Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park

'You can be Han Solo,' he said, kissing her throat. 'And I'll be Boba Fett. I'll cross the sky for you.' 

Hmm. What should I say about this book? Everyone says Rainbow Rowell is just the best author ever and I can totally understand why they think so. But to me, this book was… well, it was beautiful and awkward. 

Eleanor & Park is a heart-wrenching, flawless romance, one about a pair of star-crossed lovers, both teenagers unaccepted by peers. Slowly they build their friendship through their love for comic books and hobbies, which develops into a romantic relationship.

I thought it was beautifully written, and instead of there being a popular guy and an outcast, this story was about two outcasts, which has already stated its difference from other books. Other than that, it showed us the raw side of love and romance- if it's true love, no matter what the other person does, you still love them. In Eleanor & Park's case, it was true love. True, raw, love. 

The book also deals with real-life problems, such as teenagers having to live up to their parent's expectations but always failing to do so, bullying and labelling at school, first love, friendship, and abusive parental relationships. This is as true as a book can get.

In terms of language, although it was plainly written from a third person's point of view, the author did not use cliche words that were often overused in contemporary literature. The plainness of the story showed readers how pure love can be, resulting in a beautiful, direct romance story, capturing the hearts of adolescents as they walk on their rites of passage through love, and on the other hand acknowledging the labelling, the difficulties of fitting into the 'crowd', makes the book as true as it can get. 

So what did the 'awkward' part of this book come from? Well, basically all of it was awkward. I have to admit this, but I didn't like Eleanor- not even a little bit. I was beginning to feel the connection with Park in the middle of the book but for Eleanor? None. Maybe it was because she was always a little skeptical of Tina and Park's non-existent relationship, maybe it was because of her physical description, maybe it was because of the fanart I saw from the web. I'm not sure, but I just- didn't like Eleanor and didn't feel a connection with her. Park was also very awkward. One of the reasons why I gave up this book about a month ago after reading a few pages, was that Park was Korean and very a awkward person.

I'm glad that I decided to pick this book up again, because it was one of the truest romance I've ever read, not to mention that it was the most awkward relationship I've ever read in a book. The language exchange between Eleanor and Park was weird. Very weird. Even though it took me about five days to finish it, it was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a very different romance story which doesn't follow the usual YA romance path.

 ♥♡♥♡♥♡♥♡♥Karen