college and have been married for 14 years. Seth and Georgie get the opportunity to have their own TV pilot but they have to write four episodes over the Christmas holiday which means Georgie can't go to Omaha to spend the holidays with his Mom. So Neal leaves with the girls and goes home without really saying good-bye.

According to Georgie, they have always had issues in their marriage. Neal doesn't seem happy with the situation. He's a stay-at-home Dad and is a fantastic cartoonist but doesn't use his talents as a job, he considers it a hobby. Georgie is a little frazzled, she doesn't have time to get a new battery for her phone so it's always dying.

Georgie starts staying at her Mom's house during the holidays and starts talking to Neal on the landline to landline but it's the Neal from college, the Christmas she thought he broke up with her but instead he showed up and proposed.

The big question is, did this really happen in real life? Is she going to blow it and convince Neal he should break up with her for good. If she does convince him, what happens to their little girls Alice and Noomi. This book asks the big question, if you could go back and fix something in your past would you do it? Georgie has to decide can she fix her marriage talking to the old Neal or can she ruin it.

I really enjoyed Georgie's family life with her Mom, way too young Father-in-law and her sister Heather who is 18. There is humor in this book that will make you smile and a little crazy. But I never got mad while reading it. I will say, her college days reminded me of when I was working on the college newspaper in a really old building. That's where I met my husband who was also on the newspaper staff.

Give this a read. Then if you haven't read any other books by Rainbow, read them all, she is a wonderful and entertaining writer

I wasn't blown over by this one. I know Rowell has a lot of hype around her name, but this book didn't do it for me. The characters weren't particularly likable and the telephone was a bit too much to process for me. I will try another one of her books to see if it was just a fluke on my part.

This was my first time reading Rainbow and I’m happy to say that her prose goes down smoothly. Reading her work is like eavesdropping into phantom memories of select few; past and present laid out for touchy examination.

Landline.

Young couple on a plate for us to dissect.

A phone that helix-lines the past and the present.

Add work, home cooking, two squirming babies and friends from past you work with and your almost there brighter than anything future career. Georgie stays in Cali home to work, Neil flies with kids to mom at Omaha for Christmas. In between something magical happens that isn’t corny. Yellow phone in Georgie’s bedroom gives her a second chance, or rather is it a way to unravel her past? This is not some meaningless light read, this dives into the anatomy of a couple. Fun reading that just needs more cutting out.

Three stars refer more to the repetition of some stuff that could be shortened, some of the Neil agony blah. I enjoyed the story of Georgie, a witty TV show writer who has to spend a holiday away from her husband of many years, Neil and their two young daughters. The irony is that the whole time she’s back home in California all she can think of is her boy, her man, her Neil. The work she stayed for is nothing to the lush talks she has on him on her teenage yellow phone at her mom’s house. Those talks are not in the present entirely, she talks to Neil right before he proposed and suddenly all the angst and resentment has time to come up possibly and change the outcome of her love life. Time travel on a phone, sort of.

I read this while in bed during a winter holiday vacation and it was fun, a few tears for Petunia of all of them :P and overall like of the book, it was engaging, it sucked me in…just picky but with bit more polish and reduction and it would be perfect.

- Kasia S.

I started my Rainbow Rowell love affair through Eleanor & Park, and it's continued ever since.

Landline is a solid read - I love the main character and her conflicting love of her career and family life. The way she battles these feelings is incredibly genuine and something I had no problem relating to, as I'm sure many of you will be able to as well.

Without giving anything away, I loved the "flashback" moments - the butterflies involved in new/young love is a fleeting feeling that we can all remember. I loved these moments most.

As far as the book goes as a whole, it was good but not great. If you're not already a fan of Rowell, I suggest you start with Eleanor and Park or Fangirl - these are perfection!

Georgie is a wife and mothers whose marriage seems to be cracking by the demands of her career. After, deciding to work through Christmas (while her family visits her mother-in-law) she finds herself alone and, Georgie starts staying at her mom’s to avoid the emptiness. While staying in her childhood bedroom she discovers that her old dial landline phone can transport her conversations back to 1998 [when she first started dating her hubby]. Can Georgie’s input in these conversations make or break the cracking marriage? The idea of the story had so much potential but, I found the read to be just OK.

Landline is a melancholy look at a marriage that is not in its happiest place - the mortgage is getting paid, the kids are happy and well-adjusted, but the couple at the heart of it just aren't connecting. Hence the "landline". I liked the premise of what she would do or say if she could choose again, and it was presented in a creative way. It wasn't a "fun" read, but I really enjoyed it and it made me think about my life and what I would do in her place. A quick and interesting read.

This was a realistic story with a touch of magical realism (oxymoron?) about a woman trying to balance her failing marriage and her career's ambitions. The story touched on the different parts of Georgie and Neal's relationship, so it felt like a YA novel and an adult contemporary at the same time. I really enjoyed the character development, family elements, and the heartwarming feelings Rainbow Rowell's writing evokes. Don't let the low rating deter you!

**I received this book in a First Reads Giveaway**

This was the first book by Rainbow Rowell that I have read and I enjoyed her writing style. This book was very easy to read and had a lot of funny lines sprinkled in throughout it. I feel like she just scratched the surface of what she could have covered as far as marriage goes. She could have gone a little deeper into the relationships between the main characters. It was an interesting concept and there was a nice twist towards the end that I definitely wasn't expecting.

I loved loved this book in everyway possible. This is Rainbow Rowell's first book that I have read of hers and now I am a fan. It took me 3 days to read this book, would have been 2 if I didn't have 3 kids 4 and under. Landline is about Georgie McCool, the wife of Neal for 14 years and a mother of 2 young girls. She is also a writer for a tv sitcome with her best friend Seth. When her dream job of having her own sitcome with Seth comes true it keeps her from spending Christmas with her family in Omaha. While her family is gone and she trys to call Neal and doesn't get through. Thinking something is wrong with her phone she uses her old childhood phone and gets in touch with him but he doesn't know what she is talking about. Soon she discovers that it is a magic phone to the past when they were still in college. Thinking she can fix her marriage with Neal she uses the magic phone to make their lives happy, even if it means they never get married. Get ready to laugh and cry because book will make you fall in love with each and every character and will want to know if they stay together.

Part fantasy, part sci-fi, all romance: this is The Time Traveler's Wife without the blood, The Notebook without the dementia. A woman whose career and marriage are on a collision course - and it's Christmas. When her husband and the kids go to Grandma's without her, she spends a night at her own mothers, and finds that her mom's old landline can connect her with the man she loves and misses - but years in the past, before he proposed. What can she mess up if she keeps talking to him? What can she put right? How can she resist?

I started reading this book because it was voted best fiction of the year in the Goodreads 2014 awards. I finished it only because I am not very good at quitting things. To make a long story short, it is essentially about a woman who often puts work before her family, so she sends her husband and kids on their Christmas trip and stays behind for work. She ends up finding a magic phone that helps her save her marriage. Yes, you read that right...a magic phone. I probably would never have wasted my time if I had known that from the beginning! To make matters worse the book is absolutely jam packed with dialogue and has no action whatsoever. No plot twists, no drama, no humor = no interest for me!

*3.5 Stars*

*Actual rating: 3.5*

This book focuses solely on family sacrifices. How can one prioritize their careers and still keep the family happy? When you work your butt off to get to where you are in your career, and then have your family suffer from your lack of presence; something’s gotta give. And while I can get the perspectives of the couple in this book, I was kind of torn between the two. I’m not married (yet) with kids (not happening), so I can’t judge these characters for what they want. Ambition is good to have. Why not want to strive for success at your job and stability in your household? I think that giving up something you love will surely lead to bitterness and divorce in the end anyways.

Georgie has worked hard to get where she is. Her husband Neal is a stay-at-home dad to their kids. When she learns that she has to work on Christmas, plans of visiting their family comes to a halt. Or so Georgie thinks. Neal packs up the kids and leaves without her. Being a TV writer is no easy feat. She has waited a long time to get to this point in her career, and she can’t back out now. Can she? When her husband and kids leave, she wonders is this the end of their, already rocky, marriage.

