Skip to main content

Gail Honeyman: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

 I joined a new book club of ladies in my neighborhood, and I'm super excited to read more and get to talk about it with people I don't know as well. I'm excited to have a place where I feel like I fit in. This month, we read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.

Eleanor is completely fine. She has a job (working in accounts), she has a flat (furnished with odd, mismatched pieces), she has her weekly phone calls with mummy, and vodka to numb. Some weekends, she doesn't use her voice from the time she leaves work on Friday until she goes back to work on Monday. Eleanor doesn't really have any friends, but she does have a timetabled life, the same schedule, and the same stores. That is, until she sees the singer. Eleanor just knows from this one glance that a relationship with this man is right around the corner. She does everything she can to find out everything about him, going so far as to find out where he lives and follow him on social media. Everything is planned out. Then, she meets Raymond. Raymond is the IT guy, and while leaving the office one day, they witness a man collapse on the side of the road. After helping him get to the hospital, she and Raymond start to become friends.

This book was wild. I hate to confess that I almost put it down in the first 30 pages because Eleanor is so... odd. I have strong suspicions that she's likely autistic, and her quirks really started to get to me. However, I found myself strangely hooked, and the further into the novel I got, the more I got past her odd quirks. I read this book in two sessions because I was so oddly fascinated.

There isn't a very large cast of characters, and they're all pretty well done. Raymond is incredibly kind, and most of the time, doesn't judge Eleanor. I also liked that he's not really interested in anything more than just being friends. He looks out for her, invites her out, and eventually saves her.

The old man they help, Sami, also becomes such an integral part of Eleanor's world, and then so does his family. While we don't spend a lot of time with the family (other than Sami's daughter, Laura), they take Raymond in, and then by extension, Eleanor. Sami is so sweet to her, and ignores so many of her quirks and odd gifts.

While the plot isn't all that intense, or action packed, I didn't find myself bored. There was enough going on all the time that kept my attention and kept the story moving. Everything felt meaningful, and I found myself unable to put the book down. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would, and the emotional payouts at the end were amazing. Honeyman has some good twists in the story that made it all worth it.

I ended up rating this book

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2022 Reading in Review

 I thought it might be fun to look at my reading challenge from last year and look at what I enjoyed the most. I picked my top 5 favorite books from 2022 to highlight one more time. Choosing only five was actually more difficult than I imagined, since I had a lot of favorites. It was also hard to rank them if I'm completely honest, but here is my list! #5 - The Girl Who Drank the Moon  by Kelly Barnhill I loved this book. I loved the whimsical storytelling style and the plot. I loved the characters and how they were developed. I loved how the author carefully crafted the foreshadowing and how she carefully guided you through the mystery of Xan's memories. Overall, this book was so well written. Even though it was a middle grade book, I found myself unable to put it down. #4 - I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys If you've followed my blog, then you probably know that I don't usually care much for Ruta Septys's writing. It's not that I dislike the stories she tells,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prince Harry: Spare

 My coworkers were all reading this, and I have to say that I'm fascinated by the royal family, so I gave into temptation and listened to this on Audible. Listening to the audio book was totally the way to go, since Prince Harry reads it himself. Spare  by Prince Harry is a heartbreaking memoir outlining Harry's treatment by the British tabloids. He outlines his experiences with the tabloids from the time his mother died until his departure from the royal family. This fascinating memoir gives an inside look into the workings of the royal family, and their relationships with the press. The memoir certainly makes it look as if all is not well in the house of Windsor, and attempts to set the record straight (from Harry's perspective) of what happened among the family members. Overall, I did enjoy this book. I loved the way Harry writes (and because I listened to it, the way he reads). I found his descriptions of events and places beautiful, and wish I could use it in AP! His p...
Post a Comment
Read more

T. J. Klune: The House in the Cerulean Sea

I was finally able to finish a book! Things with the baby got crazy and I wasn't able to finish this before he came, but I've finally settled in and have gotten back to reading. It will take me a little while to finish another book. Next on my list is Ruta Septys' new book I Will Betray You . The House in the Cerulean Sea  by T.J. Klune felt distinctly Harry Potter -esque. Linus Baker is a case worker for DICOMY - the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He visits orphanages and seeks to help the kids he observes with the utmost objectivity, never getting attached nor revisiting the cases to see what ultimately happens to the children. He leads a dull and dreary existence with his small house, his monogrammed pajamas, obnoxious neighbor, and unusual cat, Calliope. That all changes when he is summoned by Extremely Upper Management and sent on a secret assignment to the most unusual orphanage Linus has ever seen. There, he meets the most unusual children, and possibly the m...
Post a Comment
Read more