Eleanor & Park

'The Bookworm says.... Maybe. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell was a decent book. The beginning was very, very slow.  Aside from that, it was pretty good.  Eleanor is the new girl in school. Weird, chubby, dresses weird. But is it her choice? Her stepfather kicked her out for a year, only to comeback to a completely different house where his wish was their command (or else). On the bus on the first day, an Asian boy named Park swears at her, but let's her sit. Everyone at her school is rude to her. Except Park. He begins leaving her comic books to read, then mixed tapes. Eleanor's gym class was the worst. The girls in her class flushed her clothes in the toilet, and call her names. But Park is always there for her. Eleanor and Park begin to uphold a steady relationship, of course not telling Eleanor's family. Dirty messages begin showing up on Eleanor's text books, and Park accuses her of writing them. After a day or two, he comes to his senses and realizes it wasn't her. Park gets in a fight defending Eleanor. Parks mom is an Avon lady, and gives Eleanor a makeover. One of Eleanor's five siblings finds the makeup, and blackmails her into sharing. One day when she came home from Parks, Eleanor heard yelling and found her belongings destroyed. Who was writing the notes in her books? Was it really the girls in her class, trying to be cruel? Or was it someone that kept their friends close and their enemies closer? Will Eleanor and Park end up together? 

"Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it's like to be young and in love with a book." - John Green

Other Bookworm-Reviewed books by Rainbow Rowell: 

Fangirl 

Fangirl

The Bookworm says...YES!! Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell was a fabulous book. Being a fangirl myself, I was a huge fan of this book. Cather and Wren are a set of twins who's mother walked out on them when they were 8. Wren has always been outgoing, and Cath has been quiet. But even thought they have differences, there is one similarity. Simon Snow. Both girls are obbsessed with the Simon Snow book series by Gemma T. Leslie. Both girls are also renowned authors Magicath and Wrenegade on FanFixx.com, a site for writing fanfiction where the girls write Simon Snow fanfiction. The girls are heading off to college, and are separating for the first time. They still go to the same school, they eat lunch together, but that's it. Wren is living with another freshman, Courtney, and they go out and get completely drunk everynight. Cath is living with a junior, Reagan. Reagan goes it every night with a friend-boy Levi, but Cath stays home. Levi is ever present in the dorm. Halfway through first semester, in Caths junior level fictions writing class, they get an assignment to alternate paragraphs in a story with a partner. Cath writes with a boy named Nick, and they make it a weekly routine. When they are assigned their final assignment to write a story, Nick turns in one of their stories, and Cath doesn't turn anything in. One day when Cath was working on her fanfiction, Levi came in and asked her to help him study for a test. Cath ends up reading to him all night, they kiss, and fall asleep on Caths bed. Cath thinks she just kissed Reagan's boyfriend, and panics. She and Levi don't see each other until Cath sees him kissing another girl. After Levi is the only one there for Cath in two family emergencies, she is wondering what's up. Will Levi and Cath end up together? Will Wren and Cath forgive each other? Will Cath finish her fanfiction Carry On Simon before the eight books release? Will Cath do her assignment? So many loose ends that can only be tied up by reading the book. This book was amazing, and honestly I couldn't put it down!