Book review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Blurb: Eleanor & Park on Goodreads

My rating: 4/5

Review:

I am trying so hard to make this a non-spoiler review guys but there are just too many emotions attached to this book that I would like to share with you all. Aah well, this is still going to be a non-spoiler review! 😂

If you have read my review on Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell you would know that I wasn’t a huge fan of that book. So after that, I kind of went with zero expectations into this one and I don’t know what I feel about it!

The story begins in a school bus. Park sitting at his usual seat, minding his own business not bothered by anything that’s happening around him.And then, Eleanor enters the bus. New girl alert. She’s making heads turn & for all the wrong reasons. Her hair is a big, red fuzz of mess and her outfit is.. well.. a mess too. Now obviously no one is going to offer the weird, new girl the seat next to them, are they?
Park is silently hoping that she wouldn’t come up and sit next to him but of course she does. And that’s where it all begins…

Ah, young love ❤ I love love love how Rainbow Rowell made Eleanor & Park fall slowly in love with each other. I thought that it was completely okay for Park to go from how he initially thought about her (not good thoughts guys) to how he found her hands to be ‘incredibly soft’ 😀 Because that’s what love does right? It makes you see the person in a completely different light!
I know many people wouldn’t agree with me or this book on this point but really, that’s how love works.
Also, I LOVED the alternate POV format of the book. It was fast paced, kept the story running & I never caught myself thinking “What might the other character be thinking right now, at this very moment?” cause it was already given in the next para 😀

Now for the characters:
Park is my absolute favorite. He’s quirky, smart and loyal. He is the sweet guy you’d fall in love with when you actually get to know him. He isn’t super handsome but he’ll swoon you off your feet with his quirky antics. I love how he shared his comics with Eleanor & mixed up a tapes for her just so she could listen to the songs she wanted to (I mean, how cute is that now?)
Eleanor was okay. I love how she didn’t care about what anyone thought about her. I know deep down she did but still, she never showed she gave a shit about anyone. And the way she managed all of her issues back at home, that was impressive. She stood up for herself, for what’s right & I love that about her. Also, she answered Park’s “I love you” with “I know”(Star wars fans, you know what I am talking about 😉) I laughed a little too hard at that.
I’m not going any deep into the characters or the story now.

The reason why I don’t know how I exactly feel about this book is because even though I completely fell in love with the characters & could relate to them and their feelings, I couldn’t attach myself to the story-line. As the book was nearing it’s end, I kept wondering why Eleanor did what she was doing. It didn’t have to end this way. It just didn’t. The ending just put me off. No spoilers. You’ll have to read the book to get what I am talking about. Okay nobody dies. In case you were wondering.
I demand a sequel for this book Rainbow!!

Meanwhile, here’s a cute fan-art I found on google. Just so you know how Eleanor & Park look like…

Picture Courtesy: Google

Until next time,
A 💋

 

Book review: Aristotle & Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Blurb: Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe on Goodreads

My rating: 5/5

Review:

I have read 6 books so far and have reviewed none after ‘Gone girl’. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy reading any of those books or anything, I was just being plain lazy; But this book compelled me to write a review on it as I couldn’t stop recommending it enough to every person I met. Okay, maybe not ‘everyone’. But to every person I discuss books with.
This book was pure perfection!

It doesn’t have magic or any magical creatures. It isn’t a heart wrenching love story. It isn’t set in a dystopian era or a fancy world.  Heck, it doesn’t have much of a plot either!
It’s the story of two friends aged 15 (at the beginning of the book) going through teen hood together & how each of them discover things about themselves and the world around them. The book follows Ari’s (short for Aristotle) perspective on everything about the universe around him (Self-explanatory book title, Duh!)
Why is this book so close to my heart you ask?
Well do you know when you’re so happy that you feel so warm & get a fuzzy feeling  all over your body & mind?
This book brings all those feelings to you.

  Ari Ari Ari
He’s one of the many reasons why I like this book so much. I fell in love with this character so hard.
He’s just a normal 15 year old boy. Okay not completely normal. He’s a little aloof, unsocial & angry (mostly at himself). He doesn’t have many friends & he’s okay with that.  And the friends that he does have, well, let’s just say he’s not too fond of them. He doesn’t mind the solitude though. He constantly keeps thinking. His mind is almost never at peace. I felt like I could personally resonate with his thoughts and character as a whole.
And then one fine day, enters Dante.
Dante is like a splash of color in Ari’s dull black and white life. He’s extremely sweet, witty and most of all, full of life. He gets along with people easily & they find him just as agreeable.
Ari & Dante are as different as chalk and cheese but something between them clicks & they start hanging out together, enjoying each other’s company.
This was different for Ari. Ari never liked anyone’s company & Dante had changed that about him.

The writing style is simple yet so poetic & powerful. The author hardly uses any fancy words but he still manages to captivate the reader’s mind & fills it with innumerable thoughts. It’s such an easy & enjoyable read that you just wouldn’t want to put it down! I absolutely loved the writing style. Each character has its own charm. You fall in love with each one of them slowly but surely. The themes followed in this book are family and friendship. It also focuses on the transition of Ari & Dante from the early teens to the beginning of adulthood. I loved it so much that the I didn’t want it to end 😀
The ending seems a little rushed but it sure doesn’t disappoint. So all is well that ends well I guess 🙂

I would recommend this book to anyone who would want to read a book & at the end be like:

Book review: Gone girl by Gillian Flynn

Blurb:  Gone girl on Goodreads

My rating: 4.5/5

Review:

This book was something else! As in ‘I’ve never read anything like this‘ something else!!

When you start reading it, you get an idea of the two main characters of this story. Nick and Amy Dunne.’Happily’ married for 5 years now. A posh couple from New York city who has just moved to a small town in Missouri. The story begins on the day of their 5th wedding anniversary. The start is slow-paced. Nick goes on talking about the relationship he once used to share with his wife Amy and how it is now, the traditions they follow on their anniversary each year, about his sister, his career.. So on and so forth. The action begins once we realize that Amy has actually gone missing and she’s nowhere to be found. The police is called and the investigation begins.

As the story proceeds, we, as the readers, begin to understand that Nick has been lying about a few things to the police without them suspecting any of it. And once we get to part of Amy’s diary entries, we form an image of Nick being the reason for his wife’s sudden disappearance. But we still aren’t sure of it.

This book plays with your mind! It divides your mind in two parts. One which knows that Nick is the villain here. I mean, of course the husband did it. It’s not like they were madly in love. It’s not like Nick was ever the perfect husband to Amy.
But then there’s another part that wants you to believe that Nick is being framed and that he has nothing to do with whatever is happening with him or Amy. Nick is just as clueless about all that is happening as we are! But you just don’t have enough proof yet as everything is working against his favor.

The author keeps shifting between the wife and husband and it becomes difficult for the reader to root for either of them. The reader knows that each of them is hiding something and that’s what keeps the story moving. You just don’t know who’s lying and who is not! Once the investigation begins, the story moves forward in such a fast pace that you cannot keep the book down at all. And if you do, it will keep you guessing.
I was so tempted to take a look at the last few pages to see who’s alive and who’s not and just what becomes of Nick and Amy Dunne! But I’m glad I did not and I would advice you against it too. The ending had me like ‘WHOA! I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING‘
If you have enough patience, this will be one of the most satisfying reads for you.

This book will really make you think a hundred times if you ever plan on getting married. Don’t want to end up with a creepy, secret psychopath now, do we? 😀
That’s all I am going to say about ‘Gone girl’ as I really don’t want to include any spoilers in this review.

P.S : I won’t recommend this book for people who are not into creepy, dark themes in a book.

Book Review: The outcast by Sadie Jones

Blurb: The Outcast on goodreads

My rating: 2/5

Review:

The story starts of by introducing the main character, Lewis Aldridge, a young boy who is travelling with his mother to go pick up his father who has just returned from war. Yes, the book is set in the period of World War II. As the story proceeds, we get to know of the various other characters. Lewis shares a strong bond with his mother who dotes on him. His father is cold towards him and thinks that Lewis’s mother spoils him excessively. Having his father around is something quite new to Lewis and initially, he finds it difficult to cope with changes that his father has brought about at home after his arrival. Everything falls into place eventually. But things upside down after Lewis’s mother’s sudden death.

There are various other characters in the book and the author keeps shifting from one character to other as the story progresses.
To be honest, I found the book to be a drag. There is not much of a plot to it. It gets really depressing at times and you can’t help but feel sorry for Lewis as everything seems to be working against him. The characters are all awful and many of them that had a substantial part in the story (Tamsin, for example) seemed completely unnecessary.
I just can’t think why anyone would want to read such a sad and depressing novel with an equally bad ending.

Disappointment is what I felt after I finished reading this book.