When Georgie realizes that she can go back in time (not really time travel), she sees this as a sign that she has to fix her situation before it gets to the point it is in now. Now, this is where everything came to a head. Georgie has been scarce in her household for years. Neal is a very bitter man, seeing as he gave up his job to stay home and be husband/father of the year. See, whether it had been him or Georgie, the bitterness would have been the same. And I think that in Georgie’s case, much worse. I can’t get emotionally attached to these characters because I’m not in their shoes. If you could go back in time to save something that may not even be salvageable in the first place, would you? I guess in marriage you do all you can, even if you think that it’s too late.

This is not my favorite R.R. book. I love her writing style and the naturalness of her storytelling. This book is definitely worth a read, simply because of the subject matter. However, I wasn’t all that impressed. Maybe because I couldn’t connect with the characters enough; I don’t know. I’ve talked to my Sister-in-law about how she felt about this book, because she and her book club read this after it’s release. All of the members are married, so they had a whole lot to say about this book. Calling Georgie selfish and other names I’d rather not say. Because more than half of them left their jobs to stay home with the kids and be the dutiful housewife, they think that the situation should have been the other way around. This is not early 20th century! As my 13 year old cousin would say, “where they do that at?”. I don’t think that Georgie is selfish. There’s nothing wrong with a woman wanting more out of life than staying home to take care of the house. Now, if I can quit procrastinating, I can start to plan my wedding. Hopefully, there won’t be the need to give up jobs/careers to stay home and play the perfect wife. :-)

Rainbow Rowell knows how to write from the heart.. I haven't read anything from her that I didn't get sacked into. This story resonates with anyone who's been married a while and is wanting to keep the magic alive!

**Audiobook edition**

*4.5 stars*

WAY better than I was expecting. I sort of fell in love with this one.

When it comes to audiobooks, it is nearly impossible to sort out what is good simply because the writing was good and what was good because the narrator was good. In this case, it was both. This is the second audiobook that I've listened to from Rainbow Rowell, the first being Attachments, and both narrators were amazing. Rebecca Lowman was a total pro, nailing each character. Her male voices were sexy, something that I often struggle with with female narrators, and her voice for Georgie was spot on. I adored every second of listening to this book and did extra chores all day so I would have an excuse to listen for hours.

The writing was also exceptional. I think Rainbow Rowell really gets my demographic. The two books that I've read from her so far have both been adult books and they were both written with my generation in mind. I get all the pop culture references, I get the sources of stress and angst, I get it all.

I honestly didn't read the blurb before starting this book, only adding it to my to-read list based on the strength of "Attachments". I was surprised as hell when this book became magical realism on me. It is very low fantasy, but it's there and I loved the light fantasy of this story.

This book is mostly kind of depressing, to be honest. It is about discovering when and how a relationship can go wrong. It is a journey of reflection, of the ways we can unravel and be forced to reanalyze our lives. It was pretty touching for me, and I gave my husband extra kisses after finishing.

Though this book is dealing with a fairly serious topic, it is also, at the same time, really light. It is often funny and clever, mixing humor and ridiculous situations with the more angsty moments. I found the balance to be really well executed.

My only wish is that we find out if Georgie and Neal ever talked about that time with the magical phone. I also kind of was mad at Neal for not trying to get in touch more, but he is kind of like that (I feel like I know him personally) so I guess I understand. The ending was a touch anticlimactic, but still pretty epic in a romantic holiday movie kind of way.

If you want a really special audio experience, you must give this a shot. It really exceeded my expectations.

At some point, I decided to read every word Rainbow ever writes. Best decision ever. Her writing is ambitious, yet approachable. She covers gritty topics, but drives at love and beauty. And her work is both real and fantasy all at once.

While Fangirl will always be my favorite book, Telephone was excellent. I don't know how many times I almost missed my train stop because I was reading.

The time travel piece was flawless and that's not generally my kind of thing in a book. All in all, a great book

Hmm.... How soon can she start the next one?

