GLOWING, DROOLING, OVER-EXCITED REVIEW FOR ELEANOR & PARK

I could copy other blogs, full of end-of-the-year questions:
"What book do you wish you'd written?"
"What book do you wish you could live in?"
"What's your top ten favorite list of books of 2013?"






But what's the point? This book is bigger than all the above.
My wonderful critique partner, goddess-Christa, recommended this book ages ago. But, as usual, it took me a while to actually read it.
But once I started the first page--crap, what a great first page!--I couldn't get enough.
I marathoned it. I raced it to the finish.
I pretty much read the whole thing in a little over 24 hours. (So my family is probably relieved I'm done. I wasn't totally oblivious to their needs. I fed the kids, tossed in a load of laundry or two, and made cookies. So I wasn't technically neglectful. But still. I just wanted to read.)
I didn't want to do anything else but devour just one more chapter.
And then another.
And another.

I loved every bit of it.

Every. Single. Page.

I don't know anything about the comic books discussed in the book. 

Or taekwondo (in fact, I had to look up the word to see if I'd spelled it right. I had.)

But I knew all the music. (Just had to prove how cool I am.)

I'm not going to give you any spoilers.

Because I want you to discover everything for yourself.

I'm not even a big romantic story reader, but this blew me away.

I adored Park.

I wanted to be Eleanor's friend. Every hardship she endured made me want even more to be her friend.

I just loved this book so much, from the very first page to the very last.

From the very first line, in fact.

He'd stopped trying to bring her back.

Isn't that a GREAT first line? Just fabulous.

Pulls you in right away.

The characters captivated me.

The story compelled me to pretty much ignore everything else in life except it.

And it felt so good to love a book this much. 

It's just what I needed to give me back the inspiration I'll admit I've been lacking as of late. (I was blaming it on my general lack of sunlight and vitamin D, here in Artic Minnesota. But I think it was more than that. Sometimes I feel like, when I write, I empty myself out on the page. And sometimes I need to read something WONDERFUL to fill myself back up again. And this. Was. It.)

Thank you, Rainbow Rowell, for writing this. You rock. Like Joy Division and the Cure, all rolled into one.