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Eleanor & Park
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“Bono met his wife in high school,” Park says.
“So did Jerry Lee Lewis,” Eleanor answers.
“I’m not kidding,” he says.
“You should be,” she says, “we’re 16.”
“What about Romeo and Juliet?”
“Shallow, confused, then dead.”
“I love you,” Park says.
“Wherefore art thou,” Eleanor answers.
“I’m not kidding,” he says.
“You should be.”
Set over one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park is the ...more
“So did Jerry Lee Lewis,” Eleanor answers.
“I’m not kidding,” he says.
“You should be,” she says, “we’re 16.”
“What about Romeo and Juliet?”
“Shallow, confused, then dead.”
“I love you,” Park says.
“Wherefore art thou,” Eleanor answers.
“I’m not kidding,” he says.
“You should be.”
Set over one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park is the ...more
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Hardcover, 328 pages
Published
February 26th 2013
by St. Martin's Press
(first published April 12th 2012)
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Mar 01, 2013
Steph Sinclair
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
John Green fans
Recommended to Steph by:
Everyone
Should I break out in song and dance to "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep?" One lonely star. I'm just as surprised as you are, considering I just KNEW going into Eleanor & Park that I would love it, love it, love it. What reason would I have to believe otherwise? Almost all of my friends loved this book and have sworn fealty to the Goddess of Feels and Might, Rainbow Rowell. And I get it because she is a pretty awesome person and I think she is totally lovely. So trust me when I say I REALLY wanted to love
...more

Edit 5/19: It's been 6 years since I read this book and it has not aged well: https://twitter.com/naomigiddings/sta... This just shows how much we really needed not only diverse books but #ownvoices authors, too.
I'm ...more
“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.
I'm ...more

The Written Review
CLICK HERE for a Booktube Video about:
Ten Fabulous Book Reviews and One That Will Make You Go - doesn't that belong to Miranda Reads?
Now that you know this one made the list check the video review to see the rest (and find the stolen surprise)!
Replace "person" with "book" and you know how I feel. This book just swept me off my feet![]()
I want everyone to meet you. You're my favorite person of all time.
We have Eleanor, "Big Red," the new girl in town.
Her home life ...more




If you've experienced that first love - that heart-wringing, soul-squeezing, crush-the-air-out-of-your-lungs-whenever-you're-apart first love - this book will bitch slap your feels all to hell.
I love it. I love its warmth and its vibrancy, its heartache and its pain, its humor, its meanness, the ugliness, the beauty, the crying, the laughter, the sarcasm. I love Eleanor and I love Park, and I love that there's still a tiny chance for them...and for everyone whose first love was torn ...more

I've often said that nobody should write for teens who doesn't remember what it was like to be one. Rainbow Rowell remembers, and has captured it beautifully in this book.
...more


You can find the full review and more about this book on my blog!

____________________________________________
“Eleanor was right. She never looked nice.She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”
____________________________________________

5 PERFECT STARS!
You can find the full review and more about this book on my blog!
I never read contemporary books. I have read like 4 maybe till now and didn't really like them. Anyway I ...more

I fully admit that I'm a sucky book reviewer. This book for me was so personal that this review is just for me.
Eleanor is just that girl. The weird one that people pick on. Who knows exactly why? She doesn't stand up for herself, she doesn't fight back. I was that girl. This is me my 10th grade year.
If this book had been around then I would have completely worn the pages out. As it is I feel like highlighting and just re-reading the thing until it falls apart.
Talking about Romeo and Juliet ...more
Eleanor is just that girl. The weird one that people pick on. Who knows exactly why? She doesn't stand up for herself, she doesn't fight back. I was that girl. This is me my 10th grade year.

