“The first time he’d held her hand, it felt so good that it crowded out all the bad things. It felt better than anything had ever hurt.”

***DISCLAIMER*** The article’s cover image is not the book cover. It’s a fan art that I do not own. Obviously.

Eleanor Douglas is not your normal girl. Bright red corkscrew curls, chubby, dressed in men’s clothes, tormented by the kids in the back of the bus. On her first day of school the kids are horrible and finally when she gets on the bus in the afternoon, when she finally thinks it’s over, she can’t find a seat. No one wants to sit next to the strange new girl. The only one offering her a seat is Park Sheridan who also understands what it’s like being an outsider since he is one of the only Korean/Asian kids in school. After a few days of sitting in silence with Park, they start to bond over comic books and music. But Eleanor and Park are about as different as different gets. Park lives in a picture perfect house with a perfect family, though he believes that his hobby of reading comic books and listening to music set him apart from his family. Eleanor and her siblings live in fear of her alcoholic and sometimes violent step-father Richie. As soon as Eleanor and Park fall in love, the anvil drops and the plot twists in a way that you definitely will not expect.

“It’s not the typical story where the ugly duckling is in love with the hot guy,” DreamWorks president of production says. “They’re both trying to find their way. They’re both outcasts.”

I checked Eleanor and Park out at my local library, and finished all 328 pages in about 2 hours, reading nonstop. This book had me falling in love with Park, experiencing Eleanor’s bottled-up hatred for her step-dad and at her mother for putting her and her siblings in the home situation that they’re in, and it made me understand 100% why Eleanor didn’t want to fall for Park in the first place. One of the things that I didn’t like about E&P was the rushed ending. I can’t explain the ending obviously, but I felt it was definitely a little rushed.

*Heh Hem* If you liked Eleanor & Park, Dreamworks bought the film rights from Rainbow Rowell! I’m anticipating the movie, and I suspect that it will be a lot like the book because Rainbow Rowell will be writing the screenplay. Dreamworks will start filming sometime this year! Comment below if you’ve read the book and will be seeing the movie!

I do not own this book trailer. Obviously.