Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

22 November, 2013 Reviews 22 comments

Should I break out in song and dance to “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep?” One lonely star. I’m just as surprised as you are, considering I just KNEW going into Eleanor & Park that I would love it, love it, love it. What reason would I have to believe otherwise? Almost all of my friends loved this book and have sworn fealty to the Goddess of Feels and Might, Rainbow Rowell. And I get it because she is a pretty awesome person and I think she is totally lovely. So trust me when I say I REALLY wanted to love this book. In fact, I am blindsided that I didn’t, saddened that I can’t join the Eleanor & Park Kool Kidz Fan Club and disappointed at such a disjointed reading experience.

Random Reasons Why I Didn’t Like This Book:

1. The Romance

My main issue stems from the romance between Eleanor and Park. I just… didn’t get it. Though, that’s not for lack of trying because I had many arguments with Adult Me and Teen Me in my brain. Teen Me remembers the infatuation of meeting someone exciting and experiencing all those special moments for the first time. However, with Eleanor and Park, it was entirely unrealistic and unbelievable.

Park went from “God! Just sit the fuck down, Eleanor!” to “God, she has incredibly soft hands.”

Eleanor went from “That stupid Asian kid” to “He’s so pretty. I love his hair! I want to eat his face!”

The next thing I know, Park is telling Eleanor that he’s in love with her, how he can’t imagine being without her, that she’s IT for him. Then Eleanor is telling him she doesn’t breathe when she’s away from him. Adult Me was not on board because the romance moved entirely too swiftly for my feelings to catch up with the events that were taking place. No, I take that back. “Swiftly” would indicated that there was some sort of actual pacing involved, but that was absent. One day they disliked each other and the next they were holding hands and proclaiming their love.

I remember listening to that part while I was out on a morning run, and I had to stop and rewind because I legitimately thought I missed an entire chapter. But then I realized that I hadn’t and I argued with myself.

Adult Me: *twitch*
Teen Me: Yeah, but remember when you thought you were in love with that guy and how you were going to marry him?
Adult Me: Yes…
Teen Me: So obviously they’re not going to be together forever and ever and gallop into the sunset, but you can’t discount those feelings.
Adult Me: *gumbles* I KNOW THAT. But I also never wanted to eat a guy’s face…
Teen Me: Please don’t tell me I grow up without a heart.
Adult Me: …

2. The Historical Background

Eleanor & Park takes place in Omaha, 1986, where there’s racial tension. Park is half white and half Korean. He spends most of his time trying not to be noticed by other kids at school and struggling with his own insecurities over his mixed heritage. Yet, oddly, throughout the entire novel, Park doesn’t encounter any racism. Apart from a few brief monologuing sessions about his classmates thinking he was Chinese, Eleanor’s off-hand “stupid Asian kid” remarks and Park’s own dislike for, in his opinion, looking too feminine, there wasn’t anything that felt accurate.

Park’s character had so much more potential that was not utilized. I was hoping for something more from his development regarding how he viewed himself and his mother. Perhaps a certain level of acceptance or resolve would have been appropriate.

There were also two black girls who befriend Eleanor, but even they don’t seem to face any racism in this predominately white neighborhood. It was like Rowell deliberately tip-toed around them and instead threw in a reference to the community being offended by a black boy getting a white girl pregnant. Strangely, the only one who seemed to get picked on was Eleanor. I do think it’s awesome that this novel had diversity, something that is sorely missing in YA, but I wasn’t buying what Rowell was selling.

At the same time, Rowell never let you forget that this book was set in the 80s since Eleanor & Park is overloaded with pop culture references on almost every other page. (I admit to chuckling to the 867-5309 reference.) Still, we also never forgot Park was Asian with Eleanor constantly referencing it in her narration to the point that I started feeling uncomfortable.

3. The Narration

I wasn’t a huge fan of the back and forth narrative and found that it annoyed me more than anything. This is where I wonder if my rating is more an indication of how I felt about the audio vs. the actual story. I disliked both of the narrator’s voices. The parts of Eleanor’s dialogue that was “snarky” wasn’t portrayed with the right kind of emotion. Park’s narration was slightly better, but the narrator, Sunil Malhotra, bored me to tears with his monotone reading and unbelievable voice for Eleanor.

4. The Story

I’ll be honest and admit that it’s possible that I didn’t “get” this book. It may have just gone way over my head. Why? Rowell tried to cram a lot of story and situations into one little book and it didn’t work for me. Before going into Eleanor & Park I was told that the ending was heartbreaking, but I didn’t feel that at all. Rowell relies on Eleanor’s grim family life to spark sympathies from readers and I can see how this works and why it’s marketed to John Green fans. However, the ending relies on your connection to their romance to feel the heartbreak. The problem with that was, by the end, I wanted to know what became of Eleanor’s mom and siblings, but the focus was instead on her feelings for Park and letting him go. Eleanor spent a good amount of the story in this terrible environment, feeling these feelings and when I genuinely wanted to know her feelings about everything, all I get is a freaking post card and the book ends. Since the romance was doing absolutely nothing for me, I needed for the plot to come in and rescue this book. It did not.

I’m not saying this was a terrible book. Not by a long shot. It’s clear that this story has touched a lot of people and I wouldn’t go as far to not recommend it, but I also think this is a bit overhyped. I went in with really high expectations, thinking I was going to be blown into next week by the awesome. Instead, I’m walking away with feelings brewing a special pot of “meh.”

Even still, I’m holding out hope for Fangirl…

22 Responses to “Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell”

  1. Ashley

    THANK YOU!!!!

