Nothing is missing from Eleanor Oliphant’s carefully timetabled life of avoiding unnecessary human contact, work, and weekends punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and chats with her Mummy. Everything in her life is just...fine.

But no one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine.

I absolutely loved this book and completely understand the hype behind it. I’m also ashamed it’s taken me so long to read it. Eleanor’s character was just so relatable and I adored her. The brutally honest remarks, how intelligent and yet socially inept she could be. How her character was moulded by her past experiences and how we were given snippets of her past throughout the book which kept us on our toes and constantly waiting to find out what happened to make Eleanor who she is.

I found her very relatable and so many of the remarks she made in the book resonated with me on many levels. Her observations of people and the world around her were cleverly written and intriguing. While she is often referred to by others as being “weird” and “odd”, Eleanor often calls out others on their bullshit feeling that there is no reason to pretend or engage in certain behaviours and trends. She is truly nonconforming and oblivious to so many of the socially accepted norms that we experience day in day out which further allows us a glimpse into her very unique perspective.

Honestly, this out-of-the-ordinary woman, with her deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit, makes for such a compelling heroine.

This story has a very delicate balance of emotional points as well as dark ones and tackles the subjects of childhood trauma, social incompetence, loneliness, friendship, love, and loss so beautifully yet tragically.

CONTENT WARNING: Gaslighting, Confinement, Abuse, Fire Injury, Death, Death of a Parent, Toxic Relationship, Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Medical Trauma, Depression, Child Abuse, Child Death, Rape, Injury, Blood, Vomit, Suicide, & Manipulation