Review: Eleanor & Park

Book: Eleanor & Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Format: Hardcover
Own or borrow?: Borrowed from library
Published: February 26, 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

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. [Via Goodreads]

The Good:

Eleanor was a strong character. She was realistic and it was easy to root for her. She was someone that I would like to know in real life. I wanted to give her a hug and tell her everything was going to be okay. She was smart and I loved the book from her perspective. 

Their relationship was fun and at times I really felt like it could really be true. Neither of them tried to purposely make the other mad. They worked together to make life easier for the other.

The ending. I think the ending was the strongest part of the book. I was so emotional at the end and I started crying and it was just a perfect way to end the book. I'm not sure how many other people like the ending, but I thought that it was more realistic than most other endings to books. I could easily see something like this happening in real life.

The book made me feel all emotions. Happy, sad, angry, confused, exhilarated, giddy, fangirly, and resentment. I may not have liked some parts of the book but I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a wide range of emotions.

I loved the 80's references.

The character development.

The Bad:

There were a few parts in this book where I really cringed at how the characters were described. Park was the weak Asian kid and that's just stereotypical and I was uncomfortable about it. I also didn't like how the two black girls in the books were seen as ghetto almost. No one wanted to talk to them and they spoke differently than everyone else. 

Park was an asshole. I am still not sure how I felt about him. He made me mad more than anything else. I can't really even pinpoint exactly what he did anymore, but I just know that I wasn't too fond of his character.

I had a hard time believing their relationship (when I didn't love it.) It just seemed forced to me.

The book was just slow at times.

The Ugly:

The insta-love. Seriously, it was really weird to me how fast their relationship progressed. That's why it was hard to believe for me. No one falls in love that fast.

This should be in the good and the ugly because I liked this part of the book but it was ugly: her relationship with her step dad. Her step dad made me cringe and I hated him so much.

If you don't mind insta-love and you love a good story with great character development and realistic characters, this may be the book for you. Even though there were things that I didn't like, I'm still glad I read it and I hope Rainbow Rowell continues to write books. She's obviously very talented.

Review: We Were Liars

Book: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Format: Hardcover
Own or borrow?: Borrowed from library
Published: May 13, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press

A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island. A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy. A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive. A revolution. An accident. A secret. Lies upon lies. True love. The truth.[Via Goodreads]

I'm glad I went into this not thinking it's a mystery novel. I would have been seriously disappointed and would have dropped it. I repeat: this is not a mystery novel. That doesn't mean it wasn't good, but it should not be touted as a mystery book when it's not. But even though I went into it with that, I just couldn't connect with this book.

The Good:

- The ending. It was the strongest part of this book. I remember the ending better than I remember anything else about this book. I didn't see it coming and I enjoyed it, unfortunately it didn't help much how I felt about the book.

- They live on a private island. I can't really explain why, but I love the idea of private islands and getting away for a summer. I saw it in the Summer series by Jenny Han, Night Film by Marisha Pessl, and And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.

- The writing. I know a lot of people didn't like it

because it would

randomly turn into a prose type

of book and people, just didn't

like that. I can see why they didn't, but I 

just thought it was interesting. I also realized that this was usually the most important parts of the book and that made it stand out.

- It was a quick easy read.

The Bad:

- I thought the characters were weak. It says a lot that I'm having trouble remembering their names other than they were called "The Liars." I didn't identify with any of them and I didn't particularly like any of them.

- They were just spoiled brats. If people were saying this book were about a large group of uber rich people that are fighting over grandpa's inheritance, then they'd be pretty spot on. I have no problem with reading about rich people. I LIVE for that, but these people were all just whiny brats because they weren't getting their way 200000% of the time.

- By extension, it annoyed me that this book is called a "mystery book." We don't even know there is even a mystery involved until the end of the book and by then we know what happened.

The Ugly: 

- There were just too many characters and I didn't feel any connection at all so it was rather boring

- There was no character development. Sure, the MC changed a little, but I wouldn't say it was character development

- Again, this is not a mystery book. I can only imagine what I would be saying if I thought it was.

Additional thoughts: Really, overall, it wasn't a horrible book. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. I've read better and I've read worse. Would I read it again? No probably not. Would I recommend it to someone? I would, if they asked for this type of book/genre. Now that I'm done with it, I can see why the blurb is so vague. There isn't really a way to describe the book.

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Book: Lola and the Boy Next Door
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Series: Anna and the French Kiss #2
Started: August 5, 2014
Finished: August 7, 2014
Published: July 9, 2013
Publisher: Speak

Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the Bell Twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood. When Cricket, a gifted inventor, steps out from his sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door. [Via Goodreads]

Dear Stephanie Perkins, 

Thank you for including Anna and Etienne in this story without drowning out Lola's story. Thank you for adding them to the story but also making us know at all times that this is Lola's stories and not an extension of Anna's. You wrote San Francisco as wonderfully as you wrote Paris and sure, there isn't a beautiful Eiffel Tower or old creepy cemetery, but you didn't need that to make this story beautiful. Thank you for making Lola different than Anna. Lola is her own person and I'm sure Isla is too. Lola and Anna are two completely different people. I was worried that I would feel like I was reading the same book two times in a row, but I knew I wasn't. I could tell the obvious differences between Lola and Anna. So thank you for making different characters so so many different girls can feel connected to the characters. A+ books for an A+ author.

Dear Lola Nolan, 

Thank you for always being yourself. Thank you for being faithful. You are a fun character. You made me laugh. You made me cry. I felt like I could easily be your friend. Lola, you are smart and strong. You know what you want and you go get it. There were times where I wasn't sure that we would get along, especially when you were rude to Calliope but that's my only complaint. Other than that, you were the perfect character for a perfect book. I can't wait to hang out with you again.

Dear Cricket Bell,

*blushes* hi. Thanks for being literally perfect. You're the closest thing to a book boyfriend I've ever had. You're nice and funny and just try to make everyone happy. You're kinda goofy but in a totally sweet way. You and Lola are adorable. You get along so well but you also have your differences and I like that about you two. Thank you for loving Lola and letting her be herself.

Dear Lola and Cricket,

THANK YOU FOR TAKING YOUR TIME. This was not insta-love. I could feel the relationship growing slowly and it made me so happy when you two finally got together. Can I see more relationships like yours? This was a healthy and fun relationship that just filled me with joy and happiness and the way new puppies make me feel.

Seriously, if you like fun, witty characters that aren't super insta-lovey: this is the book for you! I am so glad that I read this book.Still crying about not having Isla yet, though. This is such a fun series. One of my top series I've read this year.

Want to buy this book?: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

I should mention that you should probably read Anna and the French Kiss prior to reading this. They are companion novels, but it just fits better if you read Anna before!