At the time of writing this I have read all Rainbow Rowell books minus Carry On. I've enjoyed every single one including this one. From what I've read in other reviews it seems a lot of people are upset that Neil isn't perfect. This book has an interesting plot which includes time travel and second chances. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because some parts got annoyingly repetitive. Outside of that it made me laugh and cry. I read this with my husband and we both enjoyed it. It also helped remind me how much I love him.

I love reading Rainbow Rowell books and I love that she is from Omaha where my sister lives and the fact Rainbow worked at a newspaper, like I did in college. Sometimes I feel like we have gone on the same type of path, except I haven't written any wonderful books. I really enjoyed this book and pretty much read it in one day. Georgie and Seth have been writing partners for almost 20 years, since college. Georgie and Neal met in college and have been married for 14 years. Seth and Georgie get the opportunity to have their own TV pilot but they have to write four episodes over the Christmas holiday which means Georgie can't go to Omaha to spend the holidays with his Mom. So Neal leaves with the girls and goes home without really saying good-bye.

According to Georgie, they have always had issues in their marriage. Neal doesn't seem happy with the situation. He's a stay-at-home Dad and is a fantastic cartoonist but doesn't use his talents as a job, he considers it a hobby. Georgie is a little frazzled, she doesn't have time to get a new battery for her phone so it's always dying.

Georgie starts staying at her Mom's house during the holidays and starts talking to Neal on the landline to landline but it's the Neal from college, the Christmas she thought he broke up with her but instead he showed up and proposed.

The big question is, did this really happen in real life? Is she going to blow it and convince Neal he should break up with her for good. If she does convince him, what happens to their little girls Alice and Noomi. This book asks the big question, if you could go back and fix something in your past would you do it? Georgie has to decide can she fix her marriage talking to the old Neal or can she ruin it.

I really enjoyed Georgie's family life with her Mom, way too young Father-in-law and her sister Heather who is 18. There is humor in this book that will make you smile and a little crazy. But I never got mad while reading it. I will say, her college days reminded me of when I was working on the college newspaper in a really old building. That's where I met my husband who was also on the newspaper staff.

Give this a read. Then if you haven't read any other books by Rainbow, read them all, she is a wonderful and entertaining writer

I wasn't blown over by this one. I know Rowell has a lot of hype around her name, but this book didn't do it for me. The characters weren't particularly likable and the telephone was a bit too much to process for me. I will try another one of her books to see if it was just a fluke on my part.

This was my first time reading Rainbow and I’m happy to say that her prose goes down smoothly. Reading her work is like eavesdropping into phantom memories of select few; past and present laid out for touchy examination.

Landline.

Young couple on a plate for us to dissect.

A phone that helix-lines the past and the present.

Add work, home cooking, two squirming babies and friends from past you work with and your almost there brighter than anything future career. Georgie stays in Cali home to work, Neil flies with kids to mom at Omaha for Christmas. In between something magical happens that isn’t corny. Yellow phone in Georgie’s bedroom gives her a second chance, or rather is it a way to unravel her past? This is not some meaningless light read, this dives into the anatomy of a couple. Fun reading that just needs more cutting out.

Three stars refer more to the repetition of some stuff that could be shortened, some of the Neil agony blah. I enjoyed the story of Georgie, a witty TV show writer who has to spend a holiday away from her husband of many years, Neil and their two young daughters. The irony is that the whole time she’s back home in California all she can think of is her boy, her man, her Neil. The work she stayed for is nothing to the lush talks she has on him on her teenage yellow phone at her mom’s house. Those talks are not in the present entirely, she talks to Neil right before he proposed and suddenly all the angst and resentment has time to come up possibly and change the outcome of her love life. Time travel on a phone, sort of.

I read this while in bed during a winter holiday vacation and it was fun, a few tears for Petunia of all of them :P and overall like of the book, it was engaging, it sucked me in…just picky but with bit more polish and reduction and it would be perfect.

- Kasia S.

I am such a huge Rainbow Rowell fan. I have loved all her stories and her perfectly imperfect characters. With that being said I must add I thought this book was just ok. It had all the humor and romance that I am used to, but when I got to the last page I was a little let down? I felt like the story just ended!! Like she just got tired of writing it! There was a lot of unanswered questions and "what if's" that I was left with? Nonetheless, I will always be a fan and will look forward to her new novels every time!!

