Eleanor & Park

"Eleanor & Park" was an unexpected touching read for me. Eleanor is a chubby red-head and Park is a half-Asian cool kid who loves comics and musics- and soon, Eleanor. They ride the bus to school together, and Park is intrigued by Eleanor, slowly trying to reach her. Eleanor holds most everyone at arms length. Her family is poor, and she has an abusive home life. Add to that the cruelty of teens, and she is bullied at school. When the cute boy starts reaching out to her, Eleanor is afraid to reach back.

Despite the 80s setting, this book felt timeless- a story that could reach across the ages. Eleanor and Park slowly begin to learn more about each other and fall in love. Considering all the bigger issues they have to deal with, the book ends up focusing on the relationship in the context of everything else going on. There were sections that were absolutely heart-breaking and others that just made me smile. This was a worthwhile read.

The ending is very open, and as a person who likes closure, this was not my favorite. However, the build up of the book was fantastic and their relationship was the sweetest. I also really loved Park's parents, who had a great role in the story. This is a really great and touching read for people who like YA romance!

I was bracing myself for all the fluffiness, the cheesy exchanges of the words I love you, and possibly a happy-ever-after. But, of course, young love has never been meant to last forever . . . Right?

I have been wanting to read this book for awhile now and have finally been able to get my hands on it. It was a good book but it wouldn't exactly be in my favorites. I have seen people go crazy about how awesome this book was, so I had really high expectations on it. I was really liking the beginning of this book. It was really good. But the middle and ending just got into a big mess for me. I did not really like the ending to the book. I was expecting a lot more than how it did happen. It left a lot of unanswered questions. Which I'm probably going stay up all night just thinking about what the heck happened to these characters or their futures and etc. So yes this book was good but in my opinion it wasn't the best ever. I seen people who absolutely LOVE this book and practically want to marry the thing but, I have also seen people who really disliked this book also. If you want to read it, read it. You may end up loving it. =)

It's not often you get to read a loe story that progresses so naturally. Normally things happen way too fast. Sure, there are the occasional super fast relationships, but most start out slow while both people get to know each other a little at a time. Which is exactly what happens for Eleanor and Park. Heck, when the two first meet he thinks she looks really weird and she's not such a fan of the guy who curses at her and begrudgingly shares his bus seat.

My one gripe about the story is Eleanor. I can understand that her home life messed with her a bit and made it difficult for her to let herself care for Park, but I still couldn't quite get past how mean she was to him all the time. Here's this guy giving him your heart and what does she do? More or less tucks it in her pocket and walks away. Park was always trying so hard to compliment Eleanor and show her how much he liked her, but she shut him down nearly every time.

I had heard such great things about this book from so many different bloggers before I picked it up. I really was hoping that I didn't expect so much from it that it would let me down. It of course did not. I loved every minute of this book. It is the perfect story of first loves.

Usually I cannot wait for a story to get right into the romance. It is of course my favorite part. But I loved that this book progressed to that slowly. I loved seeing Eleanor and Park going from not even speaking to each other on the bus to not wanting to be without each other.

Eleanor is overweight, wears thrift store clothes and doesn't even own a toothbrush. She lives with her mom, step-dad and four siblings. She has to deal with a less than good home life. This book reminded me of how horrible it can be to be a kid. Eleanor was stuck living in this home that wasn't even really a home. I felt so bad for her. When she sat next to Park on the bus and their relationship started to develop I had a sense of calm come over me. I had a feeling that everything would work out for these two even with all the bumps I knew they would have to endure.

This book is told in alternating POV's between Park and Eleanor. I am a fan of alternating POV's. It is nice to see things from someone else's view and not just have everything told from the side of one character.

The ending was amazing! It was adorable and perfect. I will definitely look for other titles but the author. The writing and characters were wonderful and well developed. I felt attached to these two by the end of the book.

Review originally posted on my blog: http://www.ramblingsofabooknerd.com/2013/04/review-eleanor-park-by-rainbow-rowell.html

When I first saw this book, I was intrigued by the cover. Then I heard that it was set in the 80's and I knew that I needed to read it. Although I wasn't born until the late 80's, a lot of the references I was still able to relate to. But Rowell didn't go overboard with the references, so this book is enjoyable for any age.
The main reason I wanted to read this, was the romance. I had heard so much about it through other bloggers but I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to read it. I'm not a huge fan of "hype." But I finally gave in and said I'll just give it a try. And it was definitely worth it. I have never read about a more real, different, believable romance. Eleanor and Park together are super cute and quirky and I loved them together. What started out as just a "nice" gesture turned into a full fledged romance that was paced exactly right. I didn't feel that it was rushed into or anything. Furthermore, neither one of them was like a huge popular kid, so their love was a little more believable to me. It was the complete opposite of what other authors normally make their characters and it was refreshing to see it.
I also love, Love, LOVED the characters. Eleanor had so much more going on than I thought, but it made her everything she was. I caught myself completely disappearing into her world plenty of times. It was just that easy to connect to with her. As for Park, he is one of the most swoon worthy boys I've read about. He was different from all the stereotypes and I LOVED that about him. I like when people break the mold and he did exactly that.
What I liked most about this story was the lesson it brought up. As a little girl, my momma told me something that stuck with me always, "Love is blind." And ever since, I've held that near and dear to me. I mean I may not agree with it, but who am I to say that as a 20 year old, your 38 year old husband is disgusting or not what God may have wanted? Anyways, the point I'm making is, I love that they are an unusual couple. I was quite happy to read something that we don't see too often. Especially with all that's going on with love inequality.
In short, this book gave me all the feels. I smiled, I laughed, I got choked up, and so many other things. Eleanor and Park is a refreshing read. If you have the chance to pick it up, don't hesitate. You won't be sorry.