The majority of this story is lovely. It's a wonderful and witty exploration of the treacherous side of human, every day life that is socialising. Having it said from the perspective of Eleanor Oliphant, whom as the reader soon discovers is absolutely not fine, shows the pitfalls of interaction that to others with better social skills seem to completely breeze by. It emphasises how difficulty is subjective and what some find comes naturally to them doesn't for others. In that regard the novel is quite considerate and empathetic.

The next paragraph contains spoilers, not explaining the ending in detail but exploring the type of ending it is which very well might ruin, or lessen, the experience of reading the book. Ye be warned.

Here is where we run into trouble: the tragic backstory of Eleanor is exciting and mysterious as it is unfolding but a bit unrealistic and over-the-top-dramatic when you put together all of the pieces. I felt that the "twist" was a bit of a cliché. The subplot of her obsession with the singer is entertaining but the fact that he's such a dick makes the moral of Eleanor's growth too obvious, I felt a bit beaten over the head with it. The same can be said about the romanticism in the story leading up to the ending which is just ... too happy, too simple. Eleanor Oliphant turns out to become completely fine. There aren't any loose ends, every obstacle is overcome. The change in her social skills is the least perfectified, although she improves significantly and is mostly "quirky" by the end - a lot of that development has to do with other people's consideration of her, a lovely moral aimed at society which could always be more empathetic towards people who for some reason or another are outside "the norm". But even that falls into the category of "too happy, too easy". Although an opposite interpretation could be that most of the pain Eleanor experiences is through her own negative lens, similar to Goob's experience of other people's interest in him as a child in the fantastic kids' movie, Meet The Robinsons: "They all hated me,". I personally agree more with the first interpretation.

In the end it's a lovely story, simultaneously cosy and bittersweet but I feel the idea was better than the execution.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine