Saturday 31 May 2014

Book View: Eleanor & Park

Title: Eleanor and Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: Orion Books
Source: Library
Rating: 4.5/5

Eleanor is the new girl in town, and with her chaotic family life, her mismatched clothes and unruly red hair, she couldn't stick out more if she tried.

Park is the boy at the back of the bus. Black T-shirts, headphones, head in a book - he thinks he's made himself invisible. But not to Eleanor... never to Eleanor.

Slowly, steadily, through late-night conversations and an ever-growing stack of mix tapes, Eleanor and Park fall for each other. They fall in love the way you do the first time, when you're young, and you feel as if you have nothing and everything to lose.




I am literally the most terrible blogger..or just really slow reader! Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I'm currently studying for 3 of my AAT exams, so once those are over, I should have plenty of time to get reading. One of my goals is to read faster. Anyway, on to the review

Thank you to Rainbow Rowell, for ripping my heart out and making me cry, just to shove it back in and make me happy all over again. Basically, that ending. I totally wasn't expecting that, if I'm honest.

My Thoughts
I did really enjoy Eleanor and Park. It's one of those books that I know I'll be coming back to probably either later this year, or next year. I think it affected me, but I hadn't really noticed. It had completely creeped up on me and I cried. At 12am, I was up reading this book with tears down my cheeks, because this book really got me.

For me, this book was primarily a love story, but also it was kind of a life story. I liked how there was a back story to the characters that we met, such as Park's parents.

Rainbow Rowell's writing in this book is just so..clean and just nice to read. I felt that the book just flowed so well and it was such a joy to read. It was a love story, but I didn't feel like it was mushy, and enough to make you want to roll your eyes. Rainbow has done a really good job of portraying love as a teenager properly. However, my only issue with this is that it kind of happened like 'love at first sight'. I don't necessarily have a problem with this, because I know that in books, you can't drag it out and in books, it just happens, unlike in real life. Don't get me wrong, I think Eleanor and Park are made for each other, but the relationship was so fast. Also, the dual story telling (there must be a proper name for this) was so well done, and I actually enjoyed being in both Eleanor and Park's heads, as opposed to just being in one, or being like a fly on the wall.

One thing I've gotta say is, I must've really got caught up in this book (and again, not noticed) because I totally kept forgetting that the book is set in 1986. I don't know why, but I just felt like I could relate to it so well, and I felt so connected to the characters.

Another thing, as somebody on Good Reads had said, which I also noticed, this book didn't really deal with racial abuse (Park is half-korean). Obviously back in the day, where this book is set, there was still lots of racial abuse going on, but this is something Rowell hasn't really dealt with. Although, she did deal with verbal abuse and at times, domestic abuse. The verbal abuse was definitely more present, but I liked how it showed the way that the characters dealt with it.

Final Thoughts
I enjoyed reading Eleanor and Park so much, and just want to read and know more about both Eleanor and Park. Rainbow Rowell, please give me answers. But yes, Eleanor and Park was honestly great. It wasn't really soppy at all, which I oh so enjoyed. Basically, Rainbow Rowell pulled this off so well, and just made me feel so connected to this book, and even more so with the characters. By the end of the story, as I said on Good Reads, all the feels were felt while reading this book. 

Would you recommend?
Definitely, definitely. This is on my must reads shelf for everybody that likes contemporary YA. I am telling you, you have to read it. 


Have you read this book? What did you think? If not, do you want to read it? Let me know your thoughts!

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