Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Published by St. Martin's Press; February 26, 2013
Hardcover, 325
Borrowed from library

"Bono met his wife in high school," Park says.
"So did Jerry Lee Lewis," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be," she says, "we’re sixteen."
"What about Romeo and Juliet?"
"Shallow, confused, then dead."
''I love you," Park says.
"Wherefore art thou," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be."

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.

- Description from Goodreads.com

Describing this book is hard. Really hard. Because Eleanor & Park is way more than just your average story of friendship and love. It's way more than your average story about broken teens searching to be repaired. It's way more than the words I'm typing now. I don't think it's the best book ever, or that it lives up to all the five-star reviews and hype that it gets, but I certainly agree with anyone who says that Rainbow Rowell is a damn good writer. The words just flow so naturally in this book, and I feel like in order to do justice to how well-written this book was, I'd have to match Rainbow's fluidity. Which I obviously can't. But I'll try.

The thing I liked the most about this book was that it wasn't a love story. No, it's a story about  people finding love. And I love Rainbow for writing it in the most organic, natural way ever. I loved seeing how their relationship progressed. In no way did it feel fake or plastic. On the contrary, it felt so real that Eleanor and Park seemed to pop up from the book. They tugged at my heart and tugged and tugged until I had to cry. Because there is so much going against these two. It's as if the universe just totally does not want them together when for some odd reason, they are meant to be. At times, the problems Eleanor was facing seemed too overpowering and a bit flimsy. I'm not saying that it's impossible for someone to go through everything Eleanor was going through all at once. I just think that it was a bit overdone. 

I'll try to leave this short and sweet because I seriously think you should read this book to figure out for yourself how good this book is. But before I leave you I'd just like to say, if you are a crier, this book will make you BAWL. I'm no crier, but I was practically on the verge of tears the entire time. Eleanor and Park fit so perfectly together that whenever they're not together, it's the most aggravating thing ever. But at the end, you'll love Rainbow for making you feel so much. :)