If this book had been around then I would have completely worn the pages out. As it is I feel like highlighting and just re-reading the thing until it falls apart.
Talking about Romeo and Juliet ...more

This review originally appeared on Clear Eyes, Full Shelves.
*Reviewer's Note (added 2/5/2016)*
Please be aware that I have turned off all notifications for this review and do not check or respond to comments. It's not that I don't like y'all; it's just that I'd rather spend my time talking about books that I actually, ya know, like.
I have thought about Eleanor & Park everyday since I read it two months ago.
That’s not a compliment.
In some respects, my attitude is perhaps not terribly fair because ...more
*Reviewer's Note (added 2/5/2016)*
Please be aware that I have turned off all notifications for this review and do not check or respond to comments. It's not that I don't like y'all; it's just that I'd rather spend my time talking about books that I actually, ya know, like.
I have thought about Eleanor & Park everyday since I read it two months ago.
That’s not a compliment.
In some respects, my attitude is perhaps not terribly fair because ...more

I know I said I wasn't going to do a review, because I feel that my status updates are pretty telling enough, but...
First, I just don't see Park's parents as a good example of a couple that "made it" against all odds, as John Green implies. There is NOTHING in this book about how or why they fell in love. As an Asian woman, I look at it through a more disbelieving lens. It sounds like a white man "saving" an Asian woman from her "poor," "lower-rung," "terrible" life. She is basically forced to a ...more
First, I just don't see Park's parents as a good example of a couple that "made it" against all odds, as John Green implies. There is NOTHING in this book about how or why they fell in love. As an Asian woman, I look at it through a more disbelieving lens. It sounds like a white man "saving" an Asian woman from her "poor," "lower-rung," "terrible" life. She is basically forced to a ...more

READ THIS QUOTE, MY ROMANTIC HEARTED FOOLS...READ IT AND LET YOUR HEART GO PITTER PAT...
`*~`*~`*~`*~`*~`*~`*~`*~`*~`*~`*~`*~`*~`*~`*~`*~
““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."...more
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 sinc

for people who saw my original review, I want to say I still 100% stand by everything I said. the reason I'm deleting it is because, as a white reviewer, I didn't want to talk over East Asians who have reviewed this book and talked about why it was racist. So I will briefly list my issues with it, and then link to #ownvoices reviews instead. They say what I did and much more but are written by Asian reviewers who's experience and knowledge is better then mine
THE ISSUES I HAD
• stereotyping/fetish ...more
THE ISSUES I HAD
• stereotyping/fetish ...more

3.8/5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Wait a fucking minute. There are no more pages? It just ended... like that? Rainbow Rowell, why do me like this? Do you not love your readers? Why would you leave it hanging there? I NEED CLOSURE. OR MAYBE A SECOND BOOK. Or a movie. Who the fuck knows? I know I'm dying right now.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, th ...more
“Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”
Wait a fucking minute. There are no more pages? It just ended... like that? Rainbow Rowell, why do me like this? Do you not love your readers? Why would you leave it hanging there? I NEED CLOSURE. OR MAYBE A SECOND BOOK. Or a movie. Who the fuck knows? I know I'm dying right now.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, th ...more

Update 2020: Reading the translated version of this book was like experiencing this story anew. Eleanor has a piece of me with her wherever she goes. Always.
It's also interesting rereading this after many years to see just how much of a saving grace Park and his family were to Eleanor. They offered her so much support that she was lacking at that time. I only noticed that acutely within this reread.
“She never felt like she belonged anywhere, except for when she was lying on her bed, pretend ...more
It's also interesting rereading this after many years to see just how much of a saving grace Park and his family were to Eleanor. They offered her so much support that she was lacking at that time. I only noticed that acutely within this reread.

“She never felt like she belonged anywhere, except for when she was lying on her bed, pretend ...more

LESSON OF THE DAY, YOU GUYS:
IT IS NOT DIVERSITY TO PUT ONE ASIAN PERSON AS A MAIN CHARACTER. AND IF YOU ARE GOING TO PUT A PERSON OF COLOR, IN THIS CASE, A KOREAN-AMERICAN CHARACTER, AS THE MAIN CHARACTER, WRITE THEM WELL, DO YOUR RESEARCH, AND YOU KNOW, ACTUALLY TALK TO SOME FUCKING ASIAN PEOPLE INSTEAD OF MAKING SHIT UP.
This book is gross and racist as fuck. It is so blatantly and unbelievably racist in its narrative, the characters, and story that I find it hard to believe that anyone could e ...more
IT IS NOT DIVERSITY TO PUT ONE ASIAN PERSON AS A MAIN CHARACTER. AND IF YOU ARE GOING TO PUT A PERSON OF COLOR, IN THIS CASE, A KOREAN-AMERICAN CHARACTER, AS THE MAIN CHARACTER, WRITE THEM WELL, DO YOUR RESEARCH, AND YOU KNOW, ACTUALLY TALK TO SOME FUCKING ASIAN PEOPLE INSTEAD OF MAKING SHIT UP.
This book is gross and racist as fuck. It is so blatantly and unbelievably racist in its narrative, the characters, and story that I find it hard to believe that anyone could e ...more

