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.
(credits to goodreads)
Gooooood morning, everyboodyyy, I'm Lídice and today we will be discussing Rainbow's Rowell magnificent YA novel titled 'Elanor & Park'. I know, I know, you may have heard of this book, I mean have you not? I remember the time when this book was driving everybody nuts cause, hey! This book is the kind of book that really makes you forget about time. You are reading very comfortable Rowell's book and then you find yourself laying the book down to stretch a bit and... KABOOM! Is fucking 3 am in the morning. What the heck!
“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.”
Summary
When the book opens, we learn right away that our narrator, Park, has lost someone named Eleanor. Since this book is set in the mid-1980s, we rewind to the beginning of the school year to find out what happened. Park feels pretty much as an outsider: He's obsessed with music, he loves comic books, and he doesn't have a ton of friends. But when he sees Eleanor Douglas get on the bus one morning, he knows he's not as much of an outsider as she is. Chubby, with bright red hair and a habit of dressing in men's clothing, Eleanor's mere existence is like a glowing neon sign for the bullies in their high school. So when she gets into the bus, he politely offers her a seat.
Both of them come from totally different worlds: Eleanor's home is nothing compared to Park's home. Their families are so not alike. And don't get me started on the problems each of them carries along. But as they both keep getting along with each other, they soon found out what an extraordinary thing love is and how beautiful it is to count on someone else.
But they're young, and they know that young love doesn't last forever. As they keep on fighting their own problems, Eleanor and Park discover that each day only becomes harder and harder to win the fight. Shit happens. Terrible truths come out. And they both have to make a decision: stay or say goodbye for good.
“Bono met his wife in high school," Park says. "So did Jerry Lee Lewis," Eleanor answers. "I’m not kidding," he says. "You should be," she says, "we’re sixteen." "What about Romeo and Juliet?" "Shallow, confused," then dead. "I love you," Park says. "Wherefore art thou," Eleanor answers. "I’m not kidding," he says. "You should be.”
Thoughts and opinions on this book
You will love this book, trust me on this one. E&P is a beautiful yet realistic story of two misfits that are so desperately looking for love and that are willing to give themselves to each another even knowing there'll be a miserable heartbreak.
Rainbow Rowell did a very, very pleasant job with this book. Is easy to relate to the characters and get stuck in the story. Want to know the best part of it? IS SO NOT ANOTHER CLICHÉ. Yes, you heard alright. Not a cliché. Forget about finding crazy good-looking characters with amazing and almost no humans abilities. If that's what you are looking for, Eleanor and Park is not your book, mate. But if you are looking for a type of romance between characters that are just like you and me, a book where you can get yourself lost for a couple of hours, you've come to the right place.
“I look like a hobo?"
"Worse," he said. "Like a sad hobo clown." "And you like it?" "I love it." As soon as he said it, she broke into a smile. And when Eleanor smiled, something broke inside of him. Something always did.”
So... should you read it?
Yes, you defenitely should. Don't you ever ask me that question again. Ever.
“You can be Han Solo," he said, kissing her throat. "And I'll be Boba Fett. I'll cross the sky for you.”
Rating: 5/5
