Eleanor & Park: A Novel

Every now and then a young adult book comes along that instantly transports us back to our own adolescence, for better or worse. It can be a painful or a beautiful journey (more often than not, a little of both), but it takes a talented author to do so effortlessly. In Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell tells you a story of two misfits that will leave you forever changed.

Since her mother brought Eleanor back to the house, she, and everyone else, has had to walk on eggshells. Their stepfather is not a nice man, and in particular, he hates Eleanor. In a house as tiny as theirs, it is all but impossible for her to escape him. Sharing a bedroom with her four siblings, worrying about whether or not they will have food each night, and listening to Richie beat her mother are just some of the reasons Eleanor has no interest in seeking friends in her new school. Never mind the fact that she dresses weird (in whatever her mother gets her from Goodwill), she isn't the skinniest girl, and her flaming red hair has a mind of its own. When she steps foot on the bus that first day, no one will let her sit down... until Park lets her sit with him.

Park isn't a complete outcast, but he isn't popular by any means either. He tries very hard to keep his head down and blend into the background. When he sees Eleanor, he feels bad, but girls like her are who keep the vicious attention of his peers off his own faults. Taking more after his Korean mother, he has always been too gentle, too feminine, and not manly enough for his former soldier father. He doesn't intend to be anyone's hero, but he can't let Eleanor stand in the aisle of the bus and cry the way those beasts want her to. So he tells her to sit. And that changes everything.

Eleanor and Park don't talk. He reads his comic books and she carefully tries to read them without letting him know she is peaking over his arm to see. He notices her reading the comics and starts turning the pages slower. Then he starts bringing her comics to borrow. All of this happens without a word shared between the two, but slowly, glacially, Park avoids Eleanor less and less. A few careful questions here, a kind gesture there, and the two find the human interaction they miss the most at the end of each day are the interactions they have together on those bus rides. But Eleanor has a lot to hide and is the target of many a malicious teen. And Park is very conscious of how her proximity affects his ability to camouflage himself from the other kids. Their backgrounds, self-consciousness, and situations should have prevented them from ever getting to know one another, but sometimes life's circumstances can't stop love from blossoming, no matter how hard it tries.

There is something you should know before you read this book. It has been raved about by bloggers, reviewers, booksellers, and readers everywhere. They are right. John Green gave this clip for the New York Times Book Review: “Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it’s like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it’s like to be young and in love with a book.” He was right. Yalsa, Printz, and every other professional in the field loved this book. They were all right. If you are anything like me, you develop an immediate bias against a book when it receives instant and passionate acclaim. Why? I don't know. I guess the little rebel in us doesn't want to love what everyone loves. But that stupid generalization keeps us from books like Harry Potter, The Fault in Our Stars, and Eleanor & Park, so let's just stop this nonsense already, ok?! Because if we miss out on amazing books like this one, we are just silly little rebels who have lost out on a chance to read some seriously amazing books.

Eleanor & Park was the saddest and most achingly romantic story I have read since The Fault in Our Stars. Eleanor is a girl who just needs life to cut her a break, but no one stands up for her. Until Park. And he doesn't do it willingly at first, but when he does, you know it goes against every ounce of self-preservation inside him. And it is that simple act of sticking his neck out for this girl that will make you love him unconditionally. Park isn't perfect. Even Eleanor knows she embarrasses him, but he wants to be a better person, and more importantly, he can't imagine life without Eleanor. I loved this boy. I really did. My heart broke for Eleanor, but I loved Park. And his life wasn't tulips and daisies either, but it couldn't compare to the war zone she lived in.

I imagine some critics of this novel might find fault in the love between Eleanor and Park, but you have to think of the lack of love they have both lived with. Park can never be enough to satisfy his father. Eleanor's own mother left her with a neighbor for a year because Richie didn't want her in his house. For two damaged kids, finding that love was transformational, both for them and for you, as the reader. Rowell has the ability to make you love the main characters with a fierce protectiveness that will surprise you, and the ability to make you hate those who hurt them with a ferocity that makes you want to inflict bodily harm upon those fictional characters like Richie and the girls who bully Eleanor in school.

This is a book that will steal the heart of any reader. Filled with fabulous 80's music references, comic book references, totally called-for foul language, and adolescence in all its ugly glory, it will change ever reader who turns that first page and can't put it down. There are some dark and dirty parts of this story that are hard to read, but they are just as important as the beautiful, innocent, guarded love that blossoms between Eleanor and park. This book is everything people say it is, and I know it will stand the test of time among readers.

So last year I lost my crap over Fangirl. It was not my first Rainbow Rowell book, but it was the first time I fell good and hard. After uneven results with Attachments, I just sort of avoided Eleanor & Park when it came out, despite its ridiculously charming cover. Then Fangirl came along with it equally adorable cover and I gave Rowell a second chance. It went so unbelievably, fantabulously well that I purchased a copy of Eleanor & Park before I even finished Fangirl, just knowing that skipping it had been a huge mistake. Possibly a fatal one. But it has taken me this long to get around to it, so afraid was I that it wouldn't live up to Fangirl. This book is an entirely different beast, to be sure. But I read it through from cover to cover the other night completely unable to stop. It was one of those rare and beautiful situations in which the level of my feelings for a book is so high that I feel an obligation to see it through in one sitting. Like I owe the book that much. I will follow a book that good through the deep, dark hours of the night, wherever it leads. I regret nothing. I am bleary-eyed, but unregretfully so.

