Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. (Mindscape Reviews)

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is another book I decided to read from Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club! From her recommendations, so far, I had read Daisy Jones & The Six which I had loved a lot & Little Fires Everywhere which I didn’t like much. So, ‘Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine’ was a tie breaker. Unfortunately, I didn’t like this one either. Given that the story didn’t please me much, I am going to cut the review short this time! Here you go.

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Eleanor is a lonely person who has a routine & likes to stick to it. Monday through Friday she goes to work where she has been working since 9 years, wears the same white blouse & black trousers. On weekends, she doesn’t leave her apartment & downs 2 bottles of vodka. Every Wednesday, she talks to her mother. That is it. That’s her life. No family. No friends. Just Eleanor. Existing. Not living. And, she is completely fine.

The book is divided in 3 parts – Good Days, Bad Days & Better Days. The good days constitute 70 % of the book, Bad Days are 15% & Better days 5%. Of course, there is always some good in bad & vice versa.

In the beginning, I found it extremely weird to read the book. It is written by a Scottish author Gail Honeyman, so I didn’t get any references. Also, Eleanor’s character is very different; the way she speaks to people & also the way she behaves. Everything is a bit weird, like a human person but robotic speech. You see how she changes through the course of the book.

At the start, it’s an outward change; such as getting a manicure, shopping for clothes & makeup. At a later stage, the change is inward; loving herself, forgiving herself & letting people in. The book focuses on issues like loneliness, mental health, depression, child care, friendship. I also hoped it would focus on self-care in detail, but it’s not portrayed very well.

Reading this book is not a pleasant journey. At least for 70% of it, it feels like reading a random routine story of a person. And the reveals at the end aren’t so unpredictable either because of the hints placed poorly in the earlier parts of the book. It also feels a lot rushed toward the end. Being such an experienced reader, you can always predict how a book will end. And, it was very easy to predict this one. All in all, not so great. I have rated it at 2/5 on Goodreads.

~~QUOTES~~

There are scars on my heart, just as thick, as disfiguring as those on my face. I know they’re there. I hope some undamaged tissue remains, a patch through which love can come in and flow out. I hope.

Popular people sometimes have to laugh at things they don’t find very funny, do things they don’t particularly want to, to people whose company they don’t particularly enjoy.

They call young people in care “looked after”. But every child should be “looked after”… it really ought to be the default.

Until next time,