I have tried writing reviews on this book, but I somehow had to stop because it was too deep for me. It wasn't something I could just summarize into a few words. It was more than that. This is my third time reading this book and I still feel every emotion like it's my first time. I made a pledge to read it once a year after I discovered it. It's soul food for me. Before I go into how this book redefined what it means to love and be loved, let's do a quick summary.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is a beautifully written love story about two high school outcasts. Eleanor, a chubby redhead 16 year old, and Park, a 16 year old biracial boymeets on a school bus on Eleanor's first day at school. They gradually connect through comic books and mixtapes of 1980’s music, sparking a love story. This is a story about how two teenagers dive headlong into love, even when they know that first loves almost never work. They try anyway.
Eleanor and Park is not a cliché love novel that we see around. Yes, the novel is centered about teenagers but it also touches on sensitive and challenging issues that are faces in real life. I love this book because it's not about happy-ever-afters. It's not a once upon a time and they lived happily ever after type of book. I think this is why I fell in love with this book. Eleanor is the new girl in town. She's described as an overweight redhead who comes from a poor abusive household. She's often insecure, closed-off and sarcastic. Park is a half-korean, half-white high school student from an upper-middle class family. He enjoys spending his time listening to music and reading comic books, and he is also deeply insecure about his Korean identity. I give a brief description about their characters because it centers deeply in this book.
More often than not, we come across love stories where the characters are perfect with the nice families, and lovely friendships but not Eleanor and Park. This book showed how much imperfect characters can be and how they still choose to love each other despite their flaws. This book showed me that love can't always be rosy. Sometimes, there will be doubts and insecurities as to why we love another person. But we are soon to discover that in as much as we think love is a choice. It most time always isn't. Eleanor is a broken character. She's deeply flawed. She lives in abject poverty with her abusive stepfather, mother and siblings. They can't afford mere dental tools like toothpaste and toothbrushes. And every single thing they own is like a treasure to them. Eleanor hates her stepdad and has even be kicked out of their home for a year. So, when she was allowed to come back, she has to tread carefully. This insight into her life let us understand why Eleanor was deeply insecure and flawed. It explains why she distances herself from people.
So, when she meets Park, it is a confusing experience for her. She doesn't know why Park loves her_what he sees in her. This book didn't make Park out to be this perfect loving guy who was very rich. There were times when his thoughts were clear about Eleanor. Times when he was hesitant to defend her from the school bullies. Times when he just couldn't understand why she was the way she was. Times when he almost felt like giving up on her. Park’s family is well-to-do. He has deep insecurities about himself and his identity. He feels he has to live up to his dad's high expectations which he fails at. And even though he is the elder son, he has to follow the lead of his brother who is his family's golden boy. I think he chooses to love Eleanor because he feels safer with her, he feels like he can actually explore his true identity with her because of her brutal honesty. Eleanor doesn't step softly around him. She says whatever's on her mind, as it is.
Eleanor tries to distance herself from Park because she feels Park is the only good thing in her life and she doesn't want to taint it with all her bad luck. Park doesn't understand why she's always trying to close herself off from him, even when she says the most cruel things. When I was reading this book, I found it really hard to love Eleanor as a character. I know how hard it was for her to even love herself. So, I know how it wasn't much of a choice for Park loving Eleanor. He just loved her the way she was, unconditionally, with all her flaws. And Eleanor treasured Park. She cherished him so much and tried so hard to hide him from the dreadful life she lived with her family. She sees Park as her safe space. But first love almost never works out. This is another reason why I love this book. For, how realistic it was. In real life, we know of how life throws sticks, stones and obstacles when we try to love people. We know of how life can sometimes drive two people who love each other apart. That's exactly what happens in Eleanor and Park. They don't get their happy ending.
This book is far from perfect because it has been widely criticized and challenged due to some of its themes. But when it comes to the aspect of romance, it redefined love for me. Love is all about choices and non-choices. It's about sticking with people you love. It's about helping them realize their best selves. It's about choosing to make their lives easier when they have it tough. It's about being their safe space, their safe haven. It's about being patient with them. It's not about ditching the people you love just af the slightest inconvenience. This book showed that love is not rosy or perfect. It will tumble you and throw you about. But it's all about reveling in the moments of happiness and joy you experience despite all the tumblings.
Thanks for reading.✨
All images are screenshots from my e-library
I totally agree that it's not a sugary love story. That scene where Park teaches Eleanor to read comics on the bus, with that awkward tension but full of chemistry... uff, it makes you feel like you're there, living each furtive glance. I love how you highlight the imperfection of the characters. Sometimes Eleanor is so hermetic that it makes you want to yell at her, but I understand her fear of ruining the only good thing in her life. And Park, with his racial and family insecurities, is not the typical young adult novel heartthrob. He's real, like that friend we all had who carried a thousand internal doubts. Good review!
Ouuuu, somebody that has read it.🥹🥹
Yeah, I so much loved the tension that brewed between them. One of my favorite parts was where they held hands for the first time. The author described it quite well. And I think it was their imperfections that made this book such a good read. Eleanor is just someone that I came to slowly like, because I gradually understood why she was the way she was.
Thank you for reading.🤎
Congratulations @terjix! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next target is to reach 150 posts.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out our last posts:
Oh Eleanor and Park awww I DO LOVE THIS BOOK!
You are totally right, it is not the typical romantic novel. I read it only once, almost 10 years ago and I can't forget that it surprised me a lot, I started reading it without any expectations and I ended up loving it and adoring the ending.
It's a pity that after the pandemic, they stopped talking about film versions, of course, I will always be very fond of the paper versions, but I think this is a story that could teach a lot of things to marginalized teenagers.
Hahaha wow, you've left me wanting to read it again, but I'll save that moment for when they decide to make a movie.
It was great to see you review this book with so much love!
Me too!! I was literally expecting it to turn out to be a cliche teen love story, but i was surprised. I don't know about movie adaptations though. I usually don't trust them to do very well like the book.
Thanks for engaging.✨
Yep, you're right, this book is also a gem, hopefully if they ever film it they will do it justice.
Oh it's a pleasure to read reviews that are so real and in which one matches, that's the beauty of literature, thank you so much to you for bringing me back to this lovely story.