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Showing posts from December 29, 2013

Not Loving the Book Everyone Loves

Eleanor and Park is making almost every best YA of 2013 list and I hated it. I read it because of the awesome cover, where the kids are sharing music. I have really enjoyed books that featured music in the past. I also read this because I started seeing in on so many best of the year lists.  I also found a great piece by Kit Steinkellner over on Book Riot defending Eleanor and Park. Her post got me thinking about my experiences reading the book. How was the book for me as an adult verses how it would have been if I was still a teen? I had mixed feelings about Eleanor and Park the whole way through. I liked how well Rowell showed that silence that happens in a home of abuse. I like how even Park's seemingly good life still had uncomfortable moments. But I hated Eleanor. I hated her for being like me and I hated for all the choices she could have made that would make her better than me, but she was still wallowing in the sad parts of her life. I hated that I never rea