Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

52 reviews

au_conn1's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny 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

4.25

Mind the content warnings on this novel. It feels lighthearted throughout, with snippets of darker undertones peeking out. Eleanor has her quirks, but she grows on you fast.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

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

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

tidals's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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? Yes

4.0

Lots of dry British humor. Guess I’ve been through a lot because I didn’t find her current state or her past particularly depressing; that’s life. If you’re quick to find things depressing don’t read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Stalking

van0302's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

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

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

stindex's review against another edition

hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

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

greenvelvetreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Minor: Fatphobia, Rape, and Sexual assault