Review: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

The Blurb

Smart, warm, uplifting, the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes the only way to survive is to open her heart

Meet Eleanor Oliphant: she struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. That, combined with her unusual appearance (scarred cheek, tendency to wear the same clothes year in, year out), means that Eleanor has become a creature of habit (to say the least) and a bit of a loner. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.

But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kind of friends who rescue each other from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is the story of a quirky yet lonely woman whose social misunderstandings and deeply ingrained routines could be changed forever—if she can bear to confront the secrets she has avoided all her life. But if she does, she’ll learn that she, too, is capable of finding friendship—and even love—after all.

My Review

I didn’t like Eleanor in the beginning of the book. She made me uncomfortable with her anti-social behavior, need to correct others, and her selfishness. Not someone I’d want to hang out with. As the story progressed I learned more about her through her interactions with Raymond, Sammy and others, she became incrementally more likeable. The horrific experiences she endured in life created the woman I met at the beginning of the story. The story of her transitioning into a more socially acceptable person was phenomenal.

Raymond became a true friend, someone she could count on when she hit her lowest point. I liked him from the first moment he came into the story until the end. Not a perfect person, but he was a good man.

I give this book five out of five vodka bottle shaped chocolate bars.

I purchased this book from AmazonUK.