Book Review: Eleanor & Park

Title: Eleanor & Park

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell has made me, yet again, emotional with her work. This beautiful love story between an Asian guy named Park and a red-haired girl named Eleanor touches me in unimaginable way possible. Rowell made me cry (again).

I would like to say that the story revolves around Eleanor who's described as a fat girl with a lot of freckles on her face whose family is a bit messed up ever since her mother married another man. The author also describes a very detailed situation at her new place.

Even so, this novel wouldn't had happened if she didn't meet Park whose mother is a Korean. Not like Eleanor, Park grows up in a stable neighborhood. The only bad thing about his family is that his father expects so much from him meanwhile Park isn't exactly willing to do what his father wants. He rather spends his time reading comics than go to the karate (or judo, I can't remember) with his brother.

In the beginning of the story, Eleanor is just a weird new kid in Park's school which happens to be on the same bus as him. Having thick red-hair along with her overweight aren't a great thing to begin with. She gets teased and bullied a lot in school because her appearance doesn't fit into the society's beauty standard.

Being an overweight girl myself make me relate to Eleanor very well. I get teased quite a lot just because my look isn't good enough for others. Just recently, a few neighbors of mine think that it is okay for them to comment on my weight which is actually very annoying. In the book, Eleanor doesn't think too much about her bullies except maybe when they hide her clothes after PE class. This is a good example for girls out there who are constantly being picked on just because they're too fat -or too skinny.

Rainbow Rowell has sent a very powerful message through this book even though it is set in 1986. Not only in Eleanor, we can see that she also sends a message through Park who is different from any other men in his family. He maybe shorter than his little brother but he always stands up for what he believes in. Park even helps Eleanor overcome her fear towards meeting new people.

Overall, this is a book you can't miss. The plot twist is not that predictable and with the way Rowell writes, she makes me feel like I am in the book. I feel like I see both Eleanor and Park with my own eyes because she doesn't use stupid metaphors to describe her characters. I also love the fact that she makes Park being honest about his feelings. From what I've seen around me, not many men say 'I love you' for the first time, so it is good to see a man (even he is a fictional character) says the three sacred words in the relationship before the woman.

Rate: 9/10

Kisses,

Dee