Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell.

Book: Eleanor and Park

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Pages: 285

Read On: Kindle

How Long it Took Me To Read: 4 hours

Plot Summary: 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.
General Thoughts: I am no fan of Rainbow Rowell. Let's get that out of the way. I have read two other books by her and I was incredibly underwhelmed by them. In fact, I quite hated them and I never understood why there was so much hype surrounding her books?

This book is her most famous and most-loved work. I meant to read this book for a while but after reading and disliking her other books, I was a little put-off her books. But being on holiday and with a limited number of books, I turned to this book.

Things I Liked: 

1. The story was a very interesting one. Of first love. Of intense feelings. All very fun.

2. The writing was nice too.

3. The setting in the 1980s was also a nice touch.

4. I really, really loved Park. He is such a nice guy. Gentle. Evolved. Kind and such a great character to get to know.

5. The book switched from Park and Eleanor's perspectives. I liked this aspect of the book as we got to know both of our lead characters really well.

6. Eleanor's family life was a mess. A sad, tragic mess of abuse, neglect and poverty As sad as it was, this portion of the book made for a very riveting read.

7. I also really liked Park's family, especially his parents and their marriage and love.

Things I Didn't Like: 

1. The ending seemed a bit rushed to me.

2. Also Eleanor's decision in the end was also a bit...off...uncalled for.

3. The slight big reveal in the end was wayyyy to easy to guess.

Rating: 3.5/5

This was quite easily my favourite ( I say this very lightly) Rainbow Rowell book, I liked the characters, the setting and enjoyed the book and read it pretty much in one sitting.