I'm going to just go ahead and break with tradition here, because the thing is I don't even want to summarize this book. I don't want to take anything away from the experience for you. And going through all the ins and outs of the story of Eleanor and Park, even the highlights, feels like cheating each individual reader out of discovering it for themselves. So I'm going to leave it at a few teasers, if you will, the facts that fell out of my mouth the morning after as I incoherently tried to tell my co-workers why they had to pick it up right now. So here they are. All the facts you need to know:

• It's set in 1986. In Omaha.
• It opens when Eleanor boards a school bus and no one will let her sit.
• Until Park lets her sit next to him.
• And they don't talk.
• At all.
• Until he realizes one day that she's reading his comic book over his shoulder.
• And he stops reading it during the day so that when they get back on the bus to go home, they're still in the same spot and Eleanor hasn't missed a thing.

I'm pretty sure that's all you need to know.

As far as what my experience reading the book was like? Quite simply, I laugh-cried my way through every page of Eleanor & Park. When I wasn't laughing or tearing up, I was quietly fixated, the air leaving my body in a whoosh multiple times as this depiction of first love (of so many firsts) had its way with me. It's been awhile since I spent the entirety of a book in such a heightened state. And I don't say that lightly. Rowell's words were always the right ones, and they so carefully sketched out and filled in her two leads that I was truly at their mercy. I worried going in that I wouldn't connect with one of them as well as the other. In a story told from alternate points of view, that can sometimes be a problem. I worried that Eleanor would be too . . . something, that Park wouldn't be . . . enough. I have silly worries sometimes, guys. But I admit I was utterly unprepared for how much I would love them both. I would read a book about just one of them, no questions asked. Just Eleanor stoically stumping her way through each day, snarking in English class, and taking terrifyingly quick baths. Just Park quietly passing at school, excelling at tae kwan do, and pretending his relationship with his dad isn't slowly killing him. I would read those books. But together? Put those stories together and I struggled to remember (or care) where I was. I was with them. Nothing else mattered. He wanted to ask her not to be mad right now. Like, anytime but now. She could be mad at him for no reason all day tomorrow, if she wanted to.

"I meant that you don't look any different than you usually look," he said softly, just in case his mom was standing on the other side of the door. "And you always look nice."

"I never look nice," she said. Like he was an idiot.

"I like the way you look," he said. It came out more like an argument than a compliment.

"That doesn't mean it's nice." She was whispering, too.

"Fine, then, you look like a hobo."

"A hobo?" Her eyes lit.

"Yeah, a gypsy hobo," he said. "You look like you just joined the cast of Godspell."

"I don't even know what that is."

"It's terrible."

She stepped closer to him. "I look like a hobo?"

"Worse," he said. "Like a sad hobo clown."

"And you like it?"

"I love it."

As soon as he said it, she broke into a smile. And when Eleanor smiled, something broke inside him.

Something always did.

Golden, right? The way they have a care for each other, while still striking out when striking out is called for, and without lessening any of the very real troubles they deal with on a daily basis. The way they're so far apart and so believably afraid of the ramifications of their relationship. The way his thumb brushes her palm. The way she is strong and solitary and memorizes his face. The whole thing was an irresistibly struck note for me, ringing and throbbing and beautiful.

"The first time he'd held her hand, it felt so good that it crowded out all the bad things. It felt better than anything had ever hurt."

And I'm just going to leave it at that quote. Because this book? This book feels better than anything ever hurt.

A silver pansy for remembrance . . .

Sometimes words fail me. They feel inadequate to describe a hauntingly beautiful painting or how a passage of poetry moved me to tears or the way a piece of music captures a feeling of love or loss. Trying to describe how wonderful Eleanor & Park makes me feel that same impotence, searching and struggling for the right words. In a word, Eleanor & Park is unforgettable.

Though it is a story of first love with all the insecurities, the hope, the fluttery feelings in the stomach, the pain, E&P goes much deeper than that. It is also a terrific book for young adults to read about fitting in and finding a way to cope with feelings of isolation. It is romantic, it is funny, and it is heartbreaking. It is without a doubt one of the best books I have ever read.

I loved the step back in time - big hair, overalls, punk rock - and Eleanor's description of the polyester gym suit onesies brought a flashback to my own green horror story. The only kids those gym suits looked good on were the cheerleaders. This book captures all of those uncomfortable, terrible, wonderful feelings of being 16, not fitting in, falling in love. All of the fierce, intense emotions that you've never felt before are relived as Park and Eleanor fall in love. Reading Eleanor & Park was like running across an old faded photograph of my first love, forgotten and hidden away in a drawer, pulling it out, and remembering, reliving the nervous excitement, the exhilaration, the sadness, the pain I thought would never end, and the passion of that first time my heart felt like it beat because of another person. This book affected me so deeply. By the time I finished Eleanor & Park, I was sobbing, crying big ole honking, nasty, noisy tears.

Eleanor and Park's story spans across the course of one school year beginning in August 1986. Their first meeting is about as unromantic as it can get not only because it's on a school bus but also because it borders on antagonistic. Eleanor is the new girl riding the bus to school and no one wants her to sit beside them. She could never blend in or appear invisible which is what Park is trying to do. He knows the bus demons very well and his strategy of flying low below the radar is a sound one. So how can he do that if this "big awkward" girl with wild red hair plunks down next to him? Reluctantly he lets her sit by him and promptly ignores her all while trying to figure out how to switch seats with someone else. Eleanor is no fool. She is very much aware Park allows her to sit there on sufferance. For days they do not talk or look at each other. There is a full six inches of space between them at all times.

So how do these two build a bridge to span that great chasm of six inches.? At first it's Park's comic books. Eleanor begins to surreptitiously read over Park's shoulder. Eventually Park realizes what is happening and he paces himself turning pages to accommodate her. Park becomes fascinated and intrigued by Eleanor and vice versa. Over time they do begin to talk about music, comic books, and swap jokes. I loved this part of the book, that slow and gradually deepening relationship. The first time they touch was sensual and yet so innocent:

"He didn't look up. He wound the scarf around his fingers until her hand was hanging in the space between them. Then he slid the silk and his fingers into her open palm".

