Rummanah Aasi
Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine! This week I am waiting for the release of two books, one adult and one YA: By the Book by Julia Sonneborn and I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman.



By the Book by Julia Sonneborn
Publish date: February 6, 2018
Publisher: Gallery Books

I am usually wary of Jane Austen retellings, but this one sounds like a promising modern retelling of Persuasion, which is my favorite Austen novel. 
   
   Anne Corey is about to get schooled. An English professor in California, she’s determined to score a position on the coveted tenure track at her college. All she’s got to do is get a book deal, snag a promotion, and boom! She’s in. But then Adam Martinez—her first love and ex-fiancé—shows up as the college’s new president.
   Anne should be able to keep herself distracted. After all, she’s got a book to write, an aging father to take care of, and a new romance developing with the college’s insanely hot writer-in-residence. But no matter where she turns, there’s Adam, as smart and sexy as ever. As the school year advances and her long-buried feelings begin to resurface, Anne begins to wonder whether she just might get a second chance at love.



I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman
Publish Date: March 27, 2018
Publisher: Viking Books/Penguin Teen

 I always look forward to reading a book by one of my auto-read authors.  This book seems to focus on friendships and empathy. I think we all have felt lost at some point in our lives.

Around the time that Freya loses her voice while recording her debut album, Harun is making plans to run away from home to find the boy that he loves, and Nathaniel is arriving in New York City after a family tragedy leaves him isolated on the outskirts of Washington state. After the three of them collide in Central Park, they slowly reveal the parts of their past that they haven't been able to confront, and together, they find their way back to who they're supposed to be.
Rummanah Aasi
Description: Four months ago: Sara Zapata’s best friend disappeared, kidnapped by the web of criminals who terrorize Juàrez.

Four weeks ago: Her brother, Emiliano, fell in love with Perla Rubi, a girl whose family is as rich as her name.

Four hours ago: Sara received a death threat…and her first clue her friend’s location.

Four minutes ago: Emiliano was offered a way into Perla Rubi’s world—if he betrays his own.

In the next four days, Sara and Emiliano will each face impossible choices, between life and justice, friends and family, truth and love. But when the criminals come after Sara, only one path remains for both the siblings: the way across the desert to the United States.


Review: Disappeared is an intense thriller and an eye opening read. The novel chronicles the lives and decisions of the Zapata siblings. The story is told in dual perspectives and are both equally suspenseful and  nail biting as Sara and Emiliano are constantly faced with making tough decisions and the line between right and wrong is unclear. 
 The book kicks off with Sara Zapata's best friend, Linda's disappearance and being an another victim of human trafficking. Sara, a rising-star reporter at Juarez, Mexico's El Sol newspaper, is determined to find her and shine a light on Juarez's missing and murdered girls, the Desaparacidas. Sara is a terrific investigator with a very strong moral compass and she is dismayed when she discovers that the Mexican State Police has a deep connection to sex slavery. As she pursues the truth and writes her findings in El Sol, she receives numerous death threats that puts her family in danger, but Sara has an obligation to her best friend and to the families of the Desaparacidas. 
  We follow Sara's younger brother Emiliano in the second story line. Emiliano is an entrepreneur with great people and business skills. If given the opportunity, he can become a very successful businessman. He is networking and trying to make a better life for their family and be considered worthy of his wealthy girlfriend. Above anything Emiliano does not want to become his father, who abandoned his family in order to pursue his dreams in the United States while leaving his struggling family behind. When Emiliano is tapped to undertake a new business venture that will financially secure his family and his place in his girlfriend's life, Emiliano must decide is the comfortable life worth his soul.
  Disappeared is an emotional and complicated thriller. It really reminded me of the movie Sicario which takes the viewer behind the scenes of the drug cartels in Mexico. The book takes place over the course of seven harrowing days and includes betrayal, desperate escapes, a dangerous trek across the desert in order to cross the border into the United States. I appreciated that Stork did not shy away from the intricate and pervasive corruption in Juarez as the city tries to rebuild itself after the horrifying aftermaths of drug cartels. The lines between right and wrong are constantly blurred throughout the book. Making the 'right' decision can bring you constant pain and danger and the 'wrong' decision can bring you security and comfort. Both Sara and Emiliano have a very hard time making decisions for themselves given their loyalty to their family and friends. The book also provides readers a reason why immigration is such an important topic and so complex. Though the book ends on a hopeful and open note for the Zapata siblings, I don't think we are done from hearing them yet. I would like to know what happens next and what path has their decision taken them.  

