Customer reviews

438 people found this helpful

You will fall in love with Miss Oliphant

1414 comments

Mary Ward

May 29, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

492 people found this helpful

66 comments

TA48

Wonderful read

May 31, 2017

So this book sweeps you right into quirky but sad Eleanor's life and for me, I was glad of it. I loved the way the book has just the right amount of detail and let's Eleanor's ways reveal moments of humor, sadness, strength, and vulnerability. I laughed and cried and cherished the journey with her to the end.

184 people found this helpful

11 comment

Kindle Customer

5 STARS!!!!!!!

December 4, 2017

I wish there were words for how much I loved this contemporary fiction/ chick-lit / Brit-lit novel.

SUMMARY
Eleanor Oliphant is the definition of 'socially awkward.' Think Sheldon from Big Bang Theory minus his little band of nerds and giant ego. Awkward!!! She is never sure if people are being sarcastic or serious. She gives a lot of unsolicited advice, thinking she is being helpful when she's really being obnoxious, then she mentally (and occasionally orally) notes what she perceives as others poor manners or stupidity in said person. She's hilarious without meaning to be.

From the very beginning, the reader knows that things are not 100% right for Eleanor. She has serious "Mummy Issues" (love the British Speak, mummy issues sound so much more sophisticated than mommy issues!), her coworkers blatantly make fun of her, she has no friends, she relies on vodka to get her through the weekend and has these mysterious scars on her face which are significant enough to cause people to stare.

On a very rare night out, she goes to a concert and completely falls for one of the musicians without even so much as exchanging a single word with him.

Eleanor begins a journey of physical self improvement in order to prep herself to meet this musician. Her journey includes a hilarious visit to a waxing salon, a couple extremely uncomfortable "practice" social outings and a few lol worthy shopping trips.

In addition to the outward improvements, Eleanor decides to open herself to new experiences so she will be ready when she meets her musician in person. Her newfound openness comes in handy when, after years of loneliness, she accidentally stumbles into two new unlikely friendships.
Although there are many truly amusing parts in this story, it also has a very serious side, particularly when the reader learns of Eleanor's past and the origins of her scars. Author, Gail Honeyman, slowly doles out the details of Eleanor's heartbreaking backstory leaving the reader 100% on Team Eleanor. I, for one, was cheering her on and celebrating her growth as though she were my real life friend.

WHAT I LOVED
Since I gave this book 5 Stars, and I rarely ever do, clearly I loved EVERYTHING about it. But here are just a few specific things which I loved:

The whole thing with Bobbie Brown makeup. She was soooooo clueless that she had no idea who Bobbie Brown is and at one point she 'questioned Ms Brown's work ethic' since Bobbie never seemed to be at her makeup counter.

I LOVED Eleanor's observations on other people and how she often missed the point so significantly and then she thought everyone but her was crazy. Super entertaining.

I loved how Eleanor just spoke her mind without concern for social convention. That was funny enough, but reading others reactions to her comment was the icing on the cake. Some people laughed and found her refreshing, others thought she was crazy or rude.

The story itself was just so darn good!!! In my opinion, a good book in this genre is one which makes the reader laugh, think deeply, feel significant empathy for the characters and stays with the reader long after completing the story. For me, this book did that, and more. I was so sad to see it end. I miss her already.

WHAT I DIDN'T LOVE
This book got my 5 star rating which means that if there was something I didn't love about the book, the good outweighed the bad so heavily that I forgot anything I didn't like.

OVERALL
I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!

223 people found this helpful

Fairly Meh. Really sad story. Well edited.

11 comment

July 30, 2018

First things first: this is a heart-wrenching novel that will make any empathetic person cry. I feel the need to point that out because of all those blurbs (like Reese Witherspoon's) describing the book as so funny. Sure, you might get a laugh or too. But the genre of this story is solidly tragedy, not comedy, and it's a little sick to mislead folks about that because Eleanor Oliphant is not fine, she is utterly crippled by horrific childhood abuse.

