Hello Friends,

Before we get into this, I must warn you that you are in for a emotional rollercoaster – so keep your heart out of it in whatever way you can. If you can’t, neither could I, but we can cry together later.

This week we’re going back in time to the 80s. Think neon clothes that make everyone look like video workout instructors, big hair, and great music. Imagine a John Hughes movie (amazing soundtrack included) and a John Green book made sweet, sweet love during a night of drunken passion, and created something too amazing for this world.

That’s what “Eleanor & Park” by Rainbow Rowell is.

I know what you’re thinking, “It’s just a book, Janine, isn’t this a bit excessive?”

Welp, short answer, “NO.” Long answer, “H-E-double hockey sticks NO, how dare you?”

Reasons why this book is amazing:

1. It’s about two misfit kids, Eleanor and Park, who are bus buddies that understand each other in the ways that matter most. The way that reminds us that what’s on the outside is just a formality, and that sometimes the greatest relationships can stem from the smallest of kind gestures.
2. PARK MAKES PLAYLISTS FOR ELEANOR. Word of advice peeps: If you find someone who makes playlists for you, consider keeping them around FOREVER.
3. Their love story has to be one of the best I’ve ever read, without factoring in the fact that they’re literally in high school. Is this even legal? Who knows, it was the 80s, so let’s just roll with it.
4. This book will hit you in all the feels. I easily felt about a million emotions at once. This love is too pure. Honestly, truly, we mere humans are not worthy.
5. It’s written in dual points of view, so you won’t have to worry about not knowing what the other character is thinking in that moment, you’ll just know.
6. The film rights have been signed over to DreamWorks, so this baby might be coming to a theatre near you sometime soon.
7. You might get the urge to try and use vanilla extract as perfume. I know I did.

If that’s not enough, let’s add in the fact that there is an actual soundtrack built into the book. Rainbow Rowell even posted the songs that helped her while writing this book, which I’ve compiled into a Spotify playlist for you, and I basically changed nothing because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Yes, I made another playlist for you, feel free to fall in love with me.