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A review by inkdrinkermal
Eleanor by Johnny Worthen
2.0
While the story was compelling, the writing and characters were painful. The writing itself seemed forced and contrite and incredibly judgmental. I get that Midge was chubby - mentioning once would have sufficed, but every time this girl would get brought up, Johnny Worthen wanted to shove it down our throats that she was bigger. Literally. Every single time. The main character was a whiny brat, too. I sympathized with her at first because I, too, am painfully shy. But I also realize that sometimes, you have to give your name to the bank teller, sometimes you have to speak to the cashier, and sometimes, a teacher might call on you. They don't have it out for you, they just expect you to function as normally as everyone else does in society. Eleanor didn't seem to grasp that.
As for the supernatural nature of the story, I felt like it didn't add all that much. You've already got a very interesting plot - a girl gets adopted by a woman who is very, very sick. The girl has a troubled past and gets herself into bad situations at school and in the town. You don't need the girl to have any sort of power - you already have a story, why buy into the paranormal romance genre?
Overall, I felt like the novel was contrite. I hated the stereotypes, I hated Eleanor, and I hated how judgmental Mr. Worthen sounded (Oh, you're chubby? Let's bring it up constantly. Oh, you have big breasts? Let's make that a major part of the plot line. STOP THE BODY SHAMING).
As for the supernatural nature of the story, I felt like it didn't add all that much. You've already got a very interesting plot - a girl gets adopted by a woman who is very, very sick. The girl has a troubled past and gets herself into bad situations at school and in the town. You don't need the girl to have any sort of power - you already have a story, why buy into the paranormal romance genre?
Overall, I felt like the novel was contrite. I hated the stereotypes, I hated Eleanor, and I hated how judgmental Mr. Worthen sounded (Oh, you're chubby? Let's bring it up constantly. Oh, you have big breasts? Let's make that a major part of the plot line. STOP THE BODY SHAMING).