Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

16 reviews

persephonedives'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

4.0

"Some people, evidently, find it hard to know what to say to someone like me. However, if I allow them to talk about themselves, they’re often very relieved. This suits me just fine, as I’m not particularly interested in their stories anyway."

"I find birthdays difficult. It is the lack of acknowledgment from the world at large that affects me most. Not that I have an inflated sense of self-importance—far from it. It's more a case of feeling that I might disappear and no one would notice."

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt

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

poppy_m_21's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.0

You can see right from the beginning that she is an intelligent but deeply troubled woman struggling with depression but shows that its ok not to be OK and always ask for help - also relates to anybody as it shows everyone struggling with mental illness can get better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Death of parent

There is a massive plot twist right at the very end.

barb94044's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

A thoroughly lovely book. Especially suited for those of us who have experienced extreme early childhood trauma and have felt unseen. The light always overcomes darkness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

shakespeareanqueer's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Gaslighting

Minor: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, and Death of parent

klsreads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.5

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It was sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, often heartbreaking, and very tender. Eleanor felt like a real person to me. I loved seeing her grow in tandem with her relationships. The writing was gorgeous and accessible (minus some Big Words). Heartwarming, excellent, very sweet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

shayna14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jordan_noel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Eleanor Oliphant describes how loneliness can completely eat at a person's whole life, and yet still feel like something that must be hidden away.

Eleanor Oliphant is funny, completely un-self-aware, and refreshingly blunt with her social observations. She's continuously shocking and increasingly loveable the more you get to know her.

I felt that this book can help anyone better understand how isolating "dark thoughts" can be, and how necessary simple social interactions are to our survival and, less dramatically, our well-being. Everybody needs a friend, no one is completely self-sufficient and happy, in spite of that being exactly what society seems to want from each of us. I loved the honesty in this book; it's the only way for people to truly heal and live better lives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cursing

siddhisutar's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

kalishka's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective slow-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

A tale of two halves… or two thirds/one third!
The first 2/3 were very slow for me. I have ASD and I felt the character of Eleanor was coded as ASD but her traits were supposed to be ‘quirky’ and ‘funny’ - personally they were not to me as it was far too relatable while being stereotypical.
The last third takes a sharp turn into depression, suicide, therapy and trauma, which went further than I was expecting, and it seems more like Eleanor’s personality is a result of her childhood trauma rather than as a result of a neurodivergency. I don’t know which the author was intending so can’t comment further on that. I found it much more interesting than the first section, but I still wouldn’t say I enjoyed it…
I would highly recommend the audiobook though - the narration is brilliant!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Physical abuse and Classism