Book Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell

I've read two other Rainbow Rowell books before - Eleanor & Park and Fangirl - but when I was much younger, and I remember enjoying them both thoroughly. Now that I'm actually an adult myself, I have finally got round to reading her much-acclaimed adult novel, Landline. See below for my thoughts. 

From Goodreads: 

"Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble; it has 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 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?"

My thoughts: 

Overall, I really liked the message of this book, which is to remember to be grateful for and never take for granted the people you have in your life. I thought it was a very realistic depiction of how other commitments - work, children, general day-to-day tasks - can get in the way of the relationship which lies at the heart of a marriage. I also thought the writing was very good, and I liked the injections of humour throughout - I did laugh out loud at some lines, which is a rare quality in a writer. That said - I didn't love the book all that much. 

It's a solely character driven book, which means you have to like or at least connect with some of the characters to keep it entertaining. I didn't mind the main character, Georgie, but I didn't feel any particular connection to her or empathy for what she goes through. Flawed characters are the best characters - because they're the most lifelike. However, some of the things Georgie did were so obviously hurtful that I just couldn't empathise with her when her husband decided to leave. Equally, her husband was completely flat as a character, with no qualities written about in the book other than that he is extremely morose and seems to give Georgie a hard time for pretty much everything she does. When you're reading a story which is solely about the relationship between two such uninspiring characters, you can see where the difficulty in engaging with book arose for me. 

I think the premise of the time-travelling phone also sounds a lot more interesting than it actually is in the book. I think my expectations were more The Time Travellers Wife, whereas in reality the phone simply serves as a way for the author to flashback to old conversations Georgie and Neal had had when they were younger. It seemed more of a device than integral to the story - which is a shame because I think the book would've been a lot more engaging in the second half had this magic phone seemed to have given Georgie some kind of agency or power to act. I understand the point of the book is her realising she needs to appreciate Neal more, but I think this message was there already without this magic phone so the whole time-travel element felt a little flat for me - more of a ploy to hook in the potential reader than an organic part of the story perhaps. 

So with that, I'm left feeling pretty indifferent about this book. I wouldn't necessarily recommend for or against it - it's just one of those forgettable books sandwiched between better reads which I will remember.