Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman | Book Review

Hey guys,

My first book review is finally here! As you can probably tell, I am very excited, as I have wanted to start reviewing books over here on Love, Ellena Grace for a while now, but just didn't know where to start! f you follow me on Instagram, then you will know that I have been reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, and I thought it the perfect book to kick off my book reviews with! I will try not to give too much away (as this book has a lot of unexpected twists!), but will give a general overview of what happens.

When I first started this book, I genuinely had no clue as to what it was about. I had heard many a great thing, but had never explicitly heard anything about the plot. The blurb doesn't really give much away, which I quite liked, as it gave the book a bit more mystery. Due to this, it could be perceived as being a bit slow to begin with, as you are thrown in with not much of an idea about the characters or the plotline. However, this book really was not what I was expecting.

Eleanor Oliphant, the protagonist, is a woman who has a lack of social skills, and speaks as she thinks, which results in a lot of hilarious parts of the novel. It begins with her daily routine of work and going home, and how her life has never really changed in the past ten years. However, one day she meets Raymond, someone who she openly does not warm to immediately, but as the book goes on, we see an unexpected friendship develop. It's incredibly heartwarming to see Eleanor and Raymond's friendship develop as it does, especially when you find out more about Eleanor's past. It shows how even small things can affect someone, whether it be good or bad, and how we should not take those small gestures of kindness for granted.

The novel includes topics that are quite harrowing to read about, and shows how much childhood can affect you in later life. I think it is written very well though, considering how the issues raised have to be written in a very sensitive way. Also, I like that fact that it is from Eleanor's point of view, as it adds a more innocent style to the narrative, and doesn't give too much away too early in the book.

It made me laugh, it made me cry (I never cry at films, but have been known to cry at books, which is odd, does anyone else do this?), and was incredibly moving. The book is written in a somewhat light-hearted manner for the topics that are mentioned, which I also assume is so that not much is given away. The book often has twists that you would not have expected, and is most definitely a page turner. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and definitely would recommend giving it a read. I can also confirm that Eleanor Oliphant is NOT completely fine.

I would rate this book a 4.5*.

I hope you enjoyed reading my very first book review, and I will definitely be writing more of these! Let me know what books you have been loving recently down in the comments, I'd love some recommendations!

Much love amigos,

Grace

My Experience at Working at Penguin Random House!

Hey guys,

So, if you follow me on social media, then you will know that I was working at Penguin Random House Publishing at the beginning of February, and it was honestly the most incredible two weeks! Before I started work experience here, I was very unsure about what I wanted to do with my life (I do English at uni, I literally could not have picked a broader subject), but left knowing exactly what I wanted to do with my life.

So yeah, was a pretty helpful and insightful experience! (I do apologise for the delay in this post, I've legit been away from my laptop for about two weeks now, hence the lack of posting, but I'M BAAAACK!)

So, I'll start with the application process. I saw work experience being advertised on the Penguin Random House Careers Twitter page, so thought that I'd apply, as it looked like a great way to get an insight into working at a publishers. However, as it was Penguin Random House, one of the biggest publishers in the world, I wasn't hopeful. I guess I just thought that there would be a hell of a lot more people with more experience than me who would get it.

However, Penguin actually place their work experience randomly, so everyone has a fair chance of getting work experience. I personally think this is fab, as I have only had one prior placement in marketing, and, as I am a student, I don't really have time to get work experience during term time, and I work through the holidays.

Within Penguin Random House, I applied to marketing and publicity, as it was something that I was always interested in, and after my work experience last summer, I knew that it was definitely something that I wanted to pursue.

A couple of weeks after completing my application, I found out that I had received a work experience placement at Michael Joseph in the marketing and publicity department. I genuinely could not believe it when I opened my email, but I was so unbelievably excited!

So, the only issue that I had was the fact that it was in London. And I live very far up north. And don't have any family or friends near London (well, who would be there during term time), so next was the issue of accommodation.

However, Penguin actually have an agreement with the Book Trade Charity, and have a bungalow in Hertfordshire for their work experience who don't live in London to stay. So yeah, I ended up staying here for the first week, and it was lovely! It was so easy to commute into London, and only took about 45 minutes to an hour to get to work every morning!

In the second week, I ended up staying in student accommodation, yet would not recommend this, as it was incredibly overpriced and was not worth the money at all! However, I do know that Penguin/publishers have a scheme called the Spare Room Project. This is where where people who work in publishing open their spare room to someone on work experience who isn't local.

In terms of the work I did there, I got to do a range of tasks, including sending out packages and writing letters to authors, celebrities and influencers (which was pretty damn cool!!). I also got to pitch my ideas, and also got an insight into PR and marketing campaigns, which was so interesting!

One of my tasks was to go and get some balloons from a shop on the Strand, and I soon came to realise that carrying 10 helium balloons when it's windy is never going to end well, and I sincerely apologise to the people who I hit in the face. Multiple times. Oops.

I also was very fortunate to attend a book launch for Elizabeth Enfield's new novel 'Ivy & Abe', and it was AMAZING! It was quite a small launch, with just friends, family and people from Penguin Random House, but I thought this made it quite special, as it was in a book shop just off Leicester Square, so made it seem more personal. It was definitely one of the highlights of my work experience! Plus, I got a signed copy of the novel, and I am so looking forward to reading it!

All the people on the work experience also got to meet with others from a range of departments, giving us even more insight into how things work in a publishing house. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming, and I couldn't have asked for a better place to get work experience!

I hope this was helpful, and gave a bit more of an insight into what it's like to get work experience at Penguin, and I can honestly say, no two days are the same, and it's definitely a great place to work if you're a book lover like me! Plus, you get to see books that haven't even been published yet, and you get FREE BOOKS! The absolute DREAM. I literally came home with about 20 books (my mum was well happy), and I am so excited to get through them all!

This work experience has also inspired me to start reviewing books on my blog, as it is always something that I have wanted to do, but never knew how to start! So be sure to look out for those!

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all soon!

Much love,
Grace x