This is a book club review, with very little summary of the book itself. Our book club read this book as our February book club. Our book club rates books on readability, likability, quality, and of course, discussion merit. Eleanor Oliphant ended up being in our top favorite book club reads of all time, hence the five star rating.Eleanor Oliphant is a dark comedy about a woman's journey into finding her path, to opening up, and to facing her emotions/head/past. It's difficult to give a summary of this book that does not include spoilers, which I believe could take away from the beauty of this book. However, due to the dark nature of this book, there may be triggers here for some readers (please see very bottom note with spoiler triggers).As a book club read, this book rated very high, an 8 of out 10, because of the amount of discussion that came from it. We were truly invested in this discussion - members shed tears, laughed, hugged... it was a wonderful book to discuss. We talked for hours and hours, and eventually ran out of time. We rarely have so much discussion with books that is so deep and meaningful. And everyone agreed that the book was likable despite the dark subject matter. The book is so incredibly funny and sweet, that it makes the hard topics just a bit easier. As far as quality, the book is far from flawless. Individual ratings were the book in general were about a 6, so a bit lower. But as far as a book club selection, the book was a great deal of fun and very worthy of a group discussion.The book takes place in Scotland, which made for a fun and lively theme, and a Scottish potluck. This book, surprisingly, has a LOT of food mentions, so there was plenty of recipes to select from. Everyone enjoyed eating the foods that Eleanor and the other characters mention in the book.Overall, this book is recommended for book clubs!***SPOILER TRIGGER WARNINGS*** I so often get asked for triggers, I just share these for book club reviews now. After all, what may be fine for the individual reader is not always great in a book club/group discussion. But, of course, triggers are also spoilers, so please do not read on if you do not want that. I will also add the disclaimer that none of these triggers were an issue for our book club, and no one had any problems with the subject matter. We include these strictly as a warning for other book clubs. Topics included: Childhood abuse and trauma, murder, death, suicide topics, alcoholism, and mental health issues.

I don’t think I liked this as much as a lot of others. It was just ok in my opinion. I wasn’t really a fan of the Eleanor character, she irritated me and I found it hard to read at first. I am glad I finished the book though. I did enjoy the growth the character made throughout the book and the relationship that developed throughout the book. I don’t think it was worth $12 but if the price drops, I’d recommend it, it’s an ok read.

I must say, it was the title that caught my interest (and maybe later on the blurb), but goodness, I was captured after the second paragraph on the very first page of the story. Immediately I knew who I would be dealing with in Eleanor Oliphant, and I could tell this story was going to be painfully honest and naturally humorous. It did not disappoint.Written in first person, I had a front view seat to everything Eleanor thought about people and life. She was highly observant and even the slightest detail could not escape her. Reading her thoughts were humorous on their own, but even more so, when they carelessly escaped her mouth. The author was excellent in authentically describing and developing people’s responses and actions to Eleanor’s naïve honesty.Though Eleanor didn’t seem to care what people thought about what she had to say, she was to me, a very likeable and even relatable character. The thing that I found relatable, and even sympathetic, was her struggle with her past and loneliness. There was a lot of mystery that the author built around Eleanor’s past and mother, and her deeply powerfully written parts of Eleanor describing her loneliness, made it difficult for me to not feel her pain, even if I didn’t share her exact experience. The shining light of it all was seeing Eleanor’s transformation. The bombshell was the ending, which I don’t think anyone (I definitely didn’t) would have saw coming.

It’s hard to believe this book is a debut novel. My favorite authors are Anne Tyler and Alexander McCall Smith and Honeyman was right up there with those two. I didn’t know anything about this book before I bought it. Basically I needed reading material to keep me busy since I just had a baby. This book arrived in the nick of time after I’d finished my last book. I started and finished this book within two days. I would have finished it sooner but you’re supposed to sleep when the baby sleeps and I needed some sleep! This book is probably the best book I’ve read apart from classics like Steinbeck and Hardy. It couldn’t have come at a better time either, as my dad’s birthday is approaching on June 9. My mother was very much like Eleanor’s in the book, maniacal and evil and manipulative and emotionally and physically abusive. My sister is now like Eleanor. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to love a child (as Eleanor expressed with her doctor) but after I had my first daughter in 2006, I realized that my mother didn’t rob me of my capacity to love my child or nurture her. The experience was a redemption of sorts for me. I had the chance to make up for my childhood by being the kind of mother I wish my mom had been. In 2016 after a nice day visiting my father for Father’s Day, the next day I woke up to a voicemail on my phone from my sister. My dad had taken his life and my mom never even called me to tell me. I know the reason my father killed himself. It was because my mother made his life so unbearable and intolerable that he had no other choice to set himself free. Like Eleanor in the book, I tried to have a relationship with my mother after my father’s suicide. We had lunch once and I called her a few times, but the relationship was One sided. She would never pick up the phone to call me. In fact, in my entire adult life (and I am 40) she has never called me once. On Mother’s Day in 2017 I felt bad that I hadn’t spoken to her since Christmas, so I called. She hung up the phone on me. That was the last contact we’ve had. On Mother’s Day in 2018, I gave birth to my fifth daughter. People laugh when they see all five of our children are girls. But I feel so blessed to be their mom. My mother doesn’t even know she is a grandmother once again. My sister still talks to my mom on a regular basis. She is alone just like Eleanor, a pariah at work, and will never have children. Reading this book was cathartic for me. I have escaped my mother’s clutches. I can only hope my sister will do it too, before it really is too late. I did think the end of the book was a little bit of a cop out. Eleanor should’ve had a show down with her mother. That’s how real life works. It’s never so simple to just wake up from a dream. Or realize the demons are only in our heads.

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.