Eleanor is at various times described as a "scarecrow", as resembling a "trouble doll", a "gypsy hobo", and a "sad hobo clown". She declares herself "fat" (although I wonder if perhaps this is an exaggeration due to poor self esteem), she has lots of freckles, and she wears old, secondhand mismatched clothes with odd bits of fabric and ribbon to cover up holes and tears. She pins her bra together. Various nicknames are bestowed on her but the one that sticks is "Big Red". In addition to her odd physical appearance, she is awkward in crowds and around strangers. Winning friends is not her strong suit.

Beneath the surface, however, Eleanor is smart, sharp, brave, funny, a bit sarcastic, and even, surprisingly, a bit hopeful. That comes out as she constantly strives to make the best out of bad situations. Despite her truly nightmarish home life, her cruel depraved stepfather, a biological father that cares more for himself than his children, and a beaten down mother, Eleanor still has hope. She can't afford batteries for her Walkman or shampoo or even a toothbrush, but she writes bands, songs, and other "interesting stuff" on her books because she'd like to hear them someday. This is her wish list.

Park is also a misfit. He is half Korean and resembles his mother in coloring except for his green eyes. He not only has to deal with a bit of stereotypical prejudices because of his Asian heritage at school, but his relationship with his father is strained due to Park's disinterest in hunting, football, and driving a stick shift. Park is into alternative music like XTC, the Smiths, Skinny Puppy, and the Misfits. He loves/obsesses over comics like the Watchmen and X Men. Eleanor likens his home and family to the Cleavers and the Waltons, and in comparison to hers she isn't far off the mark. On the surface it appears Park has a perfect family and though it is very clear Park's dad loves him, it is also equally clear his father doesn't understand his oldest son who "cried when he took him pheasant hunting", or why it is nearly impossible to teach Park to drive a stick when he taught his youngest son, Josh, to drive in two weeks. Mr. Sheridan is a good father, however, who clearly loves his family. Park's home is not a battlefield like Eleanor's.

Park and Eleanor's story is richer for being told in in alternating POVs. Being able to witness Park's shy advances and Eleanor's tentative responses just made me love these two more. I cheered them, I cried when they argued, and I laughed at their jokes both public and private. I loved how the things that made Park and Eleanor different, misfits, were also the things that looked completely wonderful through each other's eyes. To Eleanor, Park has "magic eyes", And to Park, Eleanor's freckled body becomes "candy sprinkled."

Throughout Eleanor &Park there is an almost perfect balance of lightness and darkness, brightness and shadow, clarity and cloudiness, a chiaroscuro effect that painted a vivid, vibrant story of Eleanor and Park's reality. Ms. Rowell crafted an intensely realistic picture of first love between Eleanor and Park, how they complement each other, what brings them together, the obstacles they have to overcome. There is the darkness of of Eleanor's home (dark, small, dingy), and there is Park's home, (bright, normal, secure). His home is a temporary sanctuary for Eleanor from the gloomy, cramped, prison of Richie's house. Park's father becomes a positive model as a father for Eleanor. She experiences the freedom of sharing opinions, jokes, and music with Park on the bus, but at Richie's house, she is restricted, confined, forced to be as invisible as possible. She admits that she "practiced being in a room without leaving any clues that she's been there." The joy Eleanor experiences at the mementos in her keepsake box are juxtaposed with the destruction of that box and everything in it. At school, Eleanor's English teacher respects and even seeks out her opinions but then there's the dirty, ugly things written on her school books.

Even the ending is a blend of despair and heartbreak but also with a touch of hope. Eleanor & Park is not light and fluffy. You won't see any cute, blonde cheerleaders paired up with football heroes or tattooed bad boys in this book. What you will get is a book filled to the brim with a rich storytelling about wonderfully complex characters who meet, fall in love, and try to hold on to those feelings despite huge obstacles. Parts of Eleanor, and, yes, Park also, resonate deeply within me, and this is a book that has stayed with me long after I finished reading the last page. Read it if you are/were a misfit or different or march to a different drummer. Read it if you are experiencing love for the first time. Read Eleanor & Park to remember your first love.

Rainbow Rowell's "Eleanor & Park" is a poignant tale that resonates deeply with readers of all ages. Set against the backdrop of 1980s Omaha, Nebraska, this novel beautifully captures the complexities of adolescence, first love, and the challenges of navigating life's uncertainties.

From the moment I opened the book, I was drawn into the world of Eleanor and Park - two misfit teenagers whose unlikely bond transcends social boundaries and societal expectations. Rowell's writing is both raw and tender, immersing the reader in the characters' innermost thoughts and emotions as they grapple with family issues, peer pressure, and the exhilarating highs and devastating lows of young love.

What sets "Eleanor & Park" apart is its authenticity. Rowell doesn't shy away from addressing difficult topics such as bullying, domestic violence, and body image issues, yet she infuses the narrative with moments of humor, hope, and genuine human connection. The characters feel incredibly real, flawed yet undeniably relatable, and their journey is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching in equal measure.

As someone who grew up during the same time period depicted in the novel, I found myself nodding along to the references to mixtapes, comic books, and cassette players, which added an extra layer of nostalgia and familiarity to the story. However, "Eleanor & Park" is far more than just a nostalgic trip down memory lane - it's a timeless coming-of-age tale that transcends generational boundaries and speaks to the universal experiences of love, loss, and self-discovery.