years after everyone else, i have finally read this book. and now i'm all caught up on the zeitgeist! phew. and damn, now i understand why rainbow rowell is so beloved. i mean, i read Fangirl and thought it was excellent, but this one, while it is not as good as Fangirl, does a couple of things so freaking well that it gave me all the swoons and the swirls.
rainbow rowell has this ability to tap into the teenage experience that is a little spooky. and while john green gets all the credit for bei ...more
rainbow rowell has this ability to tap into the teenage experience that is a little spooky. and while john green gets all the credit for bei ...more

I have so many thoughts and ideas and things I want to discuss, and I can't possible put them all here, but here are some of my main thinkings:
1) PARENTS: Parent's are such an integral part of teenage life - they are the reason you can do things, the reason you can't do things, the reason you have money, etc. This book had parents that were just as important, interesting, and developed as the main characters and I so appreciated that. I especially enjoyed Park's parents: they were so complex and ...more
1) PARENTS: Parent's are such an integral part of teenage life - they are the reason you can do things, the reason you can't do things, the reason you have money, etc. This book had parents that were just as important, interesting, and developed as the main characters and I so appreciated that. I especially enjoyed Park's parents: they were so complex and ...more

A note on this review: When I reread and re-reviewed this book a year ago, my rating dropped from a 5 star to a 2 star based on enjoyment alone. However, I noted in my bottom line (which you can see unmodified in my review, in spoiler tags below) that "there's nothing really wrong with this book" beyond my not enjoying it. This was an unjustifiable and wrong thing for me to say.
As a white reviewer, I am not and should not be the most trusted source on what is and isn't racist. I am learning (and ...more
As a white reviewer, I am not and should not be the most trusted source on what is and isn't racist. I am learning (and ...more

UPDATE: $1.99 Kindle US 3/7/19
UPDATE 2017: Look at my new special edition of the book! I love it so much! The inside pages on front and back are awesome. I love the new cover too ♥


http://melissa413readsalot.blogspot.c...
They met on the bus.

Eleanor was the new girl, the girl with the vibrant red hair, the one everyone made fun of, but if they only knew what she had to go through at home.
Park is the quiet boy that just wants to be left a lone to do his own thing. He's the only one that would let ...more
UPDATE 2017: Look at my new special edition of the book! I love it so much! The inside pages on front and back are awesome. I love the new cover too ♥


http://melissa413readsalot.blogspot.c...
They met on the bus.

Eleanor was the new girl, the girl with the vibrant red hair, the one everyone made fun of, but if they only knew what she had to go through at home.
Park is the quiet boy that just wants to be left a lone to do his own thing. He's the only one that would let ...more

Sometimes you don't get to choose who you love, you just do.
In this novel we learn the story of two little odd birds. "Eleanor", fire redhead, awkwardly dressed, wide. "Park", weird, silent, asian. Two little school misfits slowly getting to know each other during the everyday bus ride to school. From an annoyed greeting insult, to an incomprehensible unconditional love.
Beautiful YA novel, bestseller, moderately short. A pretty safe bet for anyone who enjoys the Young Adult genre. A lot of beaut ...more
In this novel we learn the story of two little odd birds. "Eleanor", fire redhead, awkwardly dressed, wide. "Park", weird, silent, asian. Two little school misfits slowly getting to know each other during the everyday bus ride to school. From an annoyed greeting insult, to an incomprehensible unconditional love.
Beautiful YA novel, bestseller, moderately short. A pretty safe bet for anyone who enjoys the Young Adult genre. A lot of beaut ...more

