Book Review: Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell

Kindred Spirits

by Rainbow Rowell

Source: I bought an e-version from the Google Play Store

Genre: Young adult, romance, fiction, short story, contemporary

Synopsis:

'Everybody likes everything these days. The whole world is a nerd.'
'Are you mad because other people like Star Wars? Are you mad because people like me like Star Wars?'
'Maybe.'

If you broke Elena's heart, Star Wars would spill out. So when she decides to queue outside her local cinema to see the new movie, she's expecting a celebration with crowds of people who love Han, Luke and Leia just as much as she does.

What she's not expecting is to be last in a line of only three people; to have to pee into a collectible Star Wars soda cup behind a dumpster or to meet that unlikely someone who just might truly understand the way she feels.   

Review:
This was actually one of the first Rainbow Rowell stories I read. I don't recall exactly how many pages there are, but it definitely is a shorter one. It felt like it could have been a bit longer, and yet it was probably just the perfect length the way it was.

 

Elena's father instilled in her his love of Star Wars. She had dreamed of the day she could join "the line" to wait for the release of a new movie. When she finally gets her chance, it's not quite what she was expecting. There are only two people in line: the first a hardcore Star Wars fan probably her parents' age (Troy), the other a hostile boy around her age (Gabe). She thinks that maybe the others will join as the days progress... but they never really do.

 

Waiting in line is a serious business, and people just don't really do it anymore. People ridicule them. Elena's mom drives by frequently trying to convince her to come home. The movie theatre managers reminds them that they can buy their tickets online in advance, there's really no need to sit in line...

 

As the day approaches, Elena does her best to make the most of the situation: bringing a little life to the line, posting pictures of the fun to her Instagram, and trying to befriend Gabe. Despite his reluctance and hostility, Gabe helps her out with line etiquette (and peeing behind dumpsters in the middle of the night). As the countdown to release day approaches, Elena wears Gabe down, and attracts attention to the line with her Instagram posts.

It's a quick, cute, funny read, and the ending is both sweet and funny. I enjoyed it, but it's not one of my faves, so I only rated it a 3 on Goodreads, but I'd definitely recommend it!

My Goodreads rating:

It's Monday! What Are YOU Reading? #3

It's Monday! What are YOU Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by The Book Date.

Good morning, friends! How was everyone's weekend? Mine was pretty good. I always finish work early on Fridays, so I headed straight home to finish reading Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller, enjoy the lovely weather, and more or less waste the afternoon. Saturday I had a completely lazy day, but I did get a few things done in the late afternoon. Yesterday was pretty quiet - had a typical Sunday morning and then spent most of the afternoon/evening alone reading, watching TV, and doing laundry. So it was a semi-productive weekend!

 

As I mentioned, I finished Daughter of the Pirate King on Friday, for a reading challenge I was doing with a Facebook group. It was a great read and I really didn't know what I wanted to read after that! I was on such a high!

 

So today  I am reading (which I started over the weekend) Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I don't really make a habit of reading several books at once, I tend to get the storylines confused. But Saturday morning I saw the first official trailer for the new A Wrinkle in Time  movie (which looks amazing, by the way!!) so I decided it couldn't wait. Both books were on my original summer TBR list, and I am loving both so far. They are definitely different enough that there's no real danger of getting the stories mixed up.

I have also been poking away at a book I picked up at Winners-HomeSense a week or so ago, called The Tricky Art of Co-existing: How to Behave Decently No Matter What Life Throws Your Way by Sandi Toksvig. It's an etiquette book, which is kind of my guilty reading pleasure, even though non-fiction is really my least favourite genre. I own several etiquette books, from different time periods. I just find it really interesting to see what is considered the "proper" way to conduct oneself, through the ages. I especially like the wedding etiquette book (the one that started it all) I have from the 1920's.

 

So, what are YOU reading this fine Monday? Let me know in the comments below! Have you read any of these books, if so what were your thoughts (without spoilers)? What are your book-related guilty pleasures?

 

Well, that's all for now! I'll be in touch again soon.



Book Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park

by Rainbow Rowell

I found my copy of this book at a thrift store, and I was so excited! I had received this beautiful exclusive necklace in my OwlCrate box a few months before, which I adored!, and after finally finding and reading the book this necklace now has so much more meaning to me and I love it.

This was also my first Rainbow Rowell read. My best friend adores her books, so it was high time that I was finally introduced. :)

The story is about the unlikely romance between the big, red-headed, strange Eleanor, and small, quiet, Korean-American Park, and it is quite possibly my favourite love story of all time (well, for the moment, anyway). I try to steer clear of typical high school romance novels because they're usually just so cringe-worthy, and I just don't want to be reminded of that excruciating period of my life. This book, however, did a very good job of keeping the love story sweet and real.

Eleanor, who was living with friends of her mom's for the past year, moves back in with her mom & step-dad. She's the new girl, with a flaming red mane and questionable sense of style. She's an immediate magnet for the wrong kind of attention as she steps onto the school bus, and doesn't make matters any better by trying to find a seat. Park eventually concedes to let her sit with him because he feels bad for her and is frustrated by her weirdness. That's all it took. They continue sitting together, morning and afternoon, and eventually start reading his comic books together. Then talking about music. Then they start talking about other things, start seeing each other outside of school. It really is just the sweetest development. But, of course, all good things come to an end. In this case the end is Park helping Eleanor to run away, and possibly never seeing each other again. Although, the ending is kind of left to interpretation. Which is both fun and frustrating.

I adored both characters of Eleanor and Park. I was initially irritated by Park's parents, but really liked them in the end. Eleanor's family, however, I never really cared for. All in all, if you hadn't noticed, I loved this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Young Adult fiction, contemporary, stories about high school, and clean romance.