Landline

"Possibilities: Persistent hallucination. Really long dream. Schizophrenic episode. Unprovoked Somewhere in Time scenario. Am already dead? Like on Lost?" ~ pg. 94

Georgie McCool (real not stage name) is at the peak of her TV writing career. Unfortunately her marriage is in trouble and has been for a while. So it causes further disconnect when Georgie gets the big break of her career and decides to stay behind in California while her husband and two girls spend Christmas in Omaha. Sure the family vacation has been scheduled for weeks, but Georgie cannot pass up the opportunity of a lifetime. Neal has always played the role of understanding husband but Georgie wonders if this was the last straw.

With the help of a magical phone, Georgie communicates with Neal from the past (Christmas 1998) before they were married. Perhaps this is her chance to fix their marriage before it even starts.

Immediately after I finished reading Eleanor & Park, I downloaded Rainbow Rowell's other book Attachments and her new release Landline. I figured if her new release is half as good as Eleanor & Park, then it would be worth my time. Let's discuss the book cover and title first. Who still has a landline?! Seriously. If you were to see this book cover on a bookshelf, wouldn't it grab your attention? It certainly grabbed my interest enough to give it priority in my TBR pile. Surely there is a good story behind this pale yellow antique rotary phone.

"Magic fucking phone." ~ pg. 104

The New York Times calls it a hilarious, heart-wrenching take on love, marriage, and magic phones. I have to disagree. I didn't find it funny; although, it was a good take on love and why couples decide to get married. It is a look at the past and present state of a relationship. I finished the book in two sittings eager to figure out this magic phone situation and hoping for a positive outcome for Georgie and Neal.

While I didn't enjoy Landline as much as Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell did not disappoint. The lady knows relationships and tells a romance story damn well! I am not a fan of supernatural fiction, but the time travel via landline was a very good element to this story. The author again managed to leave me with lingering thoughts days after the story's end. Landline is a recommended quick summer read and poses a question that will generate discussion in book clubs: if you could travel into the past and fix a mistake, would you?

Title: Landline
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Published: July 2014
Pages: 248
Edition: eBook
Rating: ♥♥♥♥