Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

I feel like I've been reading either 1s or 5s, lately, and I'm kind of exhausted. This is yet another in a long line of debut novels I've unintentionally read this year, and it's unexpectedly, astonishingly brilliant.

The pace was perfect, in that my mind never wandered whilst I read it. The storytelling was perfect, in that I had trouble putting down the book and kept thinking about it when I wasn't reading it. It was almost entirely predictable, but not offensively so, which I found impressive. Great ending, too, which is often where a story fails me.

The content (warning: child abuse) makes it difficult to read, but in the end Eleanor's story didn't leave me shattered. While her experience was certainly devastating, she survived and eventually learned how to live. Her life is full of hope and compassion in entirely delightful ways. Within context, Eleanor's interactions and leaps of logic felt natural; the story didn't feel contrived and I didn't feel manipulated.

Fantastic.