Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

ISBN: 9781250012579
Source: Purchased
Series: No, Stand-Alone
Release: April 12, 2012
Find it on Goodreads

     GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.

     REVIEW:

I read this book weeks ago and I still don't think I can form coherent thoughts about it. I am still one giant ball of wrecked emotion. How can I explain any of what I felt?

Well.... I can tell you that Rainbow Rowell's writing style is fantastic. I can tell you that her character development was beyond anything in this genre that I've ever read. I can tell you that she made me fall in love with the characters, she made me swoon over a 16-year-old boy (um, can we say ew in real life?) and want to be a friend to Eleanor when she had so few. The romance was never cheesy, I never wanted to roll my eyes or not be immersed in this book. I laughed so hard at times and cried so hard at times. I am big fat ball of WRECK over this book.

The small things that annoyed me were that every five sentences there was another 1980s movie or song reference, and yes, I was born in 1989, but I had no idea about any of these movies or songs. I didn't like feeling like I needed to do research in order to understand an young adult romance novel. So I hope I didn't miss anything important with those references as they were all lost on me.

Either way, I was all over the place emotionally with this book. I couldn't stop crying when it was over. I immediately gave it to my sister who finished it in two days and was also a wreck over it. This may very well have been the best book I have read this year. Thank you, Rainbow Rowell. Thank. You.

     RATING: ★★★★★

Isn't it amazing how when you hate a book, you can go on for hours and hours about it? But when you love a book, you struggle to find the words to explain why? That's how I feel with E&P. I don't feel as if the words I have are sufficient to explain how much I adored this book. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. That is all I can say.

Have any of you read this book? Did you absolutely adore it as much as I did? I can't wait to read Fangirl (which I got for Christmas - woohoo!) and continue my love affair with Rainbow Rowell's writing. I can't wait to hear from you all on this one!

A.