Eleanor and Park

We read about eight months of Eleanor’s story in 250 pages. Eleanor feels like a real character to me. I knew kids like her in 1987, the troubled misfits who were just as bewildered as the rest by high school. I pictured specific classmates as various characters were described. We had Eleanors and Parks. They are real. The details and behavior all line up. The story, even in it’s most outlandish scenes, holds together. It packs suspense, tenderness, romance, nostalgia, and heartbreak in regular doses. I genuinely cared about Eleanor and Park. Some part of my mind is convinced they exist and empathizes with them.

Mr. Koenig, his gym teacher, made him leave class early and take a shower. “Hit the bricks, Sheridan. Now. This isn’t show more Chariots of fuckin’ Fire."

Rowell’s Omaha is filled with well-crafted characters. I notice the variety of characters who surround and affect Eleanor and Park. They create a world the two must directly contend with. Even smaller roles, like Steve and Tina, are nuanced portrayals. They are not just the mean bullies on the bus, but complex classmates Park has a mixed history and future with. I was not suspicious of the section when they come to Eleanor’s rescue. It was a sweet, familiar scene that brought me such joy.

"Friday night. Always a good night for some Sabbath.” - Neil Schweiber, Freaks and Geeks

The contrast of parents was thoughtful. I loved the books use of Park’s his First-Gen mother, Mindy. She was always encouraging him and looking out for him. Mindy embodied a familiar archetype and added whimsey to the story. Stunts like going around Park's Dad to get his driver’s license. Her impression of Eleanor from immediate dismissal to an equally sudden, unselfish redaction. I love this scene in 45:

“You go where you want. I’m not even very hungry. You go. Eat dinner. See movie or something."

Like Freaks and Geeks, the supporting cast provide a rich environment for the main character’s stories to unfold. Mr. Rosso would be proud.

All without mentioning the electric connection between Eleanor and Park, which was not presented as mere romance, but part of the specific adolescent experience. Possibly the best part of late adolescence is all the first opportunities to really experience music with an adult understanding of its merits. Teenagers, from this unique objective perspective, may have the best ability to truly connect with comic books, music, and each other.

He lay back on his bed again and covered his eyes with his arm. He could see her. In his head. He imagined green lights on a stereo. Streetlights through a window. He imagined her face glowing, the coolest light in the room.
“Is that U2?” he asked. He could hear “Bad” in the background. “Yeah, I think it’s my favorite song right now. I keep rewinding it, and playing it over and over again. It’s nice not to have to worry about batteries”

I couldn’t imagine how this wasn’t going to end in disappointment. The last sequence was unexpected and elegant. I was so glad to see the period just stuck in time for them. The reader is at liberty to imagine they meet later in life, but I see where time and distance separate them from their original experience, and Eleanor putting Omaha behind her is the perfect way to handle this. show less

Young love, high school sweethearts and any other cheesy label I can think of just doesn’t fit this bittersweet story. Eleanor is the new girl at school and she’s an easy target for others to pick on. She doesn’t wear the right clothes and is never quite able to tame her curly red hair. Despite this she becomes friends with Park, a quiet but popular Korean-American boy she meets on the bus. The two form an unlikely bond over a shared love of music and comic books. As sweet as their relationship is, there’s a much bigger story that Rowell is telling.

She touches on so many issues; popularity, school bullies, first love, growing up, gender identity, culture clash and so much more. As an added bonus, the book is set in 1986 in show more Omaha, Nebraska and is full of pop culture ‘80s references.

Eleanor’s personal life is rocky to say the least. Her secrets slowly unfold throughout the book and you can’t help but love the prickly teen. She is so raw and vulnerable and of course because of that she’s hard and defensive on the outside. As her past is revealed it’s painful to see what she’s been through.

These beautiful characters feel so real. They aren’t simple, they don’t fit into a box, they’re wonderfully complex. Even their parents aren’t generic pictures of good or bad, they make mistakes and selfish decisions like any real parents do. I particularly loved getting to know Park's parents. Their relationship and the very different way they interact with their children felt like a real family.

