Challenge Corner discussion

No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine.

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.

But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.

Soon to be a major motion picture produced by Reese Witherspoon, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the smart, warm, and uplifting story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . .

The only way to survive is to open your heart.

Chapter 2
(view spoiler)[ Okay, okkkaaaayyyy. The start was weird. The book is kinda weird. For now the MC is weird. I know there is a reason for her being the way she is but, so far it's just not for me. She saw a guy and its the love of her life? really?..
And I honestly can say that it's first time I read so much and in detail about vaxing. lol (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 5
(view spoiler)[ Hm. I am guessing this IT guy Raymond will be the one Eleanor will end up with. No? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 8
I've tried audiobook and with the accent and all I like the book more. I think I keep listening to it on audio from now on.
(view spoiler)[ Did Raymond really had to run, or he just flew after her "smart phone"question? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 8
(view spoiler)[ Stalking that poor guy. Hm. Creeping at his appartment door... That's a bit too much.
I am so weirded out about this Mommy thing. Is her mom dead? Is it's all in her head? Their conversations? I am lost. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 10
(view spoiler)[ It's funny how Raymond thinks Eleanor is talking about him then she mention someone she is courting. lol (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 12
(view spoiler)[ The talks with her mommy really creeps me out. Really. I need to know what is it about. Is it all in her head? Is her mom dead? Is it something to do with the accident and Eleanor's scars? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 19
(view spoiler)[ It's fascinating to see how Eleanor's mind works. I hope the party she has to organise will be a success. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 21
(view spoiler)[ Why the scene with a crying baby made me think that maybe Eleanor had a baby? Hm. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 23
(view spoiler)[
I'm sad for Sammy. He was such a fun old guy.
Is Raymond with Laura? Hm. I really thought he likes Eleanor. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 27
(view spoiler)[ That was horible. Poor Eleaor. She needs someone to help her to deal with everything. Or she will kill herself next time...

Raymond is an awesome friend. He was amazing taking care of her. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 29
(view spoiler)[ Mommy please don't hurt us? Hm.
Sooo, I'm guessing she (they?) was hurt as a child and maybe she was the one who set the house on fire? (it was arsen after all) and in that fire mommy and someone else died? Sister? Hm. I'm guessing things... . (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 35
(view spoiler)[ So I was right. She had a sister. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 37
(view spoiler)[ what a monster mom should be to burn down her own cildren. No wonder Eleanor is how she is. (hide spoiler)]

Finished
(view spoiler)[ She still has a lot of work ahead of her, but I like how it all ended. How she now knows what is real and what was all in her head. Eleanor is going to be fine. (hide spoiler)]

How was it??

I'm at about 15% ...(view spoiler)[I'm at about 15% and I'm oddly super interested in all of the mundane events in Eleanor's life. She's a 30 year old woman who lives alone and lives such a habit driven life. It's so sad. But also like its sadder when she tries to deviate from that. Her expectations are so far off; like thinking the pizza delivery guy will be interested in staying around for a cup of tea after he delivers the pizza. Lol!

I'm to the part where there are hints something is wrong with her mother. And Eleanor is in serious denial.
(hide spoiler)]

50%
(view spoiler)[
Feeling a little odd about this book. Not entirely enthralled, keep getting distracted. But I feel like people really love it so I will stick with it!

You can tell that Eleanor is autistic, and possibly was abused as a child. Still questioning what her mother had to do with that, and if her mother is dead, institutionalized, or in a hospital/home...? But mostly Eleanor is just doing her thing; continuing to get a makeover and spending time with Reymond.

