#BookReview - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Pages - 383

Format - Kindle

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?

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One of my favourites of 2020 if not all time!

From the offset this book was not what I was expecting. I knew it focused on mental health but I never realised that I would have so many laugh out loud moments as well.

Eleanor reminds me of Hyacinth one of the main characters from the UK sitcom 'Keeping Up Appearances', with the way she is all prim & proper & what some people would call snobby. So I was surprised when it turns out she's the same age as myself & Scottish. Definitely doesn't fit the stereotypical 30 year old Scottish lass!

The first half of the book I can safely say contains quite a few full on belly laughs as we follow Eleanor & all her antics at work & what little social life she has. However the second half does take a darker turn where one page you will be laughing & the next be shocked or even shed a tear. I also loved the twist at the end, was not expecting that at all!

I must say that this is one of the most mental health prominent books I've read & having suffered with my own mental health at different points in my life I really felt the emotions that Eleanor went through & felt the author did a spot on job with the representation.

I would recommend this book to anyone, though I will say to use your own discretion when choosing to read it as it does cover a few aspects of mental health & abuse.