Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: March 5, 2013
Source/Format: Netgalley (Thanks!) || e-galley

[I received this book from the publisher. This in no way affects the thoughts expressed in my review.]

Eleanor and Park live in two entirely different worlds. But a chance meeting on a bus changes everything, pulling them both into a world where first love might just be worth fighting for.

I can’t quite put my finger on what it is about Eleanor & Park that I loved so much, though I will certainly try to for the sake of this review. It’s certainly got something to do with the constant references to music (yay!) and comics (double yay!) that are liberally sprinkled throughout the novel. It’s also got something to do with the uniqueness that characterizes both Eleanor and Park. But, most of all, it is the brevity and succinctness which the author employs in her storytelling that really had me enjoying this story about Eleanor, Park and their relationship.

Eleanor and Park are typical high school kids, but at the same time, they are not so typical. Eleanor has a difficult home life, and struggles to make the most out of everything that comes her way. She’s got a stubborn spirit, and a clever mind, both of which allow her to avoid confrontations with her stepfather and to rise above everything the girls at school do to bully her. Park, on the other hand, is a boy who pretty much has access to everything that he could ever want. He works hard in school, has an insatiable love for music and comics and is also trying very hard to be who his dad wants him to be.

The juxtaposition between these two characters and their individual realities is stark. And it is driven home time and again throughout many incidents in the novel, which sort of lends a whole prince and pauper vibe to their story.

When these two meet one fateful day on the bus, they had no idea that their lives were going to change. But gradually, through a shared fascination for comics and a mutual love of music, the two of them start forming a friendship. This friendship begins tentatively enough, but eventually morphs into something that’s a little bit more than friendship – something that looks a whole lot like love.

There is truly nothing I do not love about how their relationship developed. It’s sort of like a watching a polaroid photo developing – it begins with a streak of one color, and then suddenly, before you know it, a fully formed picture appears right in front of your eyes.

Eleanor & Park’s relationship started out tentatively, slowly, and the reader gets the sense that their relationship is so strange (to us and to them) because they come from entirely different worlds. Once they circumvent this difference between them, they fall into place almost as if they belong together. While their relationship is decidedly not perfect, being fraught with doubts and fears and uncertainty, it is real. It is authentic, and it certainly reminds me of what it really felt like when I first fell in love.

It is this beautiful authenticity that made me fall completely in love with Eleanor & Park. Set against a stark backdrop of more serious issues, their love story was utterly believable and very, very sweet. I was rooting for them to stay together, to be together, and to overcome it all – and I believe, should you read this book, you will feel the same way.