Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.
Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.
Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.
Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.
❄❄❄
I have been mentally chastising myself for the past week - it has been a week since I finished Eleanor and Park. And I can't believe I haven't read it earlier!!! I was right there with you other Rowell fans when Fangirl came out, and I absolutely loved it. I loved how relatable the protagonist was, how raw emotions the novel examined, it was a beautiful novel! So of course after reading Fangirl I knew that I need to read other Rowell's books, but then... Of course, then so many other wonderful releases came out and the idea of reading more of her books just became a distant memory. UNTIL A WEEK AGO. I was browsing through the library when I saw Eleanor and Park I thought (so naively) "oh, it's that one book that I wanted to read five years ago, maybe I should read it". And oh boy, did I. I read it in one sit.
From the first haunting page, I knew the story was going to be good. Rowell really seems to know what she is writing about. I don't know where she is getting all those raw and beautiful emotions and thoughts, but I really loved the subtlety and the slow creeping of investment in the characters and their stories. Two misfits who just try to survive high school, stay unnoticed and stay unharmed. Both Eleanor and Park's point of views are relatable and I just wanted to give both them a big hug throughout the novel. I loved how we got both sides when the two main characters got into a fight or just read a comic book. The slow building of their relationship kept the audience wanting more and even after they got it, we still wanted more! Eleanor and Park were so excruciatingly cute together. But sad too.
Eleanor seems to be more troubled than Park. There is a bit of a mystery why Eleanor is in the situation as she is. There is a fair deal of getting into this, but some of it is left for the imagination of the readers. This might have been the only place where I would have liked more information, but I let it go because the story flowed so well. While I read, I was so immersed in the story that I took everything as it was without a complaint.
I didn't know very much about the novel when I started reading it, and I think that might be the best way to experience the novel (although I'm not sure if it's really possible anymore, considering it was published in 2013).Like I said, I read the whole book in one sit on one Saturday. I just kept wanting more and more until the last pages were there.
The last sentence made me cry.
Well-deserved 5/5 stars.
From the first haunting page, I knew the story was going to be good. Rowell really seems to know what she is writing about. I don't know where she is getting all those raw and beautiful emotions and thoughts, but I really loved the subtlety and the slow creeping of investment in the characters and their stories. Two misfits who just try to survive high school, stay unnoticed and stay unharmed. Both Eleanor and Park's point of views are relatable and I just wanted to give both them a big hug throughout the novel. I loved how we got both sides when the two main characters got into a fight or just read a comic book. The slow building of their relationship kept the audience wanting more and even after they got it, we still wanted more! Eleanor and Park were so excruciatingly cute together. But sad too.
Eleanor seems to be more troubled than Park. There is a bit of a mystery why Eleanor is in the situation as she is. There is a fair deal of getting into this, but some of it is left for the imagination of the readers. This might have been the only place where I would have liked more information, but I let it go because the story flowed so well. While I read, I was so immersed in the story that I took everything as it was without a complaint.
I didn't know very much about the novel when I started reading it, and I think that might be the best way to experience the novel (although I'm not sure if it's really possible anymore, considering it was published in 2013).Like I said, I read the whole book in one sit on one Saturday. I just kept wanting more and more until the last pages were there.
The last sentence made me cry.
Well-deserved 5/5 stars.
☆☆☆☆☆/☆☆☆☆☆
Oh, wow, thanks for sharing! I have read several Rainbow Rowell books (I love her name!), but Eleanor and Park has been languishing on my Kindle for five years! I must move it forward.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.
Yes you need to read it asap!! :)
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