Addicted to YA discussion

I hated this book. I didn't like the narrative, the characters or the story line.

I loved her character, she was one witty redhead, she had her own style, she didn't care what people think about her, she protected her brothers and sisters from her abusive step father, that is what i truly admired her about, her relationship with Park was so sweet and cute, i liked that it was set in other time where things were all different, i liked that she handled the bullies with calm face, this character will always stay in my heart, she was an example of a very brave character.

Eleanor was initially presented as an unlikable character, and we feel sympathy for Park because he has to sit by the weird kid.

But once the layers and defenses begin to peel away, we see that Eleanor's in a terrible situation. She's not easy to get to know or to get along with because she's trying so hard to be invisible (SPOILER) to avoid drawing the ire of her abusive stepfather that she doesn't feel comfortable reaching out and trying to make friends. I liked how people Eleanor thought were enemies turned out to be on her side in the end. I wish she had trusted Park and herself more, and been able to respond to him sooner after he helped her get to the safety of her uncle's house. She reacted like an abuse victim. That made her real.

I love her character because I have experienced body shaming myself and I know how it feels like. In a lot of books we see heriones that are perfect and beautiful (most of them are shown like they are beautiful and they don't even know it) but Eleanor carried her imperfections gracefully.

I liked her character, she was interesting to me and I felt bad for her, her mom, and siblings that they had to deal with a stepfather like that. I just liked Rainbow Rowell's other book Fangirl more than Eleanor and Park.