Eleanor & Park Review

Title: Eleanor & Park

Author:Rainbow Rowell

Expected Publish Date: March 2013

Pages: 325

Genre:   YA Romance

Summary of the Book

Eleanor is the new girl on the bus. She is somewhat overweight and she dresses in wierd clothing. Then to top off all of that she has a lot of curly red hair. No one on the bus wants to let her sit down. Park is an Asian kid who sits at the back of the bus but does not really fit in with the popular kids, even though they grew up together. He keeps to him self and is in good shape because he has been doing tae kwan doe most of his life. He sees Eleanor get on the bus and feels embarrassed for the the girl and lets her sit next to him. On the way home from school she sits next to him again. Over time Eleanor continues to sit next to Park. He reads comics and notices that she reads his comic while hes reading. He reads a little slower for her. He starts to bring her other copies of comics he has and lets her borrow them. Eventually they begin to talk. He asks her about music that she has written on her book and she tells him she has never listened to it before but she wants to. He goes home and makes her a tape with the band she wants to hear and other music he want to share with her. They eventually start talking more and more about music and comics. One night after tae kwan doe he  buys a new comic and wants to share it with Eleanor, so he goes to her house. Eleanor's step father is abusive and an alcoholic. He has kicked Eleanor out before and he beats Eleanor's mother. They live in a small 2 bedroom house with a bathroom that has no door. Eleanor has to share her room with 3 other siblings and she has no real possessions of her own. Her step father answers the door when Park comes over. They read the comic together outside and when they are finished Park realizes he should not have gone to her house. Eleanor's step father tells her mean things when Park leaves. The two still share music and comic and Park one day holds Eleanor's hand. He really enjoys holding her hand and feels that he has never experienced the feeling he gets when holding her hand with anyone else. They continue to hold hands and talk. Some of the kids on the bus however, start to make fun of Eleanor. One happens to be Parks friend, and Park tells him to stop making fun of his girlfriend. He kicks him in the face and knocks a tooth loose. But Park also gets punched in the face and suffers a black eye. Eleanor starts to go over to Parks house and their relationship develops. Park and Eleanor go on a date that sends her step father into a rage. He is drunk searching the neighbor hood for her. She sneaks back inside her room and sees that all of her things are thrown around and ruined and she knows she is in trouble. She runs back to Park and he hides her in his family's RV. Eleanor wants him to take her to her uncles house because he has offered her to come spend the summer there. Park agrees to take her there and waits for his parents to sleep so he can take the car. He gets up to leave but his dad catches him. Park tells him what is going on and his dad agrees to let him take her. He gives him money and keys to the truck. Park does not want their relationship to end. Eleanor says goodbye and Park drives away. Eleanor's uncle takes her in. Park writes Eleanor everyday but she never responds. He is miserable without him, Eleanor is also. After a year Park gets a post card from Eleanor. 

My Review

I really enjoyed reading this story. I got it as an ARC from the publisher so it is not out yet. It was so nice to read a story about average teens falling in love. Eleanor is a little less than average because she does live in a poor home but she overweight and dresses weird. Park comes from middle class and is in good shape because of tae kwan doe. He does not fit in with other kids so well and he keeps to himself. They both needed each other. Eleanor needed him as an escape from her nasty home life and she made Park feel alive. They had a really cute relationship that was so refreshing to read. Nothing supernatural, no one is overly perfect. They were just to regular teens. They were relatable which made me really enjoy reading. I did not like the cliff hanger at the end of the book. However, since I do enjoy happy endings I am going to think it was a good ending : ). It was a great story that I hope encourages you to read and think that love is possible without falling into a supernatural world and having to be a perfect supermodel. Some things that Ithought were questionable were what happened to Eleanor's brothers and sisters? Did her aunt and uncle take them too? What happened to mom? Park never sees her or the kids again the many times he walks by. Did she leave him? Or maybe she just never left the house again. Do you think that Richie would have raped and beaten Eleanor since he left those nasty phrases on her book? Who tore down the curtain to the bathroom? Do you think that Eleanor was afraid of Richie doing something to her sister Maisie? These were just some things that I thought about after reading the book.