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A review by theghostdog
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
In my personal opinion it just was overall bad. I gave it a two star rating because the book can get you invested in the plot even if it it’s not the best, however, that doesn’t mean it was a good read. If you’re a hopeless romantic pre-teen that finds delight in any trope no matter how problematic it may be, then yes, I would recommend it to you, but other than that, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. It’s pretty fast-paced and I feel like that was one of the key flaws because despite my liking for a fast pace, if not handled well, it could end up being terrible, which is what this book ended up being, everything felt oddly rushed and the ending fell flat because of it. The book tried to be diverse and tried to be inclusive yet it did nothing but enforce stereotypes of two different races, so if you’re looking for a diverse book that does good representation, this is not it. The book is a hit or miss to the extreme, it’s very straightforward when it comes to the audience it’s targeting (and it isn’t a necessarily bad thing), for me it just missed and by a long shot
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Bullying
Minor: Fatphobia, Rape, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, and Body shaming
A little explanation to the content warnings:
Rape: there was a brief mention of rape by one of the main characters, it was absolutely unnecessary and it wasn’t anything important towards the plot, but it was just briefly said as a joke.
One of the main characters is in an abusive and toxic household, hence the other content warnings
Racial slurs: there’s a brief mention of racial slurs, one was about the main character explaining the use of the “n-word” in his school, the other I believe was an Asian slur