My First book that I read that was out of my comfort zone was Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. This teen romance novel tells the story of a young pair of teens named Eleanor and Park and how they struggle to keep their first relationship afloat despite the discrimination and harassment from both their classmates and Eleanor's abusive stepdad Richie.
Personally, although I really didn't like the idea of reading some sappy teen love story, I thought the book was well written and could really send the reader on an emotional rollercoaster if they really got connected with the characters. Some of the strengths of the book would have to be its writing style and ability to sympathize with most people around the main character's age group who may be experiencing some of the problems that the main characters are going through within the novel. This book's writing style is one that switches narration between Park and Eleanor at each new chapter. Due to this unique style of writing, the story is told from both perspectives, appealing to a wider range of readers. Next, the book really sympathizes to those who are going through problems or who are feeling a little bit down by telling an inspirational story of overcoming obstacles in an effort to help each other. Since Eleanor is the new kid at Park's highschool, she has to deal with constant bullying based on how she looks and tells about how she is able to deal with them. Some of the weaknesses that I found in this book would have to be its somewhat guessable plot and the fact that there isn't very many plot twists or elements that would make it more interesting. I feel as if the pace of the novel was pretty monotonous and that I could in some cases know exactly what would happen before I read that far in the book. Also, considering I really enjoy books that keep me on the edge of my seat, this book really wasn't too enjoyable for me to read overall. If anything, I'd probably recommend this book to young adults who would preferably be in high school because I feel that the book goes over some sensitive topics that younger readers may not be comfortable with reading and that it would be the time when the reader would connect most with the plot of the book.
This book was way out of my comfort zone given my background in solely reading sci-fi or action/thriller books. This book slowly ended up growing on me and although it wasn't my absolute favorite book, it wasn't the worst book I've read. This book didn't have too big of an impact on my reading preference but I feel like it was a genre that I would eventually end up reading anyways. Honestly, I really didn't enjoy reading this book and I probably won't be reading another book within this genre anytime soon unless it is necessary for school. I would much rather be reading a book that makes me want to keep reading rather than one that felt like more of a chore than fun.