Book Review #443 - Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.

Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.

Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Having read and loved Fangirl in March, I had very high expectations for this book. If it's possible, I think I actually liked this book more. 

What was great about this book was how believable and realistic it was in dealing with real issues. The romantic aspect was well dealt with as well. 

Between Park and Eleanor's five parents they cover virtually every parental type which is good because every reader will probably relate to at least one of them. 

Even though this book is set in 1986, it has a story strong enough to convey its relevance in any time period. Apart from the music and technology, it could have been set in any time period anyway. 

Being 2/2 with Rainbow Rowell's books has made me even more excited to read Attachments.   

Book Review #442 - Letters from the Inside by John Marsden

The relationship between two teenage girls who become acquainted through letters intensifies as their correspondence reveals some of the terrible problems of their lives.

My Rating: 3/5

I've lost track of the amount of John Marsden books that I have read, but they all seem to be of very high quality. 

This book tells the story of two girls from very different backgrounds who decide to be pen pals. 

The more the book progresses, the darker it gets and both girls begin to realize that their lives are more alike than they first imagined. 

This is a very character driven novel, and I felt like Tracey had a more dominant voice than Mandy. 

The ending was open to interpretation which is something that I really dislike in books.

Book Review #441 - Run by Gregg Olsen

What if you discovered that everything you thought you knew about yourself was a lie? 

Rylee is fifteen. She comes home from school one afternoon to find the most shocking thing possible - her father dead, with a knife through his heart, and a key clutched in his hand. Her mother's purse is on the counter, but she appears to be long gone. A message in blood is written on the floor... RUN.

With her brother in tow, Rylee begins a dark journey, one that will uncover horrific and chilling crimes and lead her to an unexpected and gruesome discovery about her real father and what - or who - is behind his insatiable desire to kill. By the journey's end Rylee's childhood is a long way behind her...

My Rating: 4.5/5

I received this book for review from Five Mile Press. 

This book was very gripping and thrilling from the very first page and didn't let up throughout.

The plot was very fast paced and was filled with so many twists and turns it was very hard to predict where it was going. 

The realistic nature of the characters (especially Rylee) grounded the unbelievability of the plot at times. 

I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would considering the fact that it is classified under a genre I don't often read.