Not what I expected. This was my first and only, to date, rainbow Rowell novel I've read. The writing itself was great. The story however seemed to not really go anywhere. I'm not sure I the relationship between the wife and husband was defined enough for me to really care. It was an interesting idea that I feel could've had more impact with an extra chapter on their relationship.

Landline is another awesome novel from the ever-expanding collection of classics coming from Rainbow Rowell. I've loved every novel of Rainbow's that I've read (all of them): Fan Girl, Eleanor & Park, and Attachments. This one was closer to Attachments than Eleanor & Park, but I found myself (as a newlywed) really relatable.

Georgie McCool (yes, that's her real name) is finally getting somewhere in her career. She's a writer for a popular TV show and the pilot episode for her very own series is being presented to the network! The only problem... she's supposed to be going to her husband Neal's mother's home in Omaha with their two little girls. She tries to explain to Neal why her career is worth more than their trip to Omaha - and fails. Neal and her children leave for Omaha, while Georgie stays back in Los Angeles to finish her pilot episode.

When Georgie calls Neal from her mother's house, she gets through, but not to the present-day Neal... by some magic, Georgie gets through to Neal from the Christmas they got engaged. Georgie is transfixed and remembers all over again why she loves Neal. Georgie would do anything to save her failing marriage and she can't seem to kick the feeling that this magical reconnection was given to her for a reason. How can Georgie write her show (her dream) without losing her husband and true love?

UGH. THE FEELS. Rainbow, how is it that you know exactly how my mind works and exactly how to tug at those heartstrings?! All of Rainbow's characters are me... me as different people, me in different lives. She is a fantastic writer and Landline is no different. GREAT read! Pick it up now! =)

-Sarah
http://nobodyputssarahinthecorner.com

This book was a little weirder than I expected, and it took me a few chapters to adjust to that. Even though I think I might have enjoyed the story more without the magic phone to the past, I still really enjoyed the book once I accepted what was happening. I just think Rowell is a great writer that does a really good job of creating fully realized characters.

I struggled to get into this story at first, but eventually got drawn into rooting for the success of their marriage. Getting to know their relationship both in present and past tense gave me a stronger attachment to their marriage and I wanted to stick through to the end to find out if they made it or not.

"Georgie was pretty sure that having kids was the worst thing you could do to a marriage. Sure, you could survive it. You could survive a giant boulder falling on your head--that didn't mean it was good for you. Kids took a fathomless amount of time and energy. . . . . And they took it first. They had right of first refusal on everything you had to offer."

If those lines ring at all true to you, read this charming romantic comedy with a twist of magic. Follow Georgie and Neal back and forth in time as they meet in college, marry, have kids, and then find themselves unsure about how to proceed with their relationship. Rowell's dialogue rings so true and the characters seem very real. Landline is poignant and funny, sweet and romantic. Great beach read!

Ugh, time out of my life I'll never get back. I'm not sure why this book was written. The message was a poor one - love will conquer a bad mismatch. She is self involved, he is negative and shuts her down or shushes her at every turn and neither one of them can keep it together to get pull off the biggest event of her career. Ugh.

A few chapters into Landline there were already too many things I liked about the book to list, besides my instant liking of its characters. Like the Harry Potter references that are sprinkled throughout the book and Georgie’s kids watching The Rescuers (Rainbow’s twitter avatar is Bernard) and the reference to Calvinism (I laughed at this one, as I grew up in a Calvinist church/school) and Georgie’s sister Heather saying, “I’m calling from inside the house.”

Rainbow's characters have such hilarious, awkward internal dialogue. Except it’s not awkward as much as it’s normal, but nobody says it out loud. Not that the characters say it out loud, but in a way they do, as their thoughts are right there on the page.

I connected so much with Georgie. I saw so many parallels between our lives. Not outwardly, as I do not write sitcoms, but inwardly, our thought paterns. Also, I guess both our marriages were in trouble, though the reasons could not be more different. I connected with Jennifer from Attachments in many ways as well. We’re kindred spirits. I love connecting with characters in books, and Rainbow writes rad characters.

