Review: "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell *Spoiler Free*

"Eleanor was right: She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something" (165).

Art is very subjective. There is no clear definition that encompasses what is art and what is not. In the past few years I have seen an ongoing debate on what we can define as art. Are video games art? Are comic books and graphic novels art? Could modern music found in the genres of pop and rap be considered art? And what is probably the most ridiculous debate of all: is Young Adult really serious literature? (Which is just code for whether we can consider YA art or not). I imagine that this debate has been ongoing for centuries and I’ve just recently tuned into it. I think a large part of the hesitation to validate Young Adult literature as a serious art form would be the same reasons the aforementioned manifestations of art are under scrutiny, and that is because they are made for or by young people, and in YA’s particular case young women. I also think that some of the doubt that is cast towards the legitimacy of the YA genre would be some of the novels that get mainstream attention and are problematic such as Twilight, which unfortunately has, in the minds of many older readers, shrouded YA in a smoke of mindless love stories that take little talent to throw together and is only suitable for boy crazy teenage girls. This is obviously not the case, but this attitude can be so strong that I have interacted with many people who dismiss the entire genre by saying things along the lines of: “I only read real literature.”

If we look at the quote at the beginning of this review and adopt Park’s definition of art as being something that makes you feel something, then I would argue that there are very few things that are more deserving of the title of art than Rainbow Rowell’s young adult novel Eleanor & Park. In fact, we could apply the entire quote to the book itself, this book is not a nice book. Yes, the love story portion of the book is endearing, but this book is not just a sweet romance book about two teenage misfits who fall in love, and I would argue that it is not pertinent to call this book a romance. I had fallen into the trap of thinking that this book would be a fluffy contemporary, the reviews that I had read for this book all emphasized the “cuteness” of the book, so I put it on my bookshelf and saved it for a rainy day. And then when I was sick with the flu I picked it up.This book is not just cute, it is also about the horrific abuse of a 16 year old girl, who happens to be strong enough to form a healthy relationship with a boy in spite of the atrocity of her home life.

The book, which begins in the year 1986, is told in a dual perspective formate. We are permitted into the thoughts of both title characters, Eleanor and Park, as we follow them, primarily through their first school year of knowing each other. This decision on behalf of Rowell to showcase both characters’ mindsets was brilliant, and had she not employed this method I believe that book wouldn’t have worked. If we only had seen Eleanor through the eyes of Park I believe that she would have been confusing and difficult to relate to. In addition, because Park has such a healthy home life, especially in comparison to Eleanor, the book may have played out like it was advertised by the reviews I read as a simple misfit teenage love story but only with random and upsetting bombs of information about Eleanor’s home life. Eleanor’s mindset however, would have made the book extremely hard to read without several breaks because of how difficult the subject matter is. Rowell manages to encapsulate Eleanor’s voice so well, and brings to life all of her walls of insecurities and self doubt I think it would make it difficult to trust Park as a romantic interest. The result of this decision on Rowell’s park is a perfectly balanced book in terms of tone, never too dark that I had to stop reading but never too fluffy. And because the voices of Park and Eleanor are so distinct there was never a moment of confusion about who’s perspective I was reading from.

As mentioned above, Park has a relatively normal and healthy life. Despite being one of the only biracial Asian-American students in his school in the late 1980s he, while not the most popular kids around, has several friends. He is also involved in after school activities such as taekwondo, and one of the first scenes of his family life shows his dad teaching him how to drive a car, in contrast to Eleanor’s first mention of her mother which states that she does not have a car. Park has one younger sibling and parents who are very in love with each other and have a healthy respectful relationship with one another. His grandparents are also his next door neighbours, and call his mother (their daughter-in-law) an angel. He is able to maintain an interest in comic books and music. Park's life is not perfect, he deals with microagressive racisim and he knows little about his Korean heritage, while his Irish heritage is celebrated.

Eleanor on the other hand is a much more complex character. The book begins after Eleanor has returned to the home she shares with her four siblings, her mother and her stepfather, Richie, after being kicked out and has been forced to stay on the couch of her mother’s friend for the past year. Back at home she shares a room with all of her siblings and adjust her bathing schedule around Richie’s presence as he has taken the door off of the hinges in the bathroom. Richie also routinely beats her mother, Sabrina, over minor things like his steak being too cold/too tough. And while Richie eats steak regularly the children rarely have enough food and are forced to go hungry. They also lack toothbrushes and are forced to wash their hair with dish soap, or when that runs out tick/flee soap for dogs. Despite never having enough to eat, Eleanor is overweight and the lack of proper shampoo causes her curly red hair to become out of control. This combination earns her the nickname of “Big Red” among her peers and she faces a significant amount bullying at school and she begins to find vulgar graffiti about her in her textbooks.

Eleanor and Park’s relationship begins very naturally over similar interests in comic books and music. There isn’t any insta-love in this book, but once the love begins it becomes very intense, which is expected when two sixteen year olds fall in love for the first time. What is most spectacular about their relationship is that it is healthy, in direct contrast to every other relationship in Eleanor’s life, and it is based on friendship rather than lust. To see Eleanor come to terms with Park’s sincerity and her own doubts is remarkable. Rowell’s decision to write this relationship so healthily and carefully provides a juxtaposition in Eleanor’s life that makes her a stronger person. While many read this book as a love story, I would say that the love story exists to straighten both Park and Eleanor’s characters and make them better people rather than just a love story for love’s sake.

This book being categorized as Young Adult is, in my opinion, it’s greatest feature. While it’s genre placement may cause people to turn their noses up at it and never give it a chance, it’s so important teenagers and readers of all ages have authors like Rowell who are giving them a chance to read books that are this deep and meaningful, but still accessible to pick up. This book from a technical standpoint is not a hard read, I managed to get through its 300 pages in only a couple hours. And while the words may not stump you the subject matter never ceases to be raw and intense. I am so happy to hear that this book is being taught in schools, despite the outrage it caused amongst some parents who tried to ban it from the classroom.

I rated this book 5/5 stars on goodreads.

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