Eleanor & Park
Ratings634
Average rating3.7
I have heard SO much about this book. And it was fine – definitely everything promised: a sweet romance between two non-conventional leads, which brought diversity to the world of YA realistic romance. But the biggest problem I always have with Rowell books is the romance – it's too sappy, too sudden, too forced – and this book is mostly romance. (Also, Eleanor's abusive family, which is very sad and a little over the top.) So, a good book, but not for me.
Was 3 stars, removing rating now that I have been more informed as to the rampant racism in this book. Looking back now, I can't even believe I missed it. I will not be recommending this to my teens anymore. Many thanks to @naomigiddings for her very informative Twitter thread.
This book needs a trigger warning... Oof. Not only did it hold my heart in its hands, it systematically made me laugh then cry. By the end I was so besotted and broken by these two the ending though hopeful crushed me. This was my first read by Ms Rowell but I assure you it won't be my last!
Eleanor and Park are adorable characters and I love them so very much! So I was not thrilled about the way it ended. But I certainly enjoyed this one enough to read it again sometime.
I LOVED how they started to become friends through a mutual appreciation for comic books of all things!
I love that it was set in 1986.
I love that Eleanor and Park feel like real people.
Just fantastic. Totally transports you back into your awkward teenage years, with that first love you'd do anything for and thought would last forever. Rainbow Rowell is superbly talented at picking the right words to convey the frenetic, confusing, overwhelming feelings involved. Would read again, no question.
Hoooooooo man. Deep breath. DEEP SHAKY BREATH. Oh man. This was gonna be a 3-star book, but then I ugly sobbed - like, LOUDLY - through the last ~30 minutes of this book, paralyzed on my couch and unable to continue with my day. Which merits a 1-star auto-bump. SUCH CATHARSIS.
Hoooooooooo gee.
KIDS. DAMN KIDS!!!
Did I cry this much at Perks of Being a Wallflower? I don't think so. I still think that's one of the best YA books ever written. Also, it has the Pittsburgh auto-5-stars (I love Pittsburgh). But this was, ho gee oh man, pretty damn good. Especially the ending. It was as gloriously romantic as the ending to Shakespeare in Love, which - yes - here it is - you're welcome. God, that scene. That ending. THIS ENDING.
Anyway, if you can't tell by the Shakespeare ref, this is a story of star-cross'd lov'rs who are just a coupla damn teen kids. It's 1980s Omaha (oof) and there is much John Hughes movie-esque riff raffery on the bus and in school, and much misfit listening to Joy Division and Echo & the Bunnymen. The kids have good taste! Indeed, this book read a bit like John Hughes's Pretty in Pink - it's similarly about a boy who's higher on the social and economic pecking order falling in love with the poorer, fashion-forward outcast girl. The only difference, and where things veer dramatically away from John Hughes and into a land of harsher realism, is how the girl's situation reveals itself to be worse than just working class - there are some very shitty adults in this book (also a few okay ones, thank God).
So my cold dead heart was like “meh” on the teens falling in love scenes, although Rainbow Rowell accurately captures teenly voices full of ANGST and EMOTION. i.e. They felt more real, realer than the too-wisecracky too-smart teen lov'rs in John Green's The Fault In Our Stars. But I was like, meh meh. I liked very much the school dynamics - man, people can be so shitty in middle/high school, it's amazing - I meditated much on cognitive development and what the hell is up with our social brains - but I didn't get totally invested until the last ~25%. Then I was ALL IN, MAN.
Honestly, you'll probably love this. I think this is a very lovable book. It's written with lots of tender authenticity and it's sweet. Don't listen to the audiobook outside, unless you look good while crying.
J'avais lu tellement de bien de ce roman Young Adult que j'ai été un peu déçu. Bien sûr, c'est très mignon et plaisant à lire, mais je m'attendais à quelque chose de plus original.
This storyline is not your typical fluffy YA contemporary novel. Themes within this book span from bullying, forbidden love, interracial love and abuse. The developing romance between the two main characters Elenor and Park is also effectively drawn and nurtured throughout the book. Parts of this story I enjoyed. However the overall effect of the book; structure, character development, plot line and overall ending just didn't do enough to captivate me. Maybe it's because YA remains a genre I cannot connect emotionally with. I enjoyed Elenor and Park as characters but not enough to invest in their story or to be concerned about them throughout the story. For YA lovers I would highly recommend this book as a unique take on YA contemporary fiction that takes on underrepresented people and storylines in YA fiction. However unfortunately for me this was a cutesy but overall underwhelming read for me.
A good book that reminds us not everything in life goes as we want it to. The love story is very sweet and adorable filled with real life problems. Other characters could have got more depth to their lives. Also Eleanor and Park falling in love was a little sudden. But fun read nevertheless.
“Parce que les gens aiment se rappeler ce que c'est d'être jeunes, et amoureux ?”
Je n'ai pas réussi à lâcher ce livre du tout, engloutissant quelques précieuses heures de sommeil. Je me suis inquiété pour Eleanor, souris à leur histoire commune, versé de sérieuses larmes face à une fin que je n'attendais pas du tout, ... C'était un moment vraiment très beau, tout en étant à la fois extrêmement juste en évitant d'être édulcoré, le tout rythmé par de superbes chansons que l'on prends énormément de plaisir à redécouvrir. Un roman qui ne ment pas sur les sentiments ni sur certaines réalités.
