Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman {Review}

January 29, 2018 KalaLeave a comment

If you have read and enjoyed Fredrick Backman’s Britt Marie Was Here, I think you would enjoy this novel by Gail Honeyman.

Goodreads Blurb:

Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. All this means that Eleanor has become a creature of habit (to say the least) and a bit of a loner.

My Review:

I received this book thru my Book of the Month subscription for December and it was my first pick from my TBR jar that I have dedicated to this year’s Unread Shelf Project. What attracted me to this novel was my thought that it was so similar to the above mentioned novel by Fredrick Backman. I recently read Britt Marie Was Here and thoroughly enjoyed it.

In Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, you meet a 30 year old woman who is basically living the life of a 65 year old grandma. If her age was not mentioned you could imagine her as an uptight old lady. To be such a young woman, she is a creature of routine and habit. You can’t help but laugh at her ways from time to time. The more serious she is, the funnier her situation seems, until you learn about her past.

Eleanor survived a horrific fire during her childhood but as a result of it, she had to grow up in the foster care system. She does not have any friends, she is socially awkward, and her life is controlled indirectly by her mother. As the story progresses, you learn to love Eleanor and cheer for her from your reading spot because she attempts to make changes in her routine even if at first it is only because she is preparing to meet the love of her life. She steps into the world of technology and the world of beauty. I think her experience with waxing was my favorite funny part.

Even with her attempts to make changes, Eleanor’s life takes a near devastating turn. She then has to learn how to love herself and accept the love and friendship of others.

This is a quick, quirky read but is full of life. This book subtly addresses alcoholism and child abuse. It also touches on mental health and help.

I gave this novel 4.5 stars. It is available now.

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah {Review}

November 24, 2017 KalaLeave a comment

Hello everyone, I hope that you all enjoyed your holiday and hope that you were able to get some good deals shopping if that is what you participated in. I was fortunate to receive an ARC of Kristin Hannah’s new book that is set to be released February 6, 2018 from St. Martin’s Press.

Goodreads Description:

Alaska, 1974.
Untamed.
Unpredictable.
And for a family in crisis, the ultimate test of the human spirit.

From the author who brought you the phenomenon of The Nightingale.

Review:

Let me just start by saying get ready to go on an emotional adventure. Kristin Hannah does it AGAIN!!!

In this novel we meet the Albrights. They are a family of three. Ernt(dad), Cora(mom), and Leni(daughter). This novel takes place in the mid seventies, after the Vietnam War. Ernt has returned home after being captured and held captive for 6 years. He suffers from what would not be called PTSD. There really wasn’t a word for it then. The men were just described as “being changed by the war.” He cant hold down and job and he has anger issues. Cora tries to pacify him by giving in to his grand ideas and constant moving around, although their daughter, Leni, has to suffer because of all the changes.

The dynamic of the relationship of Cora and Ernt is not apparent at first but quickly surfaces once the family moves to Alaska. Ernt has been gifted a house and some land by a fellow war comrade. When they first move to Alaska, things seem as if they will be okay. As the time goes on, Ernt takes a turn for the worse. While he is spiraling out of control, Leni is beginning to grow into a young adult and she is becoming a mentally strong young woman. She begins to see things in her parents that she had not noticed before and is having a difficult time accepting them.

Leni meets Matthew Walker, a young man who is going to play a key role in her life. As will his family in her father’s breaking point.

I will stop there because I really do not want to give away much more about the story. Just know that there is so much more that is going on in their lives.

This is one of those novels that will make you think about how mental health and love can affect relationships. It also shows how unconditional love can either make or break a person. As I said earlier, this novel is another emotional adventure. I read The Nightingale a couple of months ago and was emotionally exhausted when I finished it. I love a book that can make me feel that way and The Great Alone did the same thing. Hannah puts on paper real life issues and makes you think and feel with her characters.

I may have had some watery eyes with the end of this novel, but I will neither confirm or deny it. I strongly suggest purchasing this novel when it is published if you are a fan of Kristin Hannah and if you have not read any of her novels, this is a great introduction to her style of writing. This book isn’t even out yet and I am already looking forward to her next novel. I guess I will have to go get one of her older novels off my shelf to hold me over.

I give this book 5 stars!

books

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood [review]

September 20, 2017September 20, 2017 KalaLeave a comment

I said that I was going to do this review last week, but I have to admit I am just now able to get off the emotional rollercoaster that I was thrown on during and after reading this book. Where do I begin? Aha, how about the beginning. I promise to try not to give away too much information because I want people to read and experience this book on their own.

The story begins when a young Wavy is sent to live with her family after her mother is sent away to jail. Wavy is not your typical child. She shows signs immediately that prove she has not had a childhood filled with rainbows and ribbons. She doesn’t eat, talk or liked to be touched. It takes time for her to eventually let her own grandmother touch her and that is not until her grandmother is dying from cancer and even then she doesn’t let others see her interact with her grandmother. Wavy’s aunt and uncle do not know how to care for her, nor do they try to understand her.

From what I gathered, Wavy’s mother seemed to be passive aggressive, even OCD when it comes to germs. She is also a drug addict and probably suffers from anxiety and depression. Don’t even get me started on her “father”. I put that in quotations because as far as I am concerned that meth making organism didn’t deserve to be called her father.

When Wavy’s mother gets out of jail, Wavy goes back to live with her. Her mother does okay by her and her new baby brother for only a short time. Soon enough, “dad” shows back up and convinces Wavy’s mother to come back to him.

After going back to the house on the farm, Wavy is thrown into the role as caretaker for her brother. Soon Wavy encounters Kellen. They relationship that they start building is odd. He becomes her caretaker of sorts. Making sure that the house is clean and that there is food in the house. He also makes sure that Wavy gets to school and even meets with her teacher. Wavys’s mother is in her own world of depression and drugs. Wavy’s “father” is only concerned with his business, women, and his image.

Wavy begins to finally experience feelings that she has never felt before when she is dealing with Kellen. Kellen also reciprocates these feelings back to Wavy as she grows older. Wavy slowly comes out of her shell around Kellen. He provides the love and nurturing that her parents never gave her and a little more. Eventually, as Wavy gets older these feelings they have for each other develop into more and cause a ruckus in their lives.

That is where is will stop with the “synopsis” review and bring you to how this book made me feel.

I gave this book 5 stars before I was finished with it. I could not put it down. I was drawn in and it kept my attention even when things started getting weird. I highly recommend this book and I am quite upset that my book club has not read this book yet. I have voted for it every time it is one of our contenders and it has not won. I am so glad that I decided to read it on my own after having owned it several months, both the ebook and the hardcover. I felt so many emotions while reading this story. I did not want it to end. This is not a story that is meant to put you in the “feel good” moments of life. It will make you uncomfortable and make you think about what you would do in situations. We all say what we would do, but would we really do it? Although fiction, this story is REAL life. This story is something that is happening every day in our world. This is definitely an ugly, but wonderful story.