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A review by abbywood
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
4.0
Eleanor Oliphant is definitely not OK. But that’s fine because who actually is? It took me a while to get into this book, but I had heard such great things and pushed through the beginning. Meeting Eleanor and learning her somewhat awkward antics was charming and uncomfortable at the same time. I think I kind of related to her on some levels. She’s lonely. She’s existing. She doesn’t really think before she speaks, but at least she’s as honest and genuine as she can be.
I absolutely loved the structure of this book. You first understand how Eleanor is, then you learn why she acts like she does. Much like in life, you interact with people as they appear, and most of the time you don’t know what their past looks like. Eleanor eventually meets a coworker, who essentially sets Eleanor on a path to confronting her childhood traumas and the reality of her relationship with her mother.
Gail Honeyman highlights 1) how even one person can have the power to change the trajectory of your life and 2) you have no idea what may be under the surface of someone you meet or know. Near the end of the book, there’s this quote that I absolutely fell in love with: “You can’t sum someone up in a ten-second glance.” There are layers to humans. Eleanor definitely wasn’t just existing. She was processing. (And I want to be her friend).
I absolutely loved the structure of this book. You first understand how Eleanor is, then you learn why she acts like she does. Much like in life, you interact with people as they appear, and most of the time you don’t know what their past looks like. Eleanor eventually meets a coworker, who essentially sets Eleanor on a path to confronting her childhood traumas and the reality of her relationship with her mother.
Gail Honeyman highlights 1) how even one person can have the power to change the trajectory of your life and 2) you have no idea what may be under the surface of someone you meet or know. Near the end of the book, there’s this quote that I absolutely fell in love with: “You can’t sum someone up in a ten-second glance.” There are layers to humans. Eleanor definitely wasn’t just existing. She was processing. (And I want to be her friend).