To be completely honest, I was not as impressed with Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine as I thought I would be. Based on the 4.3 Goodreads rating, fantastic reviews and Reese Witherspoon’s book club pick I expected to be fully blown out of the water. I’m not sure why but this book just didn’t do much for me.

Eleanor Oliphant is a 30 year old woman living with dark secrets from her past, an unhealthy relationship with her mom, and social/mood anxieties. She is very awkward and her inner dialogue is oftentimes hilarious and quirky. This book follows her journey as she slowly opens up to the world around her, learns to engage and form relationships with others as well as gain closure on a secretive yet terrible childhood.

As I’ve mentioned before, 3 star reviews are so hard to write. This book didn’t necessarily move or inspire me but I certainly appreciated its message. In a world that has created a negative stigma against therapy, medication, mental health awareness, etc., I enjoyed the message. Perhaps it was the writing style that I just couldn’t get on board with. I struggled to finish this book and just was flat-out bored. Maybe this is due to reading too many like genres in a row and I should’ve taken a break. I may try to reread this one down the road to see if a fresh perspective and clear mind will help digest this.

I think the bones are there and the message is great so I can see why it’s gained so much popularity. Anything that supports and cultivates a positive and safe circle around mental health I’m always on board with, but I guess my expectations for this one were too high.