[Book Review] Landline by Rainbow Rowell

credit : sianlilemakes

Title : Landline

Writer : Rainbow Rowell

Publisher : Orion

Format : Ebook, 248 pages

Publishing date : 3rd, July 2014

Language : English

Genre : Adult fiction, contemporary, marriage life

Read on July, 3rd 2014

My rating : 3.5 of 5

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems besides the point now.
Maybe that was always besides the point.
Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.
When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.
That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .
Is that what she’s supposed to do?
Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

“Marry me,” he kept saying.“I will,” she kept answering. “I think I can live without you,” he said, like it was something he’d spent twenty-seven hours thinking about, “but it won’t be any kind of life.” p.202

Finally...saya khatam membaca karya terbaru Rainbow Rowell yang terbit awal Juli lalu. Untuk pembaca yang belum tau, hingga saat ini Rainbow Rowell telah menerbitkan empat buku.
Dimulai dengan Attachment (Adult Fic), Eleanor & Park (Young Fiction), dan Fangirl (Young Fiction), dibuku keempat ini Mrs. Rowell kembali menulis dengan genre Adult Fiction. Meskipun mengambil genre dewasa dan seputar kehidupan pasangan yang telah menikah lebih dari 30 tahun, Mrs. Rowell mengklaim bahwa bukunya tak hanya ditujukan untuk orang dewasa namun juga untuk remaja yang ingin mendapatkan gambaran mengenai hubungan pernikahan (1). Dan menurut saya apa yang dikatakan oleh Mrs. Rowell tepat sekali. Satu hal yang bisa saya simpulkan setelah membaca buku ini adalah its too-true-kind of story, kisah yang digambarkan dalam buku ini sangat biasa dan sering terjadi di dunia nyata. Saya rasa untuk yang sudah lama mengarungi bahtera rumah tangga ketika membaca novel ini akan terkenang kembali bagaimana awal pertemuan dengan pasangan anda. Sesuai tagline buku ini "if you got a second chance at love, would you make the same call?" atau secara tersirat Mrs. Rowell mencoba mengajarkan kepada kita untuk mengenang kembali apa alasan kita memilih pasangan kita.

“Nobody's lives just fit together. Fitting together is something you work at. It's something you make happen - because you love each other.” p.137

credit : the-numbers

“The magic phone becomes Ms. Rowell’s way to rewrite ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’…what that film accomplished with an angel named Clarence, Ms. Rowell accomplishes with a quaint old means of communication, and for her narrative purposes, it really does the trick.”—The New York Times

“While the topic might have changed, this is still Rowell—reading her work feels like listening to your hilariously insightful best friend tell her best stories.”—Library Journal.

“Her characters are instantly lovable, and the story moves quickly…the ending manages to surprise and satisfy all at once. Fans will love Rowell’s return to a story close to their hearts.”—Kirkus Reviews. 

“Rowell is, as always, a fluent and enjoyable writer—the pages whip by.”—Publishers Weekly.

Newly-wedding for sure, sebagai gambaran berumah tangga, namun juga bisa dinikmati oleh pembaca YA, dan tentu saja pembaca setia Rainbow Rowell garis keras.

Georgie pulled into the driway, swerfing to miss a bike.

Neal never made Alice put it away.

Apparently bicycles never got stolen back in Nebraska-and people never tried to break in to your house. Neal didn't even lock the front door most nights until after Georgie came home, though she'd told him that was like putting a sign in the yard that said PLEASE ROB US AT GUNPOINT. "No," he'd said. "That would be different, I think."

Begin again by Taylor Swift

Happy reading fellas!