Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

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.










         Let's just start off by saying that I loved this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the process of reading it. It was just what I needed. I'm not usually caught reading extremely mushy gushy romance books, (don't get me wrong, I LOVE me a good romance) but I don't usually go LOOKING for them in particular. Often books I read will have large elements of romance in them, but it won't be the main genre. (For example The Selection by Kiera Cass, or Divergent by Veronica Roth- they are considered dystopian novels, but have heavy romantic undertones) So this book was a nice change. And after reading this book, I've officially decided that mushy gushy is pretty much the best thing ever. I absolutely love getting butterflies and that warm mushy feeling inside while reading a book, and that is definitely what Eleanor & Park gave me. 

        I also thought that the characters Rainbow Rowell presented to me in this book were very real and extremely relatable. Being in a relationship myself at the moment, I may have been a bit biased towards the subject matter, but I found it amazing. Every little detail that Eleanor and Park noticed about each other was described, and it was all completely adorable. There were times when I just couldn't handle the level of adorability (and YES I just made up a new word right there ;P) 

       Along with the awesome characters and adorable lovey-dovey-ness, Rainbow Rowell served up an engaging plotline as well! She's just on a roll! I felt very connected to Eleanor as she fought through family struggles, and as Park argued endlessly with his parents. Along with the very real love that they were experiencing, were very real problems that many people in our society unfortunately face. I loved that about this book. It showed that despite the struggles, true love can still come alive.

The Good: mushy gushy loveeeeee, characters, plot, realism
The Bad: I'm sorry, this word does not in any way relate to this book. 
The Verdict: 5/5 hands down. 


keep readin' it write!
Megan