Get to it, shall we?
Eleanor and Park is written by Rainbow Rowell.
How have you not heard of this book? Fine!:
"Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.
Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.
Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.
Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try."
(Blurb taken from GoodReads)
Okay, so this review probably won't be very fun to write because, honestly, there are only like four books in the entire world that I don't love.
And.
This was one of them.
I know you're going to hate me for that...
But let me explain why, okay?
I really do like this book--I think it's realistic and rough and adorable at many points, but overall it was just and 'Eh', read. And that never happens to me.
As a reader, I find at least one way to love everything I read and, being a writer and looking at a book from all different viewpoints, it makes it easier for me.
So I can see why most people love this book--I'm sure most people can relate to it, and think it was perfectly enjoyable and perfect, so don't let my sour feelings against it discourage you from picking it up.
But I do have many problems with this book, so you might read my opinions and see if this is the book for you.
First we have Eleanor, and she was my favorite. Basically, she was the reason I read this book. She was cute and funny and easy to relate to, and had my sympathy from the very beginning. She's perfectly precious and I loved every minute of her.
And Park? Well, I didn't enjoy his character as much. He just seemed a bit flat to me for some reason. He was adorable at many points. But you know. Other points he just aggravated me to death.
There were just many parts that I didn't really care. I didn't really care what happened to them and what they did and how they acted. And this is a very sad thing to me.
Another key point that got incredibly on my nerves was all of the language. I understand what the Author was going for: She wanted a real, believable public school experience without sugar coating anything.
And this is fine and all, but when it comes to the content in a book, it's extremely annoying to have the F word every other sentence while they're on a Bus or something.
I mean--really?
I understand her motive, but, still, you just don't do that in a book. It's not good dialogue to read, realistic or not. I actually tried reading this book a month or so ago and had to put it down because I got so ticked at it. It was overall unnecessary and impossible to ignore.
Also, the feel of this story seemed off. I didn't know if it was supposed to be a cute, feel-good book, or a sad, torturous read. And, even after I've finished it, I still don't know what she was going for.
The ending was supposed to be upsetting, I think, but I wasn't upset at all. The scenes missed their mark, and where I should have cared in the end, I simply didn't.
And I've heard that there's a chance this will be a movie?
I'm not entirely certain on how I feel about that--if I'll go see it? I have no idea. Probably not.
But, remember, I'm originally not a very big fan of more Modern-Day settings. They're just not very exciting to me, and this book didn't prove me wrong.
The romance was sweet but nothing more, the characters were fun but not extremely double sided or interesting, and the plot failed to give me a clear picture on exactly what kind of book this is.
Have you read Eleanor and Park? How do you feel about it? I honestly would appreciate your opinions!
Thanks for reading, and go give the book a try! Maybe you'll like it more than I did!
Okay, so this review probably won't be very fun to write because, honestly, there are only like four books in the entire world that I don't love.
And.
This was one of them.
I know you're going to hate me for that...
But let me explain why, okay?
I really do like this book--I think it's realistic and rough and adorable at many points, but overall it was just and 'Eh', read. And that never happens to me.
As a reader, I find at least one way to love everything I read and, being a writer and looking at a book from all different viewpoints, it makes it easier for me.
So I can see why most people love this book--I'm sure most people can relate to it, and think it was perfectly enjoyable and perfect, so don't let my sour feelings against it discourage you from picking it up.
But I do have many problems with this book, so you might read my opinions and see if this is the book for you.
First we have Eleanor, and she was my favorite. Basically, she was the reason I read this book. She was cute and funny and easy to relate to, and had my sympathy from the very beginning. She's perfectly precious and I loved every minute of her.
And Park? Well, I didn't enjoy his character as much. He just seemed a bit flat to me for some reason. He was adorable at many points. But you know. Other points he just aggravated me to death.
There were just many parts that I didn't really care. I didn't really care what happened to them and what they did and how they acted. And this is a very sad thing to me.
Another key point that got incredibly on my nerves was all of the language. I understand what the Author was going for: She wanted a real, believable public school experience without sugar coating anything.
And this is fine and all, but when it comes to the content in a book, it's extremely annoying to have the F word every other sentence while they're on a Bus or something.
I mean--really?
I understand her motive, but, still, you just don't do that in a book. It's not good dialogue to read, realistic or not. I actually tried reading this book a month or so ago and had to put it down because I got so ticked at it. It was overall unnecessary and impossible to ignore.
Also, the feel of this story seemed off. I didn't know if it was supposed to be a cute, feel-good book, or a sad, torturous read. And, even after I've finished it, I still don't know what she was going for.
The ending was supposed to be upsetting, I think, but I wasn't upset at all. The scenes missed their mark, and where I should have cared in the end, I simply didn't.
And I've heard that there's a chance this will be a movie?
I'm not entirely certain on how I feel about that--if I'll go see it? I have no idea. Probably not.
But, remember, I'm originally not a very big fan of more Modern-Day settings. They're just not very exciting to me, and this book didn't prove me wrong.
The romance was sweet but nothing more, the characters were fun but not extremely double sided or interesting, and the plot failed to give me a clear picture on exactly what kind of book this is.
Have you read Eleanor and Park? How do you feel about it? I honestly would appreciate your opinions!
Thanks for reading, and go give the book a try! Maybe you'll like it more than I did!