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There is some language, underage drinking, and mentions of drug cartels and human trafficking in the book. Recommended for strong Grade 8 readers and up.

If you like this book try: City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson
Rummanah Aasi
Description: On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina's monstrous winds and surging water overwhelmed the protective levees around low-lying New Orleans, Louisiana. Eighty percent of the city flooded, in some places under twenty feet of water. Property damages across the Gulf Coast topped $100 billion. One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three people lost their lives. The tale of this historic storm and the drowning of an American city is one of selflessness, heroism, and courage—and also of incompetence, racism, and criminality.

Review: In this slim graphic novel Brown is able to recount the horrifying events of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005. Instead of focusing on individual stories, we are given a journalistic approach to the natural disaster. Told chronologically from the hurricane’s seemingly benign origin in West Africa, the story follows the storm almost hourly, revealing every misstep along the way that resulted in so much unnecessary loss and devastation. By the time Katrina passed over New Orleans, more than 1,400 people were dead and hundreds of thousands had fled the city. 
  The text is clear and easy to read, relying exclusively on data and statistics interspersed with quotes from residents, rescue crews, journalists, and news reports and not skirting away from the controversial incompetency of the government. There were many new to me facts that I learned in this graphic novel. The haunting imagery with its monochromatic panels, hits you viscerally as you hear from people who are battling oppressive heat and fear. There are pages that are wordless because the illustrations can only capture and convey the horrors that people suffered. Spare but gets the point across. I only wished that the graphic novel dug deeper into the issues that Hurricane Katrina raised to the surface and which unfortunately continues to rear its ugly head with Hurricane Maria.


Curriculum Connection: English, Science, and Social Studies

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There are images of bodies floating in water that may be too much for sensitive readers. Recommended for Grades 6 and up.


If you like this book try: A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld
Rummanah Aasi


 I would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all have a safe and wonderful holiday full of food, family, and friends. I will be taking a blogging break this week and will returned to normal scheduling the following week.
Rummanah Aasi
Description: Years ago, Flora fled the quiet Scottish island where she grew up -- and she hasn't looked back. What would she have done on Mure? It's a place where everyone has known her all her life, where no one will let her forget the past. In bright, bustling London, she can be anonymous, ambitious... and hopelessly in love with her boss.
 But when fate brings Flora back to the island, she's suddenly swept once more into life with her brothers -- all strapping, loud and seemingly incapable of basic housework -- and her father. Yet even amid the chaos of their reunion, Flora discovers a passion for cooking -- and find herself restoring dusty little pink-fronted shop on the harbour: a café by the sea. But with the seasons changing, Flora must come to terms with past mistakes -- and work out exactly where her future lies...


Review: Flora dreamed of escaping her life as a farmer's daughter in a small village on Mure Island, a wish her mother supported and encouraged. When her mother died and her family needed her the most, she left mom and burnt all of her bridges.
  Three years later, Flora is working as a paralegal for a prestigious law firm in London. She should be having the time of her life, but her job is anything but exciting (unless you think filing to be an engaging activity), majority of her coworkers are unfriendly and don't understand her. She is also secretly harboring a gigantic crush on her boss, Joel, a handsome, cold, and aloof man who treats everyone with disdain.
  When Joel takes on a new client who wants to build a resort on Mure Island, Flora is immediately hired and sent to home to try and bring the locals on board. Of course Flora is reluctant to return and doesn't want to confront her past, her bitter family, and most of all her grief. After discovering her mother's journal, a hand written recipe book, she starts cooking and in doing so begins to heal the wounds of the past. 

