Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

128 reviews

corinnelora95's review against another edition

sad medium-paced

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

3.0

"The covers are of very little help, because they always say only good things, and I've found out to my cost that they're rarely accurate. "Exhilarating" "Dazzling" "Hilarious." No." (Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, p 265)

This quote stuck out to me because the cover reviews for "Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine" are part of what led me to pick up and read this book. I found that it was not "beautifully written and incredibly funny," as Reese Witherspoon described it to be. It was not "hilarious and moving," as People claimed. And it certainly was not "completely wonderful," as Purewow said it would be.

For everyone who recommends this book because it's "light-hearted" or "funny," I have to wonder why. I found the majority of the book to be frustrating and depressing. Eleanor annoyed me for the entirety of the "Good Days" part of the book. She was slightly better in the "Bad Days" and "Better Days" parts, but I still found myself questioning why she was written to be so socially inept. It was maddening.

Overall, the book was easy to read, but it left me asking, "Why am I reading this?" over and over. I ultimately decided around the halfway point that I'd finish the book because I was too invested in Raymond and the other positive characters to quit. Raymond's care for Eleanor is what earned it the third star for me, but just barely.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

Moderate: Grief, Alcoholism, Murder, Self harm, Stalking, Alcohol, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Addiction

Minor: Cursing and Animal cruelty

mattybax's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

After finishing this book I can’t help but be slightly frustrated by the unnecessary plot twist which is injected into the final pages on the book - it seemed like the author got to the end of the book and was like ‘shit I forgot to add a plot twist’. That stops this book from having a higher score imo.
Aside from that, this book is a fantastic read for anyone who has ever felt lonely at any point in their life. I greatly appreciated  the author highlighting societies habit of shaming people who are lonely, as opposed to helping them.
I’m probably going to come back to this the more I think about it - but overall the book is well written and really challenges how we view people who were raised differently to how we were.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Murder, and Mental illness

arukeni's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Rape, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Self harm, Grief, and Death

shayna14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Alcohol, Classism, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Bullying, Body shaming, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Rape, Ableism, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

stindex's review against another edition

hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking

fancyjess_party's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Murder, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Death of parent, Violence, Addiction, Child death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Ableism

m4rtt4's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

4.25

I think this book should be primarily marketed as a trauma story, as it was quite dark rather than funny in my opinion. It made me smile as well, and those darker parts gave the story the depth it needed, but that's just because I do not have ptsd myself — please consider the trigger warnings carefully.

Since the story was such a slow-burning one, I wouldn't have minded had it been a bit longer as the ending felt a bit abrupt. And Eleanor really grew on me, it pains me to let her go :( <3 

The English audiobook narrator did an excellent job portraying the characters, I'd highly recommend the audio version over the text!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Medical content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm

elustrabable's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

marissaheffler's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.75

This book was a bit of a slog to get through. Eleanor is established as a socially removed, critical character who uses unnecessarily big words to dissect the world around her. As she becomes more connected to the people and world around her, the story opens up a bit to learn about how her past as influenced her and how she begins to heal from past trauma. The end goal of this book was pretty clear from the get go and more of a logical conclusion than a moving conclusion to a narrative story. 

All that being said, it was an interesting experience to push myself to see the world through the lens of a protagonist so different than myself. I certainly came to care for Eleanor and was happy to see the growth in her ability both to develop a support network and appreciate it once present. 
(6 hr 10 min read)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Rape

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

cjslillibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

This book was absolutely amazing. I seriously didn't expect the ending like wth. Great book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Grief, Medical trauma, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse