Calendar Girls May: Favorite Slow Burn

IT’S FINALLY MAY. Thank goodness, right?

Our Calendar Girls theme this month is World Turtle Day: Favorite Slow Burn. Now, in my experience, slow burn usually refers to romance novels, which you all know are not something I’m into. But I guess there are some YA romances that I really enjoy, and most of those are pretty slow burn-y. I guess slow burn is my preferred trope?

So without my normal rambling, let’s get on with it. My pick for May is…

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Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Let’s be honest, anything by Rainbow Rowell. I love love love her writing, especially her romances. And with the exception of Landline which is distinctly … other … and Wayward Son which is a sequel, all of her books could be categorized as a slow burn. But I think Eleanor & Park remains my favorite. Partly it’s because she captured the experience of first love so perfectly. Partly because it’s so heart-breakingly bittersweet. Partly because she executed dual-POV so gosh darned successfully. But mostly because her writing is just magic to me. Her characters feel more real to me than anyone else’s, and I get completley lost in her books. This was the first YA book I fell in love with as an adult, the book that re-ignited my interest in reading new books, instead of just re-reading Jane Austen and Alexandre Dumas over and over again. And it absolutely drags your heart through the mud while setting a fire under your goosebumped skin.

Thanks to Flavia, Adrienne, and Dani for hosting. Head on over to their pages to see what everyone else picked. And hopefully now that I’m done with classes for the semester (!!!!!!!) I will have time to do the same. 🙂