This was a lovely book to read. I really enjoyed reading it.

This was continually compared to A Man Called Ove but it's completely different in reality. Eleanor Oliphant has built herself a life of loneliness and alcohol dependence, struggling to come to terms with an horrific past in a world where everyone seems better able to communicate than she is. Her relationships with other people, her blunt manner and her cerebral approach to almost everything means that she is the oddball, cast out to the margins by people who don't understand her.

Of course, the thaw has to come, and Eleanor's shift from Good Days to Bad Days to Better Days are just the beginning of her overall journey to a more fulfilled like. The character is well thought out and well built, but tearing apart her layers is also very cleverly done and despite her sometimes cantankerous nature, you root for her: you want her to have better, because she deserves better.

This is such a lovely book- one of the ones I wish I had read months and months ago, full of positivity and strong characters with a basic but very well written story. When you finish the book, you realise: Eleanor Oliphant will be completely fine.

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. She goes to work, she goes home, and every weekend she treats herself to a couple of bottles of vodka and a frozen pizza. Everything is fine. Until an unlikely friendship and an unhealthy crush start to dredge up memories from the past, and a childhood trauma she has thoroughly suppressed.

This book is amazing. I loved everything about it. The writing style is strong and easy to read, while the story is perfection. I loved the characters: Eleanor and Raymond in particular. It took a little while to warm up to Eleanor, but once I got to know her better she really grew on me. The relationship between Eleanor and Raymond was a pleasure to read, and I found myself really genuinely caring about them, as though they were real people.

One of my favourite things about this book is actually the lack of romance. The story is about Eleanor, the way she lives, and her eventual recovery. Although the relationship between her and Raymond is charming and integral to the story, that isn’t what the book is about. It isn’t a romance novel, and is all the better for it.

The balance between humour and tragedy was very well done. Taking serious and sad topics and turning them into a warm, witty and enjoyable story takes some serious skill, and Gail Honeyman clearly has oodles of skill.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is full of emotional and impact, but none of it is forced or sentimental. It is a thoroughly enjoyable book that I would recommend to everyone.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this book.. I couldn't put it down but I didn't want it to end.
Sadly I'm finished and I already miss her, such a lovely quirky character, I wish she lived next door to me!

If the author would like to write "The next steps of Eleanor Oliphant" then I'd be first in the queue to read it!

Eleanor Oliphant struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully time-tabled life. Then everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond - and it is Raymond that will help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged heart.

 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is one of those books that brings out all your emotions. I felt happy, sad, angry, embarrassed and more when reading about Eleanor's life. I thought this book would be quite difficult to read as we're reading from Eleanors POV and she struggles in normal social interactions. But often these issues made me laugh or cry rather than feel frustration with the writing. Honeyman's writing made me want to continue reading. It made me fascinated in what had happened and what will happen to Eleanor. 

Eleanor's development throughout the book is both heartbreaking and wonderful. I really loved that a romance aspect wasn't brought in to make her recover miraculously. The main focus is on character development and looking at mental illness and trauma. I think Honeyman did both of this really well within the book. 

Friendships also play an important part. I love that even though Eleanor struggles with social situations such as at work she manages to make friends. Not only with Raymond, but also with Sammy and his family. The friendships that develop were wonderful throughout. I also enjoyed how Eleanor's co-workers understand her a lot better and treat her better after she is ill. Understanding and knowing about an illness is one step to being able to help people through it. 

I received Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine* by Gail Honeyman from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an unbiased and honest review.

This is a fabulous book, very different from anything I have read before but so uplifting and wonderful. An interesting and thoughtful read as well. Please try it.

It took me three goes to get into this book, and I am so glad I succeeded. Whilst it may take a few chapters to get into the story stick with it because you won't regret it. A heartwarming, unique, clever novel that I will gladly be recommending to fellow readers.

Wow!! This book made me laugh out loud, cry and feel every possible emotion. Eleanor was a quirky and loveable character with a tragic back story but with a world of possibilities ahead of her. I really didn't want this book to end.

Enjoyable read. Interesting characters. Little twist was an added bonus.