 I always love the journey that the heroines of Jenny Colgan's books go on and the Cafe by the Sea is no exception. I did, however, had a time getting into this book unlike her previous ones. It took me some time to warm up to Flora mainly because she felt too whiny at first, but once she returns to Mure I began to see her in a new light. I loved her family's dynamic, particularly her relationship with the mercurial brother Fintan, which is the book's strongest asset. 
  The romance, however, fell completely flat for me. There are two contenders for Flora's heart though by the reading the book's synopsis you know who she will be with in the end.  I was not a big fan of Joel though I wanted to know more about his past. His character developed felt rushed one dimensional. I also felt his sudden epiphany of Flora was too insta-love for me. The second 'contender' was the warm Charlie who also was underdeveloped and very much felt like a third/fourth choice. I guess the real romance is between Flora and her home at Mure, where she finally found a place where people understood her and she found her calling with making food and helping people. Pick this up if you are looking for a read where family, food, and culture play a larger role than the romance.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There is some strong language, crude sexual humor and innuendo, and fade to black sex scenes. Recommended for adults and mature teens. 

If you like this book try: My Not So Perfect Life by Sophia Kinsella, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller
Rummanah Aasi
Description: Some people think pink is a pretty color. A fluffy, sparkly, princess-y color. But it's so much more. Sure, pink is the color of princesses and bubblegum, but it's also the color of monster slugs and poisonous insects. Not to mention ultra-intelligent dolphins, naked mole rats and bizarre, bloated blobfish. Isn't it about time to rethink pink?

Review: Pink is for Blobfish is the perfect nonfiction pick for younger readers. They will be drawn to this book because it is weird and gross. Each creature is given a two-page spread with a  full-color, close-up photo of the creature with an approachable paragraph describing some of its key features, a fascinating fact, and basic features. There are many animals that I had never heard of before I read this book. I also enjoyed the author's comical voice throughout the book too. If you are struggling to get to younger readers to read nonfiction books, I would highly recommend this one.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: None. Recommended for Grades 1 and up.

If you like this book try: Glow: Animals with their own night-lights by W.H. Beck


Description: Hailing from the Tremé neighborhood in New Orleans, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews got his nickname by wielding a trombone twice as long as he was high. A prodigy, he was leading his own band by age six, and today this Grammy-nominated artist headlines the legendary New Orleans Jazz Fest.Along with esteemed illustrator Bryan Collier, Andrews has created a lively picture book autobiography about how he followed his dream of becoming a musician, despite the odds, until he reached international stardom.

Review: Trombone Shorty is an energetic and lively picture book autobiography of a contemporary multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Troy Andrews. The picture book is also a love story to Andrews' early years growing up in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans. Andrews yearned to become a musician like those in his family and the artists he saw perform all over New Orleans. He was so passionate about his dream that he and his friends made their own instruments out of recycled materials, played in the streets, and marched with bands. When one day he found a battered, discarded trombone bigger than he was, Andrews finally had a real instrument to play, and he practiced day and night, acquiring the nickname Trombone Shorty from his older brother. Trombone's defining moment was the time the great Bo Diddley pulled Andrews on stage to play with him during the New Orleans jazz festival. Collier's illustrations are incredible and using a variety of materials from watercolor, pen and ink, and collage artwork to complement the book's motion and rhythm of Trombone's music. Each spread offers a visual panoply of texture, perspective, and angles, highlighting the people and the instruments. While Andrews's continue to play, he will gain new admirers after reading this book.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: None. Recommended for Grades 1 and up.

If you like this book try: Louis Armstrong: A King of Jazz by Pat McKissack, Before John was a Jazz Giant: a song of John Coltrane by Carole Boston Weatherford


Description: What do you do when you see a spider?

a. Lay on a BIG spidey smoocheroo.

b. Smile, but back away slowly.

c. Grab the closest object, wind up, and let it fly.

d. Run away screaming.


If you chose b, c, or d, then this book is for you! (If you chose a, you might be crazy.)

I’m Trying to Love Spiders will help you see these amazing arachnids in a whole new light, from their awesomely excessive eight eyes, to the seventy-five pounds of bugs a spider can eat in a single year! And you’re sure to feel better knowing you have a better chance of being struck by lightning than being fatally bit by a spider. Comforting, right? No? Either way, there’s heaps more information in here to help you forget your fears . . . or at least laugh a lot!

