A review by amid
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
2.0
Eleanor Oliphant is a disturbed woman in her 30s who lives a hermit lifestyle which consists of work, vodka and books. She talks to her abusive mother once a week. Her life then suddenly changes when she, along with Raymond (“Unhygienic IT guy”), rescue an elderly stranger from an accident.
Shortly afterwards, Eleanor and Raymond become besties, Sammy (the old guy) dies and Eleanor starts getting invited to parties, becomes more social and so on. Later, Eleanor gets the courage to approach her crush but finds out that he’s an asshole. So she goes back home, drinks vodka and tries to kill herself.
Raymond arrives at her apartment to rescue her. She then starts going to therapy. Finally, the therapist convinces her to cut off her abusive mother, who turns out to be alive only in Eleanor’s imagination (Surprise!). We also learn that many years ago her mother deliberately set fire to their house, thus killing herself along with Eleanor’s little sister.
I personally loved the funny, unusual personality of Eleanor (reminds me of the character Holly from the Bill Hodges Trilogy) but found the whole plot to be utterly boring.
Shortly afterwards, Eleanor and Raymond become besties, Sammy (the old guy) dies and Eleanor starts getting invited to parties, becomes more social and so on. Later, Eleanor gets the courage to approach her crush but finds out that he’s an asshole. So she goes back home, drinks vodka and tries to kill herself.
Raymond arrives at her apartment to rescue her. She then starts going to therapy. Finally, the therapist convinces her to cut off her abusive mother, who turns out to be alive only in Eleanor’s imagination (Surprise!). We also learn that many years ago her mother deliberately set fire to their house, thus killing herself along with Eleanor’s little sister.
I personally loved the funny, unusual personality of Eleanor (reminds me of the character Holly from the Bill Hodges Trilogy) but found the whole plot to be utterly boring.