Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Eleanor & Park

Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

126 reviews

michaelapr's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Eleanor & Park is a reread for me. I did not remember anything about it from the first time (I've read a lot since 2018). After rereading I've decided Eleanor & Park is still a 3 star for me, but not a 3.5 like before. It was hard for me to get through some of the super gooey parts, I'll be honest- probably because I'm not the audience for this book anymore. Or because my heart has lost some of its romance from disuse. But it's well written and sweet so it still gets a good rating from me. I also liked the ending better than before even though it's a very "young YA" ending.

Content Warnings

andreaandre02's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

leontyna's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I don't know how to rate it, on one hand reading this book feels like a teen experience and I liked most of the premise, on the other hand there are numerous issues with the way it's written. I read it in translation, so I wasn't even aware of some of them until I read some reviews (for example the slurs).
I picked it up from the library because I enjoyed Rowell's other books. I was aware of the problematic depiction of race in this one but I wanted to make my own opinion, so I decided to read it. Having finished it, I agree that Rowell made many unfortune choices writing it. There are parts that seem fine but on the whole I just wish Park wasn't Korean, since clearly the author didn't have much idea about the culture and there is so much explicit and subtle racism in the book.

Content Warnings

skybluespines's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Check the TW!

I really enjoyed this book! It was very nostalgic, reminding me of what it feels like to be a teenager with a crush and dealing with big real life things. I loved all the music and comic references, even without being familiar with the specifics of the things referenced, haha. YA romance is a genre I tend to stay away from, but I'm really glad I read this one.

Content Warnings

allingoodtime's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I went into this book just knowing I was going to love it, I’ve been meaning to read it for years. Unfortunately, after it was first published and everyone loved on it I didn’t pay attention to anything else that was said about this book. I didn’t want my expectations to be too high. But if I had looked into current views on this story I probably wouldn’t have read it. It’s so hard to review this book because, on the one hand, I loved the story, on the other hand, it is racist and fatphobic and hard to read in the year 2024 when we know so much more (yes, more than even a mere 12 years ago when it was originally published) about internalized racism, bullying, body image issues, etc.

As I was reading this book I kept thinking, “I cannot be the only one that finds this racist!” After I read the book I looked into it, after all, I am a white woman and maybe I was wrong. Nope. My feelings about it were spot on. Hopefully, I can explain this correctly. I understand there was racism in the mid/late 1980s in a rural area. Park’s family is the only Asian family around. Of course there is racism. I even understand Park having internalized racism when he has a white father who is looked up to in the community and who he looks nothing like. However, the racism and Park’s feelings about himself and his mom are never addressed. Neither is Eleanor’s internalized fatphobia. In fact, Park has some not-so-nice thoughts about Eleanor even after they are a couple.

Here’s the thing. This book could have been amazing, even by 2024 standards, without the racism. The core of the story, the friendship between Eleanor and Park and Eleanor’s struggle to do what is right for herself, is beautiful. There are good lessons in this book, but they are overshadowed by the bad lessons. This is why it’s so important to have a push for Own Voices stories. From what I can tell the author is a white woman and it shows. I’m not going to give this book a star rating because I just cannot figure out how to do so. This book really didn’t age well and makes it nearly impossible.

Content Warnings

alex_k99's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Content Warnings

lagray27's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

katari636's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book had me in the edge of my seat the entire time! It is so much more than just a teen romance! I highly recommend!

Content Warnings

valeriaana_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Content Warnings

marlee_grace's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark lighthearted sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I really wanted to like this book. It was sweet and I liked the characters, I really saw them. But I just found the entire plot dragged on way too long. Slow burn for a disappointing ending with strings left untied.

Content Warnings

More...