Why I read it: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
What it's about: (from author's website) “Bono met his wife in high school,” Park says.
“So did Jerry Lee Lewis,” Eleanor answers.
“I’m not kidding,” he says.
“You should be,” she says, “we’re 16.”
“What about Romeo and Juliet?”
“Shallow, confused, then dead.”
“I love you,” Park says.
“Wherefore art thou,” Eleanor answers.
“I’m not kidding,” he says.
“You should be.”
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park
is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that
first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.
When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just
how hard it pulled you under.
What worked for me (and what didn't): I didn't know a lot about this book going in. I knew it was YA, I wasn't entirely sure how much romance would be there and whether it would have a traditional HEA (it did not, but romance readers, don't be scared - it doesn't end badly and Eleanor and Park are only 16/17 in the story). When I started reading, as much as I was engaged when I was reading, I found myself sometimes reluctant to pick it up again. Not because it wasn't good. That's not the case at all. The writing is lovely and the characters are drawn so well. No, it was because there was an aspect to this book which was painful to read. Eleanor's story in particular is sad. I was worried for a lot of the book that things would not end well for her. I had a deep sense of foreboding throughout the story which made me increasingly reluctant to keep going. Perversely, the further I got into the story, the faster I read and the last third of the book took one day whereas the first two thirds took a week.