Landline has easily become one of my favourite books, and will be put on my to-read-again(-many-times) pile as soon as it comes back from a bunch of people who would like to borrow it.

I was intrigued by the author's description of her work during an interview on NPR. Rowell said that she likes to write romance with a reality check--not the standard "a man and woman meet, they argue, then magically fall in love when a MoTown song plays" as she put it. What I enjoyed most about 'Landline' was the portrayal of how a marriage gradually becomes overwhelmed by the demands of careers and kids to the point that communicating with your spouse is a minefield. I thoroughly enjoyed Rowell's depiction of what it might be like to channel those courtship days when you did spend hours on the phone, really getting to know each other, when you waited for his phone call with great anticipation--so much so that you took the phone to the bathroom with you! It reminded me that the man I fell in love with was still with me--my topic of conversation just needed to be different. The only thing I didn't care for in the book was the swearing which I felt detracted from the story.

I never thought I would find myself reading a book that sends such an awful message to women. She is the breadwinner and has the opportunity for a dream career move and needs to stay in LA for Christmas to work. He refuses to change their plans to spend the holiday with his parents in Omaha and leaves with their kids. Much of the novel deals with her agonizing over talking to him on the phone instead of working, him not calling back or being unavailable, and she is made out to be the guilty one at fault. I didn't care for either of them. She is self-centered and annoying and he is just unhappy. We don't get to understand why and don't see them grow and the novel ends in the most trite predictable rom-com way. I ended up skimming and I was glad to finish. I hate to be overly harsh. I liked Eleanor and Park, but this one was a huge disappointment.

I liked it! Maybe because I'm the same age as Georgie, so I felt attached to her. I loved the magic phone idea. I don't care that RR didn't explain how it worked. It was fun to imagine. Marriages go through ups and downs and I enjoyed reading how she lived through those. I wanted her to realize she had everything right in front of her, and was rooting for her to see that.

A normal couple with normal problems. A magical phone. I wanted to highlight this entire book it was so sweetly written!! You'll be awwing and ohhing and perhaps shedding a few tears over this book! I loved it!!!

This was delightful. The last couple books I've read have been either mediocre or completely not for me, and "Landline" was exactly the pick me up I needed.

Rainbow Rowell creates beautifully real and flawed characters that you love, and this was no exception. The book never dragged. And off the top of my head, I can't think of a single complaint, except that now I'm halfway through Rowell's books and wish she had more out, because I need more Rainbow Rowell stories in my life.

5/5

Having devoured Rainbow Rowell's YA books, I was incredibly excited to begin Landline, but ended up very disappointed. Some of dialogue was clever and fun, but other than that, I found the characters to be one dimensional and the plot grating. Furthermore, it was just boring. There's only so many times that I can read about the main character being sad about her husband and then having conservations with him in the past on a "magic" phone. There's no real conflict or action to drive the plot along, just a lot contrived flashbacks and whining. I tried to stick with it, since I enjoyed Rowell's other works so much, but ended up stopping at yet another redundant flashback. This book seriously could been the same scene, written over and over again. My advice--don't waste your time on this, and instead pick up Fangirl or Eleanor and Park. I really hope Rowell goes back to YA, because that's where she seems to shine.

Sidenote echoing other reviewers--the scenes with her kids are Full House levels of saccharine and insanely cringe worthy.

I found the husband-wife relationship at the center of this book very touching, but the plot could have been more exciting, because it all felt like a bit of a foregone conclusion. I also feel like Steve's character could have been more fleshed-out and interesting. He was less his own person and more just an obstacle in the main character's lives. That didn't feel fair to me. As usual from Rainbow Rowell, it was a compelling writing, and the premise was certainly intriguing. But amidst all the emotional sweetness there was also just a part of the whole thing that rang hollow for me. One thing I really did appreciate was that the main character was a feminist female comedian.

I love this book. I felt it was a very real look inside a marriage - the ups, the downs, the distractions, the temptations, and the sweet sweet reminders of why you fell in love in the first place. I had this book on audiobook and I couldn't stop listening!

