Reviews tagging 'Death'

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

284 reviews

almaprincess66's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I think this is what contemporary fiction is and I don't know how I feel about it. Ordenary people with ordenary things is my genre but I need some pizzaz that this book didn't have.

Overall it was fine. It had moments that made me smile but I didn't feel connected enough to her trauma. It wasn't too well established, which I get because that was the whole mistery of the plot. The ending plot twists felt a bit out of place tho. I did't get them.

Bonus points because Eleanor is so autistic coded. She is not which is a shame, but I'll pretend she was. Would explain a lot.

Extra bonus points for showing that a man and a woman can have a friendship without being in love with each other. Also that you can have friends even after your 20s. That was an important message.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Minor: Fatphobia

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

Moderate: Death, Rape, and Fire/Fire injury

kaileylebrun's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Death of parent

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: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, 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: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

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

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

Moderate: Bullying

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

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

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

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

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

Minor: Rape and Vomit

romyterhaar's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Vomit, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

lizziaha's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.25

I found Eleanor to be intensely unlikable at the beginning of the story, which is sort of the point, but it was hard for me to get over it. She is a little (a lot) oblivious to how the world works, and while this is funny and endearing at times, it also involved a lot of second hand embarrassment for me. This gets a bit better, once Raymond begins to teach her how to be human. Her character growth is immense, but I don’t know if the payoff was quite worth it. I did really enjoy the writing style, so I might have to check out something else by this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Classism