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Eleanor & Park
Eleanor Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Eleanor is the new girl in town, and she's never felt more alone. All mismatched clothes, mad red hair and chaotic home life, she couldn't stick out more if she tried. Then she takes the seat on the bus next to Park. Quiet, careful and - in Eleanor's eyes - impossibly cool, Park's worked out that flying under the radar is the best way to get by....  more »
ISBN-13: 9781409116325
ISBN-10: 1409116328
Publication Date: 4/1/2012
Pages: 336
Rating:
  • Currently 4.2/5 Stars.
 6

4.2 stars, based on 6 ratings
Publisher: Orion Publishing Group
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 5
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

skywriter319 avatar reviewed Eleanor & Park on + 784 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
ELEANOR & PARK is not the witty and light-hearted read that I had expected it to be. Instead, it has trouble deciding whether it wants to be a charming romance or darker exploration into messed-up families. Either one wouldve worked for me, but straddling the two made for what was ultimately an unsatisfying read for me.

Dont get me wrong: I enjoyed watching Park and Eleanors interactions unfold. Theyre an unexpected couple, and it was fun to watch them slowly begin to open up to one another. However, I wasnt convinced that Park and Eleanors relationship endured realistically in their world. I ended up being more interested in Park and Eleanors relationships with their families than their relationship with one another, and felt that one world seemed to always be intruding on the other, in terms of my understanding of each. After a while, I began to be more interested in reading about their interactions with their families, with the result that I felt confused about what the book wanted us to focus our attentions and interests on: the romance that initially sold the book, or the deeper but never thoroughly explored familial relationships that intrigued me more.

ELEANOR & PARK was, for me, a temporarily touching but ultimately forgettable love story where the heavy-handed emphasis on romance crushed the subjectively more interesting aspects of the characters lives, namely their relationships with their families.
sabrinamk avatar reviewed Eleanor & Park on + 11 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Short and Sweet:
A sometimes sweet, sometimes painful story about first love between two 'real' and quirky characters. Eleanor and Park contains many complex elements, including the power of a person's inside qualities to transform their outside attractiveness. This is high school love in all of its awkwardness and anxiety.

To Elaborate....
Guys, I have to tell you that this one is outside of what I normally read. I don't often read realistic fiction, but I'm really glad I gave Eleanor & Park a chance. Both of these characters reminded me of how it truly is in high school. It is 'I wish I didn't have to take the bus home with those jerks' awful at times. It is surviving the mean kids and if you're lucky finding someone who is cool with you being 'you.'

Rainbow Rowell didn't write pretty characters here. He wrote human, flawed, naive, and sometimes startlingly wise characters. As far as family life, we see both ends of the spectrum here. Eleanor's is broken and full of anxiety and ugliness. Park, however, has a supportive home. This comes into play in the end of the book in a really beautifully heartbreaking way.

Just a really solid book. I hope they make this into a movie. Reminded me a a little of the quirky, heartfelt tone of the movie Juno. I really, really liked this one. :) (Originally published @ http://iheartyafiction.blogspot.com/)
Read All 16 Book Reviews of "Eleanor Park"

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reviewed Eleanor & Park on + 17 more book reviews
Great, very believable characters. Even though it's about teenagers, I didn't feel "too old" to understand and appreciate their love story.
junefriday avatar reviewed Eleanor & Park on + 46 more book reviews
Interesting nod to Romeo and Juliet.
dbo avatar reviewed Eleanor & Park on + 74 more book reviews
An interesting love story from start to finish, with tension that built right up to the final sentence. The characters and their relationship felt more real to me than most love stories I have read.
reviewed Eleanor & Park on + 114 more book reviews
I feel a little cheated, I was expecting more from and I just didn't get it. Eleanor is the new girl who doesn't have the greatest home life and is picked on when she starts school. Then she meets Park and they fall in love. Their relationship is cute and all but I felt no connection to the characters. I kept waiting for something to "happen" and I hated the ending!

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