‘You’re not the Han Solo in this relationship, you know.’
‘I’m totally the Han Solo,’ she whispered.
‘You can be Han Solo,’ he said, ‘And I’ll be Boba Fett. I’ll cross the sky for you.’
This book is one of the best things I have ever read, and I don’t care who you are, if you have feelings, you need to give this book a shot. Eleanor and Park is most definitely on my favorites list and I don’t think I will ever get over this amazing book or the flood of emotions sweeping me away right now.
The ...more
‘I’m totally the Han Solo,’ she whispered.
‘You can be Han Solo,’ he said, ‘And I’ll be Boba Fett. I’ll cross the sky for you.’
This book is one of the best things I have ever read, and I don’t care who you are, if you have feelings, you need to give this book a shot. Eleanor and Park is most definitely on my favorites list and I don’t think I will ever get over this amazing book or the flood of emotions sweeping me away right now.
The ...more

5 stars!
Eleanor & Park… this has been sitting on my kindle for a year. HOW has this been just sitting on my kindle for a year??? First off, I’m going to say if you have this book, don’t let it just sit on your kindle. Read it, listen to it, whatever. Just make sure you don’t overlook this one. It’s a book that deserves to be read. These are some of the most special characters and Rainbow Rowell writes some of the best YA ever. So read the ...more

“You’re my favorite person of all time.”
Eleanor & Park… this has been sitting on my kindle for a year. HOW has this been just sitting on my kindle for a year??? First off, I’m going to say if you have this book, don’t let it just sit on your kindle. Read it, listen to it, whatever. Just make sure you don’t overlook this one. It’s a book that deserves to be read. These are some of the most special characters and Rainbow Rowell writes some of the best YA ever. So read the ...more

so i actually read this awhile ago, but i held off on writing a review because i had a difficult time expressing how i felt about it. i found myself rationalising my rating based on how i wanted the story to be, and not on how i actually felt about it. i still think 3 stars might be too generous, but im going to leave it for now.
my problem with this was i just didnt believe in the romance between eleanor and park, which is fundamentally the entire purpose of this story. i know rainbow rowell ha ...more
my problem with this was i just didnt believe in the romance between eleanor and park, which is fundamentally the entire purpose of this story. i know rainbow rowell ha ...more

Hey Park….
Here is also a man who liked to wear eyeliner in the 80’s (Brett Michaels):

Eleanor & Park is about a pair of teenagers who are trying to make it through the high school years in one piece. However, Eleanor comes from an extremely broken home with major dysfunction. How will things work out for E&P? That was a little accounting joke. Glad one of us got it. :)
Instead of reading Lord of the Flies in high school, this should be the book that is read. How many times does a group of boys get ...more
Here is also a man who liked to wear eyeliner in the 80’s (Brett Michaels):

Eleanor & Park is about a pair of teenagers who are trying to make it through the high school years in one piece. However, Eleanor comes from an extremely broken home with major dysfunction. How will things work out for E&P? That was a little accounting joke. Glad one of us got it. :)
Instead of reading Lord of the Flies in high school, this should be the book that is read. How many times does a group of boys get ...more

Yuck. I’m thinking maybe Rainbow Rowell’s books aren’t for me.
So, about two days after I started this book, it blew up all over twitter for being racist. As a white reviewer, I'm not in the right place to comment on this. However if you want to read a POC's commentary here is the link https://twitter.com/naomigiddings/sta...
As well as this - I have many other reasons why this book was not my cup of tea whatsoever.
At the very least, anyone who knows me will know that romance is NOT my genre. Why ...more
So, about two days after I started this book, it blew up all over twitter for being racist. As a white reviewer, I'm not in the right place to comment on this. However if you want to read a POC's commentary here is the link https://twitter.com/naomigiddings/sta...
As well as this - I have many other reasons why this book was not my cup of tea whatsoever.
At the very least, anyone who knows me will know that romance is NOT my genre. Why ...more

"You can be Han Solo and I'll be Boba Fett. I'll cross the sky for you.”
Eleanor and Park is a love story between two people who come from different families and are worlds apart yet fit together perfectly. What starts out as strange silence and sharing of comic books and tapes extends in gradual, awkward conversations and finally results in a full-fledged relationship.
Park doesn't believe in goodbyes and Eleanor doesn't believe in happily ever after. He is the emotional assertiveness to her ...more
Eleanor and Park is a love story between two people who come from different families and are worlds apart yet fit together perfectly. What starts out as strange silence and sharing of comic books and tapes extends in gradual, awkward conversations and finally results in a full-fledged relationship.
Park doesn't believe in goodbyes and Eleanor doesn't believe in happily ever after. He is the emotional assertiveness to her ...more

