I haven’t posted a book review in a couple months. I have been in a funk in which reading doesn’t sound fun to me. Sometimes that happens when I read too many books at once. Anyway, my boyfriend bought this book for my birthday. I have wanted to read it for a while, so this brought me out of my funk. I love Rainbow Rowell’s books! I read Fangirl a couple months ago and I fell in love. I have her other book Landline sitting on my bookshelf too. Eleanor & Park is a great book. It touches on many different themes including young love, physical and emotional abuse, weight, bullying, and self-esteem. Reading this book, made me go back to when I was a sixteen-year-old in high school.

The novel introduces Eleanor. She is starting school in Nebraska. The bullying starts as soon as she gets on the school bus. She finds the only seat on the bus which is where she meets Park. At first, they can’t stand each other. Eventually, they start reading comics together on the bus. Their relationship develops and their feelings for each other become much stronger. I really feel for Eleanor, especially because of her home life.

I love the way Rowell writes her books! I always become infatuated with the story and the characters. With Eleanor, I really understand her insecurities in herself. I have struggled with my self-esteem and my self-worth. I have never been bullied relentlessly like Eleanor has, but I can relate to her in some way. Besides Eleanor, I really like Park. He is a genuine guy. He likes her beyond her appearance and he loves her sassy comments. I also love Park because he’s patient, active, and independent. One of my favorite chapters is when Park puts on eyeliner. His father gets upset with him, but Park does it because he wants to and he doesn’t care what anyone thinks.

As much as I loved the book, I didn’t love it as much as Fangirl. It’s not that it was a bad book, it’s just Fangirl was so amazing that it’s hard to top it. However, because of this book, I’m a much bigger fan of Rainbow Rowell. I will read anything she writes.