    I felt like the only person in the universe who didn’t like this book. It surprises me because everyone is always like, “Waaa insta-love sucks!” But this book is pure, 100% insta-love. There is no relationship development. It goes from sitting on the bus and not speaking to OMG YOU’RE MY FOREVER #1!!”!”@!@

    I personally didn’t like Fangirl much either. I liked it more than this one, but I wasn’t wowed by Fangirl. The only Rainbow Rowell book I’ve loved so far is Attachments.

  2. Katie

    Yay! I’ve been looking forward to this review!

    I agree about the romance. I didn’t really “feel” it either in terms of development. It escalates rather quickly, which I had a hard time believing. But once I suspended disbelief, I thought their relationship was really quite sweet. And I enjoyed the parts of the book where they’re dating much more than the lead-up to them dating.

    I didn’t find the ending that sad, because my favorite part of the book wasn’t necessarily the romance. I think my favorite part was just Rowell’s writing and the dialogue and the voice. I loved how distinctive her writing style felt, and I was really impressed by how she wrote character interactions. Also, there are a few key scenes that totally stole the show for me, namely the first hand-holding scene. I melted a little inside when I read that one.

  3. Rachel @ the NerdHerd Reads

    Didn’t like this one as much as everyone else either. Started out with the audiobook, but found it annoying and so switched to print, which was better. Started Fangirl, already love it so much more than E&P.

  4. Kazhy

    I really loved this book, but it’s refreshing to see a negative review for it since mine is one out of the thousands of positive reviews out there. I agree that there was little development for the romance, but it – and everything else – just worked for me. Sad to hear that it didn’t for you 🙁 But still, great review!

  5. cosnmom

    I wonder if your experience would have been different if you’d read a hard copy instead of listening to an audiobook? I’ve seen people have the opposite experience, where they first read a hard copy of a book and hate it, then listen to the audiobook and love it. Sometimes the person doing the audio can enhance a boring book, or ruin an otherwise good book. Or maybe you still would hate it! I love your reviews and your blog! 🙂

  6. Tiffany

    I rated it a three, thinking my niece would probably love the book because she can relate a little more, but I just…I didn’t really like it. I listened to the audiobook too and I hated the back and forth. there were also times I just didn’t understand how they could be so “in love” when he knew NOTHING about her. That bugged me.

  7. Ashley @The Quiet Concert

    Hmm, I really did enjoy E&P but Nicole did not at all. She just did not believe the story and the love story. Not really sure though if you are going to like Fangirl. It does have some similar dialogue back and forth. It is less insta-lovey. I felt that Fangirl really encompassed experiences people feel during their Freshman year. I can see though your point about not enough development with the secondary characters. Fangirl does a better job of that! So I am interested in what you will think 🙂

  8. Danielle

    Oh my GOSH! For a while there I thought I was the only person in the book-blogging universe who didn’t fall head-over-heels in love with this book! (‘Attachments’ – YES. ‘Fangirl’ – YES. ‘Eleanor & Park’ – ehhhhhh. No). Here’s my take: http://tinyurl.com/k5lwp4p

    Thank you for writing such an honest review.

  10. Christina (A Reader of Fictions)

    I already read this on GR, but whatever I am here.

    It is odd that you grew up without a heart but are married and I flopped on the floor like a little mass of heart jumping bean from the feels of this book. THEY FELL IN LOVE OVER COMIC BOOKS AND THE SMITHS. I CAN’T NOT, STEPH. Also, I don’t know. Their voices really worked for me, so it didn’t feel so much like TRUE LOVE FOREVER as they feel love right now and it might last and might not. But obviously if you didn’t connect to the characters (which I think there is a good chance is the fault of the narrators), then that’s a problem.

    OH, also, speaking of the narrators, I was okay with them, but I think maybe only because I already knew the book, so I knew things already and could like handle it. Or something.

    It is late, so I probably just typed you some gibberish. ENJOY IT.

  11. Stephanie @ The Novlist

    Ahh thank GOD I’m not the only one who didn’t like this one! I mean, I liked certain parts of it I guess, but when I read it I was expecting so much more because of all the hype and in the end it was almost impossible not to feel let down. I thought that I would be blown away by Eleanor & Park and ultimately what happened was that I didn’t really feel anything. I wasn’t a fan of their romance which was probably mostly what kept me from really loving it. I felt the same way as you – totally instalovey and not at all realistic. And it bugged me that it was sort of expected that it would be believable because they’re young – I’m seventeen and it still seemed unrealistic to me. Maybe I don’t have a heart either but I can’t imagine myself ever being that dramatic about a relationship.
    Great review!

  12. Shannelle C.

    Wow. These were some of the things I felt when reading Eleanor and Park, and I’m planning on joining the Rainbow Rowell read-a-thon. I want to read this again, to see how I would feel about it. Maybe I might see something more out of it. Or not.

    Anyway, great review, Steph! I’ve been missing you on the blog.

  13. Charlotte

    I haven’t read this one yet but I am already finished with Fangirl. And I wasn’t happy with it. Because of my disappointment with Fangirl, I don’t think I will be reading Eleanor and Park especially after this negative but awesome review.

    I hope Fangirl will work out for you.

  19. Emma

    I agree about this romance. It was still a good book but didn’t really move me…

  20. Catherine Siborutorop

    And I thought that I’m the only one! Totally agreed with the romance. For the first hundred pages, it was really really good, but then I expected a big heartbreaking ending yet I was disappointed. I felt conflicted about Eleanor and Park’s relationship. When I reached the ending and I heard that people was crying and all that, I felt like a heartless being, yet it’s just didn’t worked for me.

    Oh, and I thought that the story would be much better if she’d explained more about Eleanor’s family.

    Despite everything, I, too, had better expectations about Fangirl, I heard so many great things about Rainbow Rowell.