A review by dlrosebyh
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

emotional 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

Eleanor has never been informed that life ought to be better than fine. She has trouble using acceptable social skills and frequently expresses her thoughts in detailed. Nothing is lacking from her well planned existence of avoiding social connections, which includes frozen pizza, vodka, and phone calls with her mother on the weekends.

But when Eleanor meets Raymond, the clumsy and incredibly unsanitary IT guy from her company, everything changes. The three become the kinds of friends that rescue one another from the life of isolation they had each been living when Sarah and Raymond work together to save Sammy, a senior citizen who has fallen on the pavement. And in the end, Eleanor will benefit from Raymond's enormous heart by learning how to mend her own severely harmed one.

I was genuinely intrigued in Eleanor right away. But I wasn't certain if it was because she was a bad or fantastic character. I did, however, grow to appreciate her as a character as I read the book and saw what she was going through. I adore the fact that her lack of social skills, or what some may refer to as awkwardness, was what kept her pain hidden from the actual world—from her family to her childhood friends to her entire life, eventually.

Eleanor's voyage was described in a slow-moving, dryly humorous style. I don't necessarily love this kind of tone right away. I gave the book 4.5 stars because I had to immerse myself in it and give it my whole attention in order to completely understand what I was reading.
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