Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

427 reviews

mjenae's review

hopeful 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

The title makes this book seem a little like comedy—touching, but lighthearted.

It's… quite heavy. If you want an easy read, this isn't for you. But if you want a spectacular survival story with anguish enough to empty you out and bravery enough to fill you to the top, you've come to the right place.

Something the potential reader needs to understand: Eleanor has gone through intense, repeated trauma—physical and emotional abuse, the latter of which is still happening throughout the book. And that's just part of it. I thought at first she might have autism—and I don't know, maybe she does—because of her inability to pick up on social cues or read humor. But now I think at least some of that was due to her chaotic and unhealthy upbringing. To be fair, I haven't read a lot of books dealing with trauma so upfront and firsthand like this, but this seemed very heavy on the sorrow.

There's healing, too, though. There has to be. Go travel down that path with Eleanor. She's a fascinating character, and she meets a lot of interesting people on the way, people who pop out of the page and shove new perspectives into your hands. I hope you come away with something you didn't have before—hope, at the very least. I have.

I'd give it more stars if I could. Possibly the best book I've read so far this year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Child death, and Physical abuse

carlar's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious medium-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

3.75

Very well-paced. You learn about Eleanor without having to hear every detail of everything she thinks or does. Ending was a bit weak for me but I didn’t mind because the character development was solid.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Child abuse, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Rape, Cancer, Murder, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Grief, and Death

sgrunwald96's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad medium-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

4.5

Expected this to be lightweight and a bit throwaway but it really caught me off guard. Much more emotional and gut wrenching than I was ready for. Also, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, every depressed person should be issued a pet. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Rape, and Death

phantomgecko's review against another edition

funny sad medium-paced

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

3.0

A friend recommended this to me because she thought I'd think it was funny. Unfortunately, I suffered from too much secondhand embarrassment to be very amused.

This is a story about a very unwell woman. Who does outrageously inappropriate things because she is unwell.

Tbh, she turned out to be much more unwell than I originally assumed what with all the mommy issues and hallucinations etc etc

My greatest quibble is Eleanor purports to be very good at crosswords, particularly cryptic (the best kind) and yet she is lacking in so much pop culture knowledge that this cannot possibly be true. Even cryptics, which rely heavily on wordplay, necessitate a basic foundation of cultural knowledge. Like, girlie doesn't know who the Grinch is. She is not completing crosswords.

Otherwise, it is an interesting if uncomfortable novel.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

klsreads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.5

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It was sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, often heartbreaking, and very tender. Eleanor felt like a real person to me. I loved seeing her grow in tandem with her relationships. The writing was gorgeous and accessible (minus some Big Words). Heartwarming, excellent, very sweet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Child death, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Confinement, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, and Sexual assault

Minor: Murder, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, and Cancer

llipari1022's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Murder

geerbeer's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

In het begin dacht ik dat ik Eleanor verschrikkelijk zou vinden om zo lang over te lezen, maar nu ik het uit heb ben ik van haar gaan houden en mis ik haar nu al 🥲

Ook dacht ik in het begin; wat saai, waarom lees ik dit eigenlijk, maar al snel werd ik toch nieuwsgierig naar waar het boek naartoe wilde gaan en echt al mijn hoop werd beantwoord! Wat een lekkere 'ride' om te nemen, het verhaal in dit boek. Heerlijk ♥️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, and Vomit

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, and Death of parent

All the content warning things are either used in a beautifull and thoughtfull way to tell an honest story ór they are redeemed at the end (like the fatphobia and bodyshaming)... to me it seems like the author is not a bad person / only using terrible things for shock value 😊

daniofthewood's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-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

Graphic: Death, Grief, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Rape, and Vomit

naestolgia_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad medium-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

3.75

This was an interesting and surprisingly enjoyable read. Eleanor is a complex character with what seems like a simple outlook on life. There are tough chapters to get through though - her past is truly troubling to unfold page after page, but she's a character I was really rooting for. I wish there was more of a "happy" ending but, like life, that's not always the case. You are left with a small nugget of hope for Eleanor, the ending still fell short in my opinion.

Fun note: I really loved having to whip out the dictionary for this read. Lol. Eleanor's love for crosswords makes for very colorful and eloquent language.

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Update: After book club discussion, where most folks did not like Eleanor in the beginning ("weirdo", "mean"), I realized another theme of this book is Eleanor's introduction/indoctrination into society. I personally liked her from the start. She wasn't yet watered down and boxed into what is considered normal by the masses. 

It is fun to think of how each reader relates to Eleanor, good or bad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, and Self harm

Minor: Vomit and Rape

kasialipa's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

Moderate: Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, and Child death

Minor: Death of parent and Animal cruelty