snark (reading) lady

This book started slowly and awkwardly for me, feeding out little pieces of the story in too-quick jumps between point of view, and often feeling repetitive in the set-up details. It's now, on this side of the all said and done that I realize how perfect it was that I fell in love with Eleanor and Park a little at a time. I was in it before I realized what happened and what changed. I read about 90% of this book with a little knot in my stomach, knowing that things weren't going to be easy, or end neatly. They didn't, but I don't regret meeting Eleanor or Park. In their story was reflected some feelings I'm sure I've felt before-- insecurity, first love, sticking out, the odd man out of a family. The main charm of this book is in it's plain and simple relatability. We may not all have been picked on in high school, but maybe we have had our hand held by someone who made it tingle all over. It's such a simple, straight forward story, it sounds like something that could've happened to you or a friend or a friend of a friend. The characters were vivid and lovable. The story, both easy to get through and just a little tough to swallow. It's a little gem of a contemporary YA/romance book and I'm glad I gave it a chance. I spend a good amount of time at the end imagining all sorts of three word sentences. I love you.I miss you.Park, please stop. All is well.