Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this 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.
Book Review:
Rainbow Rowell has been one of my favorite authors since I discovered Fangirl and Carry On last year, so I was obviously excited to read this novel.
I knew this book was going to be sweet and lovely, but I didn't expect its darker elements; although, I should have. I could tell in the beginning that Eleanor was going to have a lot of self-esteem issues and I had my own ideas of why. But her issues, went way beyond her insecurity, though. She had trust issues too and I feel that they may have been over-shadowed by her insecurity, even though they were more important, in my opinion.
Eleanor's familial dynamics were also interesting. Today, many families are comprised of step parents and step siblings, and many books and movies make it seem as though it starts out like Cinderella but ends with good relationships. Eleanor's was never going to have a happy ending like that. Her step father was abusive in many ways to her, her mother, and her siblings. Eleanor's father was not there to rescue her, he was only there to use her to babysit his "new" kids. On the other hand, Park's familial dynamics were much more solid and stable. He came from a biracial family, so he did have to deal with the cultural differences, but he didn't seem to struggle with that very much, even when his "friends" tried to make it a bigger deal than it really was. Park may not have had a great relationship with his father, but his father was always there for his son, even if it wasn't with the nicest comments.
As Eleanor was being bullied in school by Park's "friends," I assumed that she was strong enough to get through that, and she was. It bothered Park more than it bothered her, which was sweet, but also a complicated factor. What I wasn't expecting, was who was actually writing the nasty and dirty remarks all over her notebook. I believed it was who she believed it was.
And then, just as I was believing that things were going to get better for Eleanor, at least in her won self-confidence, everything went downhill. We found out who was really leaving those remarks, and it was disgusting. Park had to rescue her from a situation that I never expected.
The end of the book was a cliffhanger but a cliffhanger that left me content with the end of the book. Would I like a sequel to answer some questions? Yes. Do I absolutely need one? No. I liked that Rowell ended with a statement that could be interpreted to go many ways. I believe that it applies to the happier, mushier, lovey-dovey ending, but you could interpret it to go in a less sweet way.
Pages: 329 Rate: 5/5
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