Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Source: Bought Hardcover
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: February 26th 2013
Age Genre: Young Adult
Challenges: TBR-Cleaning My Shelves
Challenges: Contemporary  

Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.
Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.
Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.
Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

I joined the Rainbow Rowell bandwagon a while ago, when I read and loved Fangirl, so Eleanor & Park has been on the top of my TBR list for a while now. I was just so darn excited for this one! But from the get-go, this book and I... we didn't click.

It started with the slang. I know, what? Well, this book is set in 1986, right? 1986 slang should be different than contemporary slang. Maybe not by much, and maybe not all of it, but some. And yet, the boys and girls cursed and swore same as they would today. And that bothered me to no end! I wanted to feel like I was in 1986. I didn't.

Then there was the love story. I loved the love story in Fangirl. I expected to be similarly bespelled by Eleanor & Park's. Can you sense the 'but I wasn't?' coming? Because I wasn't. It started out good. Them not talking. Then them starting to kind-of-maybe be friends through comics. Then them saying they need each other---wait, what? Huh?

This is insta love. They know almost nothing of each other. They've known each other for such a short while in which they were talking. I'll buy lust. I'll buy attraction. I'll even totally buy them starting to go out because let's face it, when you're sixteen loving the same comic books can totally be a reason to start dating.

But that excessive "I need you's" and "I live for you's"? Were they necessary at that point? Couldn't they have been pushed back eons and be given at a more appropriate time in the plot, where I could believe them?

From the moment those words were uttered, I was over the romance. Big time. I seriously considered DNFing when this line of dialogues continued, but I was so damn interested in Eleanor's family story. I wanted to know what will happen with this heartbreaking background too damned much to give up on the book.

And the ending? I've seen plenty who hated it. I did too, but not on account of Eleanor & Park. No, I disliked the ending because SPOILER we have no idea what happened to her family. We know from Park's POV that they left Richie (thank god and it's about effing time and good riddance), but we also know through Eleanor's POV that they're not at their uncle's with her, because she doesn't mention them once. The sole reason I read on - and I wasn't satisfied! END SPOILER

All in all, this is not the Rowell book I'd recommend. It's not bad, but it's far from perfect.

Nitzan★

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Series: N/A
Source: Bought
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: February 26, 2013

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK 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.

Fun fact about me: an ending can just make or break a book for me. If it has a rocking ending, maybe my previous three star rating will go up, and if it has a crappy ending maybe my previous five star rating will go down. I'll give you three guesses as to what happened here.

If you didn't guess, the ending sort of broke this one for me. It still gets four stars, but because it's a work of genius and a romance between two NORMAL people. But the ending... as realistic as it was, that was a book thrower for me. Good thing that it's on my kindle, or I literally would've - I sort of gently tossed my kindle away.

I kind of started backwards here, to tell you the truth. Let's go back to the beginning. The first paragraph, the first sentence - they were like instant hooks. I wanted to know all about Eleanor and Park, and why Park is looking so hard for resemblances in other people. Lucky for me, we found out pretty sudden like. I loved how normal and lovable both Eleanor and Park were.

Eleanor could be a bit overbearing and brash at times, but it's just her personality - and it's very easy to get used to, because I know several people that Eleanor could literally be. It was easy to imagine her, because she was just so real! I also liked Park - he was like the cutest thing ever. Really. And he's so mushy adorbs - finally a sweet guy! (And chivalrous!) *hugs fictional character*

I also appreciated their family dynamics. It was really nice to see Eleanor and her mom go to the grocery store... I mean, that just made my day! Real, normal every day things! In a book! And the world didn't end! But Eleanor's stepfather is....gross. I really, really disliked him. Like, I would beat you badly disliked him.

Contrary-wise, both of Park's parents were great! His mom was a little iffy at first, but I grew to like her. Some of the things that she says are just too funny. And Park's dad was a pretty good guy, even if he is a little tough on Park.

Eleanor & Park together, though... the warm fuzzies. They were so cute, and I love love loved them together! They were kind of awkward sometimes, but it was still so cute. I do think that Park's confession of love was only because he was scared, though. He could've waited just a little bit longer before he threw it out there. (Oh, like that's a spoiler. You already knew that they were going to fall in love!)

All in all, Eleanor and Park would have been at LEAST a four point five for me, if the ending just hadn't killed it for me. I do want to read more by Rainbow Rowell, though!