“‘I just want to break that song into pieces,’ she said, ‘and love them all to death.'”

Eleanor & Park is a book that’s been rightfully reviewed on this site before. It’s a book about first love, first heartbreak, family, and the people that you find that make everything better. I’ve actually read this book before, when it first came out, but last week a friend of mine read it for the first time and I was inspired to read through it again. Fair warning, if you haven’t yet read it (and you should!), there will be spoilers about the ending ahead.

I picked the quote for the title of this review because it’s best describes how I feel about this book. It’s one of those novels that once you finish it, you want to start over and wrap yourself in the warmth of the words. I want to crawl inside of it, to live with these people and watch their lives and just be a part of it. It’s a book that ruins all other books, at least for the short term. Once I finished it I couldn’t really get into any other book for the rest of the weekend.

The first time I read the book, I hated the ending. I hated how it just cut off and left me wanting more and I didn’t know what was written on the postcard, what was going to happen next. Now, and especially after the cluster that was the HIMYM finale, I see the beauty in how Rowell chose to end the book. Reading through it again I was able to spend more time with the details, really start to absorb more of who Eleanor and Park were as people.  I thought about who I was at 16, 17 and how hard it can be to not only fall in love, but to admit to someone that you love them. It’s a scary, vulnerable situation and seeing where Eleanor came from and the abuse she suffered, it made me understand more why she couldn’t tell Park until so much time had passed. (I am, of course, of the opinion that those were the three words written on the postcard.)

This is a book that builds and moves so beautifully that you feel compelled to read it fast and to see what’s going to happen next. Don’t. This is a book that deserves a cup of tea, a long afternoon, and your full attention. You probably won’t regret it.