Eleanor and Park
by Rainbow Rowell
February, 2013 St. Martin’s Griffin
Synopsis on Goodreads: Eleanor… Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough…Eleanor.
Park… He knows she’ll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There’s a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises…Park.
Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.
My Thoughts: I was so excited to read this. It was actually a really good story, but I could only give it 3 stars.Why? Because it was too cliche.Your typical troubled teenage love story. There was nothing exciting about it. Nothing special about the story. It was even a bit boring in the beginning. I did like how she wrote it – going back and forth between their perspectives. I also enjoyed the characters. I don’t know if I was just too old for this novel, or if it just didn’t really captivate me like it does some people. I guess I couldn’t relate to the story. I wanted to love it. I really did, but I just didn’t. Anyways…I gave it 3 stars. Maybe Fangirl will be better?