LitPick Review
Eleanor and Park
It has become the stereotype for all young love—it never lasts. A fleeting moment of affection and attraction, and then (poof!) it’s gone. Except, maybe, once in a blue moon, a couple that just might make it comes to fruition. Rainbow Rowell’s new novel, Eleanor and Park, just may have the very duo that can break that mold. It starts as the classic story—Eleanor, the broken misfit that won’t ever fit in, and Park, the faded persona that is used to blending into the shadows. It doesn’t start out well--when does it ever?—but soon an undeniable draw between the two emerges. They revel in the simplest of things—a touch, a smile, a look, a song. But, since we’re on the subject of breaking stereotypes, the standard romance soon falls to pieces. They know that young love almost never lasts. They each are emotionally demolished and have their own individual demons that they have to face—without each other. And they know that. They know that they have a million-to-one shot at making it. But they’re willing to try anyway. Until a shocking revelation
“She wouldn’t talk about her family or her house. She would talk about anything that happened before she moved to the neighborhood or anything that happened after she got off the bus.”
Opinion:
This novel was amazing. Rowell has shaped an entirely new and groundbreaking novel that has taken a normal romance and bent it into such a totally messed-up and random love story that it makes Romeo and Juliet seem like amateurs. And, wouldn’t you know, it worked. While this story was raw and brutally honest, it had a poetic feel to it, it flowed from one line to the next. I felt a connection to each of the characters and truly felt like I was there in the story. I felt the sadness and the pain and the hurt that accompanies young love and its consequences. This book was such an emotional and gripping story that made me bawl and gasp and smile…….it just had the whole package. Sometimes I felt a little bored with the plot and the whole star-crossed lover’s storyline. Just let me speak to all the romance lovers out there—this was not your average love story, and I really believe that you’ll enjoy this book.
“Eleanor could swear she heard five hearts racing. Every one of them was stifling a sob. Crying inside out.”
I would recommend this book for ages fifteen and up, or for very mature readers, because this book did have extreme profanity and sexual references.
So, will the couple that never had a chance make their own destiny, or will they be influenced and let the world break them apart? There is only one way to find out—the choice is yours.