BOTTOM LINE: It’s fitting that Rowell’s next book is titled “Fangirl” because I think I’m officially a fangirl for her work. Between this book and her first one, Attachments I feel like I’ve found an author who creates some memorable characters and tells wonderful stories. I can’t wait to read more from her. show less

It's currently one am and I'm bawling my eyes out like a baby after finishing this book. I knew it was going to end the way it did but it hit me so hard still. I think it mostly was the fact that I've been there too. We've all been there too. The insecurities and the pain and just the overwhelming feeling of that kind of love all came back to me through Rowell's writing. I remembered the way my heart ached when I missed them so violently, even though we had been together all day and they just left. I remember the way everything felt so earthshatteringly new and how one little touch could be so electrifying and frightening. When everything was bigger somehow, both more wondrous and catastrophic. I'm still crying though, maybe I'll be show more able to write a more coherent review later. show less

“I don't like you, Park," she said, sounding for a second like she actually meant it. "I..." - her voice nearly disappeared - "think I live for you."
He closed his eyes and pressed his head back into his pillow.
"I don't think I even breathe when we're not together," she whispered. "Which means, when I see you on Monday morning, it's been like sixty hours since I've taken a breath. That's probably why I'm so crabby, and why I snap at you. All I do when we're apart is think about you, and all I do when we're together is panic. Because every second feels so important. And because I'm so out of control, I can't help myself. I'm not even mine anymore, I'm yours, and what if you decide that you don't want me? How could you want me like I show more want you?"
He was quiet. He wanted everything she'd just said to be the last thing he heard. He wanted to fall asleep with 'I want you' in his ears.”


I had to take a pause from the book, just to process and deal with the fact, that the story was almost over.This book hit me right in the feels, and I don't know if I have enough words to string together, to explain how much I loved this book.The slow, passionate build of their relationship was agonizing to my heart, because I just KNEW the ending was going to stab me right in my emotions (it did...I ugly cried). It was heartwarming and heartbreaking. It was so....real. Never have I read a book in the YA genre, so believable. This is not a typical, fast paced, unrealistic, YA read. I was in the story right alongside Eleanor and Park, following them on their journey together. I applaud and thank Rainbow Rowell for this gem of a book.


I may have to come back to edit this post after I'm able to have get my emotions in check. Damn you Eleanor and Park for reducing me to a puddle of emotional mush. show less

My favorite part of this engaging novel is how the writer really takes her time on the tiny moments that add up to this relationship. It's not a "love at first sight" book, but a love through shared taste and experience book, with some of the more true details about how we really fall in love. For writers, this is a master class on pacing. Stories don't have to be all action and big emotion (I'm talking to you George RR Martin, you big lovable lug) but can be measured accretions of tiny moments.

Eleanor and Park is one of the most beautiful, raw, and touching love stories I have read in a long time. Possibly ever. It is the story of young love, first love, and that oh-god-I'm-falling-so-fast-this-is-amazing-and-terrifying feeling. You know that feeling? This is a story about being incredibly vulnerable yet somehow indestructible. It is not mushy. It's raw. It's really real. If you're looking for a falling-in-love-is-so-easy/happy ending sort of love story then put this down immediately and walk away. Eleanor & Park is going to make you feel a lot of things (a lot) but "Ahhh, what a sweet love story with a happy ending" is not one of them.

Eleanor and Park are two crazy unique teenagers living in a world that wants them to fit show more the mold. Eleanor has a less than idyllic life and uses her eccentricity as a shield to protect herself. On the surface Park has the PerfectFamily/PerfectLife. But he uses his normalcy as a shield to hide his eccentricities. Together they learn to love and begin to learn that they, themselves, just might be worthy of love, too. show less

Gushing, full-on, want to eat the pages, love affair with this book. My own children were getting sick of me crying like a maniac on the couch. Ugly crying, little trickles of tears, water-rimmed eyes...they whole deal. I am not typically a crier when it comes to books but Rainbow Rowell has some sort of witchcraft she weaves in her stories to make you feel, feel, FEEL. This incredibly romantic tale of two geeky, music-nerds finding common ground and acceptance with one another is going down as my all time favorite YA book. I mean that. I would lament under my breath while reading, "oh god, this book is KILLING me." My ten-year-old know-it-all twins would retort, "Then why are you reading it, mom? Just stop." I can't. I couldn't. I show more needed to know these two, Eleanor and Park. The last 1/3 of the book, it was all I could do to prevent myself from having a complete emotional collapse. Read it, you won't be disappointed. show less