Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail HoneymanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Well, here I am yet again, swimming upstream and going against the grain. I just didn’t enjoy Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.
I will leave the traditional summary to those who have already provided it, as there are literally hundreds of glowing, positive reviews that give brilliant plot details. Suffice it to say, the entire book made me hugely uncomfortable. Even the attempts at humor were wistful, as it felt that the reader was having a laugh directly at Eleanor’s expense. Her past was so horrific, and her capacity to read social interactions so lacking, that reading was sometimes painful. Beyond just my own level of discomfort, however, was my visceral reaction to the conclusion. Seriously. Without spoilers, it’s tough to elaborate, but it felt cheap and cliche.
I’m not going to opine with the usual specifics I try to include in every review, because I am clearly in the minority. I will say that the prose was brilliant and, at times, beautifully tragic. In the end, reading about a damaged woman, dealing with a spectrum disorder and alcoholism, plagued by delusion and a past of domestic abuse, just made me...well, sad.
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