This book really has mixed reviews, but I liked it. If you, in present time, could go back and talk to you now-husband then-boyfriend, would you? Would you convince him that marrying you is a good idea or not a good idea, knowing what you know now, 15 years later. I liked the concept even if the landline to the past was far fetched. It was a great way for Georgie in present time to know what she had and why.

I read this book as part of a challenge. I was looking for a book with a title starting with an L. For a long time I wanted to read something from Rainbow Rowell, but at the moment I'm skewing away from contemporary or chicklit. This was a lovely book though, so I didn't mind reading it. The only downfall for me is that it might have been a little to long.

I have enjoyed all of Rainbow Rowell's books. They have all been quick, fun reads and this one is no exception. I was intrigued by the concept of a phone that could call into the past. However, I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. It reads more like a YA book, but because of the age of the main characters, it didn't work as a YA. I did enjoy it and think it was well worth reading, but I have enjoyed the other Rainbow Rowell books so much that it didn't quite meet the high expectations I had for the book.

Landline is exactly what you've come to expect from a Rainbow Rowell book – and I mean that in the best possible sense. I love how she creates these quirky, complex characters who you'd want to hang out with, believable relationships in all their beautiful, messy realness, all served up with an underlying humor that doesn't try too hard. I will read anything this woman writes.

This had a really cool premise, and I enjoyed how it unfolded -- though I kind of wish I'd had a little bit more closure on the best friend side of things, because it seemed like that was a thread left dangling, to be dealt with later. Which in itself is probably symbolic, honestly, and maybe makes sense in the context of the greater arc of the story.

"Landline" by Rainbow Rowell and read by Rebecca Lowman is a story I just couldn't get into. Lowman does an excellent job reading and loved her voice. The story was just too shallow and drawn out for me. Too much about the scenes, what the characters are doing, what they are thinking, what they are wearing, what they want to wear, what they own, too much Christmas, etc. It seemed more like a movie script or proposal in many ways.

I've enjoyed Rainbow's other books, and what's more her writing is improving! This is a really great book.

I was listening to the audio book when it suddenly got recalled by my library and was so into the book and enjoying it that I am sort of going crazy to get to the ending...grrr.

I've been so happy to find a new author to follow, and Rowell is getting better and better. An easy read with substance as well.

Reading this book, it almost seemed like a YA book but it's not. It's full of adult relationships. It's more that the author didn't drone on, it's written succinctly. But it stuck with me, wondering what conversation could I have had in the past that would influence today.

Rainbow Rowell didn't disappoint. I truly enjoyed this book. It was a little slow the first few chapters, but I sort of heard other people saying this and wasn't overly surprised. It was all things that needed to be covered before the real story started, so I wasn't overly bugged by it. The characters were interesting, the story real and believable. The end was a little slow as well, but I think it was more me wanting so badly for Georgie to hurry up and get to Neal and fix things. I was pretty invested in this book. And I'm sort of really sad that it's over, but that's my normal reaction to finishing anything by Rainbow.

Another good one by Rainbow Rowell. I loved Georgie and Neal, even when they weren't together, they were together you know? They just fit with one another. And the idea that Georgie was communicating with her husband's younger self, telling him things she wished she'd said years ago, was really fascinating and sometimes confusing. But overall, I liked the concept and loved the story.

The message of this book seems to be that Georgie should ditch the amazing career she loves and that she's worked hard at for 20 years just to make her husband happy. I thought we were past the time where women were forced to choose between work and family.

Love this book. Rainbow Rowell has such a wonderful voice. Her characters are relatable and funny and sad and imperfect and a joy to read. At times I thought "how is she writing about me, we've never met!" although I do not have a mystery landline that lets me talk to my husband/boyfriend from college. Not that bit, but a lot of the other bits. Recommended.

I was so excited to read this book because of all the good things I heard and read about it but I didn't like it. It was confusing and there were some things that I think were irrelevant or unnecessary because they didn't add real value to the story. I kept reading it in hopes of the story to get better but the ending was very disappointing as well

No substance. Silly little book about a landline to a relationship in the past. I suppose it was suppose to be romantic but it wasn't. There was nothing to care about with the characters. They were boring and unlikable.