Review: In this informative and amusing book the author is trying to overcome her arachnophobia with detailing accurate information about a wide variety of spiders from their various anatomy and capabilities in a humorous tone. I didn't mind that this book wasn't overly filled with facts, but I did like how it was presented in a scrapbook fashion with cartoon drawings, scrawls, and random lettering. Occasionally there are black splotches for when the author's phobia gets to her despite her good intentions of wanting to like spiders. Any book that manages to be entertaining while being informative is a winner for me.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: None. Recommended for Grades K-2.

If you like this book try: Disgusting Creatures by Elise Gravel
Rummanah Aasi
Description: Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. And despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can't escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates.  Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.
 Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it's Justyce who is under attack.


Review: In Nic Stone's ambitious and timely debut novel, Dear Martin, the reader is placed in the shoes of an African American boy confronting racial inequality and establishing his own identity in our world. Dear Martin is a coming of age novel that feels more like a series of vignettes. Stone presents several hard hitting topics ranging from affirmative action, identifying masculine identity within the African American culture, and also tackling racial stereotypes of African Americans in different episodes of Justyce's life and provides no easy answers.    Justyce is an African American teen caught between two worlds. He is too 'white' for his black friends. His private school education, honor roll GPA, outstanding test scores set Justyce apart. To his white friends, Justyce is an outlier and despite his academic success from his own hard work, some of his classmates believe his race gets an unfair advantage over them. Through a series of journal entries, Justyce attempts to figure out his place in the world by exploring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King. Stone goes a great job in depicting what it means to be an African American male in today's time. She explores privilege and race relations while also tackling the 'thug' representation and the victims of social injustice. The story's climax comes when a violent altercation between a retired white police officer and his best friend that puts Justyce in the spotlight.
  Dear Martin is a slim book that is well written and fast paced without sacrificing depth which makes it a great read for both reluctant and advanced readers. While the book offers a lot of different paths Justyce can take to become a man, there is a serious absence of the voice of African American women in this story. I wished Justyce's mother and his girlfriend were as three dimensional as the male characters. Overall Dear Martin is a powerful read that will make you think long after you finished it. 

Rating: 4 stars


Words of Caution: There is some strong language, including racial slurs, underage drinking and drug use in the book. Recommended for Grades 9 and up.

If you like this book try: All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon, and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Rummanah Aasi
Description: A new Iron Age begins! From the violent streets of Chicago, an armored hero rises! Clad in her own Iron Man suit, Riri Williams is ready to show the world what she can do as the self-made hero of tomorrow. Her technology just might change the world forever — if she survives that long! But is she ready for all the problems that come with stepping into Iron Man’s jet boots? Problems like her first big villain. And the other guy running around as shell-head. And the laundry list of criminals looking to destroy Tony Stark’s legacy. Oh, and all the super-teams out to recruit her! As Riri’s adventures go viral, it’s time to claim an alter ego of her own — welcome to the Marvel Universe, Ironheart!

Review: I have mixed feelings for Ironheart. I enjoyed reading it and was thoroughly entertained but I still wanted more. Ironheart continues the trend of having diverse characters in the Marvel Universe. Riri Williams is an incredibly intelligent, funny heroine who is from the South Side of Chicago. I loved her spunk and personality though I felt her origin story wasn't strong enough and that's mainly due to Riri's lack of page time in the comic. We don't see much of Riri as a regular teen before she is Ironheart. Bendis uses the old comic trope of a violent incident sparking the hero, or in this case, the heroine to become a superhero. Riri's stepfather and her best friend are killed in a drive-by shooting. While the murderers are harrowing, it didn't make sense to me as to why Riri would be more devastated by losing her best friend rather than her stepfather and again I think this due to the lack of development of these relationships with Riri. I would have also liked more scenes with Riri and her mother.
  The graphic novel's structure also felt disjointed. There were many flashbacks woven into the story that did not transition well into the overall story arc. I also felt some of the flashbacks were unnecessary. I haven't been keeping up with the Marvel Universe via graphic novels so I'm not sure where Ironheart is located on the world's timeline but in this graphic novel Tony Start is dead though his hologram which he programed himself is very much alive. I wasn't quite sure how this hologram worked since he felt more human. Despite playing the role of a mentor, Tony took over the graphic novel leaving Riri to play the supporting character.
 Despite these flaws in Ironheart, I thought the artwork in the graphic novel were excellent. The great drawings and color make the graphic novel pop and so eye catching. I was also pleasantly surprised by Pepper Potts having a stronger role rather than just being Stark's love interest and coworker. I would have loved to see more of her in the graphic novel. Overall Ironheart was an entertaining graphic novel but my expectations for it were much higher.


