Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

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SYNOPSIS:

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 ever weekend. Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled existence. Except, sometimes, everything.

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REVIEW

4 STARS

"Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" was a very surprising and welcome read. I've been on a reading slump for quite some time and I even tried to read my ultimate favorite book ("The Night Circus") in hopes it would help me overcome it, but it didn't work because I still remembered the story well. What also didn't help was the fact that this last semester was extremely stressful and tough.

Being mildly free again, I picked up this book. At first, I wasn't enjoying it much and I was failing to connect with Eleanor. She was an odd main character and her personality was not exactly likable, mainly, I think, because we had no clue of what her background story was - we get them now and again and we begin to put together a general picture of the events despite unraveling the full story only at the end of the book (and I mean its very last few pages).

However, as I kept reading and to understand her better, Eleanor got hold of my heart and I started liking her as if she was a dear friend. I didn’t understand well if she had autism or if her way of dealing with people and situations were solely due to her trauma, but it didn't really matter - her personality was fascinating nonetheless, mainly because she didn't care about what other people thought and she was always true to herself. 

Even though she was extremely rational and a very opinionated woman, she gets into this emotional journey of self-discovery as she falls in love with "the one".

Don’t let my words fool you: this book is not a simple romance (I wouldn’t even describe this as a romance to begin with). This is more about growing up, overcoming fears and adversities, connecting with people and befriend them. It’s about a lonely woman who’s surprised by the kindness of strangers and opens herself up to the immense possibilities the world has to offer. It’s about a phoenix that turns to ashes twice only to be reborn, stronger. This is a book about suicide and how to live with great loss and yet, this is one of those stories that make you laugh out loud when you're least expecting. The simplicity that Eleanor brings to the most complex situations is fascinating and her thought process never ceased to surprise me. She might be one of the most real characters I read about. She could be a real person, not a fictional character like Hermione or Cersei Lannister. I think this is what I most appreciated, the thought of, someday, meet a person just like her. It would be an honor. 

The only thing I didn’t like was her obsession with the musician. That’s the only reason why I didn’t give this book five stars.

The writing is completely fabulous and seductive, the rhythm is perfect and the pace couldn’t be more adequate. Everything evolves as it should, with extraordinary timing - for example, Eleanor and Raymond's friendship develops softly and slowly, similarly to real-life friendships.

Everything except that obsession felt natural and organic. As I said, it could be a true story and Eleanor’s blossoming was the most wonderful thing of all.