Book Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (no spoilers)

Book: Eleanor and Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publication: April 12th, 2012
Source: Purchased
Read: March 13th-16th, 2014
Summary (From Goodreads):

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK 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.

My Thoughts:

I knew from the moment I first heard about this book that I was going to love this book. I knew that it was going to rip every heart string out and try to put it back together. Eleanor and Park is a book that is going to stay with me for a long time. I'm going to have a hard time starting a new book after reading this beautiful, heartwarming novel.

I don't even know how to put my thoughts together about Eleanor and Park. I just finished the novel and I feel like I'm in shock. I'm not even sure if I have woken up from the dream that was Eleanor and Park yet. This novel was everything I dreamed, hoped, and more.

Eleanor and Park was nothing that I expected it to be. I expected Eleanor and Park to be nothing more than a beautiful love story. It was a beautiful love story, but not in the typical fashion. Rainbow Rowell took every negative stereotype and turned it into something positive. She showed that it isn't always easy to accept ourselves, but it is possible. Love is beautiful.

Eleanor moved to town in the beginning of the novel. She is overweigh, has red hair, a messed up family, and nowhere to sit on the bus. That is how Eleanor meets Park, an asian boy, with a perfect family, loves comic books, and punk music. Eleanor's world will never be the same.  Eleanor's home life just made me sad and scared all at the same time while whenever she was with Park I felt peace. Their relationship brought so much change to Eleanor's life and it changed her life for better and for worse in some ways. Park's life would be nothing without Eleanor. He spent most of his day thinking about Eleanor. Park's life changed completely when Eleanor came into it. Suddenly he had somebody to live for and his life became happier in every single way possible. Their relationship was beautiful because they both needed each other.

John Green's comment on the back of the book states "This book reminded me not just what it is like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it is like to be young and in love with a book." I think this comment explains Eleanor and Park in every way. Their love story develops slowly over the course of this novel and they can't just be two teenagers in love because they have so much more to worry about. Park has to please his parents while Eleanor has to try not to get killed by her stepfather Richie.

This book was so real. Every first relationship is awkward especially when they come from two different worlds, and are both social misfits. They didn't just one day see each other and fall in love it took time. Every part of their relationship was beautiful. They made my heart melt every time they were together. This book shows that it is okay to be different because fitting in doesn't always make your life perfect.

I don't know if this review will ever do Eleanor and Park justice because this novel was beautiful. The writing was spectacular and I fell in love with Eleanor and Park. They had flaws, they weren't perfect, but in my heart their flaws made them everything. Eleanor and Park touched every inch of my heart. This book was so beautiful that words were never be able to explain how much I fell in love. Everything is against their world, but their relationship works around the stereotypes. I could go on all day about Eleanor and Park, but I think you should just going read this beautiful heartwarming novel.

I read the great part of this novel in one sitting and I could feel my heart pounding towards the end. The end left me sad and literally in shock, but it ended up being the ending the book needed. I think I could spend another whole novel wrapped up in Eleanor and Park's world. This was my first book by Rainbow Rowell and I can guarantee it won't be my last.