Reviews

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Only show reviews with written explanations

jenpaul13's review against another edition

4.0

We all have routines and ways we cope with the craziness of the world, but for Eleanor in Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, a small deviation from routine has some rather large and lasting effects.

To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.

Eleanor is a creature of habit, with precise timetables for various tasks, the foods she eats, and the events she attends (or more accurately doesn't). A bit of an outsider due to her tendency to state whatever she's thinking without regard for social niceties or emotional impact, Eleanor doesn't easily make friends. When her office computer needs repair, the new IT guy Raymond comes to help. As they head to their separate homes after work one day, they come across an elderly man, Sammy, who's fallen on the sidewalk. In assisting Sammy, Eleanor and Raymond are subsequently brought together time and time again in various social settings, helping each other, in their own ways, to escape the isolation of their respective lives.

Balancing heavy topics of trauma, depression, and general mental health with some levity in the observations and situations surrounding Eleanor, this novel demonstrates the complexities of the interior and exterior lives we lead and how juggling the two can sometimes require enormous effort. I have a love/hate relationship with Eleanor's obliviousness to what's going on around her - one side of it is definitely her defense mechanism to be able to function like a moderately "normal" human being (whatever that might be), which is entirely understandable, but the other side has me screaming internally for her to take a hint. I enjoyed the journey that Eleanor goes on throughout the book and was happy to see that she wasn't instantly cured, but that there's an ongoing process of recovery and self-realization taking place.

pollypleung's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative reflective 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

4.0

kessler21's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

3.5 Rounding Up for Goodreads.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I love the story, the message, the emotion. I love and feel for Eleanor and Raymond. I loved the slow build-up.

But something just felt wrong about this story....off. Intuitively, there are parts of Eleanor that does not make sense to me. An avid reader and crossword solver, yet she is oblivious to anything even closely associated with pop culture? In many foster homes but is not aware of popular cartoons? Years and years of the same routine suddenly broken so easily? And not just one part, of the routine broken, but everything. A complete transformation of self, almost overnite after years of solitude? Just doesn't add up to me.

But it also shows the strength of the story. The exploration of saying "I'm Completely Fine" but not being even being close to stable. What is means to be a friend, to care. How we can overcome our past and step beyond the fire, scarred but reborn.

aimeeerickson's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful 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

krystalthedealer's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I was really hoping I’d like this book more. Maybe it was because I’ve been watching a lot of Netflix. The character development was a little too slow for my liking.

Don’t know if this was supposed to be humorous but meh. It probably wasn’t the right time for me and Eleanor.