Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Eleanor Oliphant sta benissimo by Gail Honeyman

562 reviews

menomica's review against another edition

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This book is really nice but for some reason i’m just not in the head space for it at the moment. I’ll have to come back to it, it’s really interesting.

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mayjulyn's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75


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anne_reader's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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silver_lining_in_a_book's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 
These days, loneliness is the new cancer—a shameful, embarrassing thing, brought upon yourself in some obscure way. A fearful, incurable thing, so horrifying that you dare not mention it; other people don’t want to hear the word spoken aloud for fear that they might too be afflicted, or that it might tempt fate into visiting a similar horror upon them.

This book has been a long-time coming. I was a little scared going into this because of all the high praise surrounding this book, but I shouldn't have been. I thought it was very well written, with an engaging plot and a lot of important messages to get across to the reader. I certainly had a couple of issues with how some things (the therapy, the SA, and the alcoholism to give just some examples) were handled and I found Eleanor's fatphobia (although in no way endorsed in the book) was somewhat difficult to read.

However, Eleanor was a very unique character and her charm really grew on me throughout the book. Despite the dark themes, Gail Honeyman's humour came across very well in my opinion and I loved the way she made me feel Eleanor's loneliness. If the trigger warnings do not look to overwhelming, I can definitely recommend this book to many of my close friends, it is one that is certainly worth the read! 

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reading_racoon69's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This is one of those books where characters are so realistic that you feel like you really know them and get very attached and feel what they feel.

It’s a very emotional cute book 
Not a romance !! If you’re looking for romantic love this is not what you’re looking for it’s much more self discovery and friendships ! 

Not the type of book I usually read, some times a little too slow for me but either way very enjoyable :) totally fell in love with Elenor 


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courtnetto's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious relaxing sad tense 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

I feel like the start of this book was a bit slow but once I had gotten into it more, I began to enjoy it more! This book is all about Eleanor navigating through her life in her 30s while struggling to deal with her emotions from childhood trauma 20 years ago!! 
This book really gives you a feel of all the different emotions, happiness, sadness, anger, love and much more! In terms of emotions, it has it all. Eleanor develops a close relationship with her new work colleague, Raymond and they begin to meet up for lunch but then going to parties together! They save the life of a man who collapsed and end up becoming good friends with him and his family, so much so that they are then invited to his funeral when he sadly passes away. 
Eleanor finally begins to see a counsellor and talk about her feelings, it’s only when you get towards the end of the book that it is revealed that she has a younger sister! However, it isn’t all happy news as her younger sister and her mother “Mummy” actually died in a house fire which was started by her Mother deliberately after giving both girls sedatives, only Eleanor made it out alive. 
The ending was a bit abrupt and I would have loved to have found out more about Eleanor and Raymond’s relationship but otherwise, we see a happy ending for Eleanor!

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sandysmith's review against another edition

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challenging 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'm gradually adding books I've read in 2021 to give a true reflection of the books I've read since keeping records.  This was the first book I read in 2021, and is what kick started my reading journey having put reading on the back burner whilst bringing up the children, previously being an avid reader.  A great read. Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She is set in her ways. It's a bittersweet story, of Eleanor not fitting in, or understanding social skills, loneliness and the power of kindness. Love love loved her. A great read.

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astrofeldy's review against another edition

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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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bootrat's review against another edition

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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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jennnw's review against another edition

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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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