Eleanor and Park

Title: Eleanor and Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Pages: 328 
Rating: 4/5 Stars
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     Eleanor lives a hard life.  Her family is in pieces, she owns practically nothing, and she's a social outcast to top it off.  
     Park has everything one could every want.  A loving family, a warm house, and a mutual, friendly feeling towards everyone in school.  
     It's hard to imagine that two people so virtually different would ever find their paths crossing, but for Eleanor and Park, that's exactly what happens.  In this fast-paced novel, you follow the ever complicated story of two teenagers, drowning in desperate romance.  

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I really liked this novel.  I had some trouble really getting into it, but as the novel hit it's climax, I found myself unable to put it down!  It's a really simple, refreshing romance, with it's own twist. 

My favorite part of this book was definitely the relationships. First, there is the obvious: Eleanor and Park.  The way their romance evolves, starting slowly and then speeding up, was beautifully done.  Eleanor loves the simplest things.  The hand holding, the talking.  It was rather refreshing coming from a genre that is usually the opposite. 

The next relationship is Eleanor and Mindy.  I found it to be quite enjoyable.  The two start off very cold and distant, Mindy taking Eleanor's disregard for fashion and beauty as a personal offence, but as the story progresses, Mindy finds herself able to relate to Eleanor, and she becomes the daughter Mindy never had.  It was just so heartwarming!

Finally, we have Park and his father.  My gosh they were hilarious. Despite their differences, Park's dad seemed to really understand when something truly mattered to Park, and he always came through in the end. 

As I mentioned above, I had trouble really getting myself into this book.  I couldn't relate to Eleanor. At all.  And I didn't really like her.  I thought she was too confusing as a main character, I didn't understand her.  But as the story unfolded, I found myself buried under the layers this book had created, and I had to get myself out.  I raced through the end of this book, and my emotions were out of whack by the end.  

I definitely recommend this book to you, especially if you were like me, and have been putting this book off for a while.  I know you'll enjoy it.