After climbing on to the bus of Eleanor's new school, she encounters Park, a half-Korean boy who enjoys comics and bands. Their friendship progresses slowly, but when Eleanor finds an interest to Park's favorite bands and comic books, they start to awkwardly hold a relationship in their hands. Eleanor, who is struggling with poverty and her abusive step-father, knows this relationship is dangerous, but both of them grow deeply in love with each other to the point of willingly dying for one another. Park doesn't realize how bad Eleanor's life could get to, but he full-on supports her even when Eleanor decides to run away from her step-father and all her other problems. Held in the 1980's, this is one of the emotional love-stories you can't stop thinking about.
I really enjoyed this whole book from start to finish. This wasn't something I would typically read because I thought it would be like a sappy, romance novel, but this book outdid itself and proved to me that romance novels like Eleanor and Park could really have a special meaning to it. I really loved how awkward it would be for a red-haired, terribly dressed girl to have chemistry with a half-Korean with a new-found interest in eyeliner... The characters could be so unusual, yet they become the perfect match for each other.
One thing I particularly did not favor as a fan of this book was that Eleanor was too cautious and emotional about having a boyfriend. She was always afraid that she would be caught, so she tried to distance herself and always find a way to get angry at Park. To me, it felt as if she didn't appreciate having someone who loved her, unconditionally.
My favorite quote was:
“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.”
This quote was when he was pointing out even though Eleanor never acted pretty, she was extraordinary in her own way. Even though it sounded completely mushy, it warmed up my heart to read about how Park found a girl who would make him feel this way.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has read any of Rainbow Rowell or John Green because this book will have you crying buckets of tears (and I'm not joking...). This book would also be perfect for any other teenager who has an interest in romance or young adult fiction. Overall, I would give this book a 4.5 stars out of 5 because it was completely different from what I thought it would be, in a good way, and because it was heartwarming for the soul.
I really enjoyed this whole book from start to finish. This wasn't something I would typically read because I thought it would be like a sappy, romance novel, but this book outdid itself and proved to me that romance novels like Eleanor and Park could really have a special meaning to it. I really loved how awkward it would be for a red-haired, terribly dressed girl to have chemistry with a half-Korean with a new-found interest in eyeliner... The characters could be so unusual, yet they become the perfect match for each other.
One thing I particularly did not favor as a fan of this book was that Eleanor was too cautious and emotional about having a boyfriend. She was always afraid that she would be caught, so she tried to distance herself and always find a way to get angry at Park. To me, it felt as if she didn't appreciate having someone who loved her, unconditionally.
My favorite quote was:
“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.”
This quote was when he was pointing out even though Eleanor never acted pretty, she was extraordinary in her own way. Even though it sounded completely mushy, it warmed up my heart to read about how Park found a girl who would make him feel this way.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has read any of Rainbow Rowell or John Green because this book will have you crying buckets of tears (and I'm not joking...). This book would also be perfect for any other teenager who has an interest in romance or young adult fiction. Overall, I would give this book a 4.5 stars out of 5 because it was completely different from what I thought it would be, in a good way, and because it was heartwarming for the soul.