I did tear up after her hair cut when Eleanor says to the hairdresser that she made her look shiney. Makes you think Eleanor really has been through a lot, and never taken care of herself.
(hide spoiler)]

70%
(view spoiler)[
OMGGG! When Raymond helps Eleanor after she's given herself alcohol poisoning, he's such a good friend. or something more. I'm not sure, but he's amazing. I'm glad he was there for her.
(hide spoiler)]

80%
(view spoiler)[
No one should have to go through this, it's so terrible. She was only a child and lost her baby sister. I feel so bad for Eleanor, she definitely doesn't deserve this... and I can't believe she's blocked the memories and continued a relationship with her monster of a mother. Horrendous.
(hide spoiler)]

Finished
(view spoiler)[
Since the beginning I thought her mom was all in her head, because her mom just seemed to know too much. Oh and she was smoking cigarettes, but she's in jail or a hospital, that didn't make sense? So everytime Eleanor said her mummy was in a bad place, it made me think she had died.

Wow, Eleanor definitely has some ways to go in healing these wounds, but I'm so glad she has Raymond's help, as well as her counselor. Those therapy sessions were A+!


(hide spoiler)]

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RESTARTING FEBRUARY 3RD, 2019

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I'm reading this book now :D

Yay! I just started.

Chapter 7
(view spoiler)[
Eleanor is driving me nuts! It really irritates me when she acts awkward as hell and then complains that the other person has no social skills. It seems like she never learned a lot of social conventions because of her upbringing, but I don’t understand how she can be this oblivious.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 5
(view spoiler)[OMG .... Eleanor is making me crazy. I don't understand her, the way that she interacts with people like she was born in another time. I hope in the next chapter I be able to understand her, even if it's just a little. (hide spoiler)]

So behind on my ebooks :( I'll probably dive into this tomorrow? Maybe tonight?

Chapter 12
(view spoiler)[ this is what I call a difficult book to read. I hate when I can't advance with a certain rhythm.
I can't believe that Eleanor Try to cover the scars of the abuse she suffers. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 14
(view spoiler)[
I feel like Eleanor is just intentionally being difficult. Like when she gets a manicure, she is mad they dry her hands instead of just handing her a towel. But when she eats at McDonald's, she is mad she has to throw her own trash out. I don't think anything would please her.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 23
(view spoiler)[
Maybe it’s rude of me, but given that Eleanor didn’t know the family very well, I felt like it would have been okay for her to go home. It made me kind of mad when Raymond said no one wants to go, but you have to anyway. If it was someone I was close to, I would want to go.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 31
(view spoiler)[
I’ve never had therapy, but it does sound really frustrating to have an emotionally intense conversation for an hour and then get kicked out. I wonder how therapists typically deal with that. Maybe people just accept it as part of the deal?
(hide spoiler)]

Finished!
(view spoiler)[
I don’t like that the conversations with her mom were made up. I think it’s stupid. It’s like the author didn’t really have a climax to the book, so some plot twist related to Eleanor’s past was necessary.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 17 and 18
(view spoiler)[ In this chapters we got to know that Eleanor was physically abused by an ex-boyfriend. For this, she feels like she's ugly and that she doesn't shine like the other woman. When Laura finally makes her shine she start to cry. I think that in this chapters we start knowing Eleanor and what she suffers. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 23
(view spoiler)[ I can't believe that Eleanor is being so rude with the people of the family. I know that she didn't know them very well, but come on she could be a little nicer. (hide spoiler)]

Ch. 1-10: (view spoiler)[okay Eleanor is so lovable. she's awkward and saracastic - what more could I ask for? I also feel really bad for her because of the whole incident with her mother. (hide spoiler)]
Ch. 11-20: (view spoiler)[yeesh, these coworkers and her mother are so freaking rude to her. she deserves way better. (hide spoiler)]
Ch 21-30: (view spoiler)[hmmm not quite sure how I feel about this whole romance right now. it just feels weird - is it me? (hide spoiler)]
Finished: (view spoiler)[wait a hot minute, she was dead this whole fucking time? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 31
(view spoiler)[ God this makes me crazy. I can't understand Eleanor. I'm really confused about all story and the characters. (hide spoiler)]

Finished
(view spoiler)[ I can't believe that the mother was dead all time. The conversations were made up in Eleanor mind. But I think that it's good that in the end, she could actually understand what was happening to her. That she wasn't ok after the fire. (hide spoiler)]