Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
This book is just tear-jerkingly good. I finished it at about two in the morning a few months ago, and let me just say it made my cry so much I couldn't comprehend anything. it's like... almost the size of The Fault in Our Stars's emotional damage times two.
The story follows a girl named Eleanor and a boy named Park who fall in love. Sounds totally cliche, I know. But there is a twist in their lives, and their romance is a much more bumpy one. This book conveys what it's like to be in love whilst you're young, and it really pulls heartstrings at points. The book basically shows that the first love practically never lasts, but there are two people willing to attempt at defying that rule. Their backgrounds are totally different, but somehow, they end up loving each other. It gives off the message that you don't necessarily have to be pretty, skinny, and whatever it is girls want to be, to find a love worth fighting for.
The Characters are beautifully crafted. They were born on the page as misfits. I guess you see more misfits in the fiction nowadays, and it really does help readers to connect. Park Sheridan, god I just love that name, is a Korean American born into an Irish family. Yeah. His father was a U.S. soldier that married a Korean woman after serving in the Korean War. He is the main male of the story, and is the only Asian in the entire school. Which is kind of unfair, but quite realistic in Midwestern America. When you read the book, you'll understand why I love him so much. He's a straight-forward, inexperienced, hot guy. The kind that you want in a boyfriend. He is just... wow.
Eleanor is a more... frustrating character in my opinion. It's not that she's snobby or stuck-up or whatever, it's just that she is too busy wallowing in self-pity and living in her problems that she doesn't really try to live her life. However, she is realistic, and as a realist I do quite enjoy that she doesn't seem to be someone who is unachievable; in fact, I think she is someone we can all relate to in a way. Eleanor really does let her insecurity get in the way of life, which is what happens to a lot of us, and my heart really reached out towards the life she was leading. She seems to be an unlikely person that Park would fall for, yet you get that gut feeling that they were meant for each other.
The character build-up in general was incredible. I love how Rowell is able to create her characters so artistically and effectively. Being an Asian myself especially, I can understand the discrimination and semi-isolation from others when in a non-Asian environment. She handles her characters so very delicately, yet there is passion and emotion in all the actions they take and decisions they make. It's just a work of art.
The Story is captivating. I know the whole Asian-coupley thing isn't huge in the teen literature world, but in this story, it plays a major role in the enjoyment and pain of the reader. Rowell handles the difference in ethnicity and heritage to weave a socially inacceptable couple in their society and shows that love really can cross boundaries. The story isn't just about love, it is about so many other topics that every one of us has come across or will come across.
The story is about how Park and Eleanor fall in love unknowingly, then all at once. They bond through comic books and Walkman tapes (this is 1986, people, 1986), then have to overcome the hurdles in life set in front of them. Happy ending? No promises.
The book is just so... [insert unidentified murmuring and fangirl groans] YOUNG ADULT SLASH TEEN SLASH ROMANCE SLASH COMEDY. It will make you laugh, make you go "Aww~" and make you cry.
I love saying that Eleanor & Park is "a quiet book with a resonating voice," because it is. Generally, I'm not that into major-cliche-love stories (well, maybe I am), but when I read this I cried. Well, I cry during any emotionally touching book which is possibly every book I read and buy, but this book really is special.
As for the couple, I ship them even if Eleanor is a crazy witch in my dreams.
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