Imagine you had a magic phone that allowed you to talk to your husband in the past, back when you were dating, especially if your marriage is on the rocks. Georgie is a busy t.v. writer who has put her husband on the back burner and may lose him when he takes her two children to his mother's in Nebraska during Christmas. Georgie uses a landline at her mother's home to call Neil only to discover that she is actually talking to the Neil back when they were dating. What should she say to him, and will it alter the future and change everything? Should everything change? A bit dramatic at times, but very well written story with a rather unique twist as far as dramatic romances go.

I could not put this down even though I tried. Even after I finished Landline, I wanted to study the pages to figure out why they were so fascinating. I kept asking myself, "How did Rainbow Rowell manage to make Georgia so real, so likable?" The story line is not spectacular, so why is it so compellingly? I don't know the answers to my ruminating. But this book was mesmerizing!

This is the first time I read a book by this author. I picked it up since it had so much press. But I was sadly disappointed. I was expecting a much more sophisticated writing style and a storyline that wasn't so sophomoric. I honestly couldn't get past page 50. The dialogue was as stilted as the bad sitcoms the book makes fun of. And there is a lot of dialogue. Too much dialogue. The story just feels so shallow and silly. And quite contrived. With so many good books to read, I can't see myself wasting my time finishing this one.

I love Rainbow Rowell's writing! This book sucked me in and I stayed up all night to read it! I always get so involved in the characters that I find myself continuing to think about them after I'm done with the book. Agree or disagree with Georgie's actions, you will keep reading because you'll need to see it all play out. I thought this was a realistic portrayal of a marriage and a great read!

Every book that Rainbow Rowell writes is so original, and this was my favourite! I could really relate to these characters. I wasn't sure how I would feel about the supernatural element in this novel but it just fit so well into the story and was handled with a lightness and yet at the same time a seriousness that made it one of my favourite things about this book.

I'm not sure what Rainbow Rowell will be writing next...but I know I will be reading it

I'm not going to summarize the story as I am sure that will be done in many other reviews. I am just going to say I absolutely loved this book. Such an emotional roller coaster. I found myself nervous, laughing out loud and sometimes even a little choked-up. I was completely wrapped up in the story and racing to the finish. Definitely one of my favorites.

I really liked Eleanor and Park, but this novel was a definite miss. The whole story was silly, silly, silly. I didn't like any of the main characters. I was really disappointed because I think Rainbow Rowell is a better author than this novel indicates.

I love Rainbow's book and I think this is my favorite. Of course it's "unrealistic" -- the premise itself is fantasy. But I think it's a great look at love and marriage and family and career and figuring out what in that means the most/should mean the most.

Listened to this on audio book. Can't say I loved it. I guess magic phones aren't my thing. Georgie was a bit of a ding dong and Neil was just a stick in the mud. I have to say that Rebecca Lowman did a wonderful job reading it.

This was one of 20 books on Pinterest that someone said, "You must read". So I checked it out right then from the library on my kindle and ended up reading until the wee hours of the morning to finish. Probably wouldn't be appreciated by men, but I loved it!!

You know that friend who talks incessantly about their relationship, so that you never want to hear their partner's name again? That's this book.

Neal (Neal, Neal, Neal, Neal, Neal) is a stay at home dad, and Georgie is a television comedy writer, and their relationship is in kind of a rough patch. There was a lot of talk about humor in this book, but no actual humor. I think if your main character is a comedy writer, perhaps some actual comedy is in order.

Neal is sullen and bitter.

The book takes us through a totally average relationship of these totally average (if not particularly likable) people using a plot device that was not particularly interesting.

The more I think about this book, the more I realize it's probably only 2 stars. I'm just not sold on Rainbow Rowell. There's this deliberate cleverness she tries to pull off which just falls flat for me.

As always, though, Rebecca Lowman was a fantastic narrator on the audio, and that's probably the only reason I was able to finish.

I read this book because it was the most voted by readers in Fiction 2014 in another web site, and it was kind of a dissapointment. Rowell has a good style, but the story seems repetitive, there isn't much character development, and at the end you feel like it lacks something else. Just 3 stars because I think she is a good writer.