Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell is an adorable and heart-wrenching coming of age story.

“Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.”

That quote from the blurb is a very good summary of this lovely, but sad, love story. It was not the best of Rainbow Rowell’s books (I loved Carry On to pieces!) but I really enjoyed it nevertheless. This is a cute and fluffy YA contemporary read but it also has a lot of serious moments with child abuse and negligence. 

My heart went out for both Eleanor and Park while reading this book. They both had so much to struggle with, especially Eleanor with her horrible home life and her mother, and her own appearance (“Red hair, wrong clothes.”).
​
I also really loved the pop references and that the book took place in the 80s.

I am not sure how I feel about the ending though, I both love it and hate it… I think the book would have benefited from a more bombastic ending somehow. All the time while reading, I kind of waited for something more or bigger to happen.

All in all, if you haven’t read any of Rainbow Rowell’s books I would recommend you to start with Carry On, but after that, this is a really cute read as well.
​
Find out more about the book and the author here: Rainbow Rowell