Rainbow Rowell once again successfully put my emotions in a blender and made a gross, goopy, tear filled smoothie out of them. My husband watched me reading this book and I'm certain he was concerned. The few hours it took me to read this were the most emotional I've had in a long time. IT WAS PERFECT.
I didn't know what to expect from this book–I'd put it off reading it so long. But, as a child of the 80s from the Midwest and lover of YA romance, this book was made for me. Mean girls and being an outcast but still being your dorky self. Call waiting and memorizing a boy's phone number. Communicating with others by way of music and musical tastes–mixtapes, walkmans, MTV, and records. This book won't be for everyone, but I loved it.
Enjoyed the 80s music references, the quirkiness of the characters, and the ability to relate thinking back to my own high school experiences (though it was the 2000s). Would be interesting to see this book made into a movie!
I can't explain why I kept reading this book, I couldn't stand Eleanor, and I don't even know where the relationship between her and Park started. But once it did, omg my heart strings. The kindness that the bullys show her at the end was unexpected. I will also say it's annoying that Park's mom is speaking stereotypical broken English.
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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Okay, so yesterday I talked about a book that was hurt by the audio narration – this is one that's helped by it (but not much, because it really doesn't need much). I read this back when it came out, and gave it 4 Stars – which boggles my mind, was I a harsher grader back then? I remembered liking it more than that, though. Anyway, this audiobook is the perfect example of what the medium can be.
It perfectly captured the flavor, the emotion and the detail of the original. Now, it didn't become all about the performance, the narrators brought the words to life, but not at the expense of the text.
Lowman and Malhotra were spectacular – they were Eleanore and Park. You fall for them while the characters were falling for each other, and when they expressed emotion, you certainly felt it. Well, I don't know about “you,” but definitely me.
I'm really not sure what else I can say. This is a perfect story about first love, how it defines who you are in a way you didn't expect – how it reveals the best of you and improves the worst of you. Using these two social misfits to tell this story grounds it in a way that the Prom King and Queen couldn't – I just loved it. It's probably the best thing Rowell's done, and it's one of the best audiobooks I've ever heard.
This is my first Rainbow Rowell reading , and definitely it won't be the last.
Eleanor and Park is a story about Young Love , teenage love , first love , high school love , which is the cutest ever .
I don't usually like romantic novels or love stories in books in general , but this book has the cutest relationship and love story of all time ! i didn't feel like i was reading something lame or predictable while reading it . i just felt like i wanna leave everything in real life and read about Eleanor and Park !
Though i liked the book , i hated Eleanor , her personality kept annoying be through the book chapters and i couldn't relate how anyone could be like her , she's weak and sad and has no confidence.
I won't say that i don't understand why she acts like that,she grew up in a messed up family , with no safe home ,and with the worst stepdad ever, i just don't like it .
my favorite part of this book was differently when Eleanor was reading the comics with Park on the bus , when he flipped the pages more slowly so she could read with him , it was the cutest thing ever !!
So overall this book was the cutest contemporary i've ever read , and i can't wait to read Fangirl , Carry on , Attachments and landline . (Basically all Rainbow Rowell's books :p )
Review completa no blogue: http://avidadelyne.blogspot.com/2016/04/book-review-eleanor.html
Depois de ter experienciado algo do género com um dos meus livros favoritos, há uns tempos atrás, nunca me passou pela cabeça que eu voltaria a passar pela mesma situação de devorar mais de metade de um livro em uma tarde ou dois dias. Apesar de ter começado por ler em formato digital, e de o ter abandonado até ter o livro físico nas mãos, só tenho a dizer que talvez tenha sido propositado. Penso que a experiência teria sido completamente diferente se eu tivesse lido Eleanor&Park pelo telemóvel e não pelo formato original.
Se acham que encontrarão um livro cliché, bastante lamechas, enganam-se. Esta história tem fundamento, o amor que une estas duas personagens é um dos mais belos que eu tive a oportunidade de testemunhar. Penso que a autora conseguiu descrever bastante bem o desenvolvimento de um amor adolescente, sem vazarem pelos cantos aqueles exageros que vemos muito por aí. Toda esta dinâmica é subtil. A escrita é mediana, o conteúdo prende-nos, e a curiosidade de sabermos mais e mais vai aumentando ao longo dos capítulos. Não foi à toa que eu li este livro em dois tempos.
Talvez deixe a minha opinião um pouco mais limada no blogue, mas para aqueles que virão esta review aqui... Peço-vos, aqueçam o vosso coração com esta história. Prometo de que não se arrependerão!
I would've given it a 4 but the ending really put me off. I liked the characters, the writing style and felt it was too rushed when it gets to the end. I like how realistic the characters were and in some ways relatable. Somehow though, I didn't feel the book
I initially had high expectations cuz of the hype around it and maybe that's one of the reasons why I'm a little disappointed.
All in all, it's a quick read ( at least for me) so I'd say, better read it and judge it yourself ;)