Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

126 reviews

romyterhaar's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Child death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Self harm, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

thetearex's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Sexual assault, Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, Death, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Rape, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Adult/minor relationship

corinnelora95's review against another edition

sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

"The covers are of very little help, because they always say only good things, and I've found out to my cost that they're rarely accurate. "Exhilarating" "Dazzling" "Hilarious." No." (Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, p 265)

This quote stuck out to me because the cover reviews for "Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine" are part of what led me to pick up and read this book. I found that it was not "beautifully written and incredibly funny," as Reese Witherspoon described it to be. It was not "hilarious and moving," as People claimed. And it certainly was not "completely wonderful," as Purewow said it would be.

For everyone who recommends this book because it's "light-hearted" or "funny," I have to wonder why. I found the majority of the book to be frustrating and depressing. Eleanor annoyed me for the entirety of the "Good Days" part of the book. She was slightly better in the "Bad Days" and "Better Days" parts, but I still found myself questioning why she was written to be so socially inept. It was maddening.

Overall, the book was easy to read, but it left me asking, "Why am I reading this?" over and over. I ultimately decided around the halfway point that I'd finish the book because I was too invested in Raymond and the other positive characters to quit. Raymond's care for Eleanor is what earned it the third star for me, but just barely.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

Moderate: Grief, Alcoholism, Murder, Self harm, Stalking, Alcohol, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Addiction

Minor: Cursing and Animal cruelty

moanareads's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Murder, and Mental illness

stindex's review against another edition

hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking

fancyjess_party's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Murder, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Death of parent, Violence, Addiction, Child death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Ableism

mallywally's review against another edition

dark funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Child abuse

Moderate: Child death

sboucher's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Addiction, and Suicidal thoughts

mikaylanh's review against another edition

challenging sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I wanted to enjoy this but honestly just found it very underwhelming and irritating to read. I understand Eleanor has a very advanced vocabulary as a result of her crossword obsession, but I was constantly (like, every other page) having to look up words she was using. All of them  could have easily been replaced with simpler words to make for a better, more accessible reading experience. Also thought Eleanor exhibited extremely creepy behavior when it came to the musician love interest… so overall, not a huge fan

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Toxic relationship, Child death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Addiction

Minor: Vomit

charlottefaye's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 I remember seeing this everywhere when it first came out, but only being 16 when it released it wasn’t of interest to me, as was definitely in my fantasy era/coming out of my reading habit due to starting college. 

My main issue with this book was how it was marketed, being described as a “warm, smart and uplifting story”. I was expecting a light hearted read based around a bit of a “messy” but relatable character trying to navigate life. This was not the experience! The actual book was a lot heavier and darker than what it was marketed as, which completely took me by surprise! 

The story deals with a lot of different topics and situations and was one I was interested to hear about but not always desperate to return to. Again, I think a lot of this is due to my expectations of the book and the subject matter being so different to what I expected. 

I also found a few aspects predictable including on of the main “twists/mysteries” which was revealed at the end, and a few of the plot points did not capture my interest compared to others. 

However, I still enjoyed listening to this audiobook and think it has some important things to say and is something I definitely don’t regret listening to. I would definitely recommend a read if you want a book that deals with past experiences and how these can influence yourself, but you do not have to let them define you and can grow/move on! But just be aware it is not as a light hearted read as it may be made out to be! 

Apparently it’s being turned into a film and I will definitely go see that!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Grief, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child death and Addiction