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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
This book consists entirely of dialog between 2 teenagers.. It goes round in circles and seems pointless with shallow storylines that barely hold it together. The whole time I was reading his book I was thinking to myself "what is the point".
I would've enjoyed this book as a teenager, maybe I'm just a little too old for this YA Novel.
I would've enjoyed this book as a teenager, maybe I'm just a little too old for this YA Novel.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
“i don’t believe that seventeen year olds get happy endings. they get beginnings.” -rainbow rowell in the author’s note. love.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first time I read this (when I was in college), I absolutely loved it. I loved the depiction of first love and how every new step emotionally and physically feels so monumental.
Now as an almost married adult, that feeling doesn’t hit quite the same. I still ADOREEE Park, he is such a fantastic MMC and I wish that Eleanor had given him more affirmation and communication (though I can get why not).
I love that Park is a skinny dude who absolutely worships a plus size girl, and that he’s so assertive and ready to have her back at all moments, while still being so emotionally available and demonstrative.
I like to think that Eleanor and Park do find each other again, more mature, and ready to fully love one another.
Now as an almost married adult, that feeling doesn’t hit quite the same. I still ADOREEE Park, he is such a fantastic MMC and I wish that Eleanor had given him more affirmation and communication (though I can get why not).
I love that Park is a skinny dude who absolutely worships a plus size girl, and that he’s so assertive and ready to have her back at all moments, while still being so emotionally available and demonstrative.
I like to think that Eleanor and Park do find each other again, more mature, and ready to fully love one another.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Violence, Blood
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I get the appeal of this book. It’s a sweet romance that plays on the nostalgia of a person’s first high school sweetheart. It’s probably because I’m getting married in 4 days, but I don’t feel nostalgic for that time at all and that definitely affected my experience of the book.
Setting up with the mystery of what happened to Eleanor kept the page turning, but I ultimately didn’t quite feel it paid off. Still, it was a sweet ending.
Setting up with the mystery of what happened to Eleanor kept the page turning, but I ultimately didn’t quite feel it paid off. Still, it was a sweet ending.
This is a book that makes you sigh. Big sighs. And smiles. And makes you think, "Oh, I remember high school love!"
Eleanor is the new girl on the bus--big, red-haired, and easy to tease. Park is one of the few Korean boys around and just happens to sit alone. The two sit together, and one of the best teen romances of 2013 happens!
This is a sweet, sweet story. I found myself marking a lot of quotes and sharing details with my book club and friends. It's an amazing romance--for males and females. Its celebrates being different AND loyalty--what can be better than that?
Eleanor is the new girl on the bus--big, red-haired, and easy to tease. Park is one of the few Korean boys around and just happens to sit alone. The two sit together, and one of the best teen romances of 2013 happens!
This is a sweet, sweet story. I found myself marking a lot of quotes and sharing details with my book club and friends. It's an amazing romance--for males and females. Its celebrates being different AND loyalty--what can be better than that?
This is probably one of the most engaging and decently-written YA books I've encountered in a long time; however, it missed the 5-star mark in a few areas.
The casual racism just seemed jarring in places. Secondly, there were too many side characters whose roles/lives were never really expanded upon, (Tina's the bad girl. Steve's the bad guy. There's two token black girls, DeNice and Beebi. And so on. I mean, I know this story isn't meant to be centrally concerned with these characters; I just felt like they were 2-D, cardboard side-pieces).
The most concern I had with this book, however, centred around Park. All he was - his very personality - was obsessed with Eleanor. Sure, he had minor hobbies...but his infatuation seemed toxic. This was exemplified most for me in the scene where he's left alone in the house; Eleanor comes over, doubting he's in; and he practically pulls her onto the sofa, which was exceedingly uncomfortable simply because - that buzzword - there was no consent in this scene. Eleanor barely speaks, she even "crumples her face" at one point, which could mean - in fact, it more likely does mean, more than any other emotion - pain, and it makes Park "become unhinged". Um, no. Park began likeable: he was charming, dorky, polite and quiet. He devolved into this ridiculously overwrought caricature of the lovesick, and the more I read, the more I wondered what the hell Eleanor saw in him (besides, you know, her obsession with his "honey skin" and other physical attributes). The cherry on the cake came for me at the end, as Park drives Eleanor to a safe refuge at her Uncle's house; he gets angry over the fact she's so exhausted from trepidation and fear that she's sleeping, because it means they can't spend their last moments together. NO. This moment made me want to hurl the book across the room. Park's selfishness at that point was simply staggering.
