Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

48 reviews

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.75

Raymond is the only good man

on a serious note, it was nice to see someone get better.

I took one of my hands in the other, tried to imagine what it would feel like if it was another person’s hand holding mine. There have been times when I felt that I might die of loneliness. People sometimes say they might die of boredom, that they’re dying for a cup of tea, but for me, dying of loneliness is not hyperbole. When I feel like that, my head drops and my shoulders slump and I ache, I physically ache, for human contact—I truly feel that I might tumble to the ground and pass away if someone doesn’t hold me, touch me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Child abuse, Alcohol, Suicide, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Grief, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Bullying

hazelsnoot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Classism, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Fatphobia, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Abandonment

Minor: Rape and Animal cruelty

clr00's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal cruelty

eri002's review against another edition

funny inspiring 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Minor: Stalking, Animal cruelty, Rape, and Sexual assault

carina_dreamer's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

 • Este foi um livro emprestado pela Bestie para uma das leituras do nosso clube do livro. Pela sinopse, eu sabia que não era o meu estilo, mas estava com expectativas de que podia surpreender-me.

• Quando a Bestie o passou para as minhas mãos disse: "primeiro estranha-se, depois entranha-se".
Primeiro sinal de que devia baixar as esperanças 😅

• Eleanor é uma mulher que chegou aos seus 30 anos e já passou por muito na vida e enquanto adulta manteve-se à distância dos outros, interagindo o mínimo possível. Ao longo do livro vamos percebendo que ela não compreende o que é entendido como normal e esperado numa interação social (é bem capaz que esteja incluída no espectro autista).

• A autora fez um magnífico trabalho a esculpir a personalidade da protagonista! É um livro digno de todos os prémios que recebeu.
No entanto, fiquei imensamente frustrada com o tempo que levou até vermos o desenvolvimento da Eleanor quando esta começou a abrir-se a novas experiências, mas sou a favor do processo, porque foi necessário para nos apercebermos do seu crescimento.

• Os últimos 30% do livro foram aqueles que mais me agarraram e é também a parte que aconselho os leitores a verificar os gatilhos. Quando chegou à parte da terapia e do twist (que adorei) já era um pouco tarde para mudar a minha opinião geral, mas recomendo na mesma.

Rating:
Eu - 3⭐25
Bestie - 4⭐25 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, and Self harm

Moderate: Child abuse and Fatphobia

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Murder, and Vomit

httponyo's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death, Rape, Child death, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent

miekookeim's review against another edition

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

4.5

Aside from the resolution, which felt a bit too simple, I loved this book. I almost put it down towards the beginning because Eleanor’s narrative style irritated me, but I appreciated her by the end and am glad I stuck with it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, and Stalking

brainjam's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty

marseira's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty

thestorydoer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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

4.0

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is an interesting and in depth character study which deals with themes of trauma and abuse (watch out for those content warnings).  I feel like this book requires a re-read for me to properly formulate my thoughts on this book but here are a few brief thoughts~~~

Narratively, this book is fantastic. Each plot point flows from one beat to the next with a steady pace throughout the novel which is an impressive feat. Each character with an ebb and flow of introduction is introduced at the exact right time. It has excellent climactic reveals and the dialogue is good. 

The character of Oliphant herself is utterly fantastic. An interesting character whose real world often intersects with her trauma in fascinating ways. There is an excellent emphasis on her social skills which walks the line on 'unsociable' people and how they can form a charisma in their own right. 

This is about as far as I can talk about this book without spoiling so here we go: 

The inclusion of Sammy is nothing short of excellent. When Eleanor is introduced to his family, it is also excellent in what this means to her. However, once Sammy dies, I couldn't help but feel the connection to that family was lost, especially once Eleanor's best friend Raymond loses interest in Laura. This is a shame, especially as Sammy as a character was also short lived, only included in four scenes I believe. I also don't understand the reason for Raymond losing interest in Laura, and I felt Sammy's family could've had a larger role to play in the novel. 

The idea to make Eleanor's mother a figment of her subconscious was also an interesting narrative choice but one I grew to accept. However, the idea of Eleanor having a sister is predictable. Roughly 200 pages predictable. However, this thought would need a reread because I can't distinguish whether this was intentional or not. That being said, the dialogue with the social worker is a masterclass in writing with missing information and had me fooled the first time around. 

There is also the classic issue with mental health. Her overcoming of her mental health issues leans slightly toward triumphant more than progressive. This, of course, begins to raise questions about the realism of the portrayal of her mental health issues which I feel I am not experienced enough to discuss.

I need to read this again so take this summary with a grain of salt.
Overall, an interesting and loveable character study which suffers from a couple pitfalls which hinder this book from greatness. 4/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Rape