“Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it’s like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it’s like to be young and in love with a book."

 This particular statement by John Green pretty much sums up all my feelings about Eleanor & Park.

In fact, I have zero words that could justify the masterpiece that is this book. It has taken me days to start writing this review, because this book has just left me... utterly speechless, and nothing I write will ever live up to the beauty and magnificence of this novel.

Nevertheless, I shall blabber on.

It's 1986, and Eleanor has just returned to Ohama after being kicked out of her home by her douchebag stepfather. Her daily life is riddled with fear of him, while her mother powerlessly obeys her abusive husband and takes his side, out of sheer terror, perhaps. She is also poor, not being able to afford a toothbrush or batteries for her Walkman, and is forced to share a tiny room with her other siblings. 

And then there's Park. He can be considered popular, but is separated from the others because of him being half-Korean. He has a healthy family life, with possibly the best set of parents and a little brother who loves him. Because of his inherently good nature, he is the only one nice enough to offer Eleanor a seat next to him on the bus. There is no love at first sight magic between them. In fact, there might even have been a little resentment. But overtime, without even talking, they start to bond over comic books and mixed tapes, eventually falling in love.

Have you ever just  inhaled a book as if your life depended on it? And I'm not talking about how people love inhaling the fresh, crisp smell of books (I'm not the only one who does that, right?). I'm talking about how a book could just literally take control over you, the way there's nothing else you can do until you just finish that book. You can't put it down, even to pee or eat or sleep, because it's just too fucking good. And once you've finished it, it feels like just a split second has passed, because it was such a great experience that reading it felt like inhaling the book in one single breath.