In conclusion, "Eleanor & Park" is a beautifully written and emotionally resonant novel that will stay with me long after I've turned the final page. Whether you're a teenager navigating the tumultuous waters of adolescence or an adult reflecting on the innocence and intensity of first love, this book is sure to capture your heart and leave a lasting impression. Highly recommended for anyone in search of a captivating and unforgettable read.

I have an eight month old baby who still gets up every three hours to nurse. Because I also suffered insomnia during my pregnancy, I have not had a full night of uninterrupted sleep since before last Christmas. Needless to say, in my life, sleep is precious. This book is so freaking good, I traded a whole night's sleep to savor it.

I read the first few chapters about a week ago, and then life got away from me. Last night when I got up to feed my son the first of his many nocturnal snacks (the feeding I call "elevensies"), I picked up where I'd left off... and then I couldn't stop. The baby went back to sleep. I did not. I finished reading a little after 3:00 AM. Two hours after that, when O got up for his third and final feeding of the night, I was still awake, processing this beautiful book, still blown away by what I'd read.

Eleanor & Park is the story of two sixteen-year-olds who fall in love while riding the school bus. It's set in Omaha, Nebraska in 1986. Eleanor is a chubby redhead who dresses like a freak, not so much because of her own quirky fashion sense, but because her family doesn't have any money. She has a terrible home life: she the oldest of five children sharing a single bedroom in a tiny house, where there's never anything to eat but beans, no privacy, and all the kids and their mom walk on egg shells, trying not to set off their violent, abusive, alcoholic stepfather. As if life at home were not bad enough, she's also subject to relentless bullying at school. Park is good looking, popular, and from a much more stable home, but as the only Asian kid at school, he feels like an outsider, too. They fall in love over comic books and mix tapes.

There were so many things I loved about this book. Much as I hate to say it, often in books where the hero is portrayed as gorgeous and the heroine is, well, not, it can be hard to see what he sees in her. Most books employing this trope solve that problem by either giving the heroine a makeover or by portraying her as having a warped self-image, so that the reader understands she's a lot more attractive than she thinks she is. On the one hand, the heroine is unattractive but she's fixable, or on the other, she's not unattractive, but she's too dumb or damaged to realize it. Both options have always struck me as annoying and antifeminist. Eleanor & Park doesn't take either path. Eleanor doesn't conform to traditional standards of beauty, and she dresses "like a sad hobo clown." Park's mom gives her a makeover, but neither she nor Park thinks it makes her look any better than she does in her own, unpainted skin.

Park loves her anyway, and Rainbow Rowell tells the story well enough that it isn't at all a mystery why. Park says she reads poetry "like it was a living thing. Like something she was letting out. You couldn't look away from her as long as she was talking." (p. 38) He thinks holding her hand is "like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive." (p. 71) He notes: "Eleanor was right: She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something." (p. 164) Quite simply, Eleanor gives Park All The Feels.

I love the intensity of their relationship. I read another review that compared it to Insta-love, but I disagree. First, they don't fall in love instantly. For the first several months of their acquaintance, they don't even talk to each other. Park worries about what associating with the weird New Girl will do to his popularity. Eleanor thinks of him as "that stupid Asian kid." But when they do fall in love, they fall hard. I remember back twenty years to my own high school romance, and I fell just as hard, just as fast, without nearly as much need to be rescued from my loneliness as either Eleanor or Park have. Such is the nature of teenage love, I suspect.

My biggest complaint about the book is that their relationship is a bit one-sided. -Not in level of attraction or depth of feeling or reliance on the other -- in all of these things, they are well matched -- but Eleanor doesn't seem to give quite as much to the relationship. She doesn't have nearly as much faith in Park and in their future as Park has, and while I totally understand why--(her own mother gave her away for a year for arguing with her stepfather, so of course she might have trust issues)--it made me sad. Park rescues Eleanor in an obvious, literal sense, and she is grateful, but I don't think Eleanor realized that she rescued Park just as much, or that he might need her just as much, for less obvious reasons. Consequently, the ending really disappointed me, even though it felt organic to the story and believable and true, and maybe even necessary.

