This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UC Irvine chapter.
Photo courtesy of Amazon
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Publication Date: February 26, 2013
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 336
Format: Hardcover
Do you know those books, that after you finish them, you just sit and cry because you were both satisfied and unsatisfied with the ending? Yeah, this is one of those books. I was mad, absolutely mad at the ending. But those are the best ones, right? The ones you hate because they’re realistic.
Finding your first love is something we all can’t wait for, but losing them is something we fear. It’s the unknown that gets to us, the not knowing when or for how long it’ll last. For Park, he thought his love would be forever. For Eleanor, she knew it was only a matter of time.
This book tells a great story of two people falling in love for the first time. We get a sense of realism when we see that falling in love isn’t as grandiose as people make it out to be—especially if being together is almost forbidden.
At first, it took me a good two weeks to get through a quarter of the novel. But once I sat down and forced myself to read it, I finished the rest in one sitting. It was so heartbreaking and even sexy. You understand what Eleanor goes through and then you feel for Park because he just wants to help her out of her horrible family situation. It was a sweet read where by the end of it, you realize you’ve been crying.
As a college student, I have yet to experience my first love, and sometimes I really don’t care to find it. But thinking back to high school and reading these types of books makes me realize what I could have missed out on. Then I remember that this book took place in the 80s so I don’t really think too hard about what I missed.
There isn’t much I can say except that Rainbow Rowell knows how to write realistic young adult literature. With these books, you don’t know what to expect because even though they are fiction, there is this sense of realism. That realism is what kills you because you just want a happy ending. And there sort of is a happy ending, where I did smile, but the plot twist is so messed up that it made smiling difficult.
For those of you who want to fall in love all over again, this is a book I’d recommend reading. With elements of abuse, racial slurs, and foul-mouthed dialogue, this might not be for everyone, but it is an excellent read nonetheless.