Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After reading “Fangirl”, I decided to give “Eleanor & Park” a try and it is definitely not a bad decision ever. I’m beginning to think that Rainbow Rowell knows how to write a book that teenagers and young adults can easily relate to.

“Eleanor & Park” is about two teenagers, in the bottom on the high school hierarchy, who fell in love. Eleanor is definitely one most would not consider a popular high school teenage girl and Park is half-Asian and that in itself caused him to be stereotyped easily by his peers. Two completely different people from different backgrounds, who didn’t know they need the other, found each other.

The story is told within one high school year and with two different viewpoints – one being Eleanor and the other being Park. But the back and forth in the point of views does not affect the flow of the story. In fact, it gives us more understanding of each character, their background, thoughts and feelings.

Sometimes, though, I do find it frustrating, especially with Eleanor, and I wish I could just grab her, shake her hard and knock some sense into her but I guess that’s the point. It depicts very clearly the insecurities that, not just Eleanor but both characters, have and how low their self-esteems were. But that’s the other point – they found each other at a time of need.

This story is like Romeo & Juliet but less tragic and more bittersweet. The author lets the ending somewhat open, which, to me, is interesting because it lets the reader choose whether he/she wants a happy fairy-tale ending for the two characters or keeps it as it is.

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