Since I’ve read several novels by Rainbow Rowell, it seemed like an easy decision to read one of her most popular entries, Eleanor & Park. This one also happens to have been optioned to be adapted into a film! I love that kind of thing (obviously)! Overall this was a very easy read, being that it’s young adult and just over the 300 page threshold, but it was still very entertaining.
The book follows new girl, Eleanor, who’s got flaming red hair and is a little heavier than your average 80’s teen. It also follows Park, a half-Korean punk nerd who’s just floating in the sweet spot of the social scene at his school. Mercifully, Park allows Eleanor to sit with him on the bus, and over some time the two bond over comic books and rock music. Since this is at it’s core a romance novel, it’s pretty obvious that their friendship eventually becomes more.
Unfortunately, Eleanor is living an extremely traumatic life in her cramped home. She’s got countless siblings, an abusive stepfather, and a mother who doesn’t know how to stand up for herself, let alone Eleanor. While things just toe the line on being good, Eleanor knows this happiness can’t last, and the final act of the novel is tense and heartbreaking. Not every ending is a happy one, but this one manages to deliver just enough hope in first loves.
At a high level, I really liked this book. I especially liked Park’s parents the more they were discussed in the book because of how supportive they were. What I didn’t like was the generalities and stereotypes in the book, which many people have pointed in the past. I understand this book was published in 2012, but racism was frowned upon then, too. When it does get its film adaptation, I hope these areas can be handled with a little more class and truth to today’s world. Otherwise, this is a generally cute read, so why not give it a try?