Eleanor & Park

Fat ginger falls for Asian nerd, probably the two unlikeliest of protagonists for a YA romance novel. Ugh - typing that makes me realize I just read a YA romance novel. I need a moment.

It's a fantastic build up to their first touch on the bus. From there - well it just didn't escalate fast enough for me. And no, I don't mean getting to third base - I just kept waiting for a crisis to hit.

I appreciate Rainbow's ability to write a teen love story that didn't have me wanting to reach up through my nose and yank my brain out. She's got a deft hand and I'm sure there are people out there taking passages out of the book and pasting them over washed out photos of couples kissing to throw on Pinterest. And so maybe that makes me a heartless cynic that punts little kittens but it wasn't entirely for me.

That said, I love the community that Rainbow Rowell has managed to create around her books. I love that she's on Tumblr and that there's a Tumblr book club for her other release for 2013 - Fangirl. I'd love to see more of this kind of engagement and discussion around modern releases. I wish people didn't feel like it has to be a YA read to be this approachable.