Her character is interesting, though, and well written. One of the most refreshing things about this novel is that it is well-edited. One or two slips, but on the whole, adequately prepared for sale (as opposed to, say, The Girl With All the Gifts, the publishers of which owe us all an apology - which, I am positive that Eleanor Oliphant would demand).

Nonetheless, the storyline is not altogether strong. The final 100 pages I was - as one review said - pushing to finish in a single sitting, but only because I had thoroughly lost interest and wanted to finish. It starts strong, with some nice surprises and lovely background details, but then the next steps become entirely predictable. Before reading the last 100 pages, I effectively had finished the story. The author seems to throw in the final surprise as a last ditch attempt to avoid this predictability, but it falls flat. The final surprise of the story contributes nothing to the tale, and feels like an amateur device intended to save the book, but in truth - if the author had left it out, I don't think it would have made an ounce of difference.

One the whole, this was a decent book, but not one I would pass along. Indeed, I accidentally ordered 2 copies and will be returning the second copy rather than gifting it, as I had originally thought I might. Chances are, if you are not excessively triggered by child abuse, you'll enjoy this book. But I am astounded that the book has received more praise than a mild - "Interesting" here and there.

65 people found this helpful

Nothing funny about childhood abuse

22 comments

Caitlin N

October 2, 2018

This book was marketed as quirky and ‘wildly funny,’ but I had a hard time finding the humor in this book. The main character is socially awkward because of her extreme childhood abuse. I fail to find the humor in a person who has been forever mentally messed up because they were abused and neglected. It’s not funny. It’s terribly sad. I only finished the book because it was for book club.

59 people found this helpful

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

11 comment

lindsay

Page Turner

June 6, 2017

I loved this book. Completely different than I expected, but in a refreshing way. I hate reading reviews that give everything away, so as a heads up, there are no spoilers here.

For whatever reason, even amidst all the rave reviews, I thought the book might be odd or boring; a whole book about a quirky woman, I thought how could this be so wonderful? However, it is so much more than that. It has in depth portrayal of a woman and her past and how she has come to be who she is. It details her struggles with a hurtful past, and as the story develops, so does our heroine. She begins to look at things in a new light, and grows into this beautiful strong and brave person. You want to applaud her in the end and give her a hug.

This is an intelligent and beautifully written story, a definite page turner. I highly recommend.

151 people found this helpful

0Comment

Anderson

I loved this book.

June 6, 2017

What a beautifully written book about Miss Eleanor Oliphant There are lessons here about the people we walk by everyday who are suffering in some fashion. It's easy to pass them off like the voice in Eleanor's head would have her do. She surprises herself and us as well when she not only survives her childhood, but becomes a "just fine" adult. I was sad to say goodbye to her when the book ended and will definitely look for more from Gail Honeyman.

75 people found this helpful

I know for the most part I'm alone in this opinion, but....

0Comment

Amber619

August 15, 2018

I really don't understand the hype behind this book. The ending was predictable. The characters didn't progress in a way that really drew me in. And the pseudo-intellectual internal dialogue was tiring at best. I thought I would form more of an attachment to this character (given her childhood, circumstances, and emotional issues) but it was just the opposite. I found myself reading it quickly, hoping that there would be a new twist that would draw me in... nope. By page 200, I stopped hoping for something to draw me and and started speed-reading just to get it over with. Disappointing.

31 people found this helpful

Too Much of a Fairy Tale for My Taste

11 comment

Worldreader

May 7, 2018

I did come to like and sympathise with Eleanor and the other characters in the book; but I found it a bit of a fairy tale and I wasn't entirely convinced. The story of Eleanor's coming to grips with her traumatising past, and overcoming it, seemed a bit too pat and simplistic. It is well written, and I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy reading it, but it is not the type of book I would normally choose.

33 people found this helpful