My Book Club just read this for the month of July. I'm not sure what it is about these YA books that they are captivating me so, but I am absolutely thrilled about it. There is nothing simple or boring about coming of age, is there? The things that made having children so much fun...everything is new, through their eyes. You get to play with Spirograph and Play-Doh. Dr. Suess rhymes fill your mind. There are play days at the park, swinging and sliding and blowing bubbles. My children are now grown. Their own coming of age days have come and gone. As I'm reading these wonderful new YA books, I am remembering my own "coming of age days". When you get to this age, it may be that the nostalgia is the rule of the day: where simple pleasure can be found in just reminiscing about the good old days (and the bad old ones, too). I was reminded of so many people and places, while reading Eleanor and Park. This story is set in 1986, just a few years past my high school years. Eleanor is a new student in town. She has suffered an unimaginable injustice prior to returning to her family. It is not a return to any loving arms of family. Eleanor is not a brilliant student or a gifted musician. Nor does she have any athletic talent. She is an average girl who has experienced some family trials that are far from average. The tribulations of our heroine are not unheard of, however, unfortunately. Eleanor has learned to be very guarded in her relationships. She has learned to distrust sentiments of loyalty and to expect actions of betrayal. The very saddest part, for me, was that she could even imagine that her experience was something she deserved. Or...maybe her belief that she wasn't worth more. Eleanor has absolutely no expectations of love. She does not trust protestations of love. Very sad. Our hero is Park. Park is also just an average boy. His family has lived in this town (Omaha) for many generations. Therefore, he is somewhat of a fixture, albeit a very quiet one, in the community. He has grown up with most of the kids at school. Park's family is very close and loving. His parents' relationship is a true love story. Even though Park has enjoyed a rather anonymous life, his experience with love has been a very healthy and happy one. Park expects love to be something wonderful. That being said, he is very self-conscious. He doesn't have a very healthy self-esteem. So...we have these two, Eleanor and Park, who come from completely different backgrounds. Eleanor wants to remain invisible and survive. Park yearns to find acceptance and connection. They are both awkward around their peers. They are not unlike their peers in that they are trying to figure out who they truly are. Who are they, aside from their experiences? What do they want to do? to be? What don't they want to be? Obviously, they connect...that's our story! What is truly magical about the story is how these two kids grow and change their perceptions about themselves and the people in their lives. As Eleanor learns to trust Park, she begins to open up again. She makes a couple of very entertaining friends along the way. She survives some nasty, but typical teenage mean behavior. Through Eleanor's eyes, Park receives the gift of having his own eyes opened to the reality of how fortunate he is in the family department. Park has had the luxury of having his parents be disappointed in some things he has done; but, at the end of the day, that disappointment does nothing to diminish the love that they have for him. Eleanor shows him just how precious that is. Also, Park learns the tremendous value of his own loving heart. I don't think he began to realize just how big was his capacity to love! I would say that the cautionary aspect of this tale for readers of all ages is that, while you imagine that you can even begin to imagine what is the story of the people you encounter at school or work or anywhere really...really you CAN'T. It is a mistake to presume to understand who people are without interacting with them. Judging others because they are different from you is a disservice as much to yourself as it is to them. If you insist on walking a super-narrow road, you should expect to have very limited vision. As to the end, I have nothing to say. There is an end, but I want more. Okay, I said something! I want to point out that there is absolutely NOTHING objectionable or obscene within this book. It is a wonderful and real account of the time period and the stage of life. I loved this book! Now I will have to check out more from Rainbow Rowell!

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I don't even know how to begin to describe this book. Or review it. Or gush about it enough. It was so incredibly refreshing, honest, painful, and beautiful that my words wouldn't even scratch the surface of awesome. Eleanor + Park was my first experience with Rainbow Rowell's writing, and it will not be the last. She's made a HUGE fan of me.

I'll admit, I started this book not long after it came out. Life took over, other books took over, and I worried I'd never pick it back up. How could that be given the glowing recommendations by some of my FAVORITE authors. Finally, I picked it up, and almost immediately, I was SUCKED IN. Big time. Huge. Could barely put it down. As in, I was in the bank drive through, and reading on my phone while I waited for the teller. OB-SESSED.

{{Holding Eleanor's hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive. As soon as he touched her, he wondered how he'd gone this long without doing it. He rubbed his thumb through her palm and up her fingers, and was aware of her every breath.}}

This story reminded me of being sixteen. And being in love. And what you feel and what you think you know. And how you really can't control anything because you're sixteen. You have rules to follow. And school. And parents. And the social norms just dictate a lot for you. This is where the story was so real. I think, oftentimes in books, sixteen year olds live lives that are kinda unrealistic, especially when it comes to their love interests and dating. This is SO not the case with this story. It's so real and honest that it hurts. A week after finishing it, I'm still thinking about. Thinking about the characters, and their story, and their lives.

{{Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.}}

All that being said, my heart BROKE for Eleanor. Her home life was horrible, but she somehow was still such a real girl, and really tried to rise above. Then she meets Park, whose home life is the exact opposite. This isn't the story of him necessarily saving her. I think they both sort of saved each other.

I was so in love with every aspect of this story. The characters were so developed, the writing was heartbreaking, but also so, so witty. I love the banter between Eleanor and Park and their sarcasm and dry humor. I love that you fell in love right along with them. I found myself highlighting passages on almost every other page. I couldn't stop. The writing was magic. It's probably some of the best kissing scenes ever. Forget that. Hand holding. Something as simple as holding hands is electric. Rainbow's talent far exceeds anything I could imagine. Her writing jumps off the page, and you're so immersed and feeling, that you're in it. You are living, breathing this story.

{{"What do you want to show me?" "Nothing, really. I just want to be alone with you for a minute."

He pulled her to the back of the driveway, where they were almost completely hidden by a line of trees and the RV and the garage.

"Seriously?" she said. "That was so lame."

"I know," he said, turning to her. "Next time, I'll just say, `Eleanor, follow me down this dark alley, I want to kiss you.'"

She didn't roll her eyes. She took a breath, then closed her mouth. He was learning how to catch her off guard.

She pushed her hands deeper in her pockets, so he put his hands on her elbows. "Next time," he said, "I'll just say, `Eleanor, duck behind these bushes with me, I'm going to lose my mind if I don't kiss you."}}

I read an interview Rainbow gave, in which she said that basically, at sixteen, you don't have happy endings, you only have great beginnings. This is soooo ridiculously true, and couldn't be a more perfect way to describe what she wrote. I will say, even though I appreciated the realness of the story, part of me just wonders what if ... I can't say I'd love to see a sequel, because really, it was just so perfect, but the other part of me wants to know so, so badly what went on to happen to them years down the road. I can't recommend this book enough. You'll remember so much about being young, and hopefully being in love.

{{"I just can't believe that life would give us to each other,' he said, and then take it back.' I can,' she said. `Life's a bastard."}}

I picked this book up for some light reading on a day home sick from work. I saw the high reviews and thought, not my typical read and I certainly am not the target demographic but, I'll give it a whirl.

I wasn't expecting what I received from reading this book. How to explain what I did get...and the following isn't intended to be melodramatic.

