Friday, August 29, 2014

Reading Review - Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

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.

Rating - No Rating Given
Major Pros - Writing
Major Cons - Not much side character development
How I Read It - Gifted

Today I'm reviewing a book that I've heard a lot of amazing things about, and that I'm very happy to have read. Eleanor & Park is a contemporary that it seems everyone has read and loved. I mentioned hype in my book blogger confessions, and I'll probably have a discussion post on it this fall, and if you know my thoughts on that you can guess why I was nervous about Eleanor & Park. Everyone talked about how this was one of the best contemporaries, etc. and honestly I really enjoyed it. I wasn't sure about my thoughts on the novel until I realized how beautiful a particular occurrence was, how realistic it was written, among other things.

Eleanor & Park isn't a perfect novel- I wasn't a fan of some of the character development, and I thought the side characters were missing some development to them. However, the writing and the story is memorable. There's some great qualities to this novel, and I think it's a beautifully written story. My heart broke for the characters at points throughout the novel.

There's not a lot to say about this novel that hasn't already been said, but Eleanor & Park is a unique, memorable book that I would recommend reading.

From the paper world,
V

1 comment:

  1. I LOVED this book. I had so many feels over E&P together. When their hands first touch!!! Oh my gosh. How can I have so many feels from that? And then that part where Park kicks that kid in the face. *dies* I just thought this was such a beautiful story of two misfits and spoke a lot about standing up for others and being yourself even if that doesn't fit in to the mainstream status quo.

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