UGH WHY THE ENDING. IT WAS PERFECT UNTIL THAT. 
 Triggery/spoilery confessions below: 
 Like holy character development, Batman. Park starts out as this regular high school kid who cares way too much about what people think and he ends up standing up for the girl he cares about and eventually doesn't give a hoot what people are saying. Like yes. And it didn't happen overnight, either. It was a process that he had to work through, getting over himself and the societal pressures that he was experiencing. Like ugh. I identified wayyyy too much with Eleanor, however. Like I had a toothbrush growing up, but my mother never ever stood up for me when it came to my step-dad and she did things like "finding" money in the washing machine so that we could get new clothes or get our hair cut. I actually got kicked out at one point, as well, right after I turned 16, and not even over calling the cops. So yeah.... not to sound like I'm having a pity party, but it was very difficult and revealing to realize that I really had grown up in an abusive household, even if I wasn't ever physically hurt. Her freaking step-dad, man. I wanted to throat chop him and send him to prison where the bad guys take care of trash like him. A 16 YEAR OLD?!! Come on. I just hate that there are women out there who deal with this and are in situations where they can't leave and just take it... I can't imagine how hard it is to find a way out with 6 kids and someone as crazy as Richie. He is the worst type of people and I really just want to give hope and help to every woman who feels trapped in a situation like that. Like seriously. I will help you. 
 Anyway. Ugh. The love story was kind of perfect, and Rowell did a fantastic job creating the characters and alternating their POV's while mirroring them in a slightly different way. It was kind of poetic. I loved how Eleanor is not a "typically" pretty girl, but Rowell gave her such a kick-ass personality, and she had genuine issues to work through, especially after every guy she's ever known has screwed her over. And Rowell did not gloss over the messy parts, not one bit. Plus, she threw in the Cleaver family and let us know how un-perfect they were too, especially when deciding things for their kids. Not to mention, she so brought up the issue of gender roles and what a more feminine guy has to go through just because he cries or doesn't want to play sports, and how that effects his relationship with his father. LIKE YES. GENDER ROLES S-U-C-K. Literally, so many wonderful things about this book. I kind of knew that the plot-twist was going to happen??? But I thought it was going to be a lot worse, and so I really iced my heart by the end so I wouldn't disintegrate on the spot when I got to it. 
 Love love.