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 layawaydragon on

5 of 5 stars

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TW: Rape & Abuse

-Loved the characters. Eleanor and Park were great together and alone.

- Loved their switching perspectives.

-Such a believable high-school romance the way it blossoms. It's adorable.

-The family dynamics are great, realistic, and sometimes depressing. (---Not a bad thing.)

-The ending was both sweet and heartbreaking. Hell, the whole damn book was.

I probably went about reading Rowell's books ass-backwards from other people as this was actually the last book of hers I read, instead of the first. As much as the others were great (and one or two I fucking love), Eleanor & Park just blows the rest out of the water.

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  • 23 January, 2016: Reviewed