Book Talk Review; Eleanor & Park
A beautiful story of first love set in 1986, Eleanor&Park is one that will have you remember what it was like to fall in love at age 16
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.
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 in 1986, this is the story of two
star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never
lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park,
you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you
under.
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 16.
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.
So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.
I’m not kidding, he says.
You should be, she says, we’re 16.
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.
It's the witty dialogue above; found with the blurb on amazon that was one of the reasons I fell so hard in love with Eleanor&Park.
This is a beautiful story of first love and first heartbreak.
Eleanor can't be anymore different than Park. She's big and awkward. Not really fat exactly but more like curvy and heavyset. She has crazy curly red hair, she has a broken life.
Park is half Asian, with these awesome green eyes, he is misunderstood at home.
When these two fall in love it makes other love stories pale in comparison.
There are probably dozens of reasons why they shouldn't and hundreds of reasons why they should.
Eleanor doesn't have it easy, she isn't comfortable at home, and has never had an easy life. Her stepfather is a mean bastard and her real father is a absent one.
Park isn't understood in his life, his father doesn't understand him, he doesn't really fit in anywhere.
When these two first meet they ignore the hell out of each other.
But then they start to like each other. But not really, Park reads comics on the bus, Eleanor reads them over his shoulder.
This is the first communication they have.
And then they share music.
And then they really start to be friends.
Before they become more.
This book pulled at my heartstrings hard, and while it took a while for me to finally buy this book after seeing it and hearing about it, I am so glad I did.
The Blurb on Amazon doesn't really tell you much- however the on eon Goodreads (The One Posted Above) Does.
I felt for both characters, Eleanor is a really likeable character, one who I want to be friends with because she seems really cool.
Park is a very loveable guy.
When Park falls in love with Eleanor, it's different than other love stories. I don't think he realizes what that love is, until he says 'I love you'. I don't think either character understands the depth of their love until it's their, until they have to face it.
And that is what makes this story so beautiful.
I love Rainbow's writing style. The book flips between Eleanor's POV and Park's. It's in third-person POV and some lines flip between a beautiful few lines from Park to a few lines from Eleanor, and that is unique and beautiful.
It is also the type of writing that makes you think about what is being said. There are so many elements working against Eleanor and Park that you just pray for a HEA.
I really want more Eleanor&Park. They deserve more, I crave another book about them.
This story is a beautiful read if you are looking for a book about first love and first heartbreak.
Yes, I did cry, because the end killed it. This beautiful story had an ending that I wish went on forever.
*Quote- "You think that holding someone hard will bring them closer. You think that you can hold them so hard that you'll still feel them, embossed on you, when you pull away." - Eleanor
"Eleanor was right: She never looked nice, She looked like art, and at wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something." - Park
For Rainbow's Author Talk:
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