Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Eleanor Oliphant está perfectamente by Gail Honeyman

166 reviews

bookishcookiemonster's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Heartbreaking, but leaves on a good note of hope. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Confinement and Death of parent

a_l_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

+ parts of the storyline & characteristics were relatable for me personally

- the wrap text describes a mere slice of what the story is actually about
- sometimes the main character reads social cues perfecrly fine and somethimes she doesn’t get them at all. big inconsistency there.
- too long

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Child death, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Alcoholism

Minor: Sexual violence, Vomit, and Stalking

madlain's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Rape and Fatphobia

slucchesi06's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Abandonment, and Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent

httponyo's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death, Rape, Child death, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent

samwardhaugh's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book reminds me of this artwork by Jaako Pallasvuo - https://preview.redd.it/not-solitude-and-loneliness-by-jaakko-pallasvuo-v0-oxqc8u2obb1b1.jpg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=ffde693e984b8c129c0c64fe3e5b3616a9a75956

I think the author did a great job of portraying how crushing loneliness can be, and how small moments of connection and kindness can colour your whole life.

In places I felt as though Eleanor's dialogue switched jarringly from overly formal to quite natural sounding, but I think this might have been a deliberate artistic choice to create familiarity or add distance based on the scene, and it didn't overall take me out of the book. Enough details were dropped about the end mystery that you could piece it together, but rather than being frustrating that Eleanor wasn't catching up, you felt bad that she wasn't letting herself draw those conclusions. 
Overall, well written, entertaining, full of longing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Stalking, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent

gae's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

margaretrose's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Death, Suicide, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Addiction, and Child death

thestorydoer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is an interesting and in depth character study which deals with themes of trauma and abuse (watch out for those content warnings).  I feel like this book requires a re-read for me to properly formulate my thoughts on this book but here are a few brief thoughts~~~

Narratively, this book is fantastic. Each plot point flows from one beat to the next with a steady pace throughout the novel which is an impressive feat. Each character with an ebb and flow of introduction is introduced at the exact right time. It has excellent climactic reveals and the dialogue is good. 

The character of Oliphant herself is utterly fantastic. An interesting character whose real world often intersects with her trauma in fascinating ways. There is an excellent emphasis on her social skills which walks the line on 'unsociable' people and how they can form a charisma in their own right. 

This is about as far as I can talk about this book without spoiling so here we go: 

The inclusion of Sammy is nothing short of excellent. When Eleanor is introduced to his family, it is also excellent in what this means to her. However, once Sammy dies, I couldn't help but feel the connection to that family was lost, especially once Eleanor's best friend Raymond loses interest in Laura. This is a shame, especially as Sammy as a character was also short lived, only included in four scenes I believe. I also don't understand the reason for Raymond losing interest in Laura, and I felt Sammy's family could've had a larger role to play in the novel. 

The idea to make Eleanor's mother a figment of her subconscious was also an interesting narrative choice but one I grew to accept. However, the idea of Eleanor having a sister is predictable. Roughly 200 pages predictable. However, this thought would need a reread because I can't distinguish whether this was intentional or not. That being said, the dialogue with the social worker is a masterclass in writing with missing information and had me fooled the first time around. 

There is also the classic issue with mental health. Her overcoming of her mental health issues leans slightly toward triumphant more than progressive. This, of course, begins to raise questions about the realism of the portrayal of her mental health issues which I feel I am not experienced enough to discuss.

I need to read this again so take this summary with a grain of salt.
Overall, an interesting and loveable character study which suffers from a couple pitfalls which hinder this book from greatness. 4/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Rape

ell24's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts