Fangirl / Eleanor and Park

I, firstly, have to thank my sister who has been so kind to bring me back books from places where books are more available and sold at a cheaper price. I have just finished "Fangirl" by Rainbow Rowell, and a month ago I read "Eleanor and Park" by the same author. I have to say, OMG! They are so good! And now I am trusting whatever Rainbow Rowell is writing. 

For those of you who likes young adult fiction, these books would be a really nice treat for you. They kind of read like a chicklit, but a lot deeper and more interesting. Not as light, I'd have to say. 

Both books are about young love at high school and college age. Both present a quirky girl character who is geeky and full of insecurities, who got to be paired up with a hot guy. If you are a girl, and you consider yourself a little weird or perhaps unlovable, you might have a kick out of being represented in these books. Although they have the same outlining idea of love, family relationships, and geeky references (both music and literature), these books are set to a totally different tones. Unlike some authors who can't help but repeat their great stories (like John Green, oops), Rowell has successfully written two separate amazing books.

So, let me start with "Eleanor and Park". Eleanor is a big girl, she dresses weird, and she comes from a broken abusive home. She is a new girl her high school and with the way she looks, has no hope of fitting in. On her first day of school, she sat on the bus beside a boy named Park, who obviously tried to make her invisible by not talking or looking at her. Park is not they popular boy, but he is normal, and not looking forward to degrade himself by being associated with Eleanor.

However, one day, he caught Eleanor peeking over to read his book on the bus. He decided to leave the book on his seat for Eleanor to bring home and read. That is when the unusual relationship started, with Park sharing more books and music tapes. The love story between them is richly entangled in their own family issues from Eleanor's abusive step father, Eleanor's brothers and sisters, Park's hard feelings towards his dad, Park's mom's struggle to accept Eleanor, etc. All these relationships gave depth to the book and gave the story a reality check. 

What I like about "Eleanor and Park" is the cover :) It's so cute! Obviously I like the story, but perhaps, the description given to Eleanor is a bit much. She is not the pretty girl, I get that, but it's hard to picture the main character being so out of the norm: big, fat, boyish clothes. 

As for "Fangirl", it is by far is the better book of the two. It has a more cheerful feel to it with more lovable characters.Cath and Wren are twin girls, freshmen in college, and for the first time in their lives, trying to live a separate lives from each other. Well, the separate life thing is more of Wren's idea, not so much of Cath's preference. Cath is the main character. She is famous in the fanfiction arena, writing on the Simon Snow series, which parallels that of Harry Potter series' fame. She stays in the dorm, and met a guy on her first day there, whom she thought to be her roommate's boyfriend.

What I like about "Fangirl" is that it pictures an awkward freshman life, which unfortunately a lot of people can relate to. It's also about love within Cath and Wren's broken family, and finding your own way through the newly gained independence in college. Of course, I love the love scenes :) They are written beautifully and nothing gross. I was also very happy that the stuff I expect to be happening in the end of the book happens somewhere in the middle, which means I still have 200 more pages of goodness.

The downside comes from the fanfiction writing itself. I am not into it, so whenever there's a section on the fanfiction that Cath writes, I kind of just browse through it quickly.

So, if you can get your hands to these books, buy! Thank you Rainbow Rowell for the joy in reading your writing :)