Rating: 3 stars


Words of Caution: There is some language and PG-13 violence in the graphic novel. Recommended for Grades 8 and up.


If you like this book try: Miles Morales, the Ultimate Spiderman collection by Brian Michael Bendis
Rummanah Aasi
Description: Aviva Grossman, an ambitious Congressional intern in Florida, makes the life-changing mistake of having an affair with her boss, a beloved, admired, successful, and very married Congressman, and blogging about it. When the affair comes to light, the Congressman doesn't take the fall, but Aviva does, and her life is over before it hardly begins. She becomes a late-night talk show punchline; she is slut-shamed, labeled as fat and ugly, and considered a blight on politics in general.
   How does one go on after this? In Aviva’s case, she sees no way out but to change her name and move to a remote town in Maine. She tries to start over as a wedding planner, to be smarter about her life, and to raise her daughter to be strong and confident. But when, at the urging of others, decides to run for public office herself, that long-ago mistake trails her via the Internet like a scarlet A. For our age, Google guarantees that the past is never, ever, truly past, that everyone you've done will live on for everyone to know about for all eternity.

Review: Young Jane Young reminded me of a 21st century adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter and it was particularly interesting to read when sexism is openly discussed in our current events. Aviva Grossman's story is not very different from that of the notorious sex scandal featuring Formal President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. A young, naive 20 year old woman, Aviva Grossman, is caught in affair and sex scandal with a prominent Congressman. She details her affair on a blog though she doesn't include names it is easily to infer who she writes about. Like the real life Lewinsky, Aviva is hounded, slut shamed, and forever marked by the sex scandal.
  Though the novel isn't original in its concept, its narrative structure gives us a panoramic point of views of how the scandal has affected several women's lives in its five sections. The first part is narrated by Aviva's fiercely independent mother, Rachel Shapiro, who is dipping her toes into online dating after being divorced for quite some time. She is also tainted by association by her daughter's actions when a reasonable date turns disastrous and mentions the scandal not realizing the subject is Rachel's own daughter. Rachel recounts how the debacle came about and how her daughter disappeared from her life 13 years ago.  The second part is narrated by Jane Young, a single mother who is trying to establish a new life by being a wedding planner and eventually setting her sights on a political office though the internet footprint of the past continues to loom over her life and threaten her candidacy. The third section is narrated by the precocious Ruby, who is trying to survive middle school with minimal battle scars, and suddenly discovers her mother has not been honest with her.  The fourth section is told from the Congressman's wife, many years after the sex scandal. The fifth and final section of the book ends as a "Choose your own adventure" ending where the reader gets to decide the fate of Aviva Grossman. 
  I did find the book to be a quick read and worthy of discussion though I often felt that it skimmed the surface of sexism and the permanence of social media. Though it does tackle our culture's obsession with scandal and betrayal, I was hoping more from some of the point of views such as the Congressman's wife (who in my opinion was a thinly veiled Hillary Clinton type of character). I wanted more depth with the book theme's and a little less wink-nudge-did-you-see-what-I-did- there? humor. While the choose your own adventure section of the book was unique, I would much rather have preferred to go back to Aviva's own voice. Overall, Young Jane Young is an entertaining, timely read that will foster a lot of discussion.  


Rating: 3.5 stars


Words of Caution: There is some strong language and crude sexual humor. Recommended for mature teens and adults only.


