Rainbow Rowell | Eleanor & Park

     I have started this book like, a month ago but had to put it down because of finals coming up. Then it went forgotten, until my best friend one day asked me if have read it. I was asking for some light-reads and she suggested that I read it.

     To be honest, I was able to afford putting it down the first time because I had the impression of it just being some YA novel with quotable quotes and not much deep impact. But before I knew it, I was ugly-crying under the covers at 2am just because.

***

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]

***

     This is the first book by Rainbow Rowell that I have read. First things first: how cute is her name, right? Pseudonym or not, I like it. Not that it matters, but still. The name also made me think that the the author was a guy sorry but then I thought what guy would actually name himself rainbow? So I figured it was the last name that got me thinking of a Mr. Rowell so yeah.

[Read further and you might spoil yourself.]

     Of all the things that I love about this book, the one thing that got me is the way that the author presented Eleanor. She's a redhead, and as if that's not enough reason to get bullied, she is also huge. I just don't know if it is chubby-huge or huge-huge, but in my mind it was renaissance model-huge. And she dresses differently from the others, which made me think, "WHYYYY? Aren't bullied girls supposed to be wanting to blend in, not stand out?" But then, girl. That's what you call genius character development.

     So... Park. Park the Asian kid who grew up in a conducive-to-growing-up household is selfish. Compared to Eleanor, his only problem aside from a episodal identity crisis is looking for his father's approval. Oh yeah, and his schoolmates'. But that's pretty much it! He gets fed accordingly, he has both his parents, he has material things (thus the comics and all those records) and he had some good looks in there. I don't even get why he thinks he's an outcast, he could pretty much get in the crowd if he wants to. #YouHaveTheIDatedTinaCardSoGoPlayYouDumbass #PlusYouCanKickAssOkay

     But then we have the other Park. Eleanor's Park. The Park who is pretty in eyeliner. The Park who is deep and caring and selfless. The Park who is too adorable that even Eleanor who hates the word fell in love with. Need I say more?

     Fast forward to the main conflict - the time when Eleanor realized that her life in Omaha was so screwed up so she needs to go to her uncle's. I WAS TORN. To bits. I knew that she needs to get away from that asshole stepfather of hers but then she needs to leave Park. Why is the world so cruel?

     How can I pull myself together after that last chapter, though? What are those 3 words, even? How could you, Rainbow Rowell? You made me fall in love with the idea of first love and then you broke my heart. Cruel, but pure genius.

    I love it and I hate it at the same time, if there is such feeling at all. I love and hate it so much that it hurts. It hurts how much I ship Eleanor & Park and I hate how much I love their respective points of view. I hate how Rainbow Rowell made me feel like an unfortunately deprived and abused teenage girl and I hate how she made me fall in love with the idea of falling in love. I hate it that she took it all away in the blink of an eye, and left me hanging, asking myself what three words would I have written if I was Eleanor.

I give it:

Rock on.

   

My Christmas break is being sabotaged by the universe.

       Much as I do want to celebrate the Holidays in a cheerful spirit, I can't. My body is being dumped into an itch-hole, and honestly I'm blaming the universe for this unfortunate event. Partially because I need someone to blame and partially because I really can't find the cause. I never did away from the responsibility of maintaining my personal hygiene, but *scratch* I'm growing a whole plantation of red marks and breakouts, mostly on my legs and on my back *scratch,scratch*. To add up on the grossness, they look like insect bites and prickly-heat combined in one single red dot. It's that gross.

     Unless someone wants to party with a girl smelling like chinese chili liniment (It subsides the itch, I promise... makes the redness worse, though.) I would be staying at home, in the comfort of my jogging pants, sitting with a jar of nutella, contemplating whether to watch food network or start with my homeworks.

Twenty. (THE FEELS)

I just got home from school and I was just waiting for the clock to strike 12. It feels like such a pathetic thing to do, to wait for the first minute of your birthday. My veins are filled with caffeine, it's the final exams for me and I need to fuel myself with enough energy to last me a whole day of accounting tomorrow -- and tonight, and next night and on Saturday, for that matter. I thought it would just be fitting to waste my time on ranting before the birthday greetings surge in.

I spent the third to the last hour of my teenage years in a waiting shed under the pouring rain, listening to the noise of Manila. There was a boy from UE who was looking at me, he was also probably waiting for a jeep. At first I wanted to glare at him and give him the "You're such a creep-o" look, but I thought better of it and just let it pass. It was the most boring hour of my life.

The second to the last hour was spent on traffic. The woman sitting beside me was asleep. She was leaning on my left shoulder, and normally I wouldn't have let her. Under some I-don't-know circumstances, I thought there was nothing wrong with it so I just stared on the floor. There was a moment when I wanted to bring out my auditing theory book and continue my review, but then I snapped out of it as immediately as I tried. I forgot that I would have to read the book itself, and the lighting was so dim so it's impossible. I ended up thinking of my lolo and how much I miss him.

The last hour was spent on more traffic and some rain. And some dinner alone and some blog posting. And some watching TV and some checking the mail. And some tweeting and facebook-ing.Those three hours pretty much conclude my teenage years. I'm twenty. Where did life go?On a brighter note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEEEE. :) Okay, back to the books. 

xo.//c