Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Okay, so confession time-I was not expecting to like this book. I have actually been avoiding reading this book for several reasons, the main one being that I'm not the biggest romance fan anyway and I'd heard that the romance in this is one of those where all the problems are caused by stupid teen pettiness. This is definitely not the case. Anyway, what finally made me pick it up is we got it in at work in our £1 sale bin so I caved and decided to try it. I was not expecting to love it as much as I did.

So this is a fairly straightforward story of a boy and a girl who meet on the school bus, fall in love and deal with a lot of family drama whilst doing so. I haven't read anything by Rainbow Rowell before and I was not prepared for the beautiful writing style. This is not written like most YA romances-it is definitely not fluff and the characters are more like mini serious adults, only somehow also realistic and not in the least bit pretentious. The problems dealt with in this book are also very real.

I liked both of the main characters immensely. Eleanor is the kind of character who should annoy me. She picks fights with Park when she has no real reason to and her entire style of thinking is very odd and eclectic. However, I felt like I 100% understood her at all times. The strength of this book really comes from the two protagonists. I never had to deal with anything like what Eleanor goes through but I could recognize my teenage self in her all the same. I also really like Park a lot. His storyline is pretty understated compared with Eleanor's but it is made up of brilliant moments. The whole eyeliner bit is brilliantly done, as is his dad stuff. His mum's attitude to Eleanor is another thing I loved. The family is extremely present in this book for both protagonists and again, every single one of them felt like a real person.

There are a few problems with this book but nothing major. As I said, Eleanor does pick fights and I can understand why people would be frustrated with her. There's a whole scene where she gets mad that Park likes her when she wears makeup, although this makes perfect sense when you consider she is probably playing down her femininity to avoid catching her stepdad's eye even more. Understanding Eleanor stopped stuff like that bothering me personally. There are also a ton of weird metaphors or bits of writing which again, I quite liked but I can see how it would be annoying. They all came from Eleanor's POV.

Overall, I am so happy that I decided to read this book. It has definitely become one of  my favourite YA romances and I will be seeking out more from the author. I would highly recommend it if you're looking for a romance which is low on the fluff but high on the emotional connections and character detail.

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