Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

162 reviews

lizziaha's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.25

I found Eleanor to be intensely unlikable at the beginning of the story, which is sort of the point, but it was hard for me to get over it. She is a little (a lot) oblivious to how the world works, and while this is funny and endearing at times, it also involved a lot of second hand embarrassment for me. This gets a bit better, once Raymond begins to teach her how to be human. Her character growth is immense, but I don’t know if the payoff was quite worth it. I did really enjoy the writing style, so I might have to check out something else by this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Child death, Alcohol, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Ableism, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Classism

marac3's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

I've never read a book like this one before. You were totally engrossed in her mind, her world and with tiny breadcrumbs you could piece together the story. Eleanor's character development was brilliant. I cried multiple times while reading this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Child death, and Murder

emilywc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse

tidals's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

Lots of dry British humor. Guess I’ve been through a lot because I didn’t find her current state or her past particularly depressing; that’s life. If you’re quick to find things depressing don’t read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Bullying, Body shaming, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Rape, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

w0rldofab00kw0rm's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Mental illness

Moderate: Murder, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death, Death of parent, and Rape

greta_o's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcoholism, Suicide, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Fatphobia

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

zozpoz's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Mental illness

Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

sunshinedaisybaby's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Murder