Eleanor and Park

This week I am going to review the most touching love story I have read in a long time: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell.

Eleanor Douglas is a sixteen year old girl with an original sense of clothing and big red hair. She wants to be invisible, but she is everything but that. She got kicked out of her house a year before by her stepdad, a violent alcoholic and drug consumer, Richie. She lived with an old friend of her mother’s for a year, the Hickmans, but then got invited back to her home. Well, if you can call it a home: Eleanor has to share a small room with her four siblings, struggles to have enough food, doesn’t have toothpaste nor shampoo and falls asleep to the sound of her mother crying and Richie screaming.

On the first day of school she gets in the bus hoping that nobody noticed her but everybody turns around to look at her and her big red hair. She sits next to a boy called Park.

Park is half Korean and half American. He has dark hair and always wears black t-shirts and loves comic books. He lives in a rather big and nice house compared to Eleanor and has a good family and a little brother. At first, he finds Eleanor ridiculous with her messy hair, her worn out not matching clothing and her bow tie tied around her neck.  

But one day on the school bus, Park realizes that Eleanor reads his comic books and neither of them dares to speak because of the awkward silence that hangs in the air. Few days later, they start talking and Park gives Eleanor comic books to read every day and introduces her to music she falls in love with. They glance at each other in class, talk every day on the school bus and support each other.

Their bond strengthens at every single page of the book and sooner or later they’ve fallen in love.  But that isn’t the problem…

Eleanor is a victim of bullying at school because of her physic, gets mean notes in her locker and is miserable because of Richie. The only sun that can shine in her life is Park.

The situation gets worse when Park, eager to show Eleanor a new comic book, shows up at her house and finds Richie at the door.  Richie threatens Eleanor to kick her out of the house again if she gets a boyfriend. She starts becoming afraid when she finds out that one of her siblings knows about this relationship that continues despite Richie’s threat.

Nothing will stop her from seeing Park, she lies to her mother that she goes to a friend house when she really goes to Park’s.

Park’s parents don’t like Eleanor at first, but conscience of her situation, they little by little start appreciating her and treating her like their daughter.
But everything changes when there is a turn of events and Park and Eleanor’s relationship will never be the same…

You should definitely read this romance novel. Not only is it beautifully written and captivating, but this 80’s romance reminds you of how crazy love can be.
♥Please leave a comment of your opinion of this blog or a book you’d like for me to review. Thanks.♥