Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

63 reviews

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

miekookeim's review against another edition

funny hopeful sad fast-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

Aside from the resolution, which felt a bit too simple, I loved this book. I almost put it down towards the beginning because Eleanor’s narrative style irritated me, but I appreciated her by the end and am glad I stuck with it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Mental illness, and Stalking

brainjam's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring 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, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal cruelty

marseira's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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: Animal cruelty

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

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

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

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

4.5

I didn't want this to end!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Medical content, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Rape, and Sexual content

prlprl's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Moderate: Fatphobia

Minor: Animal cruelty

marigold82's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

If you find the beginning of this book slow and even irritating do yourself a favor and plod through! It is worth it I swear.  There are real and traumatic themes in this book so be prepared.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

caitlin_huxham's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective sad fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape