Fiction Tuesday - Eleanor & Park

eleanor and park 

I'm so happy to see one of our local authors from Omaha is making lots of fans with her new Young Adult book. Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park has a lot of heart and has been giving lots of FEELS with her storyline and characters.

Holland Roden as Eleanor.

“There’s only one of him and he’s right here. He knows I’ll like a song before I’ve heard it. He laughs before I even get to the punch line. There’s a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes me want to let him open doors for me.
There’s only one if him.”

—	Rainbow Rowell

Rory Girvan as Park.

The novel is about Eleanor and Park, a couple of teenagers, in 1986 (the year I was born, incidentally), who meet in school and fall in love. But. This is not the story of how they finally get together, this is their story as them as independent characters, with messed up lives (Eleanor more than Park, granted), who happen to fall in love, and still have other things to deal with. It is beautiful and original because what you’re hoping is not for them to end up together (although that too), but for them to be happy—I don’t know how to explain it. Let me say it another way: Unlike other romance stories, falling in love and finding your “soul mate” doesn’t solve everything—it’s just the beginning.
I won’t spoil anything, don’t worry. I’ll just say that it was a lot darker than I expected. It made me suffer a lot, really. I think it’s a remarkable YA novel, but to me, who I usually pick up YA novels to feel good after reading obscure literary fiction, it was a bit too devastating. Hopeful, I think. Very well written and real. You’ll love Parker, and you’ll love Eleanor. They feel real, they do things you wish they didn’t and they do things you wish you could.-Her

Oh my god, this story is so goddamn cute, I can’t even believe it! I’m loving eleanor right now, and Park is definitely a sweetheart. I have a feeling this book is going to rip out my heart, haha.-fullyshelved

Eleanor & Park is a love story. It’s about a boy and a girl who fall in love despite what the world around them is saying. There are no vampires, no love destroying dystopian society, no ancient curses. It’s just life and the people around them and their own walls that keep them apart. Eleanor is too chubby and too weird and she comes from a questionable family. Park isn’t white enough and isn’t manly enough and doesn’t know how to fit into the place he supposedly belongs. They shouldn’t fall in love. Because, as everyone keeps reminding them, Eleanor shouldn’t want Park and Park definitely shouldn’t want Eleanor. But then they realize it’s all so stupid. The people around them are so stupid, because why shouldn’t they fall in love? Why shouldn’t they be together? This is a story about a boy and a girl who fall in love, despite what they think is their better judgement and then realize that it was their better judgement that brought them together.-dredful

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