Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell

I loved Fangirl so much, that I could not wait to read Eleanor & Park by the same author.

Eleanor & Park is a teenage love story between two seemingly unlikely kids.  Eleanor is the outcast with body image issues and Park is the popular kid afraid to be who he really is.  As fate would have it, Eleanor transferred to Park's school and ended up on his bus route.  As luck would have it, the seat next to Park was the only place Eleanor could sit.  Begin awkward silence for what seems like forever.

Their relationship did not start as a relationship typically does in a book.  There was no immediate flirting or witty banter back and forth.  They sat in silence for awhile, just thinking.  Park thinking how weird Eleanor looked and dressed, Eleanor just thinking about life and Park and school and how much she hated everything.  Then Eleanor started reading Park's comics while he was reading them on the bus.  Then Park started letting her read the comics with him on the bus.  All the while pretending not to notice each other.

Eventually they moved beyond their awkward silence and actually talked to each other.  Park had to deal with issues of being embarrassed to be with Eleanor, when really he was embarrassed that he worried what others thought.  Eleanor had serious body issues.  She kept describing herself as a big girl and that she was not pretty, but I feel like from Park's thoughts and his father's comments, Eleanor probably was not that big and probably was not that ugly.  I think, like many teenagers, Eleanor did not see herself as she really was.

Eleanor had a rough home life, one that I know too many people who have had to deal with that kind of life.  Eleanor's dad left, and her mom married the ultimate abusive creep.  Eleanor was poor, scared, and to top it off, she got bullied by the obnoxious girls in her school.

I liked this book because it was not the conventional eye-rolling romance.  It was realistic.  It was sweet.  Park really, genuinely loved Eleanor and they made each other mixed tapes, which, let's be honest, was the most romantic thing someone could do for you when we were all growing up in the 80s and early 90s.  It was sad and emotional because I could visualize Eleanor's home life and the agony she felt going to school everyday with the girls who bullied her.  I liked how at the end, Eleanor made a decision that was best for herself, even if it meant losing everything she had gained.

All in all, I really liked this book, though not as much as I liked Fangirl.