Eleanor & Park: “Two Misfits, One Extraordinary Love”

Good after to all my lazing-around-in-bed-on-a-Sunday-afternoon readers!

So in my quest of reading the most acclaimed books of the year, I encountered this phenomenal work of fiction by Rainbow Rowell, called ‘Eleanor & Park’. What initially began as a simple story about two 17-year-olds, turned out to be a heartbreaking story of love, loss, an unquenchable nostalgia for your teenage years.

Eleanor & Park will remind of your first crush, your first kiss, your first feeling of never letting someone go.

It will remind you of what it felt like to be in love and foolish.

It will remind you of your first heartbreak, where you couldn’t breathe anymore.

It will remind you of hope, and what it was like to yearn for someone who loved you for everything you were, and everything you weren’t.

It will remind you of all the times you felt like an absolute misfit, bullied by all the cool girls and boys at school.

It is a very simple story of love, which leaves you aching for more. And absolutely annoyed with the ending.

I read this book in just about two sittings, because I couldn’t stop reading it once I reached the halfway mark, and I almost obsessively thought about it all day at work. It’s a fairly easy read, possibly because it targeted the young adult readers.

While the story is nuanced even in its simplicity, there are some very deep and conflicted backstories, which lead to the end that left me with ‘aaaaaaaah whaaaat nooooo!!!”

I would rate this book 4.5 on 5, short of the 0.5 only for its ending.

Definitely, definitely a book you should read next!

Lots of love,

P