Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell, 2013

Eleanor & Park Review

About

Published in 2013, Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park is a love story that remembers what first love really feels like—awkward, electric, terrifying, and life-saving. Set in 1986 Omaha, it’s both a romance and a portrait of survival. Rowell writes with tenderness but never with nostalgia; she knows how brutal adolescence can be, especially for those who don’t fit in.

Overview

Eleanor, new to town and visibly different from her classmates, meets Park, a half-Korean kid who just wants to stay invisible. Their connection begins on the school bus over shared comic books and mixtapes. What starts as tentative friendship grows into something fierce and genuine, a lifeline against the chaos around them. Rowell captures teenage love not as fantasy but as rebellion—a quiet insistence that kindness matters in a world that often isn’t kind.

Summary

(light spoilers) Eleanor’s home life is suffocating—poverty, abuse, and fear define her nights. Park’s family offers glimpses of what safety feels like, though even he struggles to understand his own identity. Their secret romance becomes a refuge, but it can’t stay hidden forever. When violence and control close in, Eleanor is forced to choose between safety and silence. The ending is bittersweet—open, yet hopeful—because Rowell understands that not all love stories are about staying together; some are about saving each other when it matters most.

Key Themes / Main Ideas

• First love — connection as survival.
• Identity — race, class, and belonging in adolescence.
• Abuse and resilience — courage born from vulnerability.
• Family — the line between protection and control.
• Music and memory — art as escape and communication.

Strengths and Weaknesses

• Strengths — Honest emotion, vivid detail, and dialogue that feels lived-in.
• Strengths — The mix of humor and heartbreak feels genuine, not forced.
• Weaknesses — The ending frustrates some readers, but its restraint feels true.
• Weaknesses — The 1980s setting, while rich, may alienate younger readers unfamiliar with its references.

Reviewed with focus on themes, audience, and takeaways — Rainbow Rowell