Title: Eleanor & Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, romance
Point of View: It changes from Eleanor to Park’s POV
Would I recommend it?: Yes and no…
Rating: ✭✭✭ /5
Bono met his wife in high school, Park says.So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.I’m not kidding, he says.You should be, she says, we’re 16.What about Romeo and Juliet?Shallow, confused, then dead.I love you, Park says.Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers.I’m not kidding, he says.
You should be.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.-Barnesandnoble.com
I kept on seeing that if you enjoyed The Fault in Out Stars (which I did) then read Eleanor and Park, a story about two very different teenagers who fall in love on the school bus. The thing that interested me most about Eleanor and Park was, well, Eleanor and Park themselves, and you might be wondering why so allow me to explain.
Eleanor isn’t perfect, she isn’t some
“gorgeous” Barbie with a thin body and beautiful face. Eleanor isn’t
some girl you would see on (most) magazines or in (most) other medias,
she is real, realer than 90% of most characters I would typically read
about. She is considered heavy and ugly by most and is teased about her
looks and “weirdness” throughout the duration of the story. Unlike a lot
of (well not a lot but I think you may understand) young adult main
characters, she isn’t perfect, nothing about her or any other human
being is (sorry guys!) Eleanor is flawed, she’s mean, she’s weird, and
her family isn’t the best. (THIS MAY BE A SPOILER BUT IS INTRODUCED
EARLY ON IN THE BOOK SO BE A LITTLE WARNED) Her step dad abuses her mom,
he kicked Eleanor out and the book begins when she is coming home, her
family is screwed up (sorry for that, but it really is.)
Park is a half Asian kid and just happens
to fall in love with her. The book takes place in the 1980s (I’m sorry
but I don’t know the exact yer, I think it was 86?) and if you don’t
know the 1980s, then you wouldn’t know about the racial tensions back
then. Anyways, his mom is Korean. Park has a perfect family, at least
closer to perfect. His dad is hard on him and, in a way, wishes his son
to be a perfect image of him, he wants the best for his son.
The characters really made the story a
little more interesting for me. If the story was better (in my opinion) I
would have given it a better rating. For me, I gave the story a 3/5 for
multiple reasons mainly being that nothing really happened. Eleanor was
teased and bullied, and Park would help her, they would sneak kisses
and fall even more in love, they would fight, and repeat. That was it
and other than that, nothing happened until the very end (no spoilers).
Sorry for those who liked the book, and I am not saying that I didn’t
like the book – because I did – I just felt like more could have been
added, something should have happened… Anyways, I did like the book, I
just gave it a 2/5 due to the lack of plot… and how many times do they
have to fight???? They fought a lot…. but I guess that’s love sometimes XD
But please do not be mad at me, I just didn’t find interest in the story, I DID however enjoy the diversity of characters over the normal picture perfect main characters.
You might like Eleanor and Park if you enjoy romance, young adult fiction and constant POV changes :) (I do like POV changes haha)
I appreciate your review. I don't usually get into YA romances myself although I like YA dystopian because if the action and stresses the characters face. I did enjoy Fault in Our Stars but I myself was about to start cancer treatment when I listened to that. The illness played a big part of that story.
ReplyDeleteI love the birds in your banner. The books you read are new to me. I will peek in to see what you are reading. Thanks for visiting my blog last week. Happy New Year to you too.
I actually loved this book. i think that nothing really happened except first love and loss was the point of the story. To me I felt this book was more real to how life for teens can be than how most books portray them. I liked that. I am also a huge superhero and comic fan... especially xmen. So that was interesting for me. great review
ReplyDeleteI agree that if you love books with a lot of plot, this book might not be for you. But I don't mind more character-driven books and really enjoyed this!
ReplyDeleteJen @ YA Romantics
I keep hearing great things about this book, but thanks for showing me a new side. It does seem like not much happens in the way of plot which worries me. Still seems like a touching story though since it's more character-driven. Lovely review!
ReplyDeleteRachel @ A Perfection Called Books