Rinn
Written on Nov 10, 2014
Eleanor is the new girl in town, and she's never felt more alone. All mismatched clothes, mad red hair and chaotic home life, she couldn't stick out more if she tried.
Then she takes the seat on the bus next to Park. Quiet, careful and - in Eleanor's eyes - impossibly cool, Park's worked out that flying under the radar is the best way to get by.
Slowly, steadily, through late-night conversations and an ever-growing stack of mixed tapes, Eleanor and Park fall in love. They fall in love the way you do the first time, when you're 16, and you have nothing and everything to lose.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, Eleanor and Park is funny, sad, shocking and true - an exquisite nostalgia trip for anyone who has never forgotten their first love.
- ISBN10 1250127084
- ISBN13 9781250127082
- Publish Date 4 October 2016 (first published 12 April 2012)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 21 November 2023
- Publish Country US
- Imprint St Martin's Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 352
- Language English
Reviews
Chelsea
Written on Jun 23, 2014
Cover
I love the simplicity of this cover. It's gorgeous. Eleanor is way thinner than the author describes in the book though. That bothered me a little.
Initial Thoughts
There's a lot of hype going around about this book. My expectations were a little high. It was an easy book to get right into. The author was good at sucking you into the story. I actually finished the whole book really fast. It's something that's easy to read.
I think the author wanted us to all be best friends with Eleanor. She wanted us to sympathize with her but I found her the most annoying out of all the characters. All she ever did was run away from her problems. She refused to talk to anyone about her situation even though she knew if wasn't right. She was afraid of everything. I like reading books with strong females leads and this wasn't one of them. I know she was in a hard situation and it was a little different in the 80's but I still felt she could have done something about it.
I liked Park. He was ok. I think I was more annoyed at him than anything though. He was a typical teenage guy in the 80's. I liked that he understood that he had a good life and a stable home. He was thankful for that. What I was annoyed at was that he cared what all the kids thought of him. He didn't even like these kids though. I was annoyed he never stood up for himself but he had no problem standing up for Eleanor even when she asked him not to. I also didn't like how this book says that two misfits fall in love and Park isn't really a misfit. He tries to fit in and he's pretty good at it.
I like Rainbow Rowell's writing style. She's a really light writer and she's great with making an interesting plot. I found I didn't connect to her characters though and that's what put my rating down.
Closing Thoughts
This book was only ok for me. I didn't find it anything special. I was actually really annoyed with the characters. I just didn't connect with them the way a reader should. The plot was ok though. It happened kind of quick but it was a shorter book. I wished the ending gave us more though. It just kind of ended in the middle of the high point. I wanted to know that everything was ok. To summarize: It was ok but I've read better.
Brianna
Written on Jun 22, 2014
reveriesociety_
Written on Jun 13, 2014
But otherwise, I loved this book. Even though it centered on just two people, it unfocused the camera just enough for us to see the broader picture, their families and friends. The writing kept me on the edge of my seat (literally, because I've been reading it in class)
Bianca
Written on Apr 18, 2014
What are the chances you'd meet someone like that? Someone you could love forever, someone who would forever love you back?
leahrosereads
Written on Apr 12, 2014
I couldn't relate as well to Eleanor or Park the way I could with Cath. I was absolutely called names in high school, but no where near the bullying levels that Eleanor endured in this novel. So, while I sympathized with her, there was a disconnect.
If I had read this novel first, I don't think I would have minded this type of lack of connection to bother me, but because I enjoyed Fangirl so much, I put Eleanor & Park on a pedestal prior to reading it. Not right to do, but I did it.
I absolutely loved how this story was written, where the reader got to see both Eleanor and Park's views. It was nice to read it that way, and I think that it added a level to this story.
On the whole though, Eleanor & Park was a YA novel that I had read before. Maybe the characters were different, but the issues of bullying and an abusive home was one that I have read recently.