I was sucker punched, emotionally invested (hugely), horrified, awed, saddened, at times uplifted, grateful for some aspects of human nature and then human nature made me horrified by morally repugnant events. I guess what I'm trying to communicate without being overly sappy (and failing) how much this book made me feel. Highs and lows. It was demoralizing and insightful at the same time. There are so many simple moments of raw emotion on each opposite end of the spectrum and they transition so rapidly, you find yourself going, whoah how'd we get here when we were literally just over there? But in a good way.

It is an emotional roller coaster, but one of simplicity. The writing is fairly clean and well presented. The characters are complex in their simplicity and they invoked strong reactions in me. I wanted to get to the next sentence, paragraph, and page as quickly as possible to find out more about them. I was cheering and jeering alternately for almost each primary figure and several secondary ones.

The book starts a little slow and then when you're not looking or expecting it, your stomach drops out on you, just like riding a roller coaster. All of a sudden your roped into this complex scenario which almost everyone who's been in high school has experienced to a lesser or greater degree. (I mean the broad picture of high school and interactions within that framework not necessarily what specific circumstances that occur with the female lead. I don't want to elaborate so as not to give away the story.)

The writer sets her hook in you without you knowing it, and slowly begins to reel you in and then wham - you're in the boat and being filleted thinking how did that happen so quick? I couldn't put this down (but again starts a wee bit slowly) and tore through it.

The author alternates viewpoints without rehashing the same events to death and keeps a very good rhythm and flow. She doesn't answer all the questions for you or wrap everything in a pretty package for you. It's gritty and raw enough to sink your teeth into and yet still leaves room for you to form your own opinion about where the story takes you and how it ends.

It is not a warm fuzzy happy book in most ways but there is redemption and hope in the bleakness that does make it worthy and not a tragedy entirely. I feel as though I'm not doing the story justice with this review but I don't know how else to word this tale. It's sad and inspiring with sarcasm and loathing and real life undiluted through teenagers eyes who are dealing with feelings and experiences that is beyond their years that they shouldn't have to deal with but are none the less. And they do so while experiencing and exploring normal facets of growing up. I guess that's the summation. It blends what is normal and right with what isn't and it doesn't sugar coat the journey while doing so.

I hope you read it. It was worth it and then some. Sorry for the long review but for such a short read it has so much depth that it's difficult to write about the reading experience of it (particularly without spoilers) and convey all its beauty and sadness.

P.S. after posting my review I noticed most of the other reviews were by people who were given copies to read for reviews. I paid for this book and felt it mandatory to say I bought this. There's nothing wrong with that system but sometimes I wonder about those reviews. Are they truthful. Well for this book, I agree conclusively that the reviews were merited in my opinion.

If I could've I would've given 4.5 stars. Enjoy.

EDIT on 7 July 14: I recently re-read this book again due to how wonderful and touching I think this story is. (I swear it gets better every time I read it). Previously, my review garnered some questions regarding what my opinion was on what age level was appropriate for reading this book. My initial review didn't touch on this topic - but you can see some of the comments/discussions on that topic if you hit the comments button below my review. I figured I should go back, edit, and add "my opinion" in the up-front review - this is especially relevant as when I re-read the book this time - I did it with that very topic in my mind.

This book has some graphic language in it. To be clear - the areas that deal with the graphic language and subject matter are a part of the story line and have relevance to the story/plot. It is not just thrown in for the heck of it. It reflects how some (not all) persons of the age group in this book talk however, the truly graphic language (and scenarios) I'm specifically speaking of - without trying to give away the story - have a direct nexus to the plot of the book. This is a young adult book with crossovers to adult readers, but some parents may find some of the subject matter or language objectionable for their children depending on their age/maturity.

I can't speak for every child nor parent out there or what they deem appropriate, want, or don't want their child to read. I can say that after re-reading this book with a young adult audience in mind - parents may want to read the book prior to making a decision based on your child's maturity level. I think 15+ is reasonable (again this is a broad based statement and shouldn't be taken as a blanket response). If you allow your child to watch Rated "R" movies than you may not have an issue with the limited explicit language in this book. Make no mistake, this book has very little to do with throwing around explicit content just to throw it around. It plays a role in the story. It is a touching tale that has aspects which deal with a teenager who is exposed to a negative situation, and that is where the language plays into it. But there is more to the plot of this story than just that negative situation. I'd be very sorry if someone completely missed ever reading this superb story based solely on some limited dialogue. There are very innocent and beautiful aspects of the story as well - which are the majority. The language and scenario I am speaking of is a part of the story, but there are many aspects of the story which are perfectly acceptable and, in my opinion, those aspects are not objectionable.

I wouldn't dismiss this story out of hand because of the language. If you are on-the-fence regarding subject matter content, I would suggest reading the book yourself to decide if it is suitable for your child. It is a worthwhile read for an adult as well. You may end up wanting to wait to let your child read it or deem it OK. In either case I think it is safe to say many people who read this book to screen it for their children will find it moving and heart rending.

This book was written with the intent of young adults in mind, and has receive awards/nominations in the young adults genre. I hope this assists a little more with determining the age level.

That's the only way I can describe this book, to be honest. It's just... light and fluffy and just adorable. It's a really sweet romance, and I don't normally read romance, but I still enjoyed it. It isn't "life changing", it's no Fault In Our Stars, but it's just so CUTE.

THE GOOD:

I LOVED the build-up on the bus; Eleanor and Park slowly liking each other, little by little showing each other affection. That was even better than the romance for me. Everything about their relationship was really nice and sweet and I just really liked it, even though I'm not a romance fan. Park is the boy every girl wants and Eleanor's social awkwardness connects with a lot of people, boy or girl.

The characters are pretty good, too. Park's my favourite, and not just because he's a really nice guy. He just seems the most real. Eleanor got on my nerves a lot but I did like her enough. I liked the way it told the story from Park and Eleanor's point of view. Their relationship seemed more rounded that way, because the main reason I dislike romance books is the fact that the main character is normally (not always) flat, and their thoughts generally revolve around their love interest. ("Why does he/she like me, I'm so ugly, aaagh he/she is perfect, omgomgomg", etc.)

