Book Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell | Amie

I’d say that my history with this book is a little complicated. I first discovered this book two years ago, and for some reason, I picked it up, and was like ╮( ˘ ､ ˘ )╭ ‘nope’ . I didn’t read it. Even thinking about it I’m not too sure why. At the time, I think it may have been too complicated for me. After all, Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell is quite mature with a lot of toxicity hidden under the subtle and gentle writing style. [I’ll touch more on this later].

This year for English class, we had to pick a novel from the provided list to read and analyze the theme. And guess what. Eleanor & Park was on the list, and I figured I'd give it another chance. So I selected the novel as my first choice and searched it up. I actually read a lot of bad reviews on this book, saying that it was “not historically accurate”, “racist” and “not realistic (the romance)”. So yeah, I actually kind of regretted my decision at the time. But, I figured I should just go along with it. I had already dumped the novel two years ago without giving it a chance and I thought, I should give it a try. And plus, I was already assigned the novel. So yeah, a brief history on my relationship with Eleanor & Park.

I just want to point out really quick that any dismay or negative feelings I originally felt towards the novel were completely erased when I first opened the book and saw this:

And I just went “Holy shitake mushrooms. DAMM. That is beautiful.” I guess this is sort of like judging a book by its cover, the whole “wow that fanart is amazing this book must be amazing” assumption, but the art did NOT give me the impression that good art = good book, but rather “why are you doubting the book based on other’s opinions? Your own opinion can be different from others, and the only way to find out is to read it.” So yeah, just to clarify. But seriously, that is absolutely stunning.

If you are interested in what I thought about the novel or you want to learn more about it, keep reading! ↓

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Genres: YA Fiction, Romance, Coming of Age

Content: Emotional and Physical Abuse (domestic), Strong Language + Racism (racial slurs), Poverty

Page Count: 325

Eleanor & Park is a YA Romance Fiction about two star-crossed misfits who meet on a school bus in Omaha, Nebraska in 1986. The story takes place in a neighborhood called The Flats. Through struggling to understand their blossoming feelings and balancing school, bullies and trouble at home, Eleanor and Park learn to confide in each other as they become each others’ sweet getaway from reality. But when reality suddenly strikes back hard, Eleanor and Park must make a decision. Even if it’s a very hard one.

Overall, I liked Eleanor & Park. Definitely NOT a hardcore book-crush type love, but it wasn’t as terrible as I had originally anticipated (from the negative reviews). Obviously this isn’t exactly my type of jam, but it was pretty good, even though I couldn't’ relate to the characters, because I’m not really into old indie-rock, post-punk type music, nor do I experience bullying or abuse, and most definitely because I am not a teenager from 1986 Nebraska. It was interesting, to say the least—reading about others being so passionate about things I am not. But hey, if you are into old indie rock/punk bands, this might be something you wanna check out. (´｡• ω •｡`)

My Thoughts vs Online Reviews

So I first want to talk about my thoughts vs the thoughts of other Eleanor & Park reviews online. I recall a lot of “the romance/racism isn’t portrayed correctly”, “the story is focusing on the wrong things (ah when common sense gets in the way)” and many other stupid teenager stuff that goes against the adult mind. But Eleanor and Park are teenagers, and doing stupid things is part of the package. But I’m kind of at a middle point in the understanding of the characters, as they are portrayed as teenagers and act like teenagers (some more than others) but they go through a lot that could really wear down a person (mentally then physically). Especially when you grow up in this sort of environment surrounded by toxic behavior and the normalcy of stupidism.

But back to the reviews. I actually totally agree. The reasoning and explanation behind “the racism is inaccurate”, “the romance isn’t right [too sudden]” is totally legit. But all I can say in the book’s defense is that the novel isn’t revolving around those topics—referring to the racism. The book very much revolves around the romance.

The racism may have been portrayed as less intense than they actually were back in 1986, but I’d say the author did a pretty good job sneaking it in the background. It’s also quite obvious that the racism isn’t a large aspect of the story, but rather a background “space-filler” type of thing.

