Review: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeymoon

A stunning debut. Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live

Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.

Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.

One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life.

Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than… fine?

 

Review: This book was very different from what I was expecting. I loved that fact that this book  centres around one character and her view of the world and I really loved that fact that this book was set in Glasgow. It means that instantly the reader can recognise what is going on and can experience everything in the book along with the main character. I thought the writing style made it very easy for us to sympathise with the main character and to see the world through her eyes. 

Eleanor as a character was interesting. I wouldn't say that she was easy to like, but she was definitely easy to sympathise and sometimes empathise with. This meant that the book moved quickly. I still wasn't sure by the end of the book whether I liked her or not. She is very com,plex and yet simple at the same time. She obviously has some social issues as well. The synopsis mentions her drinking and so I expected her to be aware of the drinking but she really wasn't aware that this was an issue, or that anything else in her life was an issue for that matter. 

The relationships that Eleanor builds with other characters is very entertaining. You don't always expect things to go the way they do and neither do Eleanor or the other characters, the book is cleverly written in that sense. Other parts of the book move a little slower and some parts are a little repetitive, but I think that this was a conscious choice on the author's part because Eleanor's life relies on those routines and repetitive tasks. 

I enjoyed reading this book, it was sometimes a little slow for my liking but it did make me laugh in parts and I am glad that I read it. 

To order your copy and see for yourself, just click the link: UK or US