Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Released: April 2012 (UK)
Publisher: Orion (UK)
Source: Secret Santa Gift
Reason for reading: It sounded super cute and I got it as a gift
Rating: 5/5

Goodreads description:

"Bono met his wife in high school," Park says.
"So did Jerry Lee Lewis," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be," she says, "we’re sixteen."
"What about Romeo and Juliet?"
"Shallow, confused," then dead.
"I love you, Park says.
"Wherefore art thou," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be."

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.

My thoughts: 

Eleanor & Park was one of the most poignant books I've read for a while, it really affected me while I was reading it; I really felt for the characters and their situations.  I was expecting this book to be much cuter and lighter than it was, so whilst it was a surprise it was by no means a disappointment. 

The story centres of course around the two characters Eleanor and Park, who meet when Park has to share his seat on the bus with Eleanor, the fashionably-challenged new girl at school. I really liked Park, I totally got his reasoning for wanting to stay out of the line of fire when it came to the popular kids. He wasn't popular, he wasn't unpopular and he wasn't a target. He wanted to stay that way and you could totally get that. And you could see how he thought that being friends with the weird new girl would rock the boat too much. He does struggle between what he wants and what he thinks he should want, should do. When it came to Eleanor it was him doing most of the chasing; it was him who expressed his feelings first and most frequently, him who initiated and maintained contact initially and it was so sweet. 

I really liked Eleanor; yeah she was prickly and defensive at times, she didn't give much away, but there's a reason for that, her home life. Eleanor had one of the saddest stories I've read about for a while and it just really struck a chord with me. I wanted her to end up happy and with the sort of life she deserved more than anything. I wanted to like, buy her some nice clothes and some comics and some batteries for her walkman. I wanted to take her away from her life; anything to make her happy.  I really liked how jaded and realistic she was when it came to her and Park's relationship it was an interesting development and it lined up with the sort of life she'd had so far and how her expectations and opinions had been affected by what had happened to her. 

Park was such a cool character, a big fan of comics and music, he was worried about being too effeminate because he wasn't all manly and he didn't like sports and he actually liked wearing eyeliner. He wasn't the sort of son his Marine father could associate with. I liked how it was him who made the first step with Eleanor, pretty much all the steps really, and how he was so in touch with his feelings and so idealistic and so sure of what he wanted. He did struggle with the concept of Eleanor at first. He liked her but he was scared of her not being accepted by people at school and his family and it was so sad to see that struggle, to see him fight to overcome his preconceptions.

The word for this book is definitely bittersweet. Everything about it was so cute but so desperately sad at the same time. There was the initial excitement of the start of their relationship; that bit where you're in tune with each other and yet so aware at the same time, of yourself of the other person, of the space between you. The evolution of their relationship was just so perfect, so sweet yet so riddled with the sort of issues it would be riddled with.

The ending, wow. It happened pretty quick, but it had to really. I loved the uncertainty of it and the desperation of both Eleanor&Park, for various reasons. It was a very open ending, but I like to think we got enough clues from it and throughout the book to deduce what happened.

TL;DR: Eleanor&Park is a bittersweet tale, riddled with difficulties and obstacles but portraying a beautifully desperate sort of love. I highly recommend it. 

Series Review: The Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan

The Magicians' Guild (The Black Magician Trilogy #1)
Released: 2001
The Novice (The Black Magician Trilogy #2)
Released: 2002
The High Lord (The Black Magician Trilogy #3)
Released: 2003
Publisher: Orbit
Source: Borrowed from friend
Reason for reading: Friend recommendation + trying to read more fantasy
Series Rating: 4/5

**As this is a series review, there may be spoilers, though I have tried to avoid them** 

Goodreads Synopsis for The Magicians' Guild:

"We should expect this young woman to be more powerful than our average novice, possibly even more powerful than the average magician."

This year, like every other, the magicians of Imardin gather to purge the city of undesirables. Cloaked in the protection of their sorcery, they move with no fear of the vagrants and miscreants who despise them and their work—until one enraged girl, barely more than a child, hurls a stone at the hated invaders . . . and effortlessly penetrates their magical shield.

What the Magicians' Guild has long dreaded has finally come to pass. There is someone outside their ranks who possesses a raw power beyond imagining, an untrained mage who must be found and schooled before she destroys herself and her city with a force she cannot yet control.

My thoughts:

No, I can't believe I didn't read this series before now, either. It was all over the library when I was a pre-teen/teen, but I wasn't into fantasy at that age (aside from CS Lewis/Garth Nix...) so they completely passed me by. But my good friend Laura lent them to me and I've been trying to read more fantasy (I'm finally reading Game of Thrones) so I decided to give them a go.

I'm really glad I did. You know when you go into a book/series with no expectations and it ends up like, completely ruling your life for however long it takes you to read them?  That was the case here. I wasn't a huge fan of The Magician's Guild at first, all the books are split into 2 parts and after the initial event of the first part, I found the rest of it pretty dull. I kept hoping Sonea would get captured so something interesting would happen, and I found myself getting annoyed by her thought processes. As an individual book I only gave TMG 3/5, because of this first part. However, once we got into part 2 things got a lot more interesting. I loved all the detail about how the magician's guild worked, and meeting all the magicians and learning about the history and the magic they do.

The Novice was on the whole a lot more interesting, we moved outside of the magician's guild with Dannyl's ambassadorial duties and whilst I did find it really interesting to read about his research and his journey, I sometimes wished we'd be back in the guild with Sonea. I had definitely warmed to her by this point, she was strong and intelligent and hardworking, but I did sometimes wish she would stick up for herself a little bit more. I also really liked Rothen, her guardian and father figure, but Akkarin was definitely my favourite character. Dark, mysterious, sexy, possibly evil, he's my perfect character. I love how other character's assumptions and speculations about him drive your perceptions of this guy. The end to The Novice was like "gaaahhh!" but if I thought that was bad...

The High Lord. Oh there's so many emotions for The High Lord. The Akkarin situation was fully explained, and was along the lines of what I had guessed from hints in the previous books, though it is always nice to get the full story on something you're dying to know more about. The developments in terms of his character and the characters around him weren't much of a shock either, and I did really like them. I did feel some aspects were a little rushed, but then given the circumstances this can be expected. The rest of the magicians acted like absolute idiots in this book, and if they weren't all being murdered I'd've been screaming "SEE?! SEE YOU RIDICULOUS PEOPLE?!". Their responses and prejudices were SO infuriating but it really helped engage me in the story and really feel for the characters I supported I loved how all the strings of the various storylines throughout the books came together, how all the characters had their parts to play and their moments. The inevitable battle scene was good, though I admit I was a little confused about the power distribution, I felt Sonea should have had enough without yep...that thing that happened. That thing that happened that I knew would happen and dreaded happening for like, most of the book. How do I feel about that? It was brave. Necessary as well, I think. I don't think post-battle life would have worked if it hadn't happened. What I didn't like was the WAY it happened, it was kinda harsh, really. And the actual end of the book felt a little rushed, which I didn't appreciate. 

I am so glad I finally read this trilogy. I experienced so many emotions from it, so many ups and downs, from the little things like the anger felt over Sonea being bullied, the exasperation of her not fighting back, the elation of her final victory over her bullies, to the big things, the shock at the revelations, the fluttery stomach at the romances, the suspicion of like, everyone, the anticipatory dread for the finale and the heart-pounding, stomach-clenching fear at the climax.  

If you haven't read this series yet, I urge you to give it a go.