Wonder! I loved this book and I mean loved it....I loved everything about it, the awkwardness of Eleanor and the situations she gets into, how she really is completely fine and above all how endearing she is!

I just loved it it’s so hard to explain what the book is about but basically Eleanor thinks she is fine she’s in a little bubble where she doesn’t socialize much and does the same thing day in day out and she’s fine with that...and then she falls in love and decided to make changes but along with changes she has to confront her past which isn’t always pretty!

Just get the book, it really is a bloody good read!!!!

A great read with an absorbing and fascinating main character. Thanks for the ARC.

I recently finished reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. It certainly lives up to all the reviews it's already received--uplifting, funny, charming, painful. Eleanor is easily put off by the ungraceful social skills of her peers, but it's her own naivety and awkwardness that had me laughing out loud. As she begins to confront and navigate relationships, old and new, I couldn't help but care deeply about Eleanor's future... and past.

I loved this book so so much, what a gem. I could not put it down, loved the writing and the characters and have already recommended to my friends. Cant wait to read Gail's next book. Spent a lot of time in work secretly reading my Kindle today - seriously could not put it down.

Not since harry potter have I been emotionally attached to a book!

Eleanor and I have so many similarities, and I love her reasoning and rationalisation. We are the same age, she's a little more socially awkward than me and I also had an abusive childhood (minus the good food)

This is the best book I've read all year!

Wonderful writing and a truly original book. I will read this again it’s so good.

I enjoyed this book. I could relate in parts to Eleanor, a reserved , socially inept type of person. It was hard to follow in parts - however I feel like that fits completely with the personality of the characters. A recommended read

Hard to love a book that makes you cry so much, but I did - as have half the country, by now, as it really has become THE book people are talking about and that other publishers are trying to replicate

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This is just like the title Eleanor Oliphant is 100% fine. Great book

29-year-old Eleanor Oliphant spends her days working in an office and avoiding social interaction, and her evenings reading or watching television alone. Her weekends consist of a bottle of vodka and a frozen pizza, and on Wednesdays, she has her weekly phone call with Mummy. She doesn’t have any friends and has lived in this routine for almost 10 years, but as she sees it, she is completely fine. Then one day she meets Raymond, the IT support worker from her office and together the two of them end up saving Sammy, an elderly man who they see fall on the pavement. This experience brings the three of them together and for the first time in her life, Eleanor starts to feel that she has a chance to have friends and to be ‘normal’. As she begins attempting a series of processes to integrate herself into society, she may end up discovering that being ‘fine’ is more than just existing and that what she needs to be happy is not exactly what she had expected all along.


This book took me completely by surprise as I wasn’t really sure what to expect from either the title or the first few pages. I certainly wasn’t expecting a cleverly written and truly moving book about loneliness and what it means to be ‘completely fine’. The tale is told from Eleanor’s point of view and it quickly becomes apparent from her own attitudes and recollections that she has suffered from some horrifying events in her past - whilst she is physically well, it is evident almost straight away that Eleanor is not doing so great psychologically. The author deals with some pretty dark subject matter in a way that is quite upsetting and moving but she handles it sensitively and also manages to keep it light-hearted – the story never gets bogged down by trauma and sadness. There are plenty of genuinely funny moments scattered throughout to lighten the tone and whilst the subject matter is serious, this is definitely an uplifting story with a positive message.


Eleanor is a unique character who is quirky, awkward, humorous and endearing. As a reader, I cringed at her bizarre social interactions and strikingly literal interpretation of the world but also felt deep sympathy for her as I discovered more about her traumatic childhood and the lonely and pain-filled life she has lived. I was rooting for her throughout the whole book and found that her character developed well as more was revealed about her past. Even when she started to open up and let her guard down with her new friends, she remained consistent and believable. Raymond, Sammy and the other major players in Eleanor’s life were also colourfully rendered and I felt as if I really got to know their personalities as I was reading.


In summary, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone – it is a heart-warming read about the healing power of friendship and the importance of other people in our lives. Eleanor Oliphant has had a lasting impression on me - I am extremely impressed that this is the author’s debut and would definitely be keen to read more of her work.


Daenerys


Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review