“Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn’t supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”
Ugh, dammit. That’s such a good line. Why can’t I write like that? Why can’t everyone write like that? It’s appropriate to the age of the character but still profound.
This was a Christmas gift and I devoured it as quickly as I could, which isn’t as fast as it used to be thanks to the baby. I requested any Rowell books after having fallen in love with Carry On, and this definitely hits a lot of the same beats as that book, while being more down to earth than a book about a vampire magician orphan (fancy that!).
You believe these characters, you believe in them, and even when they make bad choices, you understand their motivations. I fell in love with the central couple as much as they did one another. The tone and content is so spot on to a high schooler that it makes you realize how precocious or dumbed down a lot of YA is, and both Park and Eleanor feel like specific kids as opposed to “different protagonist #512”
Super excited to add more Rowell to the shelves, and for the kid to read some as well.
This is the only Rainbow Rowell book I’ve only read once, because I found Eleanor’s home life so extremely uncomfortable that I just can’t bear to re-read the book just yet. I am still amazed that she hasn’t written anything that I don’t wholeheartedly love, though.