Eleanor & Park by Rainbow RowellGenres: Young Adult Fiction, Romance
Publication date: Feb 26, 2013
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Format: Audiobook - 8 hours, 56 minutes
How I got it: My public library
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
My rating: 5/5
Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.
Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.
Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.
Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.
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My thoughts:
This was the first ever Audiobook that I completed and I am pretty sure it now has me hooked on audiobooks as well as Rainbow Rowell.
The audio version of the book is told in two different voices just like how the book is divided into narration by the two main characters. We get to hear a male narrator for Park and a female narrator for Eleanor; although the narrators when conversing play both the male and female role; it really helped me to distinguish who was speaking during the audio book and captured the feelings the characters felt. I felt like the voices chosen matched exactly how I imaged that Eleanor and Park would sound. The narrators really captured my attention and it was easy to follow along since I enjoyed listening to them.
The book follows Eleanor who just moved back in with her family after an extended stay at some of her mother's friends house. The author gives us vague details about Eleanor in the beginning so you are not really sure exactly how she got to where she is today. As the story unfolds we get to learn a lot more about Eleanor. Eleanor has had a very difficult upbringing and also has a very challenging current family situation. Eleanor is honestly just trying to make it through her life without being noticed.
On the first day at her new school she sort of meets Park who ends up letting her sit by him in the bus. It takes a little while for Eleanor and Park to form a friendship that eventually becomes more then a friendship.
I loved both the main characters. Eleanor was a lot stronger then she gave herself credit for. She wanted to be able to protect everyone, but she also had to worry about herself at all times. Eleanor had a large burden on her shoulders at the age of 16. I felt like the author did a great job showing Eleanor's young age when she was thinking through complicated decisions. Park had an entirely different upbringing and we really get to see more and more of what his childhood and young adulthood was like while reading. Although Park and Eleanor have had very different upbringing they have a large amount in common that they don't see at first. Park experienced different challenges from Eleanor, but they still caused him concern.
The author did a great job having the characters manage decisions in the book. Each character was weighing there decision prior to just jumping right in. I loved how the author allowed the reader to see the struggle the characters where going through from all different angles.
Another aspect I loved of the book was the morals that they author installed upon the characters. I felt like the book was building up for something big to happen with the characters. I wasn't 100% sure what exactly was going to happen, which made me want to keep reading. At the end of the book we get to see the side of some of the minor characters who I felt like changed 180 degrees from the beginning of the book. I think a major takeaway was you should never judge a book by its cover and this can be applied when it comes to people because you never know how someone is going to react in a crisis.
I would suggest this as a weekend or vacation audio or read. I would highly recommend the audio version of the book, but I bet reading it would just be as fulfilling of an experience. I felt like you really took a journey with the characters throughout the book and I wanted to know what was going to happen to Eleanor and Park at the end so I would pick a time when you had more free time to read or listen to this book.
The audio version of the book is told in two different voices just like how the book is divided into narration by the two main characters. We get to hear a male narrator for Park and a female narrator for Eleanor; although the narrators when conversing play both the male and female role; it really helped me to distinguish who was speaking during the audio book and captured the feelings the characters felt. I felt like the voices chosen matched exactly how I imaged that Eleanor and Park would sound. The narrators really captured my attention and it was easy to follow along since I enjoyed listening to them.
The book follows Eleanor who just moved back in with her family after an extended stay at some of her mother's friends house. The author gives us vague details about Eleanor in the beginning so you are not really sure exactly how she got to where she is today. As the story unfolds we get to learn a lot more about Eleanor. Eleanor has had a very difficult upbringing and also has a very challenging current family situation. Eleanor is honestly just trying to make it through her life without being noticed.
On the first day at her new school she sort of meets Park who ends up letting her sit by him in the bus. It takes a little while for Eleanor and Park to form a friendship that eventually becomes more then a friendship.
I loved both the main characters. Eleanor was a lot stronger then she gave herself credit for. She wanted to be able to protect everyone, but she also had to worry about herself at all times. Eleanor had a large burden on her shoulders at the age of 16. I felt like the author did a great job showing Eleanor's young age when she was thinking through complicated decisions. Park had an entirely different upbringing and we really get to see more and more of what his childhood and young adulthood was like while reading. Although Park and Eleanor have had very different upbringing they have a large amount in common that they don't see at first. Park experienced different challenges from Eleanor, but they still caused him concern.
The author did a great job having the characters manage decisions in the book. Each character was weighing there decision prior to just jumping right in. I loved how the author allowed the reader to see the struggle the characters where going through from all different angles.
Another aspect I loved of the book was the morals that they author installed upon the characters. I felt like the book was building up for something big to happen with the characters. I wasn't 100% sure what exactly was going to happen, which made me want to keep reading. At the end of the book we get to see the side of some of the minor characters who I felt like changed 180 degrees from the beginning of the book. I think a major takeaway was you should never judge a book by its cover and this can be applied when it comes to people because you never know how someone is going to react in a crisis.
I would suggest this as a weekend or vacation audio or read. I would highly recommend the audio version of the book, but I bet reading it would just be as fulfilling of an experience. I felt like you really took a journey with the characters throughout the book and I wanted to know what was going to happen to Eleanor and Park at the end so I would pick a time when you had more free time to read or listen to this book.
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YAY!! Glad you loved this and now Rainbow Rowell and audiobooks. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I can't wait for my next Rainbow Rowell read!!
DeleteOoo, first audiobook and Rowell book, all in one! I read Fangirl years ago, but I haven't been able to read a Rowell book since. It's not that I don't want to, I think it's just that I loved Fangirl so much, like I've gotten my fill of Rowell just from that one book. If that makes sense? I've seen nothing but love for this series, and that is so great.
ReplyDeleteWonderful review! =)
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
That makes complete sense! I am a little nervous moving onto my next Rowell book since I loved Eleanor and Park. I just got approved for the Fangirl audio so I am hoping to start it this week! Thank you for stopping by!
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