I liked the writing style, too. The book flowed quite well and I finished it quickly. I could imagine everything clearly, which I find really important in a book.

THE BAD:

The fact it was set in the 1980s. This is just my personal opinion, but seeing as I'm fourteen, a lot of the references went right over my head and even though it didn't ruin the book for me, it was a bit annoying. That said, loads of people love it for the setting, so I can't bring it down for that.

Without getting into spoilers, the ending really bugged me. There was no real conclusion and it didn't really satisfy me. I didn't even mind if the ending was sad, it was just the incompleteness of it that bothered me. The author probably wanted the reader to invent their own ending, but even though I have, I really want confirmation.

OVERALL:

It was a really nice, sweet book (I've probably said that a lot) and you can't hate it. It's no classic but it's really adorable and I said "awww" out loud every few pages. Rainbow Rowell's a good author and I'm going to read her other books.

Eleanor is returning to her family; her mum, three younger brothers and little sister. She has been away for a year, after her step-dad, Richie, kicked her out and her mum dumped her off with well-meaning friends who didn't know "a little while" would turn into a whole year. Now she's home, because Richie wants to make peace' and be a real family'. But that will never happen. Not when Richie drinks and shouts, leaves bruises on her beautiful mother and has Eleanor's siblings waking up scared in the middle of the night. But at least she's home . . . sort of. She's in Omaha, about to start a new school year that goes disastrously wrong the moment she steps on the bus.

Park can't believe his eyes when she gets on his bus. A big girl, all stout curves, and giant red hair made worse by her army-surplus clothes, random ribbons on her wrists and in her hair and the giant men's shirts she sports. The insults start almost instantaneously; Big Red being the most popular. Park keeps his head down - he's lucky that the school bully and his girlfriend, Steve and Tina, are Park's next-door-neighbour and sixth-grade girlfriend, respectively - being the only half-Korean kid in his school sticks him out enough, the last thing he needs is this `Big Red' attracting attention to him. Except she does. She sits next to him on the bus and now they're stuck together. . .

At first they enjoy a mutually-agreed-upon truce of cold-shouldering. Then Park notices that Big Red (actually called Eleanor) is reading his comic books over his shoulder. When he starts slowing down his reading of Watchmen' and X-men', he gains a friend. So Park starts bringing his old comics for Eleanor to take home and read. Then he makes a point of asking her about `The Smiths' lyrics on her binder - then decides to make her mix-tapes of the bands and artists she has never heard before.

What starts as begrudging seat-acceptance turns into a mutual love of comics, blossoms into friendship and then turns into the most important thing in both their lives.

`Eleanor and Park' is the young adult novel from Rainbow Rowell.

I have been desperate to read this book ever since I discovered Rainbow Rowell's debut novel, Attachments' and gained a favourite. I was over-the-moon thrilled to learn that Rowell's second literary outing would be a YA romance. And then I tried to buy the book, and I hit the first of many hurdles with Eleanor and Park'. . .

Rowell sold the rights to Eleanor and Park' to her UK publishers - so the book would be released there before America. Okay, fine. No worries. I went onto the UK Amazon site and purchased a copy of the book (would have bought an ebook copy for my Kindle, but Amazon UK doesn't sell ebooks to my territory?!). I patiently waited for my Eleanor and Park' book to be shipped off and land in my hot little hands. Except it didn't. The shipping estimate' kept being pushed back because, according to Amazon UK, they didn't technically have any copies to send (even though they were listed as having book available?!). I tried buying through an Amazon private seller, which was also fine . . . until a week went by and they contacted me to cancel my purchase because they didn't, technically, have a book to send me. Grr. I went onto the Amazon US site, and even though the book was listed and being sold through private sellers, there was no technical release date for the book to be released in the US. Again, I tried purchasing through a private seller who, again, contacted me and said although they were listing the book for sale, they didn't technically' have any copies to send me. My Amazon UK purchase, by this time, had its shipping estimate pushed back to two months. So I bit the bullet and bought the Kindle from the Amazon US site . . . for $17.36. I know! Crazy! Insane! But a testament to how much I loved `Attachments' and how eager I was to read Rowell's second literary foray.

Sadly, `Eleanor and Park' did not meet my expectations . . . after all that hubbub to actually read the darn thing!

The story is told through third-person omniscient narration, from the alternating viewpoints of Eleanor and Park. Set in Omaha in 1986, Eleanor is returning to a horrible family life after being kicked out for a year by her drunken stepfather. Her welcome home is dampened when she sees how her little brothers and sister, once allied against Richie, have started calling him `dad' in Eleanor's absence and have begrudgingly accepted his late-night fights with their mother and her bruises the next morning. To make matters worse, Eleanor faces a firing squad of school bullies when she starts the new semester. Her looks don't exactly help, she knows; a big girl with flaming red hair and freckles, she dresses to hide the many rips and holes in her second-hand clothing, and needing to shut herself in her room to avoid her stepfather limits her social schedule a tad.

Park is the first person to offer Eleanor a small kindness, albeit begrudgingly, when he offers her a seat next to him on the bus. Park is half-Korean; his dad was a veteran who met his mum during the war; they married in Seoul and are still madly in love to this day. Park has a younger brother called Josh who takes after their father in all-American looks and just about everything else - from being able to drive stick to picking up their taekwondo lessons more easily. For this reason, but especially because of his obvious Asian exoticness, Park feels that his father favours Josh over him, and always will.

