Book Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

You need to read this book.

In short, the book is about Eleanor and Park, two unlikely misfits who fall in love on a school bus. Eleanor is chubby with wild red hair, and is desperately trying to survive in the home of her abusive step-father. Park is half-Korean and half-Irish and uses music and comic books to figure out who he really is.

When you begin this book, be prepared for high school memories and adolescence to come flooding back to you. You will remember your first love. You will remember fighting with your parents and feeling like no one understands you. You will remember turning on your favorite song and trying to block out all the feelings you want to rid yourself of but at the same time make you feel alive.

And when you really dive in, you will want to reach into the pages and pull Eleanor out of her terrible world of poverty and despair. You will thank God for Park and his comic books and his beautiful hair and even his eyeliner, because maybe at least he is able to be himself.

And when you near the end, you will ugly-cry, as I did, for the last twenty pages, tears pouring down your cheeks and snot running down your chin. And when you are done, you will want a hug, and I hope you are lucky enough to get one, and afterward you will curl yourself into a ball and think about how blessed you are to have people who love you. If you’re an adult, you will thank God for the family that loves and supports you, and hope that every child can find the “deep and wide as the ocean” type of compassion and support that parents should feel for their children.

And finally, you will dream of your one true love and hope that one day you will feel this intense, soul-crushing love that Eleanor and Park do. Or perhaps you will thank your lucky stars that you have found that love, and promise yourself that you will never let it slip through your fingers.

Why you might like this book: It’s beautiful. It makes you feel alive. It causes your soul to ache. This book has non-traditional protagonists and an unconventional love story that is a surprising breath of fresh air to other young adult romance books I’ve read. It's cheesy, sure, but it also gives a realistic look at teenaged love.

Why you might not like this book: This book has been censored from some school districts having inappropriate and negative content. I guess I’m not sure why that would make you “not like this book,” but it’s the best I have. In response to the censorship, author Rainbow Rowell released this statement: “When these people call Eleanor & Park an obscene story, I feel like they’re saying that rising above your situation isn’t possible. That if you grow up in an ugly situation, your story isn’t even fit for good people’s ears. That ugly things cancel out everything beautiful.” As follow up, NPR did a great story on Rainbow Rowell and “why ugly stories matter”- see here. 

Similar Titles I’ve Read: Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, Paper Towns by John Green, Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

I would recommend this book to: all of my book club girls, all high schoolers, and basically everyone.

“Holding Eleanor's hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive.” -Rainbow Rowell, Eleanor and Park