Happy Weekend everybody! Today i want to share with you a little review on a book i just read a couple of weeks ago, Eleanor & Park by: Rainbow Rowell. One of my resolutions this year was to get back in the reading game, starting with the Harry Potter series. Which i finished in a little over a month! Yikes. The next book on the list was this one, which we purchased with a book we were missing from the HP series. G read this before me and he loved it so much, it made me extra excited to sit down and read it.
Eleanor & Park tells the story of two teens who fall in love through 80s music and comic books. The narrative is told from alternating points-of-view, giving you a special glimpse into the lives of both characters. Eleanor is the new girl in school, she is chubby and plain, and her fiery red hair makes her hard to miss; especially to bullies. Her mom’s abusive boyfriend kicked her out of their home and she ended up staying at a friends house. A year later she moves back in with her mom and siblings in a new town. On her first day of school, she walks into the bus and every kid gives her a “you can’t sit here look” and the only seat available is next to Park.
Unlike Eleanor, Park has a normal family. He is music obsessed and likes to keep to himself. The moment Eleanor sits down beside him he ignores her and so does she. For weeks they sit side by side without exchanging a single word, smile or nod. Their love is slow-building but too cute for words. Eleanor starts reading his comic books from the corner of her eye and after weeks of nothing, Park decides to finally break the ice by giving her a comic book to take home, and that’s how they slowly start to get comfortable around each other. Slowly thereafter came music. Park shared his walkman headphones with Eleanor and in that moment she fell in love with his music. Followed by mixtapes, you can say their seat buddy relationship slowly changed into something more.
This was literally the easiest book i’ve ever read. I read a few pages one day and the next time i sat down i finished it. I literally could not stop reading. It totally took me back to the time of school crushes. Do you know, how i know this book was amazing?! Because as i read their love unfolding, i totally felt butterflies in my stomach. Words fail me when it comes to describing books i’ve fallen in love with and the only way you’ll know the extent of my love for a certain book is by reading it yourself.
John Green said it best when he said, “Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it’s like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what’s like to be young and in love with a book“.
Q: Have you read Eleanor & Parks?! If so, what did you think?
Also, do you have any books you’d recommend me?