Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Eleanor Oliphant sta benissimo by Gail Honeyman

438 reviews

lauraelovesbooks's review against another edition

emotional funny 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: Mental illness, Abandonment, Child abuse, War, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

astrofeldy's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Child death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Fatphobia

17michaelasully's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Sexual content

bootrat's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

This book is a bit slow to get going, but once we meet Sammy I started to really enjoy it. It made me cry several times, and hit slightly close to home, but overall I enjoyed it and it was definitely worth reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death, Child abuse, Rape, Stalking, Child death, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Grief

jennnw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

A great story in many ways, but I felt it could do without two things. First,

the plot twist added very little to the story. Perhaps if it had been written differently, it may have worked better, but I honestly think the book may have been better without it. Written as it is, it feels like a cheap trick.

Secondly, I was shocked and disappointed by the brief bit about

fat shaming. The author states, through the protagonist's voice, reasons and ailments that may lead to someone being fat, implying that being fat is less than ideal or a fault to be corrected if medically possible. It is inaccurate and insensitive to portray fat as inherently being unhealthy.

The more I think on this last one, the more I'm disturbed by it and may adjust my rating.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Fatphobia, Child death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Fatphobia and Body shaming

I found the author's brief bit about fat people to be insensitive. The author lists forgiveable reasons/ailments why someone may be fat or overweight. In this the author, through the protagonist's point of view, makes a case for how fat doesn't inherently imply inferiority, but she fails to mention that fat does not inherently mean unhealthy.

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

4.5

I picked this up as a buddy read with a friend.
"Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" follows Eleanor, a young woman who is striving to have a very okay life. Eleanor really struggles in most social situations, and she follows a pretty rigid routine, even on the weekends. But her life is completely fine, until she meets a new character: Raymond. Raymond's presence causes Eleanor to begin to question her life and Eleanor begins to wonder if there could be more to living than her monotonous, mundane day-to-day.
Eleanor is such a plain, ordinary character, but she captivated me in a way I cannot describe. I felt a kinship to Eleanor and her desire to lead a simple life, and I really enjoyed her commitment to a predictable routine. Eleanor being socially awkward and not being able to read people super well is also highly relatable. I wanted more for her and wanted to see her truly live her life, not just survive. I loved the balance Raymond brought to her life, and how, without really trying, he brought her out of her shell and showed her that there is more to life than what she thought, and that it is okay to live a more fully.
Eleanor's relationship with her mother is clearly toxic from the first interaction, but I did not see the direction that relationship was going until it was revealed. Eleanor's complicated relationship made her all the more relatable and I had even more empathy for her.
The writing style of this book really reminded me of Fredrik Backman, and Eleanor specifically reminded me of the main character in "Britt-Marie Was Here". The writing is very approachable, but engaging, and has a plainness to it that should not be misconstrued as boring.
I really enjoyed this novel, and I will definitely be keeping Gail Honeyman on my radar in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Medical content, Death of parent, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

vagrantheather's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

An easy 5 stars. I was captivated and couldn't put it down. Eleanor's self talk is so relatable. I know it's often referred to as autism-coded, but I didn't read it that way. It just as easily reads as someone who experienced a super tragic upbringing, opted out of social situations that were too challenging to confront, and has lived in a haze of depression and survival instincts until now. She isn't a very nice person, but she's capable of seeing that and willing to change when confronted with herself. 

I was glad to see where her social relationships ended up. I was afraid they would go one way and felt that would've cheapened it. 

I did struggle a little with the absurdity of a culture that allows a person to take extended medical leave without losing their job or going broke. The US is not ok. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Alcohol, and Child abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Stalking, Self harm, Vomit, and Sexual violence

kathrynok's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Addiction, Child death, Medical content, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Death

emilybruck's review against another edition

dark hopeful slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Mental illness

booksinbed23's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.0

Reading this was like eating a bowl of chicken. Comforting and healing. It's almost a slice of life story that slowly delves into our FL on why she is the way she is, and how she slowly but surely evolves. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Child abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Mental illness