Blog Tour: The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr by Frances Maynard

ARC clearly defined in accordance with review policy here. 

Hi!

I received an e-mail a few weeks ago asking if I'd like to take part in the tour for this book, and when I heard that it had been compared to Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and The Rosie Project, I agreed.

PLOT

Twenty-seven year old Elvira Carr lives at home with her elderly mother. Elvira is on the autism spectrum, and lives a quiet life dictated by rules, guidelines and routine set by her mother. When her mother is taken ill suddenly, Elvira is determined not to be taken "Away" - and prove to "NormalTypicals" that she is capable of looking after herself. She devises a set of somewhat imperfect rules in order to help her deal with new people and new situations, realising along the way that sometimes, rules need to be broken. 

THOUGHTS 

I enjoyed this a lot - I was a little wary of reading another book with an "atypical" young woman as its main character after all the hype surrounding Eleanor Oliphant (which I did like) - but this is a very different book. Elvira needs rules, guidelines, and routine - but has never realised before now that she can be the one who makes them. There are a few different elements to the story - there's a mystery in there too, and I felt that stopped the book from becoming too repetitive. There were some parts that I found hard to read - events that happened with a work colleague, and the way a neighbour's husband spoke about Elvira were unpleasant. Overall, I'd recommend this if you liked any of the other books mentioned - it's a very realistic portrayal of a likeable young woman trying to navigate life while struggling with change and understanding sarcasm, figures of speech, etc. The author has experience of working with people with Asperger's, and this really shines through - nothing about Elvira seems faked, or exaggerated to further the plot (even her obsession with biscuits). 

I'd recommend this if you like sweet, contemporary reads about people discovering their own strengths. 

RATING

The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr is published in hardback and Kindle today, 24th August. 

Thanks to Don at Pan Macmillan for asking me to take part! You can check out the other blogs on the tour here, and see what others have to say about Elvira. (The first blog on the list, Linda's Book Bag, has an extract if you want to see what the writing style is like). 

Any thoughts? Does this seem like something you'd read? Ask me any questions about the book in the comments!