Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell

First off, I would just like to appreciate the book cover. It's so simple and adorable!

I love it :)

Now about the content of the book, I have decided to review the reviews on the back cover, because I figured that would be fun. Onward!

"Funny, hopeful, foulmouthed, sexy, and tear-jerking, this winning romance will captivate teen and adult readers alike." -Kirkus Reviews

There are too many adjectives in this sentence to take the review seriously. It also seems odd to say "this winning romance." What is the romance winning? Is it saying the actual book, Eleanor & Park, is winning awards? Or that it should? I give this review a meh.

"Eleanor & Park is a breathless, achingly good read about love and outsiders." -Stephanie Perkins

I love Stephanie Perkins (author of Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door, both books having painfully bad titles and astonishingly good writing) so automatically I like this review. But it's very accurate too. Your heart aches for both Eleanor and Park, wanting everything to go well for them and knowing that it will not. This review is shorter yet more accurate than the previous review.

"The pure, fear-laced, yet steadily maturing relationship Eleanor and Park develop is urgent and breathtaking and, of course, heartbreaking, too." -Booklist

This is the best review so far, and *spoilers* best out of all of the reviews. If I had to describe Eleanor and Park's relationship in 3 words, I would use "pure," "fear-laced," and "steadily maturing" too (let's pretend steadily maturing is one word. Okay? Okay.) Booklist also uses "breathtaking," similar to Perkins's "breathless," because not only is the writing fantastic, at the end off the book you are out of breath from reading so fast (it's that good).

"Sweet, gritty, and affecting... Rainbow Rowell has written an unforgettable story about two misfits in love. This debut will find its way into your heart and stay there." -Courtney Summers

First off, I would not call Eleanor & Park "sweet," because it isn't sweet. Also, the use of the word "affecting" is dumb (could I have thought of a better insult? Yes. Does dumb work just as well? Also yes). Of course it's affecting! Every book you read is going to affect you in some way; it's such an obvious statement, it's like saying, "Eleanor & Park had words that the reader understood." And the last sentence was super-cliche for a novel that is whatever the opposite of cliche is. So Ms. Summers, I do not like your review.

And... this was less fun than I thought it would be, so I'm going to skip the last two reviews (sorry Publisher's Weekly and Stewart Lewis, whoever you are).

I'm having a very hard time putting into words what I think of this book, besides the fact that it is fantastic and everyone should read it. It is a love story, but it goes way beyond that. It's not what I would call a cute love story, or a sweet one, or one that I would want, because both characters endure tortures that no teenager, or anyone, should have to endure. The love between Eleanor and Park is something to strive for, though, and the growth of their relationship is amazing to watch unfold. It's both pure and complex, and while it is not easy to read, it is certainly worthwhile.