Book Review: ELEANOR AND PARK by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor and Park
by Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format Acquired: Paperback
Source: Fullybooked
Published: February 1st 2013 by Orion

Eleanor is the new girl in town, and with her chaotic family life, her mismatched clothes and unruly red hair, she couldn't stick out more if she tried.

Park is the boy at the back of the bus. Black T-shirts, headphones, head in a book - he thinks he's made himself invisible. But not to Eleanor... never to Eleanor.

Slowly, steadily, through late-night conversations and an ever-growing stack of mix tapes, Eleanor and Park fall for each other. They fall in love the way you do the first time, when you're young, and you feel as if you have nothing and everything to lose.

MY REVIEW

"You never forget your first love."

This is so true. No matter how much you hate that person for being the first one to break your heart, he/she will always be the one who triggered something in your heart that enables you to feel the greatest of all feelings.

Once, I was asked, "If you got stranded in an island and there is only one book you can have, what would it be?" Of course, I said I can't answer that since I love so many books. But now, I guess Eleanor and Park would be my answer. I love everything about this book. There is no single word I hated. The alternating POVs, the characters, the storyline, everything. Eleanor is a fat simple girl who just moved in to town while Park is an Asian student who used to hate Eleanor the time she sat beside him at the school bus. But later on, he saw something in Eleanor's personality that made him soft, and eventually they fall for each other without even knowing it.

Another thing that made me love this book so much is that I can fully relate to the story of my first love! Except that I was in Park's position and he's in Eleanor's. I'm Asian, and he is also, but have big round eyes. We met at school during 4th grade, and sooner became close. He loves music. In fact, he has a wonderful voice! And like Eleanor, he had a broken family. I used to help him by giving him pieces of advice, eating our hearts out, and hanging out a lot. But after 5th grade, his father decided to move to Canada with their step mother. He wrote me a short letter, telling me to stop crying and that we'll see each other again. That's the last time I heard about him. We no longer have communication, but we're friends on Facebook. And I'm happily committed and inlove to someone special right now. But I will never forget him.

I don't actually know how I can ever justify the awesomeness of this book. I won't site any quotes from the book because there are so many lines that struck me! I ALMOST marked the whole book! Look!

The actual state of my copy of Eleanor and Park.

This is a simple, classy and nostalgic novel that will bring you back to those days where it all began. When you first felt something weird in your chest, the fast heartbeat, when you first felt the butterflies swarming around the insides of your stomach, when you first felt the heat on your cheeks, when you first felt conscious about how you look... and so many other first times when it comes to falling in love. Rainbow Rowell did a great job when it come to that part. You're gonna feel them all again. Flashbacks everywhere. I swear!

MY RATING

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell is the author of ATTACHMENTS. She has two novels coming out in 2013 -- ELEANOR & PARK in February and FANGIRL in the fall.

Rainbow lives with her husband and two sons in Omaha, Nebraska. Right at this moment, she is probably arguing with someone about something that doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things -- or trying to figure out how Sherlock faked his death.

Blog and other stuff at rainbowrowell.com.

Author Links:

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