My daughter recently mentioned wanting to read this book. Maybe the universe was gently nudging me to read it now that it had been verbalized into existence. I love when my daughter is interested in a book; I wanted to read a few chapters before purchasing it for her.
At page 80 I was rolling my eyes at all the name dropping of bands: Joy Division, The Smiths, Skinny Puppy, Bread, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Danzig; I admit wanting to make a mixtape after page 35. I decided to proceed further and by page 151 I was a wreck, an adult wanting to walk up to the front door of Eleanor's house and bring my fist into contact with her drunk stepfather's jaw. It's fiction, I reminded myself.
There was a quote floating around about two misfits being right for each other and I wondered how Park fit into this description. I didn't really view his life as misfit-ish, but perhaps my 36 year old self had a different idea of a misfit altogether. The line between misfit and goth started to blur sometime around my junior year of high school. Eleanor and Park were not goth in the least and Eleanor was the misfit for the most part.
Young love is also hard love. The story of these two was hard to read sometimes because I felt terrible for Eleanor and her situation. It was good that she had Park and that his parents understood their love for one another (after some time). Spoiler alert: Driving her to her uncle's home to escape the abuse in her home was a great ending to that chapter of Eleanor's life. Park was brave and his father was a great support when he got past Park wearing eyeliner.
I don't often read young adult literature, but was glad to pick up this book. I find it's important to remember the tragedies young children experience without dismissing them as "stages of life." I recommend this book.
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