Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell

Review: Eleanor and Park

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Rating: 5/5

Genre: Contemporary, romance

Recommend To: fans of Pushing the Limits, the Fault in Our Stars (they cause similar amounts of trauma)

What did I ever do to you books? Why do I deserve this absolute heart-wrenching, completely terrifying experience? I never caused you pain, but you nearly killed me. I never made you cry, but you made me drown in tears. Why would you do such a thing? I felt compelled to write this review at 1 in the morning. Because I just finished and the tear tracks are still fresh. This is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. 

The characters, still so fresh in my mind just evoke such emotions. Eleanor, love and independence. Park, bravery and loyalty. Richie, complete and utter hatred. Even the secondary characters invoke crazy things, Tina, Steve, DeNice, Beebi, Ben, Maisie, Park's parents, Eleanor's mom and actual dad. The feelings were just flowing freely and were completely out of control. My family probably though I was a psychopath or something. 

The writing itself, it just....I'm going to be honest here, it terrified me. I was going out of my mind. Because as the story progresses, it hastens and develops a sense of urgency. I was feeling utter dread as it continued. The beginning was almost slow, Park and Eleanor meeting, falling in love. But then it starts to go. And it makes your heart crawl up into your throat. Because you know, you KNOW, something is going to happen and you KNOW it's going to do something to do this fragile/indestructible love of Eleanor & Park and all you can do is sit tight and pray that they both don't end up like Romeo and Juliet. It's completely crazy. And it's one of my favorite books of the year. 

Eleanor. She made me want to cry. And then get a grip on myself and hug every single member of my family. Her story...just the incredible amount of things she is forced to go through. The fear of not having enough food, not having clothes, not having a bathroom door, not having batteries. A useless mother, a drug addict father (actual father). Siblings who honestly terrified me. The amount of things against her were astounding. I wanted to pack my entire room up and hand it to her with a bow. Like here...an actual toothbrush and clothes. And yet through it all, she still remained Eleanor. 

Park. He was freaking Asian Prince Charming. Can I say I completely fell in love with him? The comic books, and the music, and making Eleanor tapes. He was the opposite of Eleanor in every way. HIs family too, gods they were adorable. I loved how they eventually welcomed Eleanor into their family, especially his mom (I loved her).

Here comes the actual ranting. Richie you sick, SICK, TWISTED man monster. I hope you rot in hell. Because even if you are fictional, you embody perverts, rapists, sexual predators, domestic abusers, sex ring runners and every humanly horrible thing on this earth and I want you all to die slowly. Because you are freaking disgusting. 

Sigh, overall, this book is simply amazing. But it completely drains you. And uses every ounce of your being. Then it rolls over you with a train a couple times for good measure. Just a note of caution. 

Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits #1) - Katie McGarry

Review: Pushing the Limits

Author: Katie McGary

Rating: 5/5

Genre: Contemporary, realistic-fiction, romance

Recommend To: Romance lovers

Ahhhh oh my god. It’s unusual for me to read realistic fiction. I’m more of a fantasy, dystopia, sci-fi, omg magic kind of junkie. But this turned out to be one of the most heart-wrenching beautiful books I have ever read. Seriously. By Katie McGarry.

The Plot: So much is going on. Both Echo and Noah are incredibly damaged teenagers. Both find it hard to trust adults and have multiple issues in their personal lives. One day Echo is popular and untouchable, the next she is gossiped about because of the mysterious scars she can’t remember getting on the day she almost died. She wants to know, but she can’t. Her broken mind has suppressed the memories. Not only that, her mother has a restraining order and her controlling father has remarried with her previous babysitter. Yes problems. Noah’s parents died in a fire and ever since then he has struggled through multiple brutal foster homes. Labeled a bad boy, he has turned to drugs and using girls. He has one goal, to get his beloved younger brothers (my god they were adorable) out of the system that hurt him so badly. Both are brought together by a school guidance social worker named Mrs. Collins (a.k.a. The best adult in this whole dang book, I want to meet her) and start to fall for each other as they struggle to solve their problems.

The Characters:

Echo: Brave, brave, Echo. She struggles to remember what happened to her on the dark night she almost died (yes she eventually remembers what happened) and it’s terrible. No person should ever have to go through that. Not to mention how she has to deal with her overbearing, pressuring, so controlling father. Honestly, it’s amazing how she doesn’t just break and go stark-raving mad. She is just so heroic and fierce no matter what she goes through.

And then came Noah….

Noah: Asdfghjkl. Can’t describe him. Ahhhhhh so gorgeous, with a wounded soul. So perfect and daring and brave and omg his love for his brothers. One thing I thought was stupid was dude, really? Drugs? How are you going to get custody over them if you do drugs? He drops them though, so I was ok. Anyway, of course being a struggling, single dad-like older brother is not a great plan but hey, all he wanted to do was spare them his own experiences. He is so protective really, it just broke my heart into pieces, over, and over, and over again.

Mrs. Collins: I loved this woman. Every single bit. Omg the bad driving, the random rapid-fire questions, the supportiveness, how she lives up to her word, everything. Especially the bad driving. I couldn’t stop laughing. Anyway, she is a freaking genius and I am so glad I have adults similar to her in my life. She is god-sent to Echo’s and Noah’s lives and I love, love, love how she blackmails Noah into being a good, little boy haha. If she wasn’t in the story, it wouldn’t have been half as good. Or it wouldn’t have even taken place, because honestly, she is the best thing that happens to Noah and Echo (other than each other).

The Friends: Lila, Isaiah and Beth. I’ll start with Lila – even though she is popular, she is genuinely a friend to Echo. She really cares about her, is there for her, and doesn’t drop her just because Echo has weird scars and a crazy mother. She is another really supportive character who I loved. Isaiah and Beth. Hmm…also drug addicts (I hate drugs so not cool with me) but the love they kept denying between them was so cute. I felt so horrible for Beth with what she has to go through with her mother and her mother’s deranged boyfriends. When Noah and Isaiah went to defend her I almost cried (I did cry a lot throughout the book)but I was so happy. However, the trouble she gave Echo was not okay with me. She was just annoying at times. Isaiah was just adorable, with his obsession with Beth and cars. They were Noah’s family in a way and they also made the book special.

The Romance: Noah and Echo were perfect for each other. The end. Just kidding but seriously they were so beautiful and adorable. I couldn’t stop smiling, or laughing, or crying. Ahhhh gods. When they admitted they loved each other (Noah, why the heck did it take you so long you were making me NERVOUS!) it was just so flawless. Their love was pure and untainted by their pasts and it was delicate and vulnerable yet strong and unbreakable. Does that make sense? Probably not, but it was magnificent all the same.

Overall: This book is a mad crazy, wild rollercoaster ride. If you can’t stomach incredible emotions just coursing through you with no control over them, then don’t read this book (if you are this person you are a ninny and a wimp with no feelings). Otherwise, get ready for tears and laughter and OMG WHAT JUST HAPPENED and OMG PLEASE NO and I LOVE YOU SO MUCH I’M GOING TO BALL UP AND CRY. Cause that’s how absurdly good this book was.