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: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Blurb: Fangirl on Goodreads

My rating: 3/5

Review:

Twin sisters who are poles apart. Dysfunctional family. Fan-fiction. Teenage life and College. The story revolves around these themes.

It’s all written from Cath’s (one of the twins) perspective who is obsessed with the main character, Simon snow, of a famous book series based on him. She is shy, nerdy and anti-social unlike her sister, Wren, who is outgoing and friendly. She writes fan-fiction related to the book series and is completely involved in the fandom. So much that she doesn’t have time for her actual life and people around her. The following quote from the book sums up Cath’s life perfectly…

Real life was something happening in her peripheral vision.

This book doesn’t have much of a plot to it and it’s an easy read. I was slightly disappointed as my expectations were quite high considering all the hype about it. There are snippets from the Simon Snow book series and Cath’s fan-fiction ‘Carry on, Simon‘ all through the story which gets annoying and repetitive and also gets in the way of the plot. I saw myself skipping through these pages as I got more into the book.

I loved the fact that the author kept the hero, Levi, very realistic. He’s not a jock (Thank god for that) and nor is he super muscular or extremely handsome. He is just like any other college boy who has a job at Starbucks and has trouble with his classes.  I also love the relationship Cath shared with her dad, how she cared for her sister selflessly and her take on their mother abandoning them when they were little.

There is only this much to the book. The story seemed incomplete and in need of some major touch-ups. The ending was the worst part as it just felt wrong. It just seemed unfinished to me. It couldn’t hold my attention and I wasn’t super excited to get back to reading it after intervals.

Yes, it did make me laugh. It did make me smile. But it didn’t want me to ‘not put it down’ at all. If you know what I mean?
This is a good read if you’re looking for something light to read and you don’t want to put too much thought into the plot or characters.
Until next time,
A 💋

Shopping sucks!

I hate shopping. There, I said it. Did I just fail at being a girl?
I have never really liked shopping. It’s not like I’m content with my clothes or anything. I do feel the need to buy new clothes every alternate day cause ‘I have nothing to wear’ but I just can’t go through the disappointment after each time I go shopping.
Some use it as a stress buster but for me, it is a real pain in the a&$.
Let me list out why.

-Budget issues just has to be number one. For a girl from a middle class family with high class choices, shopping sucks. You will never find something you like within your budget EVER. That’s the rule. And if you eventually do find something you like, you’ll just have to act like you never saw it after taking a look at the price tag. Sigh.

-So you found something you love within your price range? Yay. Now let’s see whether it fits.
BAM. You realize you’ve outgrown the size you used to wear just a month ago. Now you hate your body too. And it sucks even more if you go out with someone who has the most perfect body cause of which, any crappy thing looks good on them!

-Then comes the fashion trends. Like what is it with people wearing only sleeveless these days? Or crop tops? What about girls who don’t have toned arms or stomachs? Do they not deserve to dress up?
Come on Fashion! Why do you have to be so harsh on chubby girls?

-After going through ALL of that, when you finally find something comfortable that fits you, within your price range, you realize that it’s ‘so yesteryear’. But you end up buying it anyway & sulk each time you have to wear it cause you don’t feel pretty or fashionable enough in it.

So now you know why shopping sucks.
Had any similar experiences?
Share them with me & we can hate on shopping together.