This book is a misfit love story, and a very touching one. It's about how two people who were both a little bit broken fixed each other. Eleanor is the overweight, frizzy-red-haired, new girl who always has mismatched men's clothing on, but she doesn't seem to care what people say about her. She finds almost all the new kids in her school shallow and rude (nothing like the kids at her old school, who loved her for her quirky personality and sense of humor), except for Park, the rich Korean boy with only a few on-again, off-again friends who was kind enough to share his seat on the bus with her that first day. Thus begins a friendship between the two, sharing comics and music on the bus, but never talking. Eventually the silence breaks and they fall in love. But all the while, Eleanor is sinking deeper into her sadness and insecurities, as well as her fear of and anger at her step-father.
Eleanor is a very independent, closed-off person and she has a lot of trust issues. This is most likely because her father abandoned her family, and her step-father is abusive, so she was forced to take care of herself. This really shows when Park gets into a fight with someone after they insulted her. Park just wanted to defend her and show that he loves her, but Eleanor got very angry, because she doesn't want other people to stick up for her or make a big deal out of her insecurities. It makes her feel too vulnerable, which she believes would lead to her getting hurt. This also happens when Park wants her to meet his family. Thinking that they wouldn't accept her, Eleanor avoids going to his house. I think part of the reason why she does this is also that she believes that if his family doesn't like her, then he doesn't love her either. She honestly doesn't think that he loves her, and doesn't trust him enough to fall in love with him. Eventually though, towards the end of the book, she opens up and admits that she loves him. Her first love made her open up to the people who really cared about her.
Although Park's family circumstances are much better, his father thinks he isn't manly enough. He doesn't understand him, and although Park has his mom's unconditional love and support, it's not enough - he's lonely and feels misunderstood. His father is always pushing him to be more manly, having made him take karate classes from a young age, trying to get him to learn to drive, comparing him to his brother, and just trying to force him to be his ideal son. But Eleanor truly accepts him, and everything that his father doesn't understand about him is another thing for her to love. One example of this is when Park starts wearing black eyeliner. His father thinks it's too girly and that he shouldn't wear it, but Eleanor thinks it makes him look even more handsome, and that it's not too girly for a boy to wear. His first love gave him someone who loves him for who he is.
To me, this book pushed the idea that you have to trust the person you love and break down your walls, but it wasn't corny because these two are each such quirky characters, with their taste in old music and love for comics, but also their social differences, personal issues, and a genuine love for one another that's so rare in teenagers, making the entire story very unique.
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