Barely makes 3 stars. 
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 Gosh, I don't think I have ever been so conflicted about a book before. I'm not even sure I would be able to pick a rating for ELEANOR & PARK if I hadn't have rated each category by breaking the story down. It's so... different that you aren't positive if it is five stars or one star. As I thought about longer, I realized my feelings were toward the lower end of the spectrum. 
 Eleanor & Park are misfits, plain and simple. Park stands out as the only Korean in school, and Eleanor sticks out because she is the new kid-and well, because she's Eleanor. The author kind of wrote Eleanor to be as weird as possible without being totally "I-don't-want-my-children-near-this-monstrosity" type character. 
 The plot follows the basic YA contemporary formula of two people who seem like they would never be friends, much less have a romantic interest in each other. Add in some family drama and dramatic elements, and bask in the love of readers everywhere. Luckily, ELEANOR & PARK was written in such a unique way that is set itself apart from other books in its genre. 
 And I loved that. Until at the very end it seemed like there was an unnecessary twist thrown in to just add drama and angst. This ruined the novel for me. Eleanor and Park already had a great love story, and adding that twist made it seem like it was worth much less. Because of this, I couldn't sum up that much emotion for that "bittersweet ending." 
 The writing style is not for everyone, and some parts of vulgar in the way they are brutally honest and spot on to how most teenagers speak. I recommend this to older teens. 
 If you are a die-hard fan of contemporary, this is probably a sure winner for you. But if you are getting tired of reading contemporary romances because they can get repetitive-avoid it. Especially if you are someone who takes offense easily or likes their novels squeaky clean.