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. -Goodreads
-
I finished reading this book a few days ago but I just haven't been able to sum up how I feel about this book and to put it into coherent words.
What can I say about Eleanor & Park? Wow. You know, once in a while, if you're lucky, you stumble across a book that completely changes your idea of what a 'good' book is. Once in a while you cross paths with a book that is so magical that it sucks you in completely and then leaves you an emotional wreck for days after. The kind of book that just makes you never want to finish because you feel so good when you're reading it. That, is exactly what Eleanor & Park is like.
Eleanor & Park just made me feel so warm inside. The book was just 'cosy'. It was subtle but powerful all at once. It was just so real. And at the end, I found myself curled up in bed, crying more tears then I have ever cried for a book or even a movie. I was feeling so rotten about the ending and I just couldn't do anything but to lie down, think about the book and fall asleep. I have never been so incapacitated by a book ever.
I suppose I should get to reviewing this book properly now.
Okay so I am going to attempt to summarise this amazing book up in a paragraph.
Eleanor & Park tells the story of how the new girl at school and the only Asian kid find themselves sitting next to each other in the bus on the way to school and back. At first, they hate it so much. Then little by little, excruciatingly slowly, Eleanor and Park begin to fall in love with each other. They fall hopelessly and powerfully in love and neither Eleanor's abusive stepfather nor Park's ethnicity can get between them.
I came across this book ages ago and I planned to read it at some point but it wasn't a priority for me because I had read some of the reviews and I was sure it was going to be just another over-hyped John Green style kind of book. And you know I have a problem with The Fault In Our Stars. So I wasn't too keen on starting it. However I decided to because my December buddy read partner wanted to read it.
We initially agreed to read 3 chapters a day. But after getting minimal contact from her due to school, I decided to just go ahead. I ended blazing through the book. And I'm so glad I did.
This book broke me. I can very easily say that it is quite possibly the best book I've read all year. And that's saying something considering that I've read at least a 100 books this year.
The characters were so flawed and the book was so real. There was no superficial garbage. This was real life. The bullying, the screwed up family, the imperfect body. This is what teens go through. This is real life! I'm so grateful to Rainbow Rowell for writing a chubby character. I mean how often do you see that? People THIS is what you should be reading!
And to all the parents out there who are getting angry at the poor school librarians who recommended this book to their students, let me just say that THIS IS REAL LIFE! This is what your kid goes through in school and you should be glad that they can read this and feel less alone in the world. (For all of you who don't know, a bunch of school librarians really loved this book and put it up front and centre in their school library. Parent's complained and started a petition against the book because of the swearing. It was ridiculous)
There is almost no way to describe just how beautiful this book is so you really need to read this for yourself. If this book is on your to be read shelf, DROP EVERYTHING AND READ IT NOW! If it's not in your to be read shelf, where the hell have you been??
My Rating: 5/5 (You deserve it more then anyone Rainbow!)
Purchase the books at The Book Depositary using my special link Here.
This book broke me. I can very easily say that it is quite possibly the best book I've read all year. And that's saying something considering that I've read at least a 100 books this year.
The characters were so flawed and the book was so real. There was no superficial garbage. This was real life. The bullying, the screwed up family, the imperfect body. This is what teens go through. This is real life! I'm so grateful to Rainbow Rowell for writing a chubby character. I mean how often do you see that? People THIS is what you should be reading!
And to all the parents out there who are getting angry at the poor school librarians who recommended this book to their students, let me just say that THIS IS REAL LIFE! This is what your kid goes through in school and you should be glad that they can read this and feel less alone in the world. (For all of you who don't know, a bunch of school librarians really loved this book and put it up front and centre in their school library. Parent's complained and started a petition against the book because of the swearing. It was ridiculous)
There is almost no way to describe just how beautiful this book is so you really need to read this for yourself. If this book is on your to be read shelf, DROP EVERYTHING AND READ IT NOW! If it's not in your to be read shelf, where the hell have you been??
My Rating: 5/5 (You deserve it more then anyone Rainbow!)
Purchase the books at The Book Depositary using my special link Here.
No comments:
Post a Comment