Jan 09, 2017
❀ Lily ❀
added it
Watch my full review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoMwH... ...more

Wow! There was so much about this book that I really loved. 'Eleanor & Park' was touching and beautiful in it's simplicity. This book captured the essence of first love and the perils of high school, while also tackling some serious issues, like abuse.
I listened to the Audible version and I have to give kudos to the narrator(s). The narration was extremely well done. The voices of the characters really drew you in and made you feel like you were right there in the moment with the characters. It ...more
I listened to the Audible version and I have to give kudos to the narrator(s). The narration was extremely well done. The voices of the characters really drew you in and made you feel like you were right there in the moment with the characters. It ...more

This book was everything I've been searching for since Anna and the French Kiss. It gave me that melty, clenchy feeling in my chest, the warm fuzzies in my stomach. I was basically a mess throughout the entire thing. These two characters had my emotions going up and down like someone was beating on them with one of those sledgehammers at a carnival, trying to get them to climb to the top of that lit up pole again and again. And every time I thought they couldn't go any higher, Park would do or s ...more

Jul 09, 2016
Ryan
rated it
it was ok
Shelves:
read-in-2016,
2-star,
not-my-cup-of-tea,
july-tbr,
library,
dnf,
how-about-no,
finished-series
1.5/5 stars
DNF at page 195
Apologies in advance to anyone who liked this book. This is simply my opinion.
Looks like it's time for another unnecessarily long gif-filledrant review, folks.
My friends, after this book:

Me, after this book:

Never have I ever been happier to check a book out from the library.
Did I even read the same book as everyone else? I was expecting a swoon-worthy misfit love story. Did I get that? Nope. I got whiny characters and angst. A lot of angst.

Seriously, a more ...more
DNF at page 195
Apologies in advance to anyone who liked this book. This is simply my opinion.
Looks like it's time for another unnecessarily long gif-filled
My friends, after this book:

Me, after this book:

Never have I ever been happier to check a book out from the library.
Did I even read the same book as everyone else? I was expecting a swoon-worthy misfit love story. Did I get that? Nope. I got whiny characters and angst. A lot of angst.

Seriously, a more ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
eleanor & park: what are the last three words? | 58 | 1146 | Jun 09, 2022 02:26PM | |
Questions About E&P (may contain spoilers) | 92 | 2650 | Jun 02, 2022 10:19PM | |
Play Book Tag: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - 3 stars | 1 | 7 | May 20, 2022 04:29PM | |
Elenor and park sucks | 2 | 19 | May 17, 2022 09:49AM | |
Play Book Tag: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell 4 stars | 1 | 7 | May 15, 2022 08:36PM | |
Zoe’s fans: eleanor and park is a good book | 3 | 4 | May 04, 2022 05:58PM | |
Addicted to YA: Eleanor & Park | 48 | 1041 | Apr 18, 2022 10:04AM |
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Rainbow Rowell writes all kinds of stuff.
Sometimes she writes about adults (ATTACHMENTS, LANDLINE).
Sometimes she writes about teenagers (ELEANOR & PARK, FANGIRL) .
Sometimes — actually, a lot of the time — she writes about lovesick vampires and guys with dragon wings. (THE SIMON SNOW TRILOGY).
Recently, she’s been writing comics, including her first graphic novel, PUMPKINHEADS, and the monthly S ...more
Sometimes she writes about adults (ATTACHMENTS, LANDLINE).
Sometimes she writes about teenagers (ELEANOR & PARK, FANGIRL) .
Sometimes — actually, a lot of the time — she writes about lovesick vampires and guys with dragon wings. (THE SIMON SNOW TRILOGY).
Recently, she’s been writing comics, including her first graphic novel, PUMPKINHEADS, and the monthly S ...more
Articles featuring this book
A comforting balm. A much-needed diversion. Time spent with an old friend. Childhood memories and annual traditions. We asked the...
54 likes · 24 comments
14 trivia questions
4 quizzes
More quizzes & trivia...
4 quizzes
“Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”
—
8897 likes
“Holding Eleanor's hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive.”
—
2798 likes
More quotes…
Apr 29, 2022 08:43PM · flag
I share your views about this book. I don't think it's for ...more
Aug 08, 2022 09:26AM · flag