If you like this book try: Attachment by Isabel Fonseca
Rummanah Aasi
Description: When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she isn't sure if she'll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (along with her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.
   But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new...the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel's disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself--or worse

Review: Little and Lion is one of my most anticipated books of this year mainly due to the exploration of various forms of identity: race, religion, and sexuality. Colbert delves into each of these forms while also centering on the relationship and bond between siblings.  
    Suzette was sent to boarding school when her bookish older brother, Lionel, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Suzette, whose nickname is Little, is now back in Los Angeles for the summer and hopes to strengthen her distant relationship with Lionel. With Suzette back home, Lionel confides in her that he’s going off his medication. Fearing that to divulge his secret will ruin any chance of rebuilding their bond, Suzette promises to stay loyal to her brother even though she knows he is making the wrong decision and feels responsible for her brother’s well-being. 
  I really liked Suzette and Lionel's modern family. Suzette and her mom are African Americans who have converted to Judaism while Lionel and his dad are white and Jewish. These cast of characters, especially Suzette, often show how hard it is for anyone to be perfectly labeled and put into a neat box. Through sporadic flash backs interspersed between the present tense, we see how Lionel and Suzette were always close before Lionel’s diagnosis and the turning point in their relationship.
   While the book's main focus is Suzette dealing with the dilemma of her brother's mental health, Suzette is also trying to figure herself out. She is conflicted in expressing herself especially at her boarding school where she is not only grappling with a homophobic act that exposed her relationship with her roommate named Iris and made their relationship status as complicated, but also hiding the fact that she is Jewish. Now at home her identity is further complicated as she is attracted to Emil Choi, a warm, biracial (black/Korean) boy and family friend with Ménière’s disease, and a crush on Rafaela, a pansexual Latina—whom, unexpectedly, Lionel is also falling for. While I thought Suzette's relationship with Emil was sweet and well developed, I was not a fan of the potential love triangle with Rafela. In my opinion Rafela didn't really add much to the story besides being a plot device. I was hoping Suzette's bisexuality would be explored without having/teasing a love triangle trope.
   Lionel's mental health is well addressed without any sugar coating, romanticized, or miraculously solved by being romantically involved with someone. Colbert does show Lionel's frightening behavior pre- and post diagnosis as well as how mental health affect not only those battling with the disease but also others around them. 


Rating: 4 stars


Words of Caution: There are some strong language, underage drinking and drug use, and a couple of fade to black sex scenes in the book.


If you like this book try: Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy
Rummanah Aasi
Description: Meet Eleanor Oliphant. She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully time-tabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.       Then 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.

Review: I wanted to pick up Gail Honeyman's debut novel, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, when journals began to make it a readalike suggestion for A Man Called Ove which I read and enjoyed over the summer. This is one of the rare times when a readalike suggestion is actually accurate. Like A Man Called Ove, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine has the knack to make you laugh and cry all at the same moment.
  Eleanor Oliphant has built routine in her utterly solitary life that mostly works. During the week, she works, eats pizza, and drinks booze. While this may seem banal and repetitive it is Eleanor's inner monologue that is cranky, hilarious, deadpan, incredibly observant, and irresistible that makes this book a pleasure to read. Eleanor Oliphant has something to say about everything- from commuting on the train, getting a manicure, and associating getting a makeover in a story with surgery. I loved Eleanor's voice from the start. Sure, she can be a curmudgeon but I suspected there was serious trauma that occurred in her life given the various clues sprinkled throughout the book and the chilling phone calls with her mother which caused her to act this way.
  While her social awkwardness makes her the butt of jokes for her colleagues and alienates herself, Eleanor's life begins to change when she is genuinely befriended by Raymond, a lanky, easy going guy from her IT department. It is through her friendship with Raymond that we get to see Eleanor's vulnerable side and her craving for human contact (not just physically). Eleanor attempts to change her solitary life in order to pursue a romantic crush on a local musician. Though the crush is unrealistic, unrequited, and heartbreaking to watch, it finally tips Eleanor over to seek help for her mental illness and trauma as she realizes she's never had anyone to care for her in life. We watch her dangerously collect painkillers and tries to poison herself with alcohol. Thankfully she does seek help with Raymond's help. We also discover what happened in her childhood that shaped her this way. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is funny, heartwarming, and heartbreaking in equal measure and I would definitely recommend it.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There are some strong language and allusions to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in the book. Recommended for mature teens and adults.

If you like this book try: A Man Called Ove by Frederick Brackman,
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