When Park starts sharing his comic book readings with Eleanor, the two strike up an unusual bond - they start discussing and debating everything from bland Batman to the perfection of Joy Division. And pretty soon, increment by small increment, Eleanor and Park start crossing boundaries with one another . . . holding hands, sneaking kisses . . . nobody understands what Park sees in his awkward big girl (least of all Eleanor). But what they have is special and verging on forever. Until Eleanor's home-life gets so bad that Park has to step in.

Credit where credit's due; some things in `Eleanor and Park' worked really well. Like Rowell showing the evolution of young romance - from first encounter to heart-thumping end. What's especially brilliant in reading the building of Eleanor and Park's love is their duel-perspectives. It's great fun to read how every brush of legs and sideways glance is taken and differently deconstructed by the two of them. The simple act of holding hands for the first time turns into an explosively epic encounter for them both. Reading Eleanor and Park's individual freak-outs and inner-earthquakes was brilliant, and will no doubt take you back to your own first romance and the little moments that meant so much.

I feel like I should warn readers who are coming to Eleanor and Park' fresh from Attachments' - don't expect the chuckle-fest of that first book. `Eleanor and Park' may squeeze a smile and smirk out of you in the reading, but there's too much heavy subject matter in here to allow much room for laughing-out-loud. Overall, I have to say that I didn't love that this was a young adult book, for a few reasons.

First, throughout the book there was this constant feeling that all of the young characters were plagued by powerlessness. Eleanor is stuck in her terrible home life because her mother thinks to make the best of a bad situation - even when that bad situation is drunk, scares her kids half to death and beats her regularly. But Eleanor doesn't want to leave her family again; she can't imagine what will happen to the little kids and her mother if she isn't there to keep an eye on Richie. Park feels powerless in his relationship with his father - knowing that he'll never act or look the way he wants, to truly accept Park for who he is. Now, this feeling of powerlessness is fine - it's part of Eleanor and Park's story. And Eleanor's story, for all that it's frustratingly heart-in-your-throat to read the abuse her and her family suffers, it is powerful and realistic. But I never felt like either Eleanor or Park rose above their power-struggles. I feel like in a certain kind of YA novel, the protagonist's should be empowered - they should become their own hero's and have the opportunity to save themselves, or each other. I don't feel like that happened in `Eleanor and Park'.

I was waiting for that moment - for a dénouement in which Eleanor confronted her mother and Park his father - even if their talks with those parents were fruitless and came to nothing, I feel like there would have been power in at least speaking the words. I don't know, it was just very hard to read a book, lovely romance aside, in which these downtrodden teen characters never really get the opportunity to level the playing field a little bit. I especially felt this with Eleanor and her mum. I'm not saying I wanted a scene in which Eleanor whacked Richie out cold with a saucepan (delicious as that would have been) - I just wanted her to sit her mum down and tell it like it is, lay the truth on the line and make her wake up to herself - to even try.

I think it was partly this foreboding feeling of powerlessness in the characters that had me hoping that the book would skip ahead to an adult Eleanor and Park. Now, I don't normally love the fast forward' technique - but I thought that what Rowell lacked in her teen characters could be made up if she fast-forwarded them to adulthood. I know Rowell writes brilliant and complex adult romances (have I mentioned that Attachments' is superb?) and I felt it would be nice to read a grown Eleanor and Park, when they'd be old enough to leave home and save themselves. Not to mention it would have been great to see if Park's prediction of young romance held true (or if Eleanor's more cynical, "Romeo and Juliet were idiots" approach won out). Sadly, this did not happen. We remain in 1986, with sixteen-year-old Eleanor and Park; more the pity.

I also had an issue with a few of the secondary characters in the book. A girl called Tina takes it upon herself to be Eleanor's worst nightmare - an awful bullying girl who kicks Eleanor when she's down. I think Rowell did a good job at touching on the awfulness of bullying - but the Tina character got away from her towards the end, when she decided to write a last minute `sorta' explanation for Tina's awfulness. It didn't work. It was rushed and random, and would have done better to be teased and touched on throughout the book rather than tacked on at the end. Then there was Park's best friend, Cal. We get very few scenes between Cal and Park, but they were some of the funniest as Park tries to convince him not to ask out the most beautiful girl in school. These scenes were so sporadic and scarce that they did more to highlight how strange it was that Cal wasn't a bigger part of Park's life. In general, secondary characters were, sadly, few and far between in the book.

Finally, my last problem with this novel was the ending. Now, I love me an open-ended finale. Unlike some people I don't read them as being a cop-out or indecisive. I read open-endings as the characters leaving us with infinite possibility for their futures. However, the open-ended ending of `Eleanor and Park' is just downright frustrating and unfulfilling . . . and seemed to shift the powerlessness of the characters onto the reader. For one thing, the last few chapters had a lot of harsh blows coming in quick succession - and when there was that much misery jam-packed, I would have liked a slightly tidier end to make up for it.

All in all, Eleanor and Park' was a bit of a letdown - and trust me when I say that no one is more surprised at my disappointment than me. I had high hopes since reading (and loving!) Rainbow Rowell's Attachments' - I thought she would be perfectly suited to a teen romance. And while the book had some lovely quirky, heartfelt romantic moments, sadly overall I felt that the YA genre is not for Rowell. Her teen protagonists were frustratingly powerless; Eleanor in her rotten home life, Park in his relationship with his father. Too many secondary characters were left to fall by the wayside and revert to one-dimensional caricatures, and the ending was exasperatingly vague and unfulfilling after reading so much bleakness. I also feel like the book's tagline of You never forget your first love. . . ' hints that it will look at whether or not young romance stands the test of time - and for that reason I would have liked a skip-ahead in the timeline, to see if finding the one' at sixteen is possible?