The good points: I liked Rowell's dialogue; it was authentic teen-speak for once. I quite liked the third person POV. I thought the pacing was 'okay': their attraction for each other did appear pretty much out of nowhere, though, and my God, were those sex? - with a question mark - scenes the most infuriating, rose-petals and gauze, vague descriptions I've ever read. It slowly turned almost into lunacy, which I can understand, as their lust for each other (or...maybe not really each other, but idealised versions?) heightened rapidly, which is also very adolescent-esque, but it ran a little too glitzy for my liking. I don't like the fact teens may read those parts and get uber excited...because it was so overly fanciful, even though barely anything happened each time. Which just isn't realistic at all.
I found Eleanor likeable; I even tolerated her hard and stubborn moments, mostly as her anxiety was relatable, and also as her home life made her understandably tense.
I wouldn't write this novel off; it was definitely readable, and even triggered (very low-level) 'feels' in some places, which is more than can be said for a lot of YA.
The casual racism just seemed jarring in places. Secondly, there were too many side characters whose roles/lives were never really expanded upon, (Tina's the bad girl. Steve's the bad guy. There's two token black girls, DeNice and Beebi. And so on. I mean, I know this story isn't meant to be centrally concerned with these characters; I just felt like they were 2-D, cardboard side-pieces).
The most concern I had with this book, however, centred around Park. All he was - his very personality - was obsessed with Eleanor. Sure, he had minor hobbies...but his infatuation seemed toxic. This was exemplified most for me in the scene where he's left alone in the house; Eleanor comes over, doubting he's in; and he practically pulls her onto the sofa, which was exceedingly uncomfortable simply because - that buzzword - there was no consent in this scene. Eleanor barely speaks, she even "crumples her face" at one point, which could mean - in fact, it more likely does mean, more than any other emotion - pain, and it makes Park "become unhinged". Um, no. Park began likeable: he was charming, dorky, polite and quiet. He devolved into this ridiculously overwrought caricature of the lovesick, and the more I read, the more I wondered what the hell Eleanor saw in him (besides, you know, her obsession with his "honey skin" and other physical attributes). The cherry on the cake came for me at the end, as Park drives Eleanor to a safe refuge at her Uncle's house; he gets angry over the fact she's so exhausted from trepidation and fear that she's sleeping, because it means they can't spend their last moments together. NO. This moment made me want to hurl the book across the room. Park's selfishness at that point was simply staggering.
The good points: I liked Rowell's dialogue; it was authentic teen-speak for once. I quite liked the third person POV. I thought the pacing was 'okay': their attraction for each other did appear pretty much out of nowhere, though, and my God, were those sex? - with a question mark - scenes the most infuriating, rose-petals and gauze, vague descriptions I've ever read. It slowly turned almost into lunacy, which I can understand, as their lust for each other (or...maybe not really each other, but idealised versions?) heightened rapidly, which is also very adolescent-esque, but it ran a little too glitzy for my liking. I don't like the fact teens may read those parts and get uber excited...because it was so overly fanciful, even though barely anything happened each time. Which just isn't realistic at all.
I found Eleanor likeable; I even tolerated her hard and stubborn moments, mostly as her anxiety was relatable, and also as her home life made her understandably tense.
I wouldn't write this novel off; it was definitely readable, and even triggered (very low-level) 'feels' in some places, which is more than can be said for a lot of YA.
Muy intenso, muy emotivo, muy vulnerable, muy humano y muy todo. A día de hoy cuando lo pienso me sigue afectando.
At the beginning, I knew that they were going to fall in love with each other. Halfway, I knew that was too good to be true :(