Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park

by Rainbow Rowell

'Reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love, but what it's like to be young and in love with a book' John Green, author of The Fault in our Stars

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 mix 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 & Park is funny, sad, shocking and true - an exquisite nostalgia trip for anyone who has never forgotten their first love.

Reviewed by Chelsea on

2 of 5 stars

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**definitely not a great way to write an asian character. If you’re just gonna be racist why not write about a white character?


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.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 23 June, 2014: Finished reading
  • 23 June, 2014: Reviewed