Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

187 reviews

thetearex's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

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

joysmith's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, and Death of parent

aoifeprettypurplepolkadots's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

arukeni's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

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

fancyjess_party's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, and Fire/Fire injury

bluejeepbaby's review

challenging emotional funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

m4rtt4's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.25

I think this book should be primarily marketed as a trauma story, as it was quite dark rather than funny in my opinion. It made me smile as well, and those darker parts gave the story the depth it needed, but that's just because I do not have ptsd myself — please consider the trigger warnings carefully.

Since the story was such a slow-burning one, I wouldn't have minded had it been a bit longer as the ending felt a bit abrupt. And Eleanor really grew on me, it pains me to let her go :( <3 

The English audiobook narrator did an excellent job portraying the characters, I'd highly recommend the audio version over the text!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

beankels's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted 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

5.0

I don’t know how a book can be both lighthearted and deeply emotional and dark but this book accomplished it. It was the first book in awhile that I didn’t want to stop reading and made me stay up to read more. The relationships were pure, the reflection and growth was inspiring, and I loved cheering on Eleanor. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying, Rape, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol