Eleanor & Park

It's great to see Eleanor & Park getting so much love lately! Rainbow Rowell's book about first love is definitely adored around these parts, and it seems like The Toronto Star feels the same way! Here's their review:

"This may well turn out to be the best-written teen romance of 2013. Rowell alternates between the perspectives of Eleanor, whose flamboyant hair, large figure and weird clothes make her the butt of bullies at her new school, and Park, who finds himself first sharing his comics with her (X-men; Watchmen) and then his music (the Smiths; Joy Division) — this is 1986, after all. Rowell writes of the breath-taking, cautious, astonished moments of adolescent romance with lucid, poetic intensity; at the same time, she evokes the threat of domestic violence with a bite that deepens the teens’ ultimate triumph. Highly recommended."

E&P is, indeed, a very well done romance. Rowell takes the reader on a journey as these two misfit teens experience the awkwardness, confusion, and INTENSE FEELINGS that come with falling in love for the first time, and it does this without being too sexy or saccharine, as many YA novels tend to be. It is really written quite wonderfully and let's just say that many tears were shed whilst reading this book. Many, many tears.

Heather Reisman, CEO of Chapters Indigo, has also joined the E&P love-fest by including it as one of her 2013 Top Summer Reads for Teens! Pretty amazing.

So ... You should probably read it.