Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell is another one of these authors who I knew I would like but took way too long to get around to reading their books. I’d heard such good reviews of Eleanor and Park and I’m glad to say that I finally read it, and loved it.

Eleanor and Park is basically a teenage romance between the two titular characters. Eleanor is the new girl at school and struggles through bullying for being fat and “weird” as well as abuse from her incredibly unpleasant stepdad. Park is one of a few Asian kids at school and is only just cool and unnoticeable to avoid the wrong sort of attention from the kids up the back of the bus.

I really thought I’d grown out of this sort of book. But, then again, maybe no one ever does. The plotline seemed a little simplistic and, overall, “teenage”. However, I found I couldn’t help but dive into it headfirst. I was torn between reading it and not reading it – reading it, because it was such a compelling read that I wanted to just curl up and read it cover to cover in one go, but not reading it, because then I would finish it, and it would be over.

This book really explored the idea of “conventional beauty”. Neither Eleanor or Park think of themselves as attractive in the slightest, while at the same time considering the other to be like a work of art. They both seem to have features that are not what it seen as being generally attractive, and yet can be incredibly beautiful to certain people. park in particular is misled in his belief that Asian boys cannot be attractive, as they look too feminine.

To me, Eleanor and Park seemed so much more realistic than other, more popular young adult romances. The characters aren’t pretentious, or they at least feel acutely embarrassed after saying anything resembling a deep thought or metaphor. “I love you” is painful to say, because they are incredibly self-conscience . They are also self-absorbed, to a degree, because they are people and they are teenagers and that is what makes them so believable.

Trying not to give away any spoilers, I have to say that the ending drove me crazy. I was convinced there had to be just one more page. It took me much longer than it should have to accept that there wasn’t. I think I understand now, but at the time it was nothing short of infuriating.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good drama or a romance of any kind.

The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M Harris

The mere existence of this book excited me immensely. I’ve always had a love for mythology, especially Norse mythology, and within that, Loki in particular fascinated me. He was so cunning, so clever with words, so incredibly likeable. I’m always ready to hear another story of his meddling ways. So to know that I was not alone in my love of this Trickster, and that someone had actually written a book that revolved around his point of view was incredible.
The Gospel of Loki is what it sounds like. It is the story of Loki, a demon trickster god, told from Loki’s own perspective. Not the most powerful of the gods, he relies on the power of his cunning, persuasion and trickery to influence others and to save his own skin. Loki is in many stories a villain, and in some a hero, and in this book he is both.
Loki is in many ways an anti-hero. He has many flaws, which lead him into making decisions that result in tragedy for himself and for others. However, I think it is important to remember that Loki is not so much immoral, as amoral. Most of us grow up being taught basic universal laws, common manners and human principles, so that by the time we are adults, we accept them as truths which everyone knows. On the other hand, Loki began his life in Chaos, where there are no rules. By the time he joins the gods, he has spent decades in a place where no one has morals and everyone acts on instinct. As a result, he cannot fully understand the concept or the point in things such as honesty, loyalty or monogamy. I doubt if Balder, the god of peace whom Loki refers to as Golden Boy, would have turned out as a much better person under the same circumstances.
This book had a very strange beginning, which I suppose was to be expected, as it begins with the Norse version of the Creation story. I found the book a little hard to get into at first, and even felt slightly disappointed in it, since so far the book was not living up to my high expectations. However, sticking with it was a good choice, as it gets much better – more interesting, exciting, and even very dark towards the end. My immediate thought after finishing the book was that I wanted to go back and start it again.
Aside from a couple of main characters around whom The Gospel of Loki revolved, the book also had a whole host of great minor characters. One of my favourites was Loki’s crazy but well-intentioned wife, Sigyn, with her never-ending supply of cake. She is loyal, caring, and well-meaning, but also naive, ridiculous and completely insane. I would have liked to have seen more of her relationship with Loki, and the couple’s relationship with their sons, which I felt the book kind of skipped over.
I’ve said before that the book turns very dark at the end, and it does. Loki tells the reader within the first few chapters that the book ends with the end of the worlds, so you can’t expect a happy ending. What I wasn’t expecting, however, was the note of hope at the very end. This is why I love Loki. Only a book with him as the protagonist could end with the end of the worlds, and still leave the reader wondering about the possibility of a sequel.
I would recommend this book to those who love mythology, clever trickery and an underdog. I will always love Loki, no matter what his flaws may be.