Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

[May 2018]

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Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Gail Honeyman

Average rating: 9.18
Highest rating: 9.5
Lowest rating: 9
Number of voters: 5
Percentage of voters who finished the book: 100


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Spoiler alert: Eleanor Oliphant is not completely fine.

This is the story of an unusual girl living what would seem an ordinary life. Eleanor Oliphant is occasionally endearing, periodically unlikeable, often pitiable, sometimes relatable, always unique—but not fine at all.

At first, Eleanor does seem fairly normal. It is only as the novel progresses that it becomes more apparent that something isn't quite right. There is an edge of something just beneath the surface that leaves you uneasy.

In her first novel, Gail Honeyman displays the talent of slowly revealing information so that the reader is continually interested but must continually show patience. You can trust Honeyman; she delivers plot points and character insights in her time—and the humor and pop culture easter eggs are an added bonus.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the story of an unusual girl. But it is also a story of friendship and the barriers we erect to protect ourselves. It is the story of how none of us stay the same forever.

Like Eleanor, we might say we are completely fine. Someday that might actually be true.

Before We Were Yours

[April 2018]

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Before We Were Yours
Lisa Wingate

Average rating of finishers: 7.89

Host: Carrie
Highest rating: 9
Lowest rating: 5
Number of voters: 7
Percentage of voters who finished the book: 100
Menu: Sweet tea, crustini, pimento spread, blackberries

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Meet Rill and Avery, two southern women who are connected in ways neither could have imagined.
Before We Were Yours takes a river boat's journey down the Mississippi and into a heart-breaking chapter of American history that is barely known. 

The writing is uneven, and some of the characters lack depth. There is a certain amount of predictability. But the story is authentic and real, revealing tragedies without horrifying the reader with details. Author Lisa Wingate deserves credit for doing her research and writing a compelling narrative that simultaneously shines a light in the dark places and reminds us that sometimes light can come from darkness.

Landline

[March 2018]

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Landline
Rainbow Rowell

Average rating of finishers: 6.42

Host: Angie
Highest rating: 7.5
Lowest rating: 4.5
Number of voters: 7
Percentage of voters who finished the book: 100

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The 1990s are calling and it wants to save your marriage. Or not. Or … maybe?

We wish we had cared enough about these characters to care about the landline to the past. As it is, we were left wanting more—more reasons to like the main characters, more reasons to root for them, more from the more interesting minor characters... and more 90s throwback references.

An easy and entertaining read, Landline isn't necessarily a waste of time. Many of us would recommend it, some of us would not. One reader said it left her "massively unfulfilled." (Ouch!) Those of us who have read Eleanor & Park would say read that instead.

We look forward to hearing more from Rainbow Rowell, but we won't be calling Landline again.