Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

25 reviews

rory_john14's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Stalking, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Torture, Excrement, Abortion, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

noelle_madison's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.5

The first half of the book was almost unbearable for me. Eleanor was completely unlikeable, rude, annoying, and somewhat delusional. As she was exposed to more human interactions, she also became more human. At the end, she was able to work through a lot of her issues with therapy. I like books that provoke emotion, but make you feel good. This book did not provoke positive emotions in me. The back of the book said it’s “smart, warm, and uplifting”, when in reality it’s the exact opposite. I finished this book in a day, mostly because I just wanted to get it over with so I could read something else. I know I could have put it in my DNF pile, but I wanted to read it to the end to see if I would change my mind. I didn’t. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

livvydsilva's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

jhutasingh's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad 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

I will think about Eleanor for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death

ceilidh_ashcroft's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

angada's review against another edition

emotional funny relaxing 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse and Suicide attempt

Minor: Emotional abuse

silver_lining_in_a_book's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

 

These days, loneliness is the new cancer—a shameful, embarrassing thing, brought upon yourself in some obscure way. A fearful, incurable thing, so horrifying that you dare not mention it; other people don’t want to hear the word spoken aloud for fear that they might too be afflicted, or that it might tempt fate into visiting a similar horror upon them.

This book has been a long-time coming. I was a little scared going into this because of all the high praise surrounding this book, but I shouldn't have been. I thought it was very well written, with an engaging plot and a lot of important messages to get across to the reader. I certainly had a couple of issues with how some things (the therapy, the SA, and the alcoholism to give just some examples) were handled and I found Eleanor's fatphobia (although in no way endorsed in the book) was somewhat difficult to read.

However, Eleanor was a very unique character and her charm really grew on me throughout the book. Despite the dark themes, Gail Honeyman's humour came across very well in my opinion and I loved the way she made me feel Eleanor's loneliness. If the trigger warnings do not look to overwhelming, I can definitely recommend this book to many of my close friends, it is one that is certainly worth the read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia

rosietomyn's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.0

Eleanor Oliphant Is Extremely Fine by Gail Honeyman is a hard, uplifting, depressing, inspiring, and surprising read.

I admit I was rather surprised by just how dark Eleanor's backstory is, and somehow missed any references to that in reviews I read prior to picking it up. For those who have dealt with narcissistic caretakers, substance abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, etc -- take caution. I wish I had gone in more prepared for it.

Still, though it can absolutely be emotionally taxing/triggering to read, the novel is worthy and uplifting. Eleanor definitely takes a bit of getting used to, but she is easy to warm up to after a few chapters. Following her growth and the expansion of her social and emotional life is truly heartwarming.

I would definitely recommend the novel, but I would add some warnings as well. Definitely pick the book up, but do so only when ready to read about some heavy, depressing, and truly awful issues (child abuse, emotional abuse, substance abuse).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

corinnelora95's review against another edition

sad medium-paced

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

3.0

"The covers are of very little help, because they always say only good things, and I've found out to my cost that they're rarely accurate. "Exhilarating" "Dazzling" "Hilarious." No." (Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, p 265)

This quote stuck out to me because the cover reviews for "Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine" are part of what led me to pick up and read this book. I found that it was not "beautifully written and incredibly funny," as Reese Witherspoon described it to be. It was not "hilarious and moving," as People claimed. And it certainly was not "completely wonderful," as Purewow said it would be.

For everyone who recommends this book because it's "light-hearted" or "funny," I have to wonder why. I found the majority of the book to be frustrating and depressing. Eleanor annoyed me for the entirety of the "Good Days" part of the book. She was slightly better in the "Bad Days" and "Better Days" parts, but I still found myself questioning why she was written to be so socially inept. It was maddening.

Overall, the book was easy to read, but it left me asking, "Why am I reading this?" over and over. I ultimately decided around the halfway point that I'd finish the book because I was too invested in Raymond and the other positive characters to quit. Raymond's care for Eleanor is what earned it the third star for me, but just barely.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty and Cursing

leanne_who_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This book was a slow burn for me. It took me a while to get into this book and I found the pacing of writing slow, however, as the story progressed and Eleanor began to develop a friendship with Raymond and the other characters I began to take a liking to her. I love the character development in this book and, I think that the book was well-paced for the story to progress even though I don't really like slow-paced books. I believe it was done intentionally and I think it was done well.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt