Eleanor & Park in WACKY READING CHALLENGES

Jun 13, 2016 Book Concierge rated it liked it

Shelves: coming-of-age, young-adult, concierge, strong-women, library, nebraska, bullying

3.5***

Eleanor is the new kid – and target – at school; she’s tall, chubby, has flaming red hair, and dresses in over-sized men’s clothes. Park is a quiet loner, who once dated the most popular (and meanest) girl, Tina, and still counts cool-kid Steve among his best friends, but who now prefers to listen to his music tapes and read comics. Eleanor winds up sitting next to Park on the bus and slowly they begin to notice the value in one another.

The book and I started out on the wrong foot due to ...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Elle rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya-fiction

I struggled a little bit with this book in the beginning...but only because the formatting of my e-copy was a freaking mess. I will admit that Eleanor's life made me feel wildly uncomfortable. I felt so bad for her and at the same time I was more or less on the edge of my seat waiting for bad things to happen to her.

The relationship between Eleanor and Park is special. The narrative is even better. It's a different point of view than most YA novels in a sense. The language is different, more int ...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Lisa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-has, kindle, 2014

I put this book off, hesitated to read it, often "talked-about" and highly praised books "fall flat", or are not "my cup of tea".

On one of my reading groups people were talking, gushing even, about this book. I was told I MUST read it.

So I pulled out my kindle to read "just one chapter" since it was late and I had an early morning.
Six chapters later, and I reluctantly put it down.

The next day I kept sneaking in a chapter here and there.

I still did not want to like the characters.

Yet I read on a ...more

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Jan 31, 2015 Jody rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-riot-2015, amazon-100-ya

What a great book. I couldn't help but love them both. It's been a long, long time since I was a teenager, but Rainbow Rowell seems to have perfectly captured what it's like to be a teenager in love (well, two of them). A really great YA novel. ...more

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Nov 16, 2020 Connie N. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, young-adult, recommended

This is a solid 4.5-star read for me that I'll round up 5 stars for Goodreads. This is such a warm and wonderful young adult book. Certainly a romance, but it's more about growing up and connecting with another human being. Eleanor is a crazy-haired independent girl who is struggling at a new school. She is from the wrong side of the tracks and has nothing, not even a toothbrush, her clothes are from the Salvation Army, and she's fair game for the bullies. When she needs a seat on the bus, she e This is a solid 4.5-star read for me that I'll round up 5 stars for Goodreads. This is such a warm and wonderful young adult book. Certainly a romance, but it's more about growing up and connecting with another human being. Eleanor is a crazy-haired independent girl who is struggling at a new school. She is from the wrong side of the tracks and has nothing, not even a toothbrush, her clothes are from the Salvation Army, and she's fair game for the bullies. When she needs a seat on the bus, she ends up sitting with Park, and their connection begins. As they learn to accept each other, they also need to accept themselves, eventually leading to feelings for each other. Park, being half Korean, has always felt different in his crowd of friends, so he recognizes her "different-ness," admiring her strength and seeing a core of beauty and goodness that she hides. Their friendship builds slowly, but inevitably. As her home situation begins to come to a head, Park is there to lean on. I loved their tentativeness with each other--it seemed very realistic. And their feelings were perhaps over-the-top for 16-year-olds, but of course that's how teenagers feel--intensely. I loved that they both were smart and caring and respectful, despite their discomfort with the strength of their feelings and their awkwardness as they explored their relationship. The book left me with a soft feeling, despite the fact that it wasn't a particularly sweet or necessarily happy ending (although there are certainly possibilities). Rowell created wonderful characters--well-rounded and real. Not just Eleanor and Park, but also the people around them--other students, their parents, their siblings. Their reactions seemed genuine, and I liked the sense of hope throughout. I will definitely look for more from this author. I'm glad that this book was recommended to me; I'm just sorry that it took me so long to get around to reading it.

I liked this quote about a relationship and how it should dig beneath the surface: "Eleanor was right: She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something." ...more

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Aug 13, 2013 Karen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: j-ya

Loved, loved, loved this book. The ending seemed a bit abrupt and over the top but I loved, loved, loved everything else about it. The characters and their angst were well developed and largely believable and it was just the right mix of simplicity, innocence, humor, and gut-wrenching sadness and outrage. The exact opposite of the profanity-ridden Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist which I didn't love! ...more

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Jul 23, 2013 Joi rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya-read

I enjoyed this book. I didn't like it in the beginning but it grew on me. I didn't really like the character of Eleanor, but I loved Park. Park is just amazing. I understood the character of Eleanor, but I feel as if she was a little overdone. ...more

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Jul 22, 2013 Brindi Michele rated it really liked it

Shelves: odyssey-award, tough-issues, book-club-reads, audio-books, romance, young-adult, printz-award, favorites-ya

2014 Printz Honor
2014 Odyssey Honor

a cute and quirky teen romance

*for some reason, not sure if it was the audio, but didn't like it as well as the first time I read it through. So I'm moving my rating down to 4 stars. ...more

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