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Eleanor & Park

Rainbow Rowell

Start date: February 1, 2014

Finish date: February 28, 2014

Discussion: Book/Genre of the Month

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What Members Thought

Dec 14, 2018 Vikas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

What an awesome book, what a relationship, what an end, what was it? It was a romance for the ages between two 16 years olds, Eleanor and Park, Both weird both broken both made whole when they came together. I loved how they bonded over comics and music. Poor Eleanor and Poor Park, sure there's slight racism towards Asian people but it is what it is. I finished this book in more or less single sitting or two. It was so fun to read and following journey of Eleanor and Park and beyond. I don't rea ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Feb 05, 2015 Angela Blount rated it really liked it · review of another edition

3.5 Stars

Considering my own personal Midwestern experience with riding on a bus full of belligerent kids from the undesirable part of town (which actually took place in the late 80's-mid-90's) I started out with a solid connection to the more cringe-worthy elements of this story. Heck, I was having flashbacks! (That may have skewed some of my objectivity in the onset, so I just wanted to be upfront about it.)

The book starts out with 16-year-old Eleanor tentatively moving back in with her weak-w ...more

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Jul 16, 2014 Madge rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-books, romance, ya-pov, young-adult, four-and-a-half-stars, contemporary

The feels. That's what everyone said about this book, when I asked for opinions before I read it, so I was fairly warned in advance. However, that was basically all I knew about this book before I read it. I'm not sure if that was a good thing or not, because if I had known exactly what this book was about, I might have passed on reading it.

I won't go into what this book is about in any detail because I don't want to possibly ruin it for someone, so I will mostly stick to my own opinions and fee The feels. That's what everyone said about this book, when I asked for opinions before I read it, so I was fairly warned in advance. However, that was basically all I knew about this book before I read it. I'm not sure if that was a good thing or not, because if I had known exactly what this book was about, I might have passed on reading it.

I won't go into what this book is about in any detail because I don't want to possibly ruin it for someone, so I will mostly stick to my own opinions and feelings about it for this review.

The story was so heartbreakingly wonderful, and I was hooked pretty quickly. Maybe not on page one, but definitely in the first couple of chapters. The story was just so real to me. I related so much to parts of this book because it reminded me of my own childhood and teenage years, as well as those of some of my friends from school. Some of those memories are good (the butterflies of early love, for example), but many are things I don't really think about anymore because it's better left in the past.

This book was definitely an emotional rollercoaster, spiraling from elation down to rage and heartache so many times I feel like I should have reader whiplash. I laughed, I teared up, I yelled at my Kindle, and more than once I had to set the book aside to pull myself together because of the feels. Seriously, I almost never use that phrase, but it's just so fitting for this story. Everything seemed so real, so plausible, I had to keep reminding myself it was only fiction.

Less than 50 pages in, I was hopelessly attached to Eleanor and Park and I wanted them to have a happy ending. I wanted to wrap Eleanor in safety and love and tell her she's beautiful and wonderful. I wanted to high-five Park's face at the beginning, but I started to love him pretty quickly. They were both so great and so realistic. Rainbow Rowell definitely knows how to bring her characters to life. Park's parents were mostly awesome, but I didn't like his mom at first, then later his dad started to irritate me. But, by the end I was back to loving them both. I have no words for how much I hate Richie, so I won't go there. Eleanor's mom was really pitiable, and my heart kind of broke for her. The other kids at Eleanor and Park's highschool reminded me so much of a lot of people I went to school with. How they could be so cruel, but then in a moment of real need they could become allies is so true to life for me because I saw that happen at my highschool.

I really loved and hated everything about this book, and I can't wait to read more by Rainbow Rowell. She did such an amazing job with the story, the characters, the language, everything. This has made my list of books that I will recommend to everyone, I think. If you haven't read it, but you plan to, be prepared for major feels. ...more

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Aug 03, 2013 Roxy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

OMG

OMG

OMG.

Just, OMG.

2 likes · Like · see review

May 20, 2014 Malvika Puranik rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, 2014

when i read Attachment, i had a crush on you. But after reading this book, I'm in love with you Rainbow Rowell

It captured all emotions & insecurities of love so beautifully.Once you start it's impossible to put down. How can you stay without falling in love with Eleanor & Park's Love Story. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 07, 2015 Melli rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-loved

Omg what can I say about this book, besides the fact that the ending was so sad.. I'm glad everything turned out ok for Eleanor but in the end she had to give up the one thing that made her happy and made her feel safe Park.

To Rainbow Rowell if u ever read this there should definitely be another book, I feel like Eleanor and Parks story isn't quite finished.. But if it is then the book was definitely awesome, I'm glad that I got to read it after hearing so many conflicting reviews, if I could I ...more

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Aug 12, 2013 Mildred Smith rated it it was amazing

This book was awesome. I am usually not into romancey (is that word?) type books, but this captured it beautifully. Eleanor and Park were the perfect but wounded match. The author made me love them being together and tortured me when they were apart.....
I hated the characters that crossed them....

Also loved the 80s setting. Brought back great memories of a great decade. Highly recommended.

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