I adored this book! It was sweet, charming, relatable, and sincere. It took me back to those awkward days of high school and first love. Eleanor and Park is a coming-of-age love story between two 16 year old teens. But the book has more to offer than that as it deals with some very important and relevant issues, including poverty, bullying and abuse.
Eleanor and Park are two quirky teen misfits trying to find their place in the world. As the reader will learn, they are both very special, caring and lovable people. Rowell writes in a very natural and honest way and the reader can’t help but feel along with the main characters. Eleanor is the new kid in school and she is bullied on the school bus. The driver urges her to sit down and at Park’s request she sits next to him.
That girl—all of them—hated Eleanor before they’d even laid eyes on her. Like they’d been hired to kill her in a past life.
Over the course of days, weeks and months, they bond over comic books and music. And then their relationship grows even stronger and deeper and Park just wants to protect and love her.
All I do when we’re apart is think about you, and all I do when we’re together is panic. Because every second feels so important. And because I’m so out of control, I can’t help myself. I’m not even mine anymore, I’m yours, and what if you decide that you don’t want me? How could you want me like I want you?
The story is told in short alternating narratives of Eleanor and Park and it flows well. I enjoyed the writing and it made me smile often.
Eleanor looked like her mother through a fish tank. Rounder and softer. Slurred. Where her mother was statuesque, Eleanor was heavy. Where her mother was finely drawn, Eleanor was smudged.
She almost sounded sane, Eleanor thought. If you didn’t know that she was acting rational on the far side of crazy.
Rowell perfectly captures teen love — how it develops and how it feels. It is uncanny at how genuine and authentic Eleanor and Park’s dialogue sound, both inner and outer. Rowell also does justice to teen insecurities and worries.
She saw him after seventh hour in a place she’d never seen him before, carrying a microscope down the hall on the third floor. It was at least twice as nice as seeing him somewhere she expected him to be.
Eleanor sitting next to him on the couch made Park feel like someone had opened a window in the middle of the room. Like someone had replaced all the air in the room with brand-new, improved air (now with twice the freshness).
This is my first Rainbow Rowell book and I plan on reading more soon.
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