Book Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Title- Landline
Author- Rainbow Rowell
Genre- Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Format- Paperback
UK Publisher- Orion
Publication Date- July 3rd 2014
Buy HERE

*I was sent this advanced copy from the publisher for review, thank you Orion. This does not affect my thoughts in this review.*

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 . . .

Now, don't be fooled; this is a review but it is also a discussion. About restrictions. About maturity. About comfort zones. Because Landline challenged all of these for me, and I've very grateful for that.

You see, I am sixteen but act like a ten year old most of the time. I can't think of anything worse than going to parties and drinking so much alcohol that I'm unable to stand. Yet people my age, people I know, do that on a weekly basis. The most grown up thing that I've ever done is buy a scratch card (which, may I brag, I won my money back on!) 

Because of such, it's probably a given that I hug the young adult genre. It's my safe place, I know the type of things to expect because I've read so many. Yet that's the thing; They're often similar when you get down to the bones. Whether it's contemporary or dystopian, some things in the skeleton are always a given. The girl chasing after the boy. Someone in dire need of saving. A 'huge disaster' which isn't even that big of a deal. I'm sure you get my point.

Rainbow Rowell quickly became one of my favorite authors after I'd ready just two of her books, her two young adult novels to be precise. Itching to get my hands on anything new by her, it gave me the confidence to try out an adult novel; I thought that Rainbow's writing style would adapt between the age gap and it truly did. That's what helped me to be able to finish this book. Not that it was bad but I couldn't relate to the themes, it made me realize that I'm not an adult. And it made me realize that I'm okay with that.

I haven't the first idea about marriage. I see my mum and dad together everyday but until you experience something first hand, it's hard to ever fully understand. So, when reading a book where the whole plot is so closely wrapped up in this bond which my mind cannot touch, it can be difficult. Trying to understand the responsibilities, jobs, kids, adult life of these characters was a real struggle so I felt a real distance from the characters. Yet, I have no doubt that in ten years time, when I pick up Landline again, it will become an instant five-star read.

This whole experience of exploring the adult genre has made me understand many things. Those stupid plot points in young adult books? They are my favorites. There is nothing that I love more that listening to a character drone on about all of their silly little teenage problems. They're predictable yet I still crave the endings. They're repeatable yet I still need the newest one. They're nothing but to me they're everything. So no, I won't be changing out of my age category anytime soon but I'm glad that I tried to. Because without doing so, I wouldn't have known how much I'd be missing.