Eleanor and Park, A Review

Eleanor And Park
By: Rainbow Rowell
My Rating: 3/5 It was good, but not great

I had very high hopes coming into this one because I had just come off my high of reading Fangirl.  Not saying this book was bad, it definitely had some great things going on for it.  I loved the 80's references she threw into the book.  Example, all the talk about music he was introducing her to and also the different comic books they would read.  It just left me feeling kinda blah.

Eleanor has moved back in with her mother and step-father in Omaha, with all of her younger siblings.  She walks onto the bus as "the new girl" drawing all of the unwanted attention from her soon to be classmates.  Eleanor's fire red hair and her body shape are both working against her.  She's not doing herself any favors with her unique style of dress, crazy even for the eighties.  I do admire Eleanor for being herself and for how quirky she was because I honestly can't say the same about myself while I was in high school.

Park isn't exactly popular, but he gets along with the popular kids so that means they tend to leave him alone.  He is half Korean, which stands out more in a primarily white school he is in. His life is the complete opposite of Eleanor's, he has one other sibling, loving parents, and a nice house.  The first day he sees Eleanor on the bus he feels embarrassed for her.  Not a soul would move over and let her sit with them for fear of being made fun of.  Begrudgingly, Park looks at Eleanor and tells her to sit down with him.

The story follows the two as they live very different lives, and how they slowly go from bus friends, to being in love.  Eleanor eventually opens up her world to Park after she tries to hide everything from him.  Most of this story felt very real to me.  I could see the two sitting by each other on the bus, her reading the different comics he would bring every day, then eventually listening to music together.  First love is a hard thing to get across with out it sounding too Romeo and Juliet.  Rainbow Rowell did a pretty good job with it. 

Stephanie

A Review, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl
By: Rainbow Rowell
My Raiting: 5/5 Would read again

If I only had a few words to say about this book they would simply be, READ IT NOW!  If you like a fun, easy read this is for you.  The characters are all very relate-able and believable, however the plot was a little predictable, but I honestly enjoy that in books.

This is my first Rainbow Rowell book to pick up, and she did not disappoint.  Other books by her are Eleanor & Park, Attachments, Landline, and Carry On all of which are now higher on my list of books I need to read.

Cather (Cath) and Wren are twin sisters on their way to college.  Cath assumes she and Wren will room together, because why not? They have been rooming together for eighteen years, why change things now? While Wren, the more outgoing of the two, decided she wanted a new roommate in college and to shed her childhood of writing fanficion about a world centered around Simon Snow.

The world of Simon Snow is sprinkled throughout the book with little snippets of the fan fiction she is writing, and of the actual story they are drawing from.  The Simon Snow serious has a vague resemblance to another orphaned boy who can do magic.  I won't say who that is, I will let your imagination take care of that one.

Cath struggles to make new friends, (she has plenty on the internet!) especially with her new roommate Reagan. 

Regan is an upperclassman who applied to have a private room, but she got paired with Cath.  Regan spends most of the start of the book out of the room, Cath thinks its weird but she likes having the room to herself most of the time.  Regan is the polar opposite of Cath; Reagan is strong-willed and outspoken, some may even call her "rude" although she started to grow on me as the story progressed just as she did towards Cath.

Will Cath break out of her shell, and see there is more to life than Simon Snow?

I honestly could go on for ever about this book, but I just want you to read and experience it for yourself.  So, save yourself from me rambling on and on about this and go check it out as soon as possible, you won't regret it!

Stephanie