It's that time again for Bon's book club! This month the reading selection was Eleanor and Park.
I really enjoyed this book, however there were some parts where I disliked it enough I didn't think I was going to like it. Most of the time, I was irked when Eleanor would cause drama and unnecessarily whine at Park. Then I remembered that she was a teenager, and while I don't recall being that annoyingly desperate for attention, I'm sure I was.
Rainbow Rowell wrote from the teenage perspective perfectly. She got every nuance, every bit of self consciousness, and every insecurity. I loved her style of writing. I've never read about hand holding being more beautiful or romantic in my life. In fact, the hand holding was probably more romantic than the last romantic scene I've read, in such an innocent way too.
The language was a bit much, but Rowell explained why she added it in in an interview. She said that it's what the main characters environments are all about. Eleanor and Park never curse, but Eleanor is in a tough home situation enough that she's exposed to it.
All in all, I think it was a great story, and I definitely would recommend it.
Now on to Bon's questions!
Did you find their ill fated relationship to be sweet? Believable?
I think their relationship is very believable for a high school romance. Not many high school romances actually end up being "forever", but teens always think they do. I think R0well did a great job portraying teen romance.
Did the language bother you?
Kinda, yeah. If it weren't for the language in this book, I would definitely give it to the teens in my book club to read, but because of it, I can't. As I mentioned above, it does make sense once Rowell explained why, but it did bother me a bit.
Do you agree with me that f words in YA books are unnecessary?
This is a tough question to answer. To assume that teens NEVER curse is ridiculously naive. That isn't to say that all teens curse, but majority of them do. To say that YA books should never have curse words is also naive, but I think there is a limit to how much and the context that it's in. If a character in a book screams to the sky 'F YOU WORLD!" after a friend dies, it makes sense. To add in the F word after every other word really changes the tone of the book from YA to something more adult.
