Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman

Goodreads rating: 5*

I absolutely adored this book and even though there was something nagging in my brain most of the way through, I didn’t see the twist coming which is one of my indicators of a good read.

Eleanor is just an incredible character – I don’t know how else to describe her. She is a survivor through and through, who was dealt a traumatic hand in life and as a result, she becomes closed off emotionally from everyone around her. Some people would say she was eccentric, a loner, a ‘bit of a weirdo’, but I have so much admiration for Eleanor and her independent way of living – she doesn’t rely on anyone and she is quite happy going about her routine until a series of events lead her to re-evaluate life.

This novel was the perfect balance of humour and devastation and I felt so many different emotions throughout. Eleanor is, for all intents and purposes, socially inept and overly literal, but this actually makes her all the more endearing to the other characters in the book who manage to get close to her. It has a dark narrative which is explored in such an honest way that it resonates with many people suffering with mental health issues (I know it certainly did for me), and whilst it is not supposed to be a romantic story, there are undertones which make the reader hopeful for this to bloom in Eleanor’s future.

One thing I know for certain is that Eleanor and her story will stay with me forever, reminding me that whilst it is great to be thick-skinned and not let other people’s opinions bother me, it is also OK to want emotional connections with other human beings and sometimes this means opening yourself up, showing all of your damaged parts and accepting ourselves as kaleidoscopes.