Eleanor & Park in Overdue Podcast

Oct 11, 2017 Chandler rated it did not like it

Shelves: historical-fiction, 1-star, ya-fiction, 300-or-less-pgs, standalone-fiction, printz-award, goodreads-choice-winner

Man, am I glad that is over! This book is somewhat surial for me, because this was the first book that I said I wanted to read on Goodreads all the way back in 2014. Like the first one...ever. So, now that I am starting to teach students again, I like to read a few contemporary books every now and again, just to remind myself that my students tend to go through a lot of things in their lives, and that I only see a fraction of it. I was thinking that this book would be a good choice, because it w Man, am I glad that is over! This book is somewhat surial for me, because this was the first book that I said I wanted to read on Goodreads all the way back in 2014. Like the first one...ever. So, now that I am starting to teach students again, I like to read a few contemporary books every now and again, just to remind myself that my students tend to go through a lot of things in their lives, and that I only see a fraction of it. I was thinking that this book would be a good choice, because it was one that had been sitting on my shelf for a while. I should have known better though. Once again, this book can join an ever growing list of Printz honor and winner books that I just do not enjoy in the slightest. I’d even go as far to say that this was one of the worst books I have read all year.

So why is that? Well, for me, it was how the romance got off to a rocky start. Now, firstly, let me say that although romances generally aren’t my thing, I can still enjoy them sometimes. I enjoyed The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and I even liked a book few books by other romance writers, when the mood strikes me. Here we have Eleanor, a girl who has all the wrong clothes, and the wrong home life, who just moved into a new school. With her abusive stepfather to think of, she is lucky if she can stay out of his way after school, let alone worry about normal school things. One day, as she tries to sit on the bus, she sits down next to Park. He is a boy with a father who has little faith in him as a man, and constantly berates him for the seemingly feminine things he does.

Both of these characters eventually form a romance that is supposed to be one for the ages, but it isn’t really. One of the reasons for this is the seemingly quick turn around from disliking each other to a romantic couple. Eleanor meets Park by calling him a stupid Asian Kid, and Park calls her a moron in his head for the odd way she dresses and insecure actions. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, they progress to holding hands and thinking romantic thoughts about each other’s skin. This change is so abrupt that I was wondering if I had missed a section, but, sure enough, I hadn’t. This happens almost 25% of the way into the book, and as a result, I felt like the rest of the book was a slog to get through, with writing by (seemingly) two teenagers about how much in love they are. I never really got to know the characters outside of this context, which I find a waste of potential.

Then there is the writing of this book. To me, it felt like there was some serious relationship problems between Eleanor and Park. For example, at one point, Park says that he isn't going to go to a basketball game with his friends because he can’t go with Eleanor. Now it is all well and good when you want to hang out with your significant other, but when it comes at the expense of your friends, there is a problem. Then there is another time where Eleanor makes a big deal about how Park used to go out with a girl who Eleanor is being bullied by...mind you, they went out in the sixth grade! Something that happened when you were twelve doesn’t matter, but Eleanor acts like she is all betrayed by Park for not telling her this. You may think that these are isolated examples of what I like to think of as false drama, but this book is filled with them, mainly due to Eleanor doing something stupid that is meant to be written off a cute.

Then there are a few lines that I just scoffed at like:

“‘I don’t think I even breathe when we’re not together,’ she (Eleanor) whispered. ‘Which means, when I see you on Monday morning, it’s been like sixty hours since I’ve taken a breath.’” p111

“Was it possible to rape somebody’s hand?’ p. 74

“Things she (Eleanor) knew now that she hadn’t known two hours ago: Park was covered with skin. Everywhere.” p. 251

Now, maybe it is that I am older, and more cynical, and that I work with teenagers too much, but I think that some of these passages range from eye-roll inducing, to borderline offensive. It is these lines that made this book a slog to get through and that had me skimming through it most of the way after about the 50% mark.

Then there is all the wasted potential on Park. He is half Korean, half American living in the middle of America, where there isn't much diversity. Yet, almost no comment is made about him trying to find his identity with both sides of his family, or, odder still, him dealing with the racism that would be very prevalent for a guy like him in middle America. Other than one or two comments, it almost never shows up. Instead of having a great insight into his character with how he deals with this bullying, we instead are treated with more words about how awesome he and Eleanor are.

In the end, this book was a flat out disaster. And the sad part it, unlike other books I’ve read that I gave my ratings too, I did not know it was going to be this bad. I thought it was going to be a nice contemporary romance that I was going to find charming. But instead, all I get are characters that are in love in a nano second, and language that just made me cringe. I give this book a one out of five. If you like this book, please explain to me why, because I just do not understand this novel’s appeal at all. ...more

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