Still, Rainbow Rowell kept me interested until the end, and that's why this book got a 4. I enjoyed it, and I'd recommend it to any of my friends who'd want a book to read quickly and with characters that were interesting and developed.
clementine
Written on Jan 31, 2014
I've heard amazing things about this book from all over the internet, so I didn't hesitate to buy it on Boxing Day. I was pretty excited to get to it, too, after all the glowing praise.
Ultimately, though, I think it fell into that trap of marketing itself as a love story that's different and unique. It's not, really. Strip back all the extraneous stuff, and it's just a melodramatic teen love story.
I didn't hate it, obviously. I liked both Eleanor and Park. I liked the supporting characters. I haven't liked fictional parents as much as I liked Park's parents in ages. His mom's progression was very realistic and touching, and I just really liked his dad a lot from the get-go. Their relationship was interesting to me - more so than the one I was supposed to care about. Eleanor and Park were both compelling characters, and I appreciated that they weren't perfect. It was neither "nerd gets the hot girl" or "two miserable losers fall in love". They both experienced their own issues, but they were well-rounded and interesting.
But together? I didn't care that much. Their romance didn't feel authentic to me. The whole thing was built on this quirkiness, this mountain of band names. The progression and pacing of it was so odd - they were doing the whole melodramatic "I need you" thing within a few days, but it took them forever to even kiss? It was just weird.
I guess I just felt like the book never got deep enough for me. For the most part, it felt quite superficial. I was interested in their individual stories, but their romance just wasn't that exciting to me.
Jyc
Written on Dec 26, 2013
catiebug
Written on Dec 11, 2013
Amber
Written on Nov 17, 2013
Thankfully, I ended up really enjoying Eleanor & Park, and it gave me a lot of feelings. So Judith can put the knife away now.
Sometimes I dislike books that have a dual narrative. I find that they often feel very jumpy, and it takes me twice as long to connect with either character because we only get to spend half the time in their head. I think that it worked well in Eleanor & Park, however. It provided a good contrast between the two characters, for example there's Eleanor, who was living in a house with an abusive stepfather and a deglective mother; and Park, whose parents were excellent if not somewhat overbearing at times. There are many parallels and contrasts between the two characters, and I think that Rainbow Rowell did that wonderfully.
I did think that Park's race was going to be a bigger issue than it was. Eleanor & Park is set in Omaha in 1986, and so I don't think it was out of the question for me to expect racism to be more prominent in the novel. There are a few mentions, yes, but nowhere near as much as I was expecting. Rowell seemed to skirt around the issue, which a) took me out of the historical setting, and b) left me feeling a little bit disappointed because it is such an important issue that could have been focussed on and dealt with here.
One of the main things that made me hesitant about reading Eleanor & Park was the love story. I knew it was going to take up a huge chunk of the book - the title is simply the two characters' names, for god's sake. While I didn't adore the romance, I did enjoy it and, like I said, it gave me all the feels towards the end. How could it not? I don't think that Eleanor and Park are at OTP level, simply because their romance was uncomfortably cheesy at times and I don't do uncomfortably cheesy.
My favourite part of the romantic arc was both characters learning about each other's insecurities. It's a major theme in this novel, and I loved how they were both able to eventually open up to one another.
Also: Postcards. I have never been so traumatised by a postcard in my life.
I felt a huge connection with Eleanor, and it's safe to say that she is my favourite of the two protagonists, and I would have quite happily read this book if it was told from only her point of view. Her scenes at home were very difficult for me to read, because I went through shockingly similar things when I was a teenager, but at the same time I couldn't turn away. I had to take a few breathers, but overall Eleanor's storyline and her troubles at home were my favourite parts of the novel. Child abuse is still a big issue today, and I think it needs to be spoken about more often, and definitely more loudly. People tend to sweep it under the rug and keep it quiet, and that's definitely not the correct way to go about it.
Overall, Eleanor & Park is a great book which touched upon many different issues, although some were more prominent than others. The romance took a while to grow on me, but once it did it shattered my heart. I would definitely recommend this book to the handful of people who haven't read it yet once they return from their deserted island.