Book Talk : Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Hey !

I must talk about this book because I have read it about three times and it still affects me in the same way. I originally found this book after I read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I typed in "Rainbow Rowell quotes" on Tumblr and VOILA I found a quote to Eleanor and Park. 

The quote was 

“Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”

That one quote sucked me in so I began my book hunt for this piece of literature. Let me tell you one thing, finding this book wasn't easy. We only have one good book store in Malta and they didn't have it; I asked for it 32143 times. One day it showed up as In Stock on their website so I ran to the store (not really, I caught the bus) but I still couldn't find it. I asked the guy at the register if they had it in that store and he pointed to the Child's Titles section. 

©
 This book is a Young Adult novel written by Rainbow Rowell and it is set in 1980s.

What makes this book so WOW is that Eleanor and Park are both Outsiders : Eleanor comes from a damaged home with some financial problems so she dresses differently than the other girls. Park is half Korean living in a white part of the Flats. In the beginning you will literally be like "TALK TO EACH OTHER OR I WILL MAKE YOU." and by the end of it you'll be like "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO TALK TO EACH OTHER AND MAKE ME FEEL THINGS?"

Warning : The ending isn't your typical happy ending that you find in Love stories but it's not a really sad ending that's gonna make you cry bucket loads. It's more of an ending that can be left to the imagination, it's the start of a new story but the end of the one you were reading.

One of my favourite things about this book is Eleanor's view on Romeo and Juliet. I swear, after reading what she says you will never look at Romeo and Juliet the same. Another thing that I loved was that I felt a strong connection with Eleanor because have both experienced trouble with the Man of the House in our lives.

Also, I love how the book isn't just portraying love but portrays poverty through Eleanor's household, and domestic abuse through Eleanor's mother and step-dad. We also have portrayed the concept of bullying through Tina bullying Eleanor.

One of my least favourite things about this book is THE ENDING. IF YOU'VE READ IT THEN YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. If you haven't read it then I can assure you that nobody dies :) As I said before, the ending was rather open.

So this book is not suitable for younger readers, even though the book store I got it from had it under Children's titles *shakes head*, because it includes foul language. It says on the back "not suitable for young readers."


Update (16/03/2017) : I don't think I have ever appreciated the way that Eleanor and Park's  relationship progresses. These two teenagers go from not talking to each other at all, to making small talk, to talking passionately about their common interests, to Park trying to gather all his batteries for Eleanor,  to Park being excited to show her a new issue of a comic, to Eleanor thinking he doesn't like her LIKE THAT, to holding hands,etc....to finally going into relationship territory.

It is just a natural progression, without any over-the-top grand gestures that most  romance novels love to exaggerate. It is real, it is honest. And after reading it for so many times, I finally realize why it ended the way that it did.

Also, Eleanor and Park don't have a huge argument that creates those few chapters of conflict. Eleanor and Park have little moments of dispute that men refer to as 'silly'. Eleanor gets upset about tiny things, then doesn't explain to Park and I can't even begin to describe how happy i was once I realized this. Many of us girls do this...we get upset/annoyed at things that matter to us but we don't explain because if we do we get told that that hag we are overreacting. 

I recommend this book. 5/5 stars. It is well written, it has short chapters and it is such a quick read. You could finish this book in a day if you put your mind to it.

Source : Pinterest.
Until next time, lovelies

~Aby
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