The romance, on the other hand, wasn’t right nor wrong. There is no such thing in romance. But you need to read the story to understand the development between the characters. And yes, the development was not perfect. Probably less than usual but this is first love. And when has it ever been?

Writing Style

Overall, I enjoyed the writing style of the novel. The perspective of the story switched between Eleanor and Park every chapter, and I just want to say that it was nice to see things from both points of views. Especially Parks’, as I don’t see a lot of novels told from the male point of view. Especially in the romance genre.

One thing I did note is that the story focused a little too much on the romance for my liking. I would have liked it if we saw some perspective from Eleanor’s family. Perhaps not chapters told in their perspectives, because (no offence), they are kind of irrelevant to the story line. At least to the romance. But this is totally unnecessary towards the plot development. Just a personal preference / opinion. What can I say. I am a family person. <(￣︶￣)>

Characters

The characters were all very … interesting. Definitely unique, but not in the way that I can relate to. Perhaps it was the time the story took place, or the place they live in (maybe even both), but I think that they are all a little broken on the inside. Especially the characters who don’t get a lot of spotlight. Like the “bullies” or mean kids, Tina, Steve and whoever else is in their crew. It was mentioned in the novel that Park’s parents were still together, and that it was impressive because all the other kids had “broken families”. Like they didn’t live in the “picture perfect” or typical family where the biological parents live with the kids.

Instead, they had a lot of Mixed Families, and step families. And maybe because this was in 1986, or maybe it was 1986 Nebraska, but there were a lot of family problems and unhealthy relationships, namely between parents. Like abuse (displayed in Eleanor’s family). All of these were something these kids from “The Flats” grew up with, so I could understand why they turned out the way they did.

Some characters that I really feel for though are Eleanor’s siblings. They had to deal with all the abuse and torment that she does, but at a younger age. And you know a lot of problems in adulthood are caused by childhood traumas. Especially at the end, I really wonder what happened to them. I wonder if they got away like Eleanor did, or if something terrible happened to them. And I can’t help but ignore the romance between Eleanor and Park for a minute at the end and think to myself, “If this was me I’d definitely try to get my family out.” But then again, Eleanor is not me nor am I her, and this is 1986 Nebraska.

But thinking back to it, this book is actually quite toxic. The characters face abuse and trauma, and they grew up in an environment where it was normal. There was just a lot of mean people too, but I think it's a reflection of the toxicity they been bathing in since birth. It's like a reflection of what the character hates about The Flats. It was definitely a very interesting thing to read about, because I have never seen this level of toxicity in real life. Not in mine at least.

Conclusion

Overall, I enjoyed the novel. But I didn’t exactly love it. The story was interesting, but the way it was carried out sort of felt like there was a filter over it. Like someone put a dull but thin sheet of gray plastic over a film. I understood the story itself, but thinking back on it, it all sort of seemed muted. I do remember enjoying the story in the moment though. ┐('～`;)┌

The novel definitely didn’t have a lot of WOW! factor to it, and it wasn’t really “the best thing that I’ve read in awhile” type of thing. The toxicity of the novel definitely isn't a bad thing though. In fact, it is a very valuable thing to understand and to witness, even if its through a novel. But it certainly isn't a good thing either. It's terrible that people have to go through this kind of thing, especially when the victim or bystander is a child. Even reading about this kind of abuse takes a toll on you. It's honestly exhausting. But it is also absolutely necessary to learn about this kind of thing. My heart goes out to anyone who has or is actually experienced abuse. Please know that things will get better, and that help is very accessible.

But the story played out pretty well, and the characters were interesting. I am giving it a 3 out of 5 star rating, because I feel that the author could’ve played to the story’s potential more, and also because this type of story really isn’t my cup of tea. If you’ve read Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell before, or have any thoughts you’d like to share, feel free to comment down below! Until next time, happy reading! (^.~)☆