Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Eleanor & Park

The story sometimes felt like it was not going anywhere which could be frustrating. I also initially thought the book would be a much more mushy read, and more heavily music focus than it turned out to be. What I found instead was a pure love between incompatible people (maybe more a matter of incompatible lives and experiences), and a behavioural pattern from Eleanor that on a personal note was too triggering at times. I'm not sure yet if I "liked" it, but at the very least can say that Rainbow Rowell's writing was pleasant enough to make it a quick reading.

Content Warnings

decameters's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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bookdxryl's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

3.75

Damn, this was a good book. The relationship was
cute. The emotion was hitting just right. It was fast paced. Characters were fleshed out and mostly like-able. Plot twist was nice. This is a very well written book for most of it.

I even overlooked the weird racial characterization of the black girls and how they talked. It was a different time but idk it rubbed me the wrong way and when she kept calling him the weird asian kid. You know his name. I tried to get past that though because of it being a different time and the writing was good but idk the racism was weird. It was so unnecessary.

Then the end happened. I knew the end wouldn’t be satisfying. I wouldn’t class this as a romance. Not a happy ending. It feels so unsatisfying. I’m happy that Eleanor is safe and doing well but the fact that she just gave up on the relationship and basically erased park from her mind was so annoying and out of character.

There were times where I didn’t like Park and there were times where I didn’t like Eleanor. But I just hate when a character cuts off all contact for absolutely no reason. She had no actual reason to not call or answer his letters. It just seemed tacked on for an ambiguous ending that didn’t need to be there.

Despite that, I still liked this book. Usually, it feels like a waste of time when the ending of a romance is like this but I don’t feel like this was a waste of time. They were so cute, probably one of the cutest couples i’ve read about. Then again, I don’t consider this romance. So maybe that affects the way I feel about the story.

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deedeegib's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

racheltrow_'s review against another edition

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challenging hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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beebeewin's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

What can I say but this is a very 2012 book in the worst way possible. This book felt like Rainbow Rowell wanted to hit on every hot button topic and make a "diverse" read, but failed to address any of them with any depth. It felt like she wrote about internalized racism, fatphobia, and abuse from a distance and as a way to make this book feel modern and relatable. Instead, it felt so dated and surface level. I know it is a teen romance primarily, but I feel like teens books never need to be this shallow. Even as a teen I think I would have felt conflicting. As a child abuse survivor, it felt like this book would have taught me all the wrong things, to ignore, disconnect, and avoid vulnerability. That being abused makes love impossible. Not to mention she is a White author righting about a mixed race Korean boy with what feels like no really knowledge on and zero effort to really understand what being a Korean American is like. Due to all these facts I could not connect with the characters or story. Not to mention the male narrator in this story did a horrible job voice acting as Eleanor. I was physically pained hearing him do her voice. Would not recommend this book to anyone and feel free to ignore the awards it got.

Content Warnings

copiani's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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jennswan's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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