Usybay Eadingray

Book Review #2

                                                   Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
                                                      
       Deep breath in... now let it out slowly. One more time. Okay, just once more. Alright, I'm okay. No, no, not okay. Back to deep breaths.

                                That was my reaction to the end of the book.

            Now, this is a spoiler free zone, so your only hint is: *sniff sniff* It's over?
       Eleanor and Park was a YA realistic fiction love story based in 1986. It's the story that's been told a thousand times. The caption is literally "Two misfits. One extraordinary love." But I can promise you that the word cliché will be miles away from your brain.
  
        The novel is dual POV between Park and Eleanor, focusing on their home lives and then their each-other lives. Eleanor has a 'unique' style and a really bad home life, she just moved into her mom's house and started a new school. Guess who she ends up sitting with on the bus? Park is a very normal guy. He's half-Asian and has friends and normal home problems. They basically fall in love by sharing comic books, then words, and eventually, through music.
       
       The book is written fairly well and very artistically. There are parts in the book written beautifully where the characters describe each other and their surroundings. The POV switch does not happen by chapters, they happen whenever the writer found it necessary. Sometimes there were up to four point of view switches on one page. But it was really well done.
      
         The love story was believable and had depth, which is not always the case in YA fiction. When you're reading it you fall in love with the characters and with their stories. I binge read this one. Stayed up until one in the morning to finish it and then couldn't believe it was over when it ended. It wasn't that it was a bad ending, or ended abruptly, or even that I didn't enjoy the ending. I simply just didn't want the story to be over. It's another one of those sticky stories. And its totally on my must read list for everyone. If you like YA novels I can almost guarantee you will love it.

 My Rating: 4 1/2 /5

(four and a half out of five)

-Sarah Elisabeth          

                       Henway hetay orldway tpssay pinningsay... E'erway tillsay eadingray.
                            (English Translation:When the world stops spinning... We're still reading.)