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

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

“It often feels as if I’m not here, that I am a figment of my own imagination.”

She is fine. She goes to work all week to the same office for eight years, has an hour dedicated for lunch, her crossword puzzles, she has frozen pizza every friday, a bottle of vodka and a weekly conversation with her mother. Clearly, she has her life in control.

Eleanor Oliphant is fine. Well, not completely.

The story explores the deep unspoken sadness and how isolation or individualism sometimes equates to loneliness. I have met several people that reminded me of Eleanor: the slightly odd boy from high school that is often the butt of the jokes, the awkward girl who scuttles away from social gatherings and subjected to countless rumors and speculations. Seeing the world through the lens of social misfits made me recalibrate the way I treat people around me.

She expressed at one point that “when the silence and aloneness press down and around me, crushing me, carving through me like ice, I need to speak aloud sometimes, if only for proof of life.”

It was beautifully written, infused with warmth and unspoken sadness. It empowers a woman who was literally and figuratively scarred by her childhood trauma. Eleanor’s journey towards healing, self discovery and friendship is well plotted. This book showed me the significance of compassion and how a small act of kindness can bring hope to someone.

Cheers to better days! 
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