Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

6 reviews

aksmith92's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

The Setup: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman tells the story of a socially awkward (and likely many mental health challenges peppered into her life) and profoundly lonely woman in her thirties. Eleanor lives in a strict, isolated routine - she goes to work, eats the same meals, and spends her weekends alone with vodka. The novel explores themes of loneliness, trauma, and the slow healing process as Eleanor starts to form meaningful connections.

Her relationship with Raymond, a kind and unassuming IT colleague, becomes central to her transformation. Through their friendship, Eleanor begins to break free from her emotional barriers and face the deep scars from her abusive childhood, particularly the manipulative influence of her mother.

Honeyman expertly balances humor with heartbreak in this story, making it relatable to everyday life. The novel is not just a character study of a lonely woman potentially battling mental health challenges but a testament to the power of human connection, kindness, and self-acceptance.

What I Loved: I loved everything in this book. It was a bit satirical while still capturing the real challenges of loneliness. That said, I don't think this was as funny to me as I thought it would be (based on reviews)—the book was heartbreaking in a way, especially about two-thirds of the way through. However, Honeyman still made Eleanor strong - very unique and individualized. Eleanor wasn't necessarily likable or even super relatable, but she was very Eleanor and had a wonderfully distinct and interesting voice in the novel.

I'm a firm believer in "people aren't medicine," and this novel skirted that line slightly. However, I ended up loving it because it showed that while it's super important to build the bridge to healing yourself, you can rarely get there without the help of others. Raymond was such an incredible friend—he wasn't perfect, yet he cared deeply for Eleanor and recognized that a respectful and friendly demeanor can go a long way toward helping someone. That relationship wasn't the novel's highlight, but it sure was well done.

I loved Eleanor most, which surprised me because, in the beginning, I was like, "Yikes, who is this?!" We saw her hit rock bottom and try to work her way out. We saw her grapple with getting out of her comfort zone and having a good time. We saw her grow, shrink, and stand tall again. While this book is heavily character-driven, without much plot, I felt invested in Eleanor's story.

What Could Have Made It a 5?! I almost decided to rate this a 5, but I decided against it at the last minute for only one reason: I felt the ending was rushed. And I mean more from a "plot" rather than a writing perspective. Without giving away spoilers, we see Eleanor go through a lot and trying to work herself out of her rock bottom. While it was great to see therapy involved and her working through some other issues, there was a slight plot twist and some grappling with that afterward that I felt was rushed. There wasn't enough time for Eleanor to sit with this, and she almost felt ~whatever~ about it, even though it's a huge deal. I only knocked off a half-star, though, because, in general, we, the readers, were supposed to understand that Eleanor was our narrator, and this was typically how she handled things thrown at her. 

Lastly—although I didn't take away stars for this—I guessed the slight plot twist, but only because I checked the trigger warnings for this novel. While that doesn't give it away, per se, it did plant the idea in my head. 

Overall, though, this book was so well done, and I'll be thinking about Ms. Eleanor Oliphant for quite some time in my life.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Self harm, Medical content, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Minor: Physical abuse and Vomit

kaileylebrun's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: 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

geerbeer's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

In het begin dacht ik dat ik Eleanor verschrikkelijk zou vinden om zo lang over te lezen, maar nu ik het uit heb ben ik van haar gaan houden en mis ik haar nu al 🥲

Ook dacht ik in het begin; wat saai, waarom lees ik dit eigenlijk, maar al snel werd ik toch nieuwsgierig naar waar het boek naartoe wilde gaan en echt al mijn hoop werd beantwoord! Wat een lekkere 'ride' om te nemen, het verhaal in dit boek. Heerlijk ♥️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

All the content warning things are either used in a beautifull and thoughtfull way to tell an honest story ór they are redeemed at the end (like the fatphobia and bodyshaming)... to me it seems like the author is not a bad person / only using terrible things for shock value 😊

felijhn's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Stalking

dannythestreet's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Misogyny, Terminal illness, and Murder