Eleanor and Park

 Review

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Published: 2012

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Romance

This book is for those who want a break from thrilling, complex stories involving a cliff-hanging climax. Eleanor and Park is a simple story of one’s first love set in 1986. Two misfits; Park, a Korean-American boy, and Eleanor, a chubby curly haired girl coming from a poor and abusive family met on their school bus. They nurtured distaste for each other on the basis of judgements they made on their first meeting. But it evaporated once they moved past the silence phase due to their common taste in comics and music. Both of them had different and difficult lives, thus, they end up finding comfort in each other.

It is written from a dual perspective which is one of the things I like about it because it gives an insight to the minds of both characters. This, ultimately, made it such an immersive book making it feel as if you are watching it.  And quite a surprise awaits the readers in the ending.

While reading the book, I felt the love and care with which the writer wove the characters giving them a mind of their own. From this book, I learned that there is more to people than their looks. Superficial assumptions lead one nowhere because we do not know what is going on inside them or in their lives. Be kind and greet people with a smile. You might end up making their day, you never know.

Favorite quote of mine from this book is

“Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”  ― Rainbow Rowell

Resource:

Image no 2 